X Factor

X Factor's Louisa Johnson Enters Chart With Worst Performing Winner's Single Ever

Is it finally time for Simon Cowell and co. to hang up the mics?

Saturday, December 19, 2015 - 16:11

While last week's X Factor winner Louisa Johnson was ecstatic after she was crowned the 2015 champ, just a week later the joy has somewhat extinguished after her début single entered the music charts at number 9.

In fact, it's the lowest ever X Factor winner single to début in the charts, and marks a stark decline in the popularity of the show and, quite clearly, the number of people out there who buy the winner's tune.

In the ITV show's 11-year history it's not the first single to miss out on the number one spot, and now holds the unwanted record is the show's worst performing release ever. Obviously this won't make the talented Louisa too happy, but it's not her fault in the slightest.

The issue is likely that - as reported throughout the series - audiences numbers have dropped dramatically on previous years and therefore the same public support isn't what it once was.

Her single, a cover of Bob Dylan's 'Forever Young', was aiming for the Christmas number one spot, but has sold just 39,000 copies this week.

Compare these figures to last year's winner Ben Haenow who shifted 214,000 copies of 'Something I Need', it has performed very poorly.

Way back in 2005, Shayne Ward's 'That's My Goal' sold 740,000 and totalled at an incredible 1.1 million sales in the UK. But it seems those days are long gone.

Even the show's first ever winner Steve Brookstein amassed 204,000 in sales with 'Against All Odds' in 2004.

There's still a chance - albeit a small one - that Louisa's song will surge up the charts in the next week or so. After all, it has only been on sale since last Sunday and hasn't had a full weekend for shoppers people to purchase, since the new Sunday to Friday chart week came into play.

But more importantly, what does this mean for the future of the X Factor?

10 years ago, winning the show guaranteed you a number one single at Christmas and a number one album. Now, it seems, it doesn't guarantee much at all.

By Mike Williams

Once you realise that everyone in this year’s X Factor 2015 promo pics is posing at a brilliantly jaunty angle, it’s hard not to notice

The new X Factor promo pics are here, people! And it would very much seem that 2015 will forever be known as the year everyone posed at brilliantly jaunty angles because, well, why the heck not? Incredible work, team. Copyright [Thames/Syco/ITV]

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jokes! <3 you Reets. Copyright [Thames/Syco/ITV]

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The X Factor Stars: Where Are They Now?

We were obsessed with them at the time but where are our once-beloved The X Factor stars now? From Ben Haenow to One Direction find out who's playing with Beyoncé, who's playing on ferrys,and who Leon Jackson is.

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Steve Brookstein won the first series of The X Factor in 2004 and held the record for most votes received in a final, a whopping 6million, until Joe McElderry knocked him off the top spot. Sadly, from these glittering heights, the only way was down.

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Steve was dropped by Sony BMG just eight months after winning the show. In 2007 he was performing on the Portsmouth to Bilbao ferry and has since said that Simon Cowell "ruined Christmas" with the X Factor's winners' singles. Bitter much?

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Shayne Ward romped home to victory in Series 2. His winner's track, That's My Goal, was the third fastest selling single of all time in the UK, behind Elton John's Candle in the Wind and Will Green's Evergreen, but now we can't hum a single note.

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Shayne's now big news in knickers having strolled onto the cobbles of Coronation Street with his eye firmly set on Underworld in summer 2015. His music career's not too shabby either, his fourth album, Closer, went to number 17 the same year.

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Animal lover Leona Lewis became the first woman to win The X Factor in 2006. Her first album, Spirit, released in 2007, went an incredible 10 times platinum in the UK and has sold over 8million copies worldwide. Go Leona!

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Leona's sold more than 20million records worldwide, won an MTV video award and three World Music Awards. She wrote the theme tune to Avatar and in 2014 made her film acting début in Walking on Sunshine. Not bad going. Not bad going at all.

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Confession time: we don't remember Leon Jackson from 2007 at all, yet he stormed to victory in Series 4 of The X Factor. However, his career since has been simply spectacular...

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...spectacularly insignificant that is. Leon was dropped by Sony BMG after his first album sold a paltry 130,00 copies and he was last heard of co-writing with The Voice contestant Vince Kidd. Yeah, us neither. Sorry, Leon.

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Music's in Alexandra Burke's blood, her mum was the lead singer in Soul II Soul of Back To Life fame. And her musical heritage paid off when Alexandra became the second woman to win The X Factor in 2008.

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Alexandra's gorgeous version of Hallelujah was the biggest selling single of 2008. She returned to The X Factor as a guest judge in Series 8, the only contestant to ever do so, and in 2015 starred in the stage version of The Bodyguard.

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Did anyone think Joe McElderry would win The X Factor Series 6 in 2009? Our money was on Olly Murs or Stacey Solomon to be honest, both of whom have done better than Joe since, musically...

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...but Joe's the winner in other ways, quite literally. He took the crown in both Popstar to Operastar in 2011 and The Jump in 2014. He simply can't lose at reality TV! Now, if only we could get him a stint in the jungle or on Celeb Big Bro.

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We didn't predict Matt Cardle as the winner of Series 7 in 2010, as competition from Cher Lloyd, One Direction and ahem, Wagner, was fierce. But Matt and his hat won the day and single When We Collide sold more than 1million copies.

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Matt's still working in music, and in 2015 he took on the lead role in Memphis the musical. However, his success is at nothing compared to the undoubted winners of The X Factor series 7. Who do you think we could mean....?

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One Direction, of course! Back in 2010, Harry, Liam, Niall, Zayn and Louis auditioned for The X Factor but Simon Cowell didn't think they cut the mustard – alone. He formed them into a group and...

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...well, you know what happened next. MAGIC. Magic is what happened next.

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In 2011, Perry, Jesy, Jade and Leigh-Anne also walked into auditions for The X Factor as solo artists. Tulisa saw their potential but decided that the sum was greater than the parts, and Little Mix went on to be the first group to ever win the show.

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Tulisa's little muffins are huge on both sides of the Atlantic and are even producing some actual tunes. “Salute! Salute!” anyone? Don't mind if we do.

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James Arthur was another very unlikely looking popstar when he walked into The X Factor Series 9 auditions in 2012. But his down-to-earth charm, and a Cowell job on his gnashers, helped him take the crown.

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But just a year later, iTunes was offering to refund customers who'd bought his album following a slew of complaints about the lyrics. Oh, James. Where did it all go wrong?

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On a cheerier note, there was also Rylan Clark in series 9. It was never, in all honesty, about the musicianship with Rylan. It was about the SHOWMANSHIP. And, goodness, he had that in oodles.

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He still has it now. The model, turned singer, turned Celebrity Big Brother winner, turned BBOTS presenter, turned Celebrity MasterChefer, can do no wrong in our eyes. We are, and will forever be, Team Rylan.

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Sam Bailey is very lovely and all, but we're still not quite sure how she managed to walk away the winner of The X Factor Series 10 in 2013. However, in February 2014, Sam supported actual Beyoncé for a date on the Mrs Carter tour. Hats off.

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Sorry, Sam who?

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Chirpy Ben Haenow galloped to victory in series 11 of The X Factor last year. He was never in the bottom two and got the most public votes from week four until the end of the competition. The public just loved him!

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But do the public still love him? Alas, not so much. After beating Uptown Funk to the Christmas number one spot in 2014 (no mean feat) Ben has been absent from the music scene. Rumour says he's recording an album so watch this space.

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The X Factor returns to ITV later this year.

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