Lest we forget the X Factor alumnus who actually has a song to promote...

We at The Pop Web would obviously, along with the rest of the Internet, like to extend our congratulations to Joe McElderry for coming out just before the release of his second single at such a young age. Role model, brave, etc.

All joking aside, this appears to have been very well-handled, and is undoubtedly the best thing all round both for Joe's welfare and his public profile ahead of the inevitable intense public scrutiny which will come both from this announcement and the upcoming album launch.

That said, we don't really want to talk about Joe, we (inexplicably) want to talk about the runner up in the 2009 X Factor, Olly Murs. You know, the one who seemed to be the lovechild of Will Young and Gary Barlow. The one who, whilst not our cup of tea, had the unenviable task of somehow trying to stop Robbie Williams forgetting the lyrics to his own song. (Let's set aside for now the fact that despite this being the final of the biggest singing competition of the year, the whole thing still managed to sound no better than your average drunken pub singalong).

Anyhoos, we really didn't have high hopes for the inevitable "runner-up" career which Olly was clearly going to be launching (and not just because we were devout Stacy Solomon fans). Yet, six months have now passed, winter's schmaltzy light entertainment has given way to the hot piercing glare of a crowded Summer music scene and Olly has stepped back into the limelight with new single Please Don't Let Me Go. Here's the video. It's a bit stately.



A few points to note. Firstly, if you thought "he sounds a bit like Will Young" when he performed on the X-Factor, you'll be pleased to know that absolutely no effort has been put into disguising this similarity on this record. Oh well, we suppose that if Will himself can't crack the top 10 with an amazing single then we suppose we can't object too strongly at the presence of his vocal doppelganger having a stab at it.

Secondly, this video pleasingly contains a staircase-based dance routine. This, we feel is a highly underutilised tool in the pop arsenal and, we would further suggest, is what saved Hear'Say's Loving Is Easy from being a complete train-wreck.

Thirdly, and this is probably the most important bit. Please Don't Let Me Go is actually not bad at all. I mean, yes, it might as well come with a health warning saying "this will only sound good in Summer" as any single released by a Caucasian with something approaching a reggae beat inevitably does. Lyrically, it doesn't exactly break poetic barriers, but it does the job, which is to make Olly look something approaching a credible pop star. If you are expecting a modern day Bohemian Rhapsody, you were always going to be solidly disappointed. The fact is, that this is solid stuff, which is all it really needs to be. It's a likable, pleasant Summer single which, at the very least, is a much better introduction to a post-X Factor career than The Climb turned out to be for Joe.

Time will tell whether this is the start of a long and lucrative pop career for Murs. What we will say, however, is that it's a perfectly competent first step. And frankly, if Will Young's time in the commercially--viable spotlight is over, we could think of worse replacements.

That said, it'll probably be best all round if Olly learns his lesson from last December and doesn't return any of Robbie's calls.