I've Finally Come To Grips With Shayne Ward And Joe McElderry Being Dropped

How depressing that 2009 X Factor winner Joe McElderry put out a fairly rad (if not a little heavy on covers) solo album this past fall and has already been dropped by Simon Cowell's Syco label. Equally depressing: 2005 X Factor winner Shayne Ward put out a surprisingly-defining sophomore album in 2007, though — let's face it — only slightly listenable third LP in November and, like little Joe, has been dumped by Cowell.

(Let's all cheer ourselves up by looking at this completely naked pic of Shayne, shall we?)

A interesting read in the Daily Mail about both out-on-their-ear lads and the way the Syco machine supposedly works was posted on Saturday.

The gist of it: "It almost doesn’t matter if one act fails to sell records, because there is going to be another television show with a raft of new acts to sign. Simon Cowell and his record label are harsh. But that’s showbiz."

At any rate Shayne tweeted the following over the past week: 

"To all my Fans I am great! Remember Business is business! 1 door closed, A Thousand more will open. :-)"

"I'm looking forward to what lies ahead over summer! Exciting times. Fix up look sharp.- #newchapter"

Good for him. With abs pecs an ass positivity like that, he'll land on his feet. Though, if he landed on his back in bed on the set of some porn production in the meantime, well...

So, There's This Rumor That Shayne Ward May Be Dropped By Simon Cowell :(

I'd take this with a grain of salt, as the original source is apparently News Of The World, but Digital Spy published info and quotes yesterday hinting that if Shayne Ward's next single—apparently the title track from his third album Obsession—doesn't perform well, he'll get the axe from Simon Cowell's SyCo roster.

Well, at least I'm taking it with a grain of salt. Then again, if Shayne isn't bogged down with silly things like recording music, maybe he can spend more time doing photo shoots like the one above (for the December issue of UK Cosmopolitan).

Anyway, says "a source":

"Shayne is finished at SyCo. Simon has tried his best to turn him into a star but it simply hasn't worked. He gave Shayne one more chance after ending his working relationship with Louis but his music hasn't connected with the public.

"The chances of him being a popstar again are incredibly low. It's a huge personal blow to Shayne. For a long time people thought he'd become the next Robbie Williams. But the music industry is ruthless and he is costing the company a lot of money at the moment."

"Shayne is also quite arrogant about his music [and] isn't the easiest person to work with. He will be quietly let go next year and the focus will turn to the new crop of X Factor contestants."

Strange. Shayne hardly comes across as arrogant or difficult to work with. In fact, at times he seemed to be very publicly bending over backwards (and, sadly, not the other way around) to get this album out there.

That said, Obsession peaked at #15 on the UK chart, while first single "Gotta Be Somebody" squeaked in at #12. Time will tell—but wouldn't you much rather watch Shayne Ward singing at you than Matt Cardle?

Maybe it's all stemming from comments Shayne supposedly made about recent X Factor contestants One Direction lip sycing? I will say this, though—I ordered Obsession from Amazon UK four weeks ago, and the damn thing never arrived. Bad omen?

UK Chart Roundup: Take That Post Best One-Week Album Sales In 13 Years With 'Progress'

Take That and JLS make a bit of a boy band compromise this week, as the former have a massive week with Progress, their sixth studio album—and their first with Robbie Williams since 1995—and the latter take hold of the UK singles chart with "Love You More."

Progress sold roughly 520,000 copies after its release this past Monday, the most for any album in one week in the UK since Oasis' Be Here Now moved 663,000 copies in 1997. Meanwhile, Take That's lead single off the LP, "The Flood", is at #2 on the singles chart for a second week. Debuting at #1 is JLS' Children In Need charity single "Love You More", which has now become the X Factor alums' fourth chart-topper in the past year-and-a-half.

Elsewhere, it's amateur hour for the blandest boy band on the planet, Westlife, as their latest cure for insomnia "Safe" flops at #10. It's now been four years since the low-rent Irish noise makers had a #1 single, and you have to wonder at this point why they don't just hang it up and go live out their boring lives outside of public eye?

Sorry, gents—you can work with John Shanks, producer of the last two Take That albums, but you'll just never be Take That.

On a final note, it's a sad week for Shayne Ward, whose "Gotta Be Somebody" drops from #12 to #24 while third LP Obsession limps into the album chart at #15, and Manchester duo Hurts, whose latest single "Stay" crashes and burns at #50.

The U.K. Top 10:

1. "Love You More" - JLS *new* *1 week* 
2. "The Flood" - Take That
3. "Your Song" - Ellie Goulding
4. "Only Girl (In The World)" - Rihanna
5. "Firework" - Katy Perry 
6. "Like A G6" - Far East Movement feat. The Cataracs & Dev *new*
7. "The Time (The Dirty Bit)" - The Black Eyed Peas
8. "Happiness" - Alexis Jordan
9. "Shine A Light" - McFly feat. Taio Cruz
10. "Safe" - Westlife *new*

UK Chart Roundup: Take That's "The Flood" Trickles In Behind Rihanna

After hearing Take That's aptly-titled sixth album Progress—a set of tracks that finds the lads pursuing more upbeat, dance-pop material than they have since their first record—it's become apparent that the LP's first single "The Flood" is hardly representative of the rest of the contents. In fact, it falls in line more with the sweeping, lush balladry that Take That 2.0 served up on their previous two albums. And maybe that's the point—a bridge from where they've been to where they're at now.

Either way, the That find themselves in the same predicament in November 2010 that they were in this same month in 2007—held off the #1 position on the UK chart by a young pop tartlet. Three years ago it was Leona Lewis' worldwide smash "Bleeding Love" that kept the man band's Stardust jam "Rule The World" at bay for several weeks. This time around it's Rihanna's "Only Girl (In The World)"—now in the top spot for a second week—that has forced "The Flood" to come in at #2.

Hindsight is more than often 20/20, but I wish the utterly fantastic "Happy Now," which is set to be the follow-up to "The Flood," had been the first offering from Progress. It would have at least given Rihanna something a bit more up-tempo to contend with. Oh, well.

Speaking of that November 2007 time period, that was the last time we saw a single from Shayne Ward—his fluttering handclap-heavy ballad "Breathless"—dent the UK chart. Sadly, while that one got to #6, Shayne's cover of Nickelback's "Gotta Be Somebody" stumbles in at #12 this week. Even after his X Factor performance last week. 

It will be interesting to see how Ward's Obsession album performs this coming week after its release tomorrow. The ballads on it are good for the most part, but, Jesus—only three up-tempo songs?

Like I said, it's not a bad LP. In fact, there are some really amazing moments on it (and a few clunky ones, too). Who knows, maybe I'll wax philosophical on them in a proper review post tonight or tomorrow. Or maybe I'll just go look at this or this and have a wank...again. 

The U.K. Top 10:

1. "Only Girl (In The World)" - Rihanna *2 weeks* 
2. "The Flood" - Take That *new*
3. "Firework" - Katy Perry
4. "Shine A Light" - McFly feat. Taio Cruz *new*
5. "Happiness" - Alexis Jordan 
6. "Cooler Than Me" - Mike Posner
7. "Promise This" - Cheryl Cole
8. "Just The Way You Are" - Bruno Mars 
9. "Make You Feel My Love" - Adele
10. "F**K You" - Cee Lo Green

Shayne Ward & Kylie Minogue Turn 'The X Factor' Into The Sex Factor

You'd be hard pressed to find a better-looking pair of performers for The X Factor than Shayne Ward and Kylie Minogue, who each belted out their latest jams tonight on the UK talent show.

Grated, I wasn't crazy about Shayne's casual jeans and t-shirt look—I thought the least he could have done for the fans that have been waiting three years for his return is come out on stage completely naked—like this. (Where's the consideration, Shayne?)

He performed his new single "Gotta Be Somebody," which was made available for download on the UK iTunes store today (official release tomorrow).



Kylie did her upcoming third Aphrodite single "Better Than Today," and I effing love the new Pac Man routine/dancers/red dress, etc. Let's face it—we were all ready for some new moves from Lady Minogue after enduring the chair routine over and over for the past three months.

Love how judge Dannii Minogue gives her sister a "10 out of 10."



Two really great performances from two of the nicest UK-based pop stars out there.

SHAYNE WARD words words words blah WET T-SHIRT

Shayne Ward covers the December issue of UK mag Gay Times. There are some words or something that go along with the photos of his pecs jutting out of his wet T-shirt, but who the hell has time to read when Shayne effing Ward's pecs are jutting out of his wet T-shirt?

Shayne is set to perform on The X Factor—i.e. the show he emerged from five years ago as the winner—this weekend, where he'll be belting out new single "Gotta Be Somebody."

I'd keep typing shit, but let's be honest—your eyes haven't made it past that cover shot up above, have they, you whore?

Shayne Ward Gives "No Promises" To Miss World

The Miss World competition went down in Sanya, China yesterday, and some broad from Kentucky named Alexandria Mills won. More importantly, Shayne Ward performed his 2006 hit "No Promises" at the event.



Ah—that's an oldie but a goodie. Let's hope Miss World got to wrap her thong around Shayne's head and ride him like it was the Kentucky Derby.

Ward's new single "Gotta Be Somebody" (watch the video) is out a week from today (November 7), and his third album Obsession follows on November 15.

It's Shayne Ward's "Gotta Be Somebody" Video

I think I've made it abundantly clear that I'm not happy Shayne Ward has been made to release a Nickelback cover, "Gotta Be Somebody," as the first single off his long-overdue third LP Obsession. But that said, I'm glad the video isn't a black and white affair, as the preview clip seemed to indicate.

And the director was right in having Shayne appear shirtless throughout, to distract from the fact that the song is just kind of mundane. Sorry, but I think we all got spoiled with Breathless, his second album, which seemed to be much more upbeat.

Looking forward to hearing more energetic material from Obsession. My biggest gripe is that the fantastic "The Way You Are," which leaked earlier this year, didn't make the cut.

Anyway, here's "Gotta Be Somebody."

Shayne Ward Previews His Stripped-Down (Literally) "Gotta Be Somebody" Video

Wow. Shayne Ward is really using his well-sculpted body to sell "Gotta Be Somebody," the first single off his upcoming third LP Obsesssion. Check out the below preview of the video:



You've got my attention, Shayne. I'm almost ready to overlook the fact that this is a Nickelback (vomit) cover. And bravo for blurring the line between porn and pop even further! I'm guessing the part we have yet to see is where the pants come off, too?

"Gotta Be Somebody" is officially released in the UK on November 7, with Obsession following the week after.

Shayne Ward's New Single Is A Cover Of Nickelback's "Gotta Be Somebody"

By all rights, everything about that headline is immensely tragic. Alas, it's the truth. Here's what we know: Digital Spy premiered a minute-long clip of Shayne Ward's lead single from forthcoming third album Obsession today. And it's a cover of Nickelback's 2008 single "Gotta Be Somebody."

Yes, the same Nickelback that used to inspire such venomous post titles as When You Die And Go To Hell, It's Actually A Never-Ending Nickelback Concert and Vapid Milquetoast Zeroes Keep Buying Nickelback here on Chart Rigger. (Wow—I'm quite proud of those!)

So once again, as with the case of Joe McElderry's "Ambitions," we have a X Factor winner signed to the SyCo label covering a fairly recent tune. What, does Simon Cowell just turn on the radio and say, "Oh, that's nice—let's have Alexandra do this one and Shayne do that one and then toss this modern day chestnut over to Joe"?

OK—ALL THAT ASIDE, here is a portion of Shayne's version, and also the Nickelback original:



The Shayne version—not quite the disaster you would expect, no? And again, it's only a clip of the song. Let's all just calm down. After all, there's always the chance that he'll appear 80% naked in the music video, right?

Shayne's "Gotta Be Somebody" is produced by Ray Hedges (of B*Witched "C'est La Vie" fame), Nigel Butler (of Emma Bunton "Who The Hell Are You" fame),  Cutfather (of Ace Of Base "Cruel Summer" fame) and David Kopatz (of Jordin Sparks "S.O.S. [Let The Music Play]" fame), and will be released November 7 in the UK.

Shayne Ward And Joe McElderry Are Not Only UK Pop Stars, They're Also Next Models

Here are a couple pics of last year's X Factor winner Joe McElderry from his portfolio on the Next Models site. That's nice, Joe.

And here are pics of Shayne Ward from his profile on the Next Models site.

And here you thought Shayne's official Obsession album cover was the only good news to come from him today. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to step out of the room for about 45 seconds. Nah, make that 25 seconds.

P.S. Kind of puts that Olly Murs nude photo to shame, no?

Shayne Ward's Official 'Obsession' Album Cover

Well, it's about time! After news came that Shayne Ward's third album would be called Obsession, he added the following to his website today:

"So the time is HERE! And I have amazing news. I'm soooo excited, I'm very proud to announce that my new ALBUM "OBSESSION" is due for release 15th November and you can PRE ORDER NOW!!"

And if you pre-order now, he promises to get naked, just like Olly Murs! Oh, okay...I might be making that part up.

Shayne Ward's Third Album Will Be 'Obsession'

Is this the cover of Shayne Ward's third album? Who knows. What we do know is that the hottest piece to come out of Manchester revealed his third album title is Obsession at Sunday's Help For Heroes concert, and that it'll be released November 15 (with a yet-to-be-named single out the week prior). The image above is what's on Play.com in the listing for Obsession.

We've heard several leaked songs over the past year of Shayne's, and I'm kind of hoping the bare minimum of those make this album. They were all a little too RedOne/Auto-Tuned for an artist with such a stellar voice. Leave the vocal jigging to Britney Spears, knob twiddlers!

[Thanks Poptart65]