December 16, 200718 yr Boy-next-door Leon snatches X Factor glory from red-hot favourite Rhydian Last updated at 00:37am on 16th December 2007 Comments (38) Boy-next-door underdog Leon Jackson has won X Factor, snatching a surprise victory from hot favourite Rhydian Roberts. The 18-year-old Scotsman scooped a £1 million recording contract with his success - secured by a margin of just one per cent of the viewer vote. Leon, who entered the competition to secure a better life for himself and his mother Wendy, looked stunned when he heard he had won and on the verge of tears. Scroll down for more ... Star: Leon Jackson is crowned king of X Factor Emotional: The strain becomes too much Dream-come-true: Leon can barely speak Read more... Sex kitten Kylie sizzles in a skin tight lace catsuit - and steals the X Factor style crown from sister Dannii And after performing his final song, he broke down sobbing on host Dermott O'Leary's shoulder. The fresh-faced teenager is now hotly tipped to land a Christmas number one with the release of his version of Mariah Carey's When You Believe. Leon, who was stacking shelves in Gap just a few months ago, only began singing seriously in January and had never dared to dream his love of music would one day change his life. As he heard he had been crowned X Factor king he could only shake his head and mumble: "It's not real, it's not real." Asked if he ever thought he would win, Leon said: "Never in a million years. I thought I would try my hand at this just to get some experience." "I set out to pursue this because I love singing and as it went on I knew I could potentially change my mum's life." Scroll down for more ... Overcome: And eventually breaks down on Dermott Dream come true: The X Factor king is mobbed His appeal to the estimated 11 million ITV1 viewers may have been helped by his duet with Kylie Minogue, with the pair cavorting in front of a red grand piano during a jazzed-up version of her 1990 single Better The Devil You Know. Kylie's one-time co-star Jason Donovan dueted with third-placed brother and sister act Same Difference, while opera star Katherine Jenkins performed with Rhydian. After their duet, Kylie said: "I love your voice, not to mention that you're cute and adorable and everyone loves you – I have fallen under your spell today." And judge Dannii Minogue proudly said, "You walked into the first audition on your own – now you're like the Pied Piper, you have everybody following you, congratulations." Sharon also heaped praised on him, saying: "You have the most beautiful tone to your voice, you've duetted with Michael Buble and Kylie Minogue, and those superstars are rubbing off on you. "You came into this contest a shy little boy – now you are a confident gorgeous young man." Scroll down for more ... Second place: Rhydian Roberts hugs Leon And Louis Walsh added: "You have star quality. I take back every I said about you in the early stages, you are going to be a professional." Brother and sister duo Same Difference were booted off the show after they secured the fewest votes - leaving Leon and Rhydian to battle it out. Welsh weirdo Rhydian was the favourite to win the contest, but Leon stole the show. At Leon's first audition in Glasgow, he struggled to hold back the tears when his rendition of his musical hero Michael Buble''s track Home gained him entry to the next round of the competition. After the fearsome Simon Cowell told him "Very few people walk into this audition room with a natural talent like yours", Leon's first response was to call his mother and tell her he loved her. "I live with my mum, who has been a single parent for nearly all my life," he says. Scroll down for more .. Finalists: (left to right) Same Difference, Rhydian and Leon "She had to rear me by herself and it was a tough job. "She had to play mum, dad and friend. She has supported me all my life in everything. "She is a part-time receptionist in a doctor's surgery. I have no siblings, just me and my mum and my gran, who lives nearby. "My mum and dad separated when I was two. We never heard from him or that side of the family. "And then a family member came to see us in the last couple of years and informed us that he had passed away. I never knew him - he was a stranger. It has always been me and my mum. "Initially, I entered this competition because I was really passionate about singing. Every time I sang, my troubles disappeared. "I thought 'I am going to take this seriously,' and entered The X Factor. "Obviously, there are perks involved that are lifechanging, and I'd love to change my mum's life. "It was tough growing up. It would be an incredible feeling to be able to help her, so that she didn't have to worry about money any more. "But the other side of it is that I want a career in music and to do a job that involves my talent. "Singing is the only thing that makes me happy in this world."
December 17, 200718 yr Author Ofcom launches probe into X Factor voting after fans claim Rhydian was 'robbed' by DONNA McCONNELL - More by this author » Last updated at 18:30pm on 17th December 2007 Comments (120) Media watchdog Ofcom is looking into complaints from X Factor viewers who claim they could not get through to vote for runner-up Rhydian Roberts. Ofcom has received 80 complaints from viewers, which followed claims by the Welshman's supporters that he was robbed, as the voting lines were constantly engaged or unavailable. The Welsh singer was the hot favourite to win but narrowly lost out to Leon Jackson on Saturday night's show. Scroll down for more... X Factor probe: Telecoms watchdog Ofcom will probe complaints made by viewers that they were unable to vote for Welsh singer Rhydian Roberts Read more... X Factor winner Leon is hot favourite to land Christmas No 1 slot An Ofcom spoksesman said of the 80 complaints received: "They expressed concerns about the operation of the voting and many said they were struggling to get through." An X Factor spokeswoman denied any voting irregularities but the X Factor's message board and Rhydian fansites were flooded with complaints from fans claiming they could not get through to vote. Following the recent spate of television phone-in scandals, fans were quick to express their concerns. Scroll down for more... Leon's performance with Kylie was one of the night's highlights but fans felt Rhydian was robbed One disgruntled viewer wrote: "Rhydian was robbed in my view. For the last three minutes his line was blocked and that had not happened before". "As soon as Rhydian finished singing in the final showdown I tried to vote for him on at least 12 occasions within the allowed voting time (approx three minutes) only to hear a recorded message each time that the network was busy - try again later. "How many thousands of other people had a similar experience I wonder? Leon fans had a much longer time span to vote for him. What a con!" Scroll down for more... Despite losing the competition, loser Rhydian has still signed a contract with Simon Cowell's company Syco and is set to become a star Similarly, an online poll conducted by xfactorblogspot gave Rhydian 78 per cent with Leon just eight per cent. X Factor production company Talkback Thames admitted some viewers trying to register their votes were met with the engaged tone. But they blamed it on the sheer volume of calls and insisted the contest was not rigged. "As all numbers go through to the same lines and vote platform, it is impossible for there to be any bias in favour or against a particular contestant," a spokeswoman said. "Phone lines were monitored throughout the night and there were no issues on voting lines. "We do get a huge surge of calls and depending on phone operators some callers may have experienced an engaged tone or network busy message and therefore may have to call back, but these calls should not be charged. "Some Virgin Media customers did experience problems getting through because of high call volumes, but there were no other reported faults on the lines." Scroll down for more... Fans called for Simon Cowell to release both Rhydian's and Leon's versions of the X Factor single It is not the first time voting for the ITV1 talent show has come under scrutiny. A recent report by auditors Deloitte found "serious technical issues" with red button and text voting in previous series. During the 2005 X Factor final, 13.9 per cent of votes cast in this way arrived too late to be included, although it did not affect the outcome of the show. Three episodes of the 2006 series were also affected, with between 4 per cent and 7 per cent of votes received too late. And ITV has admitted overcharging X Factor viewers by £200,000 in last year's series, when 1.3 million red button votes were mistakenly charged at the wrong rate. Scroll down for more... The winner: A tearful Leon is consoled by X Factor host Dermot Rhydian fans flooded the ITV website with complaints and accusations that the contest was fixed. They expressed astonishment that 18-year-old Scot Leon had won the £1 million recording contract. "Not since Maradona's 'Hand of God' has British television witnessed such an outrageous injustice," said one. "Leon was way out of his league against Rhydian. Who on earth voted for him? He must have one huge family!" Another Rhydian fan wrote: "It is a travesty. I tried countless times to vote for Rhydian and couldn't get through. How many other people also couldn't vote for him? I like Leon, but he could not compare with Rhydian." "We tried at least 20-30 times during the show to vote for Rhydian and we kept getting a message saying 'you have not been charged for this call'," a fan complained, while another declared: "I have no doubt the show was a fix. "My wife tried to get through all evening to vote for Rhydian and only got an engaged tone." One Rhydian supporter challenged Simon Cowell to release both versions of new single When You Believe. "Come on, release both singles - Leon and Rhydian - and I know which I'll be buying. We'll have a Welshman at number one this Christmas," they said. But it is not all bad news for Rhydian. The 25-year-old opera singer is now under contract with Cowell's company Syco, and is expected to release a single of his own early next year meaning that he could go head to head in the singles chart with the young Scot.
December 22, 200718 yr Boy-next-bore more like. Someone buy that guy a personality, and a decent voice too.
December 23, 200718 yr Exactly, I had to look up his last name. Or like David Sneddon from Fame Academy.
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