Shayne Ward

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Since Shayne Ward won ITV talent show The X Factor, his life has changed dramatically.

The 23-year-old from Manchester went from working as a sales assistant to having a number one single and album.

With his last single Stand By Me stalling at number 14 in the UK charts, Ward is hoping his next song, If That's OK With You, will steer him back into the top 10.

Ward's predecessor Steve Brookstein enjoyed a brief career before being dropped by his record label.

But the Mancunian lists three credentials he thinks makes him different, and will help keep him in the public eye for longer.

He says he is a "focused, determined and honest" person.

"I'm going to be around for a long time and I don't think it's a vain thing to say," he says.

"I have what it takes and the record company knows that."

So what makes him so sure that he is not about to disappear off the fickle and cruel pop radar?

He reckons it is all down to the choice of music and personality.

"It's a major thing if you get the right song - it's incredible," he says.

"The audience has got to like you as a person to buy your sounds as well," he adds.

"I'm very honest with my fans as well and I have got some great songs which is one of the main things you need."

Things have been fairly quiet for Ward in the UK recently, but he is quick to point out this is because he has been touring Asia.

Having watched last year's X Factor winner Leona Lewis grab all the headlines since she took the title, one cannot help wondering if he feels sidelined.

He's like Marmite - you either love it or you don't.

Music mogul Simon Cowell said his team would do "everything in our power to make her an international star", landing her a £5m US record deal.

Despite this, Ward is adamant Cowell's record label Syco Music still believes in him, but concedes Lewis's rise has been well-documented.

"They have thrown a lot of money at me, they have backed me 100% as well, it's just that Leona has been broadcast more," he says.

'No regrets'

So what about Cowell - the man who helped propel Ward into an overnight star?


"He's like Marmite - you either love it or you don't," says the singer. "I love it," he adds laughing.

"He's got a great coolness about him and when he walks into a room I think everybody can see he's got this great aura about him and he knows it," he adds.

Ward is still glad he took part in The X Factor, despite the tears he shed and anxieties he laid bare on live TV.

"No regrets whatsoever. I absolutely loved every minute of it," he says.

"If The X Factor and shows like it can help people achieve what they want to do then I back it 100%."

He neatly sidesteps controversy when talking about the sacking of former X Factor host Kate Thornton, who has been replaced by Dermot O'Leary.

"Sometimes people just change things for the good of the show - and I think she was great as she was there but Dermot's going to be great as well," he says.

Shayne is quick to praise the work of his manager Louis Walsh, who was recently reinstated to his position of X Factor judge.

"He was definitely part of a formula which worked, and I don't think he should have been got rid of in the first place," he says.

When asked if he thought sacking and then bringing him back was a publicity stunt, he cheekily answers: "Who knows? You decide".

Shayne Ward's single, If That's Ok With You, can be downloaded from 23 September and is out on CD on 24 September


Taken from :http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6926382.stm
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