Former X Factor contestant Maria Lawson is set to release a new album in early 2010.

Maria was evicted from the 2005 series when Louis Walsh chose to save the crappy Conway Sisters over her. She is currently starring in Thriller Live.

Lawson has revealed that her second album ‘Emotional Rollercoaster’ will feature a track written by Diane Warren (who has previously worked with Whitney Houston and Toni Braxton) and has been produced by Brian Rawling.

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It would seem that the fifth week of an X Factor series, is a particularly dangerous time for any talented female contestants taking part.

Last night we saw young Lucie Jones getting voted off after Simon voted to save John and Edward Grimes. The backlash today has been enormous, just read the fans comments on any of our posts on the decision. However if you cast your minds back this is not the first time such a controversial eviction has occurred.

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Don’t forget that two of last year’s contestants have singles out this week, Maria Lawson and Chico.

Maria’s debut single, Sleepwalking, can be picked up in stores across the UK and is looking like it will definitely storm the charts.

Chico’s single is also out this week. It’s called C.H.I.C.O and is a cover of the D.I.S.C.O classic.

I have to admit to having a bit of a crush on Maria Lawson from last year’s X-Factor, and I’ve been waiting for her to release a single since she was cruelly booted out by Louis Walsh.

I caught Maria’s new single Sleepwalking on The Box(I think?) a couple of weeks ago. It’s quite a slick tune, bit of a smooth urban vibe, and the video reminds me of Craig David’s Seven Days with Maria witnessing a series of mishaps then reliving them and helping to prevent them.

You can catch a snippet of the video on the Maria Lawson website, and according to the blurb Sleepwalking is coming out on 14 August.

By the way, I wasn’t impressed with the gallery. They’ve airbrushed Maria to hell and it’s not nice, takes away from her natural beauty. Grrr!

What did you guys think?

Anyone who watched last years X Factor series will remember the outrage when Louis Walsh voted to send bookies favourite Maria Lawson home in favour of the mediocre Conway Sisters.

Well it seems that Maria has bounced back in a bid to prove Louis wrong, and is set to launch her debut album next month.

Maria told The Sun Online: “I’m so excited that my first single Sleepwalking is coming out. It’s really catchy and has such a great summer vibe.”

She continued: “I’m really pleased I took my time in making sure it was just right. The video was really fun too. We shot it in London and it’s got a pretty amazing storyline that I think everyone will love.”

She added: “This summer is going to be full of exciting things – as well as Sleepwalking, I’m doing loads of photo shoots and gearing up for the release of my album in August.”

Maria Lawson, the X Factor favourite who was controversially booted off in favour of the much lesser talented Conway Sisters has just signed a record deal while travelling the country with the X Factor tour.

Maria was offered deals by four major record companies but chose to sign with Sony BMG subsidiary Phonogenic.

Her debut album, which she will write herself, is due out in September following the release of a single in June.

The star said: “All I promise is great songs, some with elements of pop, some with elements of soft rock, and some with elements of soul.

“I can’t believe I’m doing this, I can’t believe I’m going to LA to work with people I have respected for ages on my own album.”

I came accross this request today on eBays Want It Now section. This fella really is keen but she only left the X Factor a few weeks ago, I don’t think she’s had time to release anything yet mate!

On last weeks show after the shock eviction of Maria Lawson, vocal coach to the over 25s, Mark Hudson was obviously gutted.

When interviewed by Ben Shephard for The Xtra Factor he said Hudson said: “It’s killing me, I don’t have words. I love you Maria and I’m sorry.”

Mark also admitted that he regretted choosing the song ‘Brown Sugar’ for Maria to sing saying that if they had “played it safe instead, things might have been different.”

I am not sure however that song choice played as big a role in Marias eviction as people may think. Sure, it wasn’t her best performance but it was still excellent in comparison to many of the other acts that night. I prefer to believe that Maria fans were just complacent, thinking that she didn’t need their votes. People who like Chico for instance know what a fine line he is treading and how much every vote counts for him, but Maria was a different kettle of fish. She outperformed most of the other acts week after week. She had the wow factor and the public simply couldn’t conceive her being kicked off the show.

It just shows how wrong we can be and how vulnerable each and every contestant on the X Factor stage really is!

Who’s sorry now, Messrs Cowell and Walsh?

It seems cold, harsh reality has hit X Factor public enemies #1 and #2. As Tabby reported earlier, Simon Cowell has had a change of heart about voting for the Conway Sisters.

Well, it seems Louis Walsh is back on his medication and is kicking himself for supporting the Conway Sisters, in no small part because they haven’t actually bothered to thank him for his intervention!

The Conways didn’t need the bad press that they got on last week’s show. In some ways, I’m expecting ‘Mariagate’ to speed up the departure of the girl group.

The Conway Sisters are not good enough to win this competition. Maria was in my top 4 contestants I would have tipped to win. So, do the maths folks – expect the Irish pop pixies to be exiting stage right this Saturday night. They’re going to be up against one helluva hostile audience…

When interviewed after leaving the X Factor competition Maria admitted “Everyone knows what happened. It was obvious. I have been the victim of what Sharon called the Irish Mafia. I guess that was quite shocking but the girls are still there because they’re Irish.”

But Irishman Louis hit back saying: “It’s not because I know them or they’re Irish.

“I could only judge on Saturday night’s performance.”

According to a Mirror Exclusive Simon Cowell admitted only 5 minutes after the end of the X factor show last week that he already regretted sending Maria home.

Simon Cowell confessed: “I made the wrong decision. If I’d have had five minutes more to think about it, I would have sent The Conway Sisters home.

“I acted out of loyalty, but this show is about talent. Maria should have stayed. The Conways don’t have a chance of winning this competition.”

Its a bit late now isn’t it Simon!

I miss X-Factor for one night and what happens? They kick out my favourite act!

Well, I’m pretty bloody angry that Maria got voted out this week. Another performer getting tripped up by a bad song choice, then mercilessly shafted by a tone deaf judge. Louis, I’m not happy about this, but I’ll deal with you in another post….

Anyway folks, the blogosphere has gone nuts with people complaining that the whole thing’s a fix and that the judges are no better than animals.

Black mask feels that “the conway [sisters] are the same every [beep] week” and that the competition isn’t about talent, despite what the judges say.

Chig (and virtually everybody else) reckons the Conways were saved simply because they’re Irish. Simon’s not sure what to make of the Irish Mafia comparisons, but points out that it was the public who put Maria in the bottom two.

Graeme thinks voting Maria off was “single handedly the worst piece of television” in his life.

And the most heart-warming: Kargo has started a Petition For Maria on Blogspot, asking well wishers to leave a comment there. Sadly, he/she doesn’t actually mention what the petition is expected to achieve! Ah well, go ahead and sign it anyway!

For my part, if Louis is going to vote tactically, then maybe we should do the same. How about we encourage all our friends and family not to buy the new Westlife or Girls Aloud records?

The X Factor brought a mixed bag of performances tonight. Louis picked better songs for his acts and Simon didn’t pick any, with his 2 remaining acts preferring to choose their own tracks.

Once again here’s our chart for this week

1. Andy Abraham: Andys performance tonight was outstanding. He proved that he can move between decades and genres effortlessly and sing any song that he is given. Andy has the power to make me believe every word he sings. I really believed tonight when watching him on stage that Andy was going to take me to bed and make love to me like I wanted him to! If only!
2. Journey South: You will have noticed that until this point Journey South have always been placed in the middle of our weekly chart. I liked them but was not wholly excited by them. When i heard they were doing ‘Living on a prayer’ by Bon Jovi I almost yawned. I anticipated another pub band performance, but I hold my hands up and admit I was wrong. The only thing I didn’t like about their performance tonight was Carls white leather jacket. I thought they adapted the song well to suit their voices. Their performance was extremely tight, much more so than The Conway Sisters, and I thought the live guitar solo was a nice touch. I agree with Sharon when she says that Carl looks a bit like a “Deer caught in the headlights” but Andy more than makes up for it with his confident stage presence. Tonight I thought Journey South showed a bit of personality, that’s what I like to see.
3. Brenda Edwards: Brenda once again gave an amazingly polished and professional performance. Simon think she is “the most improved contestant” from the audition stage until now and I think most of us would agree. If Brenda keeps doing her Diva thing she has a real chance of making it to the final stage of the competition.
4. Maria Lawson: Maria is one of the few X Factor contestants who looks like she owns the stage when she is performing. When she performed the Rolling Stones hit Brown Sugar she was extremely nervous, not that anyone could tell. She gave it her all and performed brilliantly. It wasn’t my favourite performance of hers, and I don’t think that Rock Chick is her niche but she rose well to the challenge that Mark and Sharon set for her and did not deserve to leave.
5. Shayne Ward: Shayne’s version of ‘Cry Me A River’ was much better than his performance last week, but it didn’t excite me in any shape or form. I thought the backing track was much too loud and masked a lot of his vocals which seemed average and at times slightly flat. His image was much improved and he certainly looked the part. I’m sure he broke a few teenage hearts tonight! His dance routine was also commendable and added a bit of life to his performance. Simon and Sharon were impressed though and Simon thinks he could be the UKs best selling male solo artist in the next 2 years.
6. The Conway Sisters: Another mediocre performance. I love this song and they sang it quite well, though at times it was ever so slightly out of tune and time. The problem I had is that it all looked a bit forced. In a previous performance Maria was commended for making her performance appear effortless, these girls performances are the absolute opposite. They look like they are really trying to mean every word, but actually aren’t feeling it at all. It was nice to see the piano being played live, and they obviously really want to stay in the competition but they lack the polish and personality of fellow acts like Journey South and this shows in their low number of public votes.
7. Nicholas Dorsett: Again Louis picked a much better song for Nicholas this week, though it was still a bit predictable. He looked nervous and uncomfortable and very very scared. Simon hit the nail on the head when he said “your performance was was like having dinner with your mentor, pleasant but forgettable”. What more can I say?
8. Chico Slimani: We all know it, its time Chico faced up to it, vocals are not his forte! He can dance, he can perform, he definately brings a lot of personality to the stage, but he can’t sing very well. His performance was often out of tune and very often the backing singers were louder than him (which wasn’t a bad thing!). Chico is lucky the public like him because by rights he really should ha ve been out tonight.Next week I think he should try a Right Said Fred track. Thats much more up his street!

Over to you guys – what did you think of Saturday night’s show?

It seems as though no one expected Maria to go, certainly not the X Factor studio audience who boo’ed Louis when he announced he was sending her home, and later The Conway Sisters as they were interviewed by Ben Shephard for The Xtra Factor. And if you read this blog post or this it would seem that the general public were as shocked as the studio audience!

Maria was one of the shining lights in the X Factor competition. She didn’t just sing, she shone! She owned the stage, and looked as if she belonged there and she knew it. Her song last night was certainly not her best, but her performance was still outstanding and better than many others who are still in the competition.

It certainly seems unfair that Louis would choose The Conway Sisters over Maria just because he knows them and they have worked with Westlife before. It is unlikely that The Conway Sisters will get much further in the competition, they have been in the bottom two acts before so obviously they are not inspiring the public to vote for them. As Sharon Osbourne said the X Factor competition should be about talent, not what country you are from or who you know better.

My predictions on who will win the competition are all up in the air now as I really believed that Maria had an excellent chance of at least making it to the finals. I’m hoping now that Brenda and Andy can last until that stage, but you never know what will happen next week!

Maria Lawson – Brown Sugar or Satisfaction by The Rolling Stones
Andy Abraham- I’ll Make Love to You by Boyz II Men
Shayne Ward – Cry Me a River by Justin Timberlake
Brenda Edwards – Heartbreaker by Mariah Carey
Chico Slimani- Hero by Enrique Iglesias
Journey South – Living On a Prayer by Bon Jovi
Nicholas Dorsett- I Believe I Can Fly by R Kelly
The Conway Sisters : Hold On by Wilson Philips

I think the song choices are great this week, the only one I am really unsure about is Nicholas’ song. It’s a bit karaoke!

I can’t wait to see Maria doing a Rolling Stones number, they definately aren’t playing safe with her songs! Roll on Saturday!