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I love this song! Ok it's basically a dance remix of an old song, but it's soooo catchy, and in a good way - not an 'annoyingly catchy' sort of way. Who doesn't sing along to those 'oooh-oooh-oooh' parts?!

You summed up the universal appeal of this song exactly as I think - just in a much better way than I would be able to describe it. It's just one of those great enjoyable music moments that anyone can enjoy at any time.

I wonder if Babs loves it ?

Barbra Streisand?

OOOH OOH OOH OOOH OOOOH!

4 stars, it lost one for being a bit of a gimmick. :)

BARBRA STREISAND.

5 STARS

Who else loves the artwork?

ME!

OMG RIGHT!

Simon wants Joe to go to #1 this week, yeah? So why did he give Diva fever (his own act) the song that's going to beat Joe to #1?

AND THEN... he had the cheek to go and say "I reckon this song could be #1 tomorrow", to make himself look good; to make his predictions and "music know-how" look good.

Ugh, he makes me sick.

I also just heard on Digital Spy, to much surprise, that someone performed it on XF.

But Oddie, I wouldn't say this song will 'beat' Joe to no.1 - he'll be lucky to be in tomorrow's top 5.

I'm sure even Simon knows Joe won't be won't be #1, or he wouldn't of allowed someone to perform one of the songs that will be above him, if Joe had been #2 or #3 in the midweeks.

But yeah, hilarious how Simon thinks he knows it all. He knows (as we all do) his show influences the charts because of the amount of viewers it gets, then he makes convenient 'predictions' based on that! I have more knowledge in my little finger about how music works than he does. He just has the power to influence it, to try and make himself look good. But I will still be surprised if Duck Sauce are no.1 tomorrow - I don't think they will get enough downloads tonight alone from the XF performance to overtake Cee Lo and/or Bruno Mars (whoever is currently top), unless the figures are very close. Could easily happen though, seeing as the download charts have been close all week and there was no Friday midweeks. It could help them to the top of the charts next week though, but I reckon The Wanted will have themselves another no.1 instead.

Yeah right!

In regards to The Wanted, they're really looking promising aren't they? That second #1 with 'Heart Vacancy'. Originally it was released in the same week as Ne-Yo's 'One In A Million', which is ACTUALLY R&B rather than pop, as well as the tepid new offering from Jay Sean, '2012 (It Ain't The End)'.

But now that Ne-Yo is releasing on November 1 (against The Saturdays, Nadine Coyle, McFly, Ellie Goulding and Roll Deep), it's looking more promising for The Wanted boys, even though Jay Sean's '2012 (It Ain't The End)' has a strong attraction already.

I think since the success of JLS, the big record labels have realised that there is still a huge market for good-looking (apparently) boybands to sell to young girls. That showed with The Wanted by their debut song reaching no.1 despite having no support from Radio 1, because they did run quite an extraordinary promotional campaign for the song which ran for several months leading up to the song's release. Now they've somewhat established themselves they will be looking to build on that success with their 2nd single and upcoming album.

I don't mean to sound so cynical, and I don't begrudge them their success anyway, besides, they aren't awful. But it's obvious they are a record label product with a clear target audience. Not that that's anything new. But yes things are looking good for The Wanted. They should have another hit single next weekend and I think their album will sell reasonably well when it's out too.

Entered the charts at #3. So much for the all-knowing Simon thinking it would hit #1 today.

number two now.

Should get to number one for the real chart.

With the fact that Joe got nowhere near number 1 , even after a performance on X Factor , I hope this finally puts to bed the myth spread by Chart Blog regulars that X Factor winners who perform on the show will automatically have huge success . It is nearly ALWAYS about the appeal of a song in the pop world . Bad Boys had significantly more appeal than what Ambitions has . Much , much more . Is Joe the new Leon Jackson ?

I guess so me and my mum where talking about music yesterday and she said she really liked that Bad Boys song, and she rarely ever watches X Factor and if she does she says they're all boring. It didn't help Joe that his single sounded dangerously close to a Same Difference song.

Spirit, I'll remind you to not take the things kutox and I say out of context. Now you've made me write an essay.

We never said that "If someone performs on X Factor they immediately get huge success", we were more inclined to say that Simon Cowell knows how big a promoting tool The X Factor is, and so will use it to promote his own acts, and acts he's become friendly with (Katy Perry, Pixie Lott & Jason Derulo (for 'Coming Home'), the acts he knows will attract a huge audience (Usher), and the acts he can use as 'examples' of how his shows 'discover great talent' to convince people he knows a molecule about the way music works outside of his shows (Diana Vickers).

Nine times out of ten though, the acts that do perform are instantly propelled to chart-topping success (Katy Perry has jumped 101 places as of 9 o'clock this evening with 'Firework' after her performance). Granted Katy is a huge pop force right now, but the song wasn't even in the Top 100 before she performed. Look at Olly - we learnt everything there is to know about Olly during his time on The X Factor - his back-story, how he got into music, what his old occupation was etc., etc., and 'we' came to love him through that way - 'Please Don't Let Me Go' only hit #1 because he has a huge following, all thanks to the exposure The X Factor gave him.

As for Joe's single, well: it's a cover. People were disappointed with his first "real" single being a cover of a band who's been trying to get recognition in the UK for nearly a year. People saw it as unfair and typical Syco marketing. Then it spread like a virus through the internet and to the masses that he was ripping off Donkeyboy unfairly, and that 'Ambitions' was an awful cover of a good song; people were inclined to believe this even though many of them have probably never heard the original. Joe didn't stand a chance.

It didn't help that the song was horrifically auto-tuned and they'd completely changed the Joe we saw on The X Factor; Syco made Joe into something different and the result was the public feeling they'd been double-crossed; like Joe had turned on them. The Joe they had voted for had disappeared and what was left was an overtly hyperactive, falsetto-skrieking 'High School Musical' drop-out. He won fair and square and gathered a huge following while he did it (no difference to the rest of the winners), but the fickle public had moved on and found his return a complete change to why they voted for him in the first place, meaning he'd lost his biggest audience, and failed to win them back upon his return.

I hate to say it, but his coming out would've played a part in the poor performance of 'Ambitions' as well, because, even though many artists get by these days whilst being openly gay, Joe chose to come out just as the whole Donkeyboy scandal arouse, and then previewed 'Ambitions' which received a horribly prejudiced reception from Digital Spy, Pop Matters and We Are Pop [Derogatory Word For Women Beginning With 'S'] to name just a few off the top of my head (I don't know where Joe claims of it getting a "hugely positive reception" came from, probably 'The Mirror').
Many don't see the poor performance of 'Ambitions' as Simon's fault - a huge majority will just blame Joe for "trying to be Mika now that he's come out", as many of my friends have said.

As for Alexandra and Leona, they not only had infinitely more appealing songs to start their careers with, they had a lot more promotion: both songs being A-Listed on Radio 1 and getting constant airplay from nearly every other radio station in the country. Add to that the fact that the songs 'Bleeding Love' and 'Bad Boys' were released when their respective genres in popular music were huge - Joe has released a Mika/Same Difference/Scissor Sisters-esque song and expected to be the start of a huge turn around in popular music, from R&B/Dance to a more pop-y, freidnly kind of music that was big in 2006-2007. How on Earth even Simon Cowell's big head thought that that was possible, I'll never know.

It was never going to happen for Joe, right from the off you could tell he wasn't going to hit #1. The song was mediocre and out-dated by the modern R&B raiding the charts right now, plus, Simon gave Joe less hype than Leona or Alexandra; he even waited just TWO WEEKS before release befroe débuting the song on Radio 1! Both Leona and Alexandra had talk going around the nation two months prior to release and the singles were débuted a good month before release, so essentially, they had four week of A-List exposure for the masses, whilst Joe had two weeks of C-List exposure.

I never thought I'd say it, but it appears that not even The X Factor could've saved Joe, and just goes to show that it is NOT the show that guarantees #1; but Radio 1, mainstream radio, TV appearances, interviews, tabloid articles, etc., ALL contribute to success. The list aforementioned was something all the previous X Factor alumni who have enjoyed success were treated to, whilst Syco left Joe stranded in the dark with a rubbish song and a cringe-wrothy performance on The X Factor.

Love your passion Oddie .

Ambitions failed to make the Top 30 Radio Airplay Chart on day of release and this was an absolute disaster .

I know many. many people who are not aware that Joe has released his second single .

I was talking to the bass player of a very well known band last week and I asked him why they had released a certain song , as their next single ,as I felt there were clearly stronger songs on the album .

He told me that of the four songs that the band submitted to the Playlist Panel of the best radio station in the world , the station picked the one that they would definitely add to the playlist .

The bands choice as the next single was passed over and they were told that if they released it , it would probably not be played , as it didn't tick all the boxes etc for the station.

The record company have obviously released the track that is currently on the playlist , instead of the bands choice . It's airplay profile is progressing because of this.

Coming back to Ambitions , it appears a very weak choice as a lead single , and Joe and the record company must have done all their research and realised that it would get a muted reception at radio .
Why didn't they test the water with all the possible alternatives to score a radio airplay hit before release ?

They are ways and means to secure radio play but you must have a two way relationship with radio stations and prepare to adapt and amend to produce a win , win situation .

Whatever way you look at it , a "C" list placing and minimal plays at commercial radio , ranks as a missed opportunity , for a single as important in the foundation of Joe's career .

The next single HAS got to be huge !!!

The amount of people I heard singing this today was ridiculous, got on my nerves a bit though.

Were you at a Joe concert in Nottingham Harry ? lol

Ambitions looks set to have only 1 week in the top 10 and fall dramatically by Sunday . I know Joe will be disappointed but I hope he has a brilliant song up his sleeve to turn it around next time .

It's heavily rumoured Syco have already selected 'Real Late Starter' as the third single.

No dice. It's a horribly auto-tuned Nerina Pallot cover. If you find one of the snippet video floating around somewhere on t'internet, look for 'Someone Wake Me Up' - that's actually very good, and an original song.

@ 15

Tremendous work, Oddie. I was going to respond to spirit's comment yesterday but my internet cut out in the middle of it :(

People on Digital Spy are always doing the same thing - saying I claim that being from X Factor 'guarantees success'. I have never once said that. What it can and does do is give a massive commercial advantage to people who would otherwise be unheard of. Cowell and co just aim to take someone from the show who has some marketability about them, then use the publicity from the show to launch their music career, then make a big fuss about it when they suddenly get #1 in the charts and sell records, as if it actually proves they've uncovered a 'great new talent'. And of course they spit out the ones who don't sell records (or rather 'make money') and get publicity for the puppetmaster. The show couldn't be more of a machine if it tried.

But anyway, I was not surprised Joe's song hasn't been a huge success. Although he had quite a bit of fuss and the obligatory XF performance (both as per usual), I just had a feeling that he didn't have quite as much build-up, media discussion and airplay as previous winners and wouldn't have as much success. Think back to last year when Bad Boys was released - the song (and Alex Burke) had tons of build-up, hype, radio airplay (and still does) and you could easily tell it would be a hit in the charts. Big difference with Joe. Even Olly Murs' first single had far more of all those things than Joe did, even without the XF performance. Even though I've never heard said song, I could tell it would do well in the charts because of all the build-up. That's just a few examples, I could give loads more. What I'm saying is that 9 times out of 10 it's easy to tell how well - or not - songs by XF singers will perform, regardless of what the song is like.

@ 19

Joe had a show in Nottingham! I can't believe I missed it!

;)

Well someone DID write on the JLS "Club is Alive " thread....

"They will probably release another single at the end of the year , which will they will get to perform on X FACTOR and then THEREFORE probably get to number 1 . "

How much evidence do you want ? lol

:)

Now, now spirit, that's another misquote. I can tell because you leave space either side of your punctuation. :D [/slueth]

Right, we only said that because it's what Simon's "acts" (anyone associated with The X Factor in the case) tend to do, particularly Leona Lewis, whose sales haven't yet matched that of 'Bleeding Love's or 'Spirit's.

Also, that quote only, as I explained, shows that The X Factor is a great marketing tool, but doesn't always guarantee a #1 if an act performs their new single on it. It SURE helps, but if you consider the only acts we've ever said "They'll perform it on The X Factor and it'll go to #1" to are JLS and Cheryl Cole, it's obvious they'd go to #1 BECAUSE they have Radio support, huge exposure, tabloid coverage, interviews, HUGE fanbases (deluded, might I add?) and ALL THAT adds up to a surefire #1.

@24 Definitly NOT a mis-quote Sherlock .

;0

Haha, okay then, but I still provided information to explain why it's not just The X Factor that does it for artists.

Yep you certainly supply information Oddie .

I bet there is a strange feeling of disappointment at Joe's management and record company.

X Factor winner releases first single proper , performs it on the show , in front of over 10 million viewers and it peaks at number 6 !

Same thing happened with Leon Jackson , his "first" proper single just brushed the top 5 .


The similarities are both songs failed to embrace Radio , both songs seem off kilter to current trends , appear inoffensive and lacking in balls and raw sassy attitude and both lacked the "wow" factor or X FACTOR .

And both not in the same league of appeal as "Bleeding Love" or "Bad Boys" .

It was the WRONG single choice for Joe .

But even when Joe first won the show, many people were writing him off as 'the next Leon Jackson', and here we are. He just isn't as marketable in the pop world as Leona or Alexandra - we could all see that from the start. I think whatever song he was given, he was going to struggle, to be quite honest.

I feel the choice of Joe's next single is absolutely crucial to his career .

Totally pivotal .

It needs to be a massive song, with a huge hook , sang with attitude and passion .

And his management HAVE to do the research and ensure that it is fully embraced by radio .

It MUST already be in the top 20 airplay and TV chart , by the day it is released .

Just winning the X FACTOR is no guarantee to success.
That is now a memory .

Careers stand or fall on the quality and appeal of an artists songs .

Joe's next single has got to have huge appeal .

I have been listening to disco for 35 years and been to the best of the best parties....This song is delicious disco so refreshing that Barbra herself must have a Guilty (no pun intended!) pleasure on this herself!!!

' the best of the best parties . ' Wow . What was the best party and why ?

Back to Joe: I'm in agreement with spirit; it really is self-explanitary that everything in poised on the tip of a knife for Joe now.

His new single is rumoured to be 'Real Late Starter', which is catchy, hilarious and packed with attitude. But it's still caked in auto-tune, and if you thuoght 'Ambitions' was Mika/Jake Shears-styled, 'Real Late Starter' is something else.