Steve Brookstein biography
Stephen Desmond "Steve" Brookstein (born 10 November 1968) is an English jazz and soul singer, who enjoyed a brief period of popular success in the UK in 2004 after winning the first series of The X Factor. He is originally from Mitcham, South London.
Career
1997
In 1997, seven years before his breakthrough on
The X Factor, Brookstein was a finalist on the ITV series
The Big Big Talent Show, hosted by Jonathan Ross.
2004: The X Factor
In early 2004, Brookstein auditioned for the first series of
The X Factor, a new television talent show that aimed to discover a star recording artist in the UK (effectively replacing
Pop Idol). His audition failed to impress two of the judges, Sharon Osbourne and Louis Walsh, who thought he lacked the motivation and confidence to succeed but the third, Simon Cowell, thought he was "that good" that he asked Brookstein to return the following day and sing again. At the second audition, Brookstein managed to impress the other judges and was put through to the next stage of the competition. He went on to reach the live shows, where contestants are put to the public vote, as one of three contestants in the Over 25s category mentored by Cowell. He reached the grand final on 11 December 2004 alongside G4, and won despite a controversial outburst against him from Osbourne. However, according to Sharon Osbourne's subsequent autobiography, he had gained the most votes in every single one of the live shows. For five years, he held the record for the greatest number of votes ever received in the final - 6 million, but this is now held by series 6 winner Joe McElderry, who received over 6.1 million votes.
After winning The X Factor, Brookstein was immediately signed to the Sony BMG record label through which he released his first single, a cover of "Against All Odds" on 20 December 2004. The song debuted on the UK Singles Chart at number 2 and then climbed to number 1 on 2 January 2005, staying there for one week. In Ireland, the song peaked at number 11. The music video for the song was a montage of clips from his time on The X Factor, from his initial audition to his final performance after being declared the winner.
Brookstein released his debut album Heart and Soul on 9 May 2005 through Sony BMG. The album was a success, also debuting on the UK charts at number one and going on to sell approximately 250,000 copies. Although Brookstein continued to perform tracks from the album on television shows such as , a second single failed to materialise. In August 2005 it was announced that Sony BMG had dropped him from their line-up only eight months after his X Factor victory and despite the success of his debut single and album. Brookstein maintains that the decision to drop him reportedly came after he was offered a second album and to come back on the show, which he declined as it was to be another album of covers and he preferred a mix of old and new.
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