{"id":307,"date":"2010-04-28T19:11:57","date_gmt":"2010-04-28T18:11:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/?p=307"},"modified":"2010-04-28T19:11:57","modified_gmt":"2010-04-28T18:11:57","slug":"number-1s-of-2010-25-april-2010","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/?p=307","title":{"rendered":"Number 1s of 2010 – 25 April 2010"},"content":{"rendered":"

Remember The X Factor<\/em>?\u00a0 Remember how I spent the better part of last autumn explaining how half the chart was connected to it?\u00a0 Well… it’s time for the reprise.<\/p>\n

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(And if you can’t see that one, here’s the YouTube link<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

This is “Once” by Diana Vickers<\/strong>.\u00a0 She came fourth in the 2008 series of The X Factor<\/em> (the one where Alexandra Burke won and JLS came second).\u00a0 Her role in that series was to be the alternative option.\u00a0 In practice, this meant that she warbled and yelped in a manner vaguely reminiscent of Dolores O’Riordan.\u00a0 Oh, and she couldn’t dance (or at least they had no confidence in her) so they generally did everything in their power to keep her stationary.<\/p>\n

Basically, you’re talking about performances like this.<\/p>\n

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Sometimes, attempts to let her remain stationery while doing upbeat songs resulted in some extremely questionable staging.<\/p>\n

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Nonetheless, it was always fairly clear that she was an X Factor<\/em> contestant who might actually make it in the real world.\u00a0 And indeed, Vickers is one of the rare X Factor<\/em> alumni to have escaped the clutches of Simon Cowell and established a proper career.\u00a0 Cowell passed on his option to sign her, and instead she ended up at RCA.\u00a0 Perhaps intending to break out of her “waif who can’t move” typecasting, she also spent three months starring in a West End revival of Little Voice<\/em>.<\/p>\n

“Once” is a slightly wonky record that can’t quite seem to make up its mind about how quirky it wants to be, but it does grow on you.\u00a0 It’s not going to manage a second week at number one, but it’s a promising start for her chart career.<\/p>\n

Also this week:-<\/p>\n