According to reports in The Sun, X-Factor 2007 winner Leon Jackson has been dropped from his record label following poor sales of his debut album.

It’s hardly earth-shattering news, is it?

I interviewed him last year and he was a likeable enough young chap but sorely lacking in charisma. I met Same Difference the week after and they had more star-quality, which tells you all you need to know.

At the risk of stating the obvious, there are loads of people out there with good singing voices. Go to any half-decent karaoke night anywhere in the country and the chances are you’ll find at least one punter who could hold their own against Leon.

Conversely, there are plenty of successful recording artists who couldn’t touch him in the vocal department. Without putting too fine a point on it, two of them were on the judging panel last year.

It just goes to show that winning a TV talent show is no guarantee of success if you don’t have that extra something. That’s why it’s called the X-Factor.