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