Whatever Happened to The Past Winners of The X Factor?

Since the tenth series of The X Factor began this Saturday on ITV, I decided to do a retrospective to whatever happened to the past winners of the popular talent show. 

Just to let you know the ninth series winner James Arthur does not count as it's too early to do a retrospective article on him since he'll be releasing his debut album presumably later this month or earlier next month although there is a retrospective episode on The Xtra Factor airing a week before the beginning of the series. 

Plus the Top 40 singles are correct as of the date of this article plus collaborative singles count.

The next article will involve what happened to the runner-ups of the show, plus another one focusing on what happened to the third place finalists and the final one focusing on what happened to the fourth place finalists.

Steve Brookstein (2004)

Mentor: Simon Cowell

Category: Over-25s

UK Top 40 singles: Only one hit: "Against All Odds" (cover of the Phil Collins classic, 2005, #1)

UK Top 40 albums: Only one hit: Heart and Soul (2005, #1)

Start of music career: We know that this jazz singer won the very first series of the franchise. The 36-year-old Londoner wowed audiences during autumn 2004, though received criticism from other judges Sharon Osbourne and Louis Walsh. He won the show in December 2004, beating out other favourites, operatic pop boyband G4 and had a number-one single and album on January and May 2005, respectively.

What went wrong: Unfortunately, his fame crumbled as a follow-up to his cover of the Phil Collins classic "Against All Odds", failed to materialise, despite performing songs from shows such as ITV's rival to Top of the Pops, cd:uk. Also, he had a falling out with manager Simon Cowell and refused to record a second album of covers, resulting his ejection from Syco.

After this, he has become a critic of the show, even supported Rage Against the Machine's 2009 campaign to have their song "Killing in the Name" to top the UK charts during Christmastime and has released another album, 40,000 Things in 2006, which charted on a dismal 165th place in UK albums chart, also the single from the album "Fighting Butterflies" only charted at number 193 in the UK singles chart.

My views on Brookstein: Forget about Brookstein, that man is definitely the greatest X Factor flop.

Shayne Ward (2005)

Mentor: Louis Walsh

Category: Under-25s

UK Top 40 singles: Six hits: "That's My Goal" (2005, #1), "No Promises" (cover of the Bryan Rice song, 2006, #2), "Stand by Me" (2006, #14), "If That's OK with You"/"No U Hang Up" (2007, #2), "Breathless" (2007, #6) and "Gotta Be Somebody" (cover of the Nickelback song, 2010, #12)

UK Top 40 albums: Three hits: Shayne Ward (2006, #1), Breathless (2007, #2) and Obsession (2010, #15)

Start of music career: 21-year-old Mancunian Ward won the show on December 2005 and became the only X Factor whose single was an original song. With this, he also began a consecutive string of Christmas number-ones by the winners. Ward experienced Top 40 successes from his two albums, including the R&B-tinged hit "No U Hang Up". 

After wrapping up his Breathless Tour in December 2008, Ward faded away from the spotlight and due to the major successes of Leona Lewis and Alexandra Burke, Ward did not record a new album until 2010, despite demoing new tracks during 2008 and 2009.

What went wrong: Ward released his comeback single on November 2010, a cover of the Nickelback song "Gotta Be Somebody" to moderate success, charting at number 12 in the United Kingdom, followed by his comeback album Obsession the same month.

Unfortunately, for Syco, Obsession charted at a measly 15 in the UK album charts. Also the album received mixed reviews from critics. Another single from the album, the title track, only charted at number 97 in February 2011. After this, he parted company with Syco by mutual consent. Since then, he has made appearances, such appearing in the West End adaptation of the pop metal-influenced musical Rock of Ages, when he played Stacee Jaxx in June 2011 and took part in this year's Dancing on Ice, only finishing eighth place.

My views on Ward: I feel sorry for Ward, who is no longer with Syco. Had he released Obsession earlier, he would've had a bigger hit.

Leona Lewis (2006)

Mentor: Simon Cowell

Category: Under-25s

UK Top 40 singles: Thirteen hits: "A Moment Like This" (cover of the Kelly Clarkson song, 2006, #1), "Bleeding Love" (2007, #1), "Better in Time"/"Footprints in the Sand" (2008, #2), "Just Stand Up!" (as part of the Artists Stand Up to Cancer, 2008, #26), "Forgive Me" (2008, #5), "Run" (2008, #1), "Happy" (2009, #2), "Stop Crying Your Heart Out" (cover of the Oasis song, 2009, #29), "Everybody Hurts" (as part of Helping Haiti, #1), "I Got You" (2010, #14), "Collide" (featuring Avicii, 2011, #4), "Hurt" (cover of the Nine Inch Nails song, 2011, #8) and "Trouble" (featuring Childish Gambino, 2012, #7).

UK Top 40 albums: Spirit (2007, #1), Echo (2009, #1), The Labyrinth Tour: Live from the O2 (2010, #4) and Glassheart (2012, #7)

Start of music career: 21-year-old Londoner Leona won the show thanks to her R&B-pop sound. This led to the launch of her successful career. After the success of "Bleeding Love" in the UK, it became a big hit in the US, followed by her debut album Spirit at the same time. After releasing five Top 5 singles, Leona began recording her next album Echo in 2009. Echo was released in the same year and despite an incident occurring during a book signing, it was a commercial success, following the number-two hit "Happy" in September 2009.

What went wrong: After "I Got You" became her least-successful single, Leona began recording more songs for a possible reissue of Echo. However the reissue was scrapped as Leona began to record a new album, which would become a complete departure from her usual R&B sound to more dance-pop sound, with Glassheart.

Glassheart was scheduled to be released on November 2011 following the success of "Collide" after settling an agreement with then-unknown Avicii, who threatened to sue her for having an unauthorised sample of his instrumental song "Penguins". However, Lewis began to record more songs and the album was pushed back to early 2012. To satisfy fans, Leona released a cover of "Hurt" by industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails in December 2011, which became a Top 10 hit. What's more worse is that Rihanna's megahit "We Found Love" was originally recorded by Lewis as a collaboration with Calvin Harris, but the song was rejected as a single.

But it was pushed back again in November 2012, however Lewis scrapped some songs by changing the sound again to more trip hop influenced sound. The proper lead single "Trouble", featuring Childish Gambino (better known as 30 Rock writer and Community actor Donald Glover) became a number seven hit in October 2012, unfortunately Glassheart became her least-successful and the follow-up "Lovebird" failed to chart.

However, she may be getting a proper comeback as she is currently recording her fourth album, reported to be a mix of Christmas songs and Motown classics, out later this year.

My views on Lewis: I appreciate Leona and I'm happy that she still in Syco, but I'm angry that her success is now overshadowed by the ridiculous One Direction's ongoing popularity.

Leon Jackson (2007)

Mentor: Dannii Minogue

Category: Boys (Under-25s)

UK Top 40 singles: Just two hits: "When You Believe" (cover of the Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston song, 2007, #1) and "Don't Call This Love" (2008, #3)

UK Top 40 albums: Only one hit: Right Now (2008, #4)

Start of music career: 19-year-old Scot Jackson became the first (and so far, only) non-English winner of the show thanks to his soulful sound, beating out fellow rival Welsh operatic contestant Rhydian Roberts. After this, "When You Believe" became a Christmas number-one of 2007 and in October 2008, he had another successful hit with "Don't Call This Love".

What went wrong: After the success of his debut album and the sophomore single "Don't Call This Love", Jackson released the third single "Creative" in November 2008, which charted to a disappointing number 94 in the UK singles chart, despite performing the song in Children in Need. This got a lot worse when the next single "Stargazing", which came out two months later, was a commercial disappointment, resulting in him being dropped by Syco due to this happening.

A year later, a poll on Digital Spy confirmed Jackson was the second biggest reality TV flop, even Jackson began to disown "When You Believe" and called his win a "curse". He has been out of the spotlight as he is currently writing songs for his next album, which he has said that it will be more acoustically than Right Now.

My views on Jackson: I did like Leon Jackson, to be honest but I don't think he was a bigger flop than Steve Brookstein, I would think that Joe McElderry was a bigger flop.

Alexandra Burke (2008)

Mentor: Cheryl Cole

Category: Girls (Under-25s)

UK Top 40 singles: Ten hits: "Hero" (as part of The X Factor Finalists series 5, 2008, #1), "Hallelujah" (cover of the Leonard Cohen song, 2008, #1), "Bad Boys" (featuring Flo Rida, 2009, #1), "Broken Heels" (2010, #8), "Everybody Hurts" (as part of Helping Haiti, 2010, #1), "All Night Long" (featuring Pitbull, 2010, #4), "Start Without You" (featuring Laza Morgan, 2010, #1), "The Silence" (2010, #16), "Elephant" (featuring Erick Morillo, 2012, #3) and "Let It Go" (2012, #33)

UK Top 40 albums: Just two hits: Overcome (2009, #1) and Heartbreak on Hold (2012, #18)

Start of a music career: 20-year-old Islington native Burke won the show, beating out R&B-influenced boyband JLS. After this, her debut "Hallelujah" became the most successful single by an X Factor winner. Her next single "Bad Boys" became another hit for her, when it also notable for making Robbie Williams' duet with Gary Barlow, "Shame" number two. Four Top 20 singles soon followed.

What went wrong: After the Overcome era had ended, Burke began recording her next album during 2011. The lead single of the follow-up album Heartbreak on Hold, "Elephant" was a number three hit during March 2012, but met with mixed reviews from critics. After this, the next single "Let It Go" was a commercial disappointment as it charted at number 33. Also Heartbreak on Hold charted at a disappointing number 18 in the UK Albums Chart.

After this, Burke began writing songs for her next album and eventually left Syco in late 2012 and left RCA on June 2013.