Steve Brookstein

Initially Brookstein failed to impress the judges of X Factor but Cowell took a shining to him and asked him to re audition, he came back and this time got everybody's attention and then went on to be the first ever winner of X Factor.  He beat the X Factor favourites G4 by achieving over two thirds of the public vote.

Debut Album

Following on from his win on X Factor 2004 he was signed to Sony BMG records and released his first single "Against All Odds", the song entered the charts at number two and climbed to number one the following week.  He followed this with his debut album entitled "Heart & Soul" in May 2005; it went to number and sold approximately 250,000 copies. However this was to be his last release for Sony BMG as he refused to record a second album of cover versions instead wanting to release his own songs, he was quickly dropped by the label.

What Happened to Steve Brookstein?

After being dropped by Sony BMG Brookstein formed his own record label and released his second single "Fighting Butterflies", this failed to impress and hit number 193 in the charts.  He released his follow up album "40,000 Things" which only sold 7,000 copies and got to number 165 in the charts.

Find out what happpened to other X Factor contestants after the show.