[Rob Barron]

This year the X factor actually stands a chance of producing three stars who could go on anmd make true careers, not just become one-hit wonders.

Two who should definitely not be there are the MacDonald Brothers who frankly I wouldn't pay to sing at my funeral. Even if they are good enough to sing in pubs and clubs, would any of us honestly go out and pay for a CD of them singing? Not a chance! The other group are an embarrassment: Eton Road. They are truly cringing, especially that weird lead singer of theirs, Antony I think they call him. Because he has a 'different' voice, he was first labelled as 'unique' but he is now being seen for what he is: a bad falsetto who sings out of tune and who hasn't got the power in his lungs to sing proper high-registered songs. Actually the other three are passable and could probably make it to the lower reaches of career stardom if they ditched him (a very short-term novelty factor who people are already fed up with) and replaced him with someone else of mid-register tonal range.

Ok, three who genuinely could do well with the right management:
3rd: Ray: he has the ability to be the next Harry Connick Jnr but with his own unique look. Yes he is a baby-faced swing singer but there is nobody aroundlike him and there is plenty of market for his type of live performance. Not a huge star but enough to make a decent career out of.

2nd: Ben. Best gravelly voiced rocker since Joe Cocker. He has to learn to use hiw body to better effect and not just do the heavy rocker crouch every time he gets into it but he does have a voice that will sell and sell and plenty of people will go to see him in concert, especially with a couple of others on the bill.

1st by an absolute million miles: Leona. Now there is a star in the making if ever I saw one. I will personally guarantee she will have sold 5 million records in the next three years or I'll give you my Canon 20D! She has absolutely everything she needs to be an absolutely huge star: a fantastic voice that has performed better than the rest put together, she has the uniqueness of touch that makes every song her own even though they're classics mostly linked to other stars, she is extremely beautiful which makes her very marketable indeed and she is extremely likeable, not in the slightest big-headed. She has the X y and Z factor by the bucketload and the best thing about her is she doesn't know it!

If Leona doesn't win, then the British voting public should hang its collective head in shame. It should already do so for continually voting the Big Macs in week after week based only on their nationality and nothing to do with their performances. The worst thing about this show is that pre-pubescent girls all phone like their dialling finger is going to wear out to vote for pretty boy Antony who they seem to think is 'cute' and the final could end up looking stupid with Leona being voted off because teenaged girls don't vote for her.

I absolutely adore good music and good singing and am more than happy to watch the show to see if there is some genuinely good talent that might break through. We all know that most of them fade away very quickly. Steve, the last winner has had a couple of reasonably well selling albums but not much else. Alex who won Pop Idol with a genuinely good voice that was distinct made an album which now sells in bargain bins for £2.99 all because she made the big mistake of thinking the record buying public doesn't care if you are gay or not. Come out before you have made it really big and tell everyone you are a lesbian and you are cutting the throat of your career before you start, however unfair that may seem. People vote with their wallets and nothing the PC brigade can do will change that. Gareth Gates is now devoting most of his time to a new self-help group he has started for people with a stammer. I am delighted for him but his pop career has gone nowhere. Will Young has gone much the same way though he might just make it if he can add to his acting repertoire. Again made the mistake of telling the world he was gay before he had earnt the right to be famous entirely on the basis of his singing voice. It's a tough world we live in! Girls aloud are doing ok, still going and having reasonable success. One Voice, the male band formed at the same time, split before they had even started and didn't make a name for themselves at all.

Will Leona be different? Yes, I think she will: win or lose. She will get a good contract and will make it big both sides of the Big Pond. But whether she will win the X factor is sadly down to people not voting purely on being a teenaged guy and not voting based entirely on nationality rather than talent.

I actually avoid most of the early rounds of X factor because the idiots who just want their ten seconds of fame despite it being by going on national TV and looking a complete and utter prat really bug me. At least when we get to the final 12 we have a reasonable chance of being entertained.

Cheers,
Rob