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Shayne and ChicoShayne to quit?
We’re fighting back the tears after hearing rumours that so few tickets have been sold for the forthcoming X Factor Live tour that Shayne Ward’s manager, Louis Walsh, is trying to pull his protégé out of the 25-date showcase.

And while the 11 other finalists are all happy to perform at venues including Glasgow, Newcastle, Birmingham, and Sheffield, Louis is apparently keen to distance Shayne from the ITV reality show.

“Louis knows he will get sued to hell and back if he negates on the tour contract, but he is desperate to disassociate Shayne from the show,” said an industry insider. “Only six dates have sold out and the tour begins in less than ten days time.”


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Now c’mon, dear readers. If every one of us picks up the phone and calls that ticket hotline, we can pull this thing off. Remember: the show must go on!

In other X Factor news, it’s been revealed that washboard-gutted non-singing sensation Chico – together with Brenda and Liberty X – were caught up in a riot at a family fun day. Around 200 ill-mannered youths went on the rampage at London’s EXCEL centre show to celebrate the London Olympics. Parents and kiddywinks stampeded when police stormed the event, which was attended by 32,000 people.

“I heard someone say they had seen a gun and everyone went crazy,” said a show-goer. One man was later arrested for carrying an offensive weapon. You’ll be relieved to learn, however, that Chico and co are safe and well. wanadoo

EXCLUSIVE: X-SHOW ASSAULT
EXCLUSIVE Cop quiz after pop gig


THE X-Factor pop tour was plunged into crisis after a girl accused one of the show's workers of sexual assault, The People can reveal.

She claimed she had been attacked in a hotel room following one of the gigs. Detectives quizzed the worker on Friday.

Stars of the ITV talent show, including winner Shayne Ward, Chico, Journey South and Andy Abraham, are currently playing to packed houses on a 25-date nationwide tour.

Police were called after their show at the Metro Radio Arena in Newcastle upon Tyne on Thursday night. The singers and their crew had all returned to the Marriott Hotel, close to the sprawling Metrocentre shopping mall. It is not known if the alleged victim was with the X-Factor team, a guest at the hotel or a fan. The whole X-Factor party remained in the hotel on Friday night following a second gig in the city.

As they checked out yesterday morning, a member of the crew refused to comment on the allegation.

He said the man involved, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, had already left the hotel.



When asked about the allegation, he would only say: "I don't know what you're talking about."

The stars of the show then boarded a coach with blacked-out windows. They headed to Glasgow for their next tour dates at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre last night and tonight.

When asked about the claim, a Northumbria police spokesman said: "I'm obviously aware of what you are talking about.

"This is a sensitive issue. We're investigating the allegation."

Later last night police revealed three men had been held.

A spokesman said: "Three males have been arrested in connection with an assault which occurred at the Marriott Hotel over the evening of the February 16-17.

"All three have been bailed pending the result of further inquiries.

"One male was 38. The other two are 37. The injured person was a female." Sundaypeople

Tue 21 Feb 2006
THE X FACTOR TOUR SECC, GLASGOW **

IT WOULD be foolish to expect a light entertainment TV show such as The X Factor to actually produce a bona fide pop star for our times, but it should at least provide a dash of disposable popcorn fun for all the family. Sadly, its offshoot tour does not even manage that.

Despite the best efforts of the reliably excitable all-ages audience to generate some atmosphere where the inexperienced performers failed, this was a flat, formulaic, formatted experience, involving nine of the 12 finalists performing a mini-set in turn, with varying degrees of bearability.

Youngsters Nicholas and Philip floundered in the spotlight, pub rock ate itself during Journey South's clodhopping U2 medley and an audible groan greeted the arrival of the Conway Sisters, a sub-Nolans singing sorority in horrible Eighties throwback outfits.

Binman Andy - runner-up on the show - was a class act, despite having to compete with two fake candelabras and an unintentionally comical interpretative dance routine during his version of Stevie Wonder's Lately.

Cheesy Chico milked his moment in the sun and hosted a shambolic X Factor audition with three hapless audience members. In contrast, winner Shayne Ward was thoroughly slick and efficient in his impersonation of a nondescript boy band member punting his bloodless new single.

And an anaemic, anticlimactic rendition of You've Got A Friend, featuring all the acts, was what passed for a rousing finale.

theScotsman