According to Leon himself, Simon Cowell is comparing him to Michael Buble and Robbie Williams. Excuse us while we roll on the floor laughing.

Simon is over the moon with my new album and has been saying I’m a cross between Michael Bublé and Robbie Williams. I’m like: ‘Calm down, Simon’.

Without wishing to be too scathing, we remember when Ronan Keating left Boyzone and modelled his solo ‘look’ on Robbie. It wasn’t very convincing. Nor is the idea of Leon being anywhere near as charismatic slash maniacal as the former Take Thatter.

The Robster, for all his faults, is a magnetic personality, not a slightly awkward Scot who wandered into a reality TV audition and kind of got lucky when everyone else forgot to bring their talent to the X Factor live shows.

No disrespect to Leon, but we’d keep the comparisons to major stars low key. At least until he’s had a hit that hasn’t been propelled by a primetime reality TV show. Eh?

The long-awaited and marginally hyped second single from Leon Jackson is hitting the stores in October.

Let’s just remind ourselves of what we said last Christmas when Leon was storming the charts in a blaze of X Factor-led publicity.

Is it possible that Leon may be about to wipe the smug grin off our record-reviewing faces?

Certainly, from what we’ve heard of the song via YouTube (below), he’s managed to bag the overblown power ballad that we always expected Leona Lewis would get.

The peeps behind this have thrown everything at it – big, Christmassy chimes, the full orchestral arrangement and overblown chorus.

And in fairness to the lad, he’s got an amazingly smooth voice on this track. Surprised? We were. OK, it’s not the most original of songs, but Don’t Call This Love has a kind of timeless charm to it. We might officially have to eat our words, because this just might be a big hit.

Finally, kudos to the marketing department on the very grown-up makeover they’ve given Leon.

We expect to see a major push when the X Factor live shows commence…in October.

Don’t Call This Love is available for digital download on 11 October and in the stores on 13 October.

Wow. I’ve always said that Leon’s record career will be short-lived – and it looks like his agents are looking to rake in the cash quickly before his sell-by date expires (which will be some time in February, probably).

Glaswegian club owner, Carlo Citti, who attempted to hire Leon for a post-Christmas bash put things in perspective:

I can get David Hasselhoff for £15,000, Peter Andre and Jordan for £7000, rapper Coolio for £3000, The Macdonald Brothers for £2500 and Neighbours‘ Dr Karl Kennedy for the same. Only Girls Aloud charge £25,000 for a gig – and there’s five of them.

I’d love to know what it cost to hire Leona Lewis in 2006 compared with the worst X Factor winner ever.

But regardless, according to The Sun today, Leon’s record sales are only half of Leona and Shayne Ward’s Christmas number one’s in previous years. Which lends a bit more weight to my theory that they’ll need to recoup money from Jackson before he morphs into the next ’stunning’ Steve Brookstein.

Here it is folks, Leon Jackson’s debut single and X Factor winner’s song for 2007.

It’s an inspiring song, reflecting that tradition of uplifting champions songs like That’s My Goal and A Moment Like This. Except that Mr Jackson isn’t remotely believable. I can’t in all good conscience call this a triumph for either Jackson or the British public’s ability to choose a new pop star.

Many people believe that the song was never chosen for Leon anyway, that it was more suited to runner-up Rhydian Roberts’ operatic stylings. Given that it was originally released by two of the biggest divas known to mankind lends weight to that argument.

So Leon’s version is notably lacklustre, a half hearted attempt at the song compared with what Rhydian would have graced us with. There’s no drama or drive in Leon’s performance, which makes the fact that it’s virtually guaranteed a Christmas #1 so hard to take in.

Music lovers complain all the time about the amount of crap that gets in the charts. Here’s why: contrary to rumour, the public is not discerning in the slightest. They’ll happily buy up this muck simply because the guy’s been on Saturday night television for the last 3 months.

The problem is – and I confidently predict – that once the television audience dries up and forgets him, Leon will have a very hard time shifting units. 12 months from now that record deal will have evaporated and he’ll be back to doing the Al Bundy in a West Lothian shoe store again.