Cheryl Cole was 'the best' - Joe
X Factor winner Joe McElderry described mentor Cheryl Cole as "the best", making no secret of his "crush" on the Girls Aloud star.
Tuesday, 15 December 2009
The 18-year-old from South Shields said: "I had the best mentor, especially for the fact that she was from the same place as me."
"It was really good having somebody like that to go and talk to. She was really supportive and helpful with the song choices so it was really good.
"(She told me to) just enjoy it and don't believe your own hype. She said that a lot. Enjoy your singing, because the moment you start believing your own hype, you lose the focus of the competition and it kind of ruins it," he continued.
"She teaches performance skills, different hand movements that are more effective. And she'll come on to the stage and say, 'Try this or try that' and it'll have more effect."
Asked about his crush on Cheryl, he replied: "Oh, who doesn't fancy Cheryl Cole? Come on!"
The singer said he would love to duet with his famous mentor. And he revealed his win was still sinking in.
"I'm still in total shock. I can't believe it's all going on," he said.
"It's like when I see the bit where I was told that I won, they kept playing that on TV this morning, I just kept thinking that can't be real. It's just mad."
It was second time lucky for Joe, who entered The X Factor in 2007 where he was booted out at the Bootcamp stage. He said he tried not to entertain the idea of winning throughout the competition.
"When I first entered, I was like, 'I'd get out there' and they'd (friends and family) be like, 'See you later'," he recalled.
"Gradually, as I got through each bit, like when I got to the live shows, I thought I'd get to week three. I was just setting goals all the way through. I never aimed for the final.
"Once the first week was over, I'd aim for week two, then week three, then I'd aim for the week when you go on tour. Once it happened, I was like, 'Oh my God'.
He credits his win to hard work and dedication.
"As soon as the live shows came, I just kept my head down and worked hard, and tried me best, and it kind of worked. Hard work and determination, that's the crux of it all," he said.
Described by judge Simon Cowell as "note perfect", Joe, who emerged as the dark horse in the later stages of the competition, counts himself lucky never to have been in the bottom two.
"I was so pleased with that. Having to watch people you're friends within the house go through that situation was horrible, and if I felt like that watching it, God knows how they felt," he added.
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