As expected, Rhydian Roberts, the runner up on last year's 'X-Factor', whose defeat, of course, led to accusations the show's phone in voting system was flawed, has been signed by Simon Cowell. According to the Sun, Roberts debut single will be released in the next couple of months, and his debut album may well be released ahead of that of the show's winner Leon Jackson, so that's nice.
In sort of related news, SonyBMG US's J Records division, which signs the winners of 'American Idol', has confirmed it has parted company with the show's 2006 winner Taylor Hicks. A somewhat non-committal statement from the major said: "Taylor is going to record on his own for the next album". Hick's eponymous debut studio album did enjoy success - debuting at number two and shifting 699,000 units - though the long player failed to match previous Idol albums in terms of passing the million units landmark and providing chart topping single material. Though Hicks did self-release two live albums prior to winning the pop reality show, so it is possible the decision to end the SonyBMG relationship was mutual.