Simon/Louis are fools arnt they?? They must know that Chris will win this final and come what may, they will drop him quicker than a binbag!! Worried for Jahmene now if Simon gor 'plans' for him!!!

No, he'd make the money from the tour plus the usual round of promo gigs and interviews. If he went down the mother's day covers album route, I think he would make money as I think it would be cheap to produce and launch and would turn an easy profit before he's likely dropped. James and Jahmene meanwhile would - as winners - get the usual treatment of modest advance followed by zero royalties and the obligatory unceremonious high-profile Sony sacking.

Whoever wins will likely make one album before being discarded but I think that Maloney's album, being cheaply produced and made up of covers, would actually make money. After being dropped, Chris would, of the three, be in the best position to make a further living as he's the most experienced and professional. He's sang for a living in the past and is unlikely to be deludeed as to the realities. He is well cut out for the (quite lucrative) corporate events market. He could even get back onto TV trading on his cheesiness and notoriety (like Nick Bateman from big Brother 1). If, as has been predicted here, he gets slated by all and sundry after the show ends, that'll add to his appeal in that respect. What exactly would the other two trade on after being dropped??? How would they pay their bills??? I'd say that of the three, Chris is the one least likely to be taking calls at a call centre five years from now.

How is recording cover versions "cheaper" than recording your own material?

No X Factor winner has ever recorded an album of self-written material, at least not whilst on the winner's contract. Co-writes or covers or a mixture of the two are the option for the labels. An album of covers, or of covers plus pre-commissioned/purchased off-the-peg new songs would be much, much quicker to put together. It would not involve sessions with professional co-writers. It would not involve sending an artist to work abroad with writers and producers, something that was done with Matt Cardle, and even runner-up Rebecca Ferguson. Add to that, cheesy, synthesised arrangements and accompanying low-brow videos (all of which would suit Chris's album) and it starts to add up. Further to all that, marketing would be cheaper as such an album wouldn't be pitched toward the under 30s

Thats what I was thinking Maybe this will generate more votes for Chris.

He will make a great care home assistant

Chris would be best winning, he needs it most.

You people reading way too much into this. And i find it hilarious you think Chris could actually make Simon money releasing an album

Quite so. Let's look at what the article actually quotes Louis as saying about Cowell:

'I spoke to him this week and I know he loves James and Jahmene but I don’t remember him talking about Chris, no.'

It's meaningless as regards who gets the record contract.

Your problem is that for somebody mocking and putting it out there, you're not reading nearly enough into this.

It's actually simple. You make and market the album, you offer it for sale, with a core market in mind. You wait, you deduct the many overheads from the turnover total and what you're left with is profit. The lower the overheads and the more stable and reliable the market, the better the chance of there being profit. It might not be huge profit but profit all the same.

Do you think successful gamblers get rich by drinking neat whisky and throwing around wild stakes? No. Never in the real world. Cowell and his cronies are businessmen. He may be flamboyant but he's a smart, calculating businessman. Be very sure of that. His cronies are the same, minus the flamboyancy and furthermore, they work in a market that has never been under so much pressure. Pickings are genuinely slim. They'll take five 2.1 punts over a 16.1 punt every time and forego possible glory for safe profit. How do I know that? Simple. It's because they're still in business.

You think there's successful gamblers? Ha ha. Chris wouldn't sell over 5k and marcus collins got dropped for selling 5x that. Don'tbe daft

They will make it cheap n cheesy,

Has Marcus been dropped by his label ?

I think Chris, selling cheaply-produced total cheese to the appropriate market (and that's how they'd do it) would sell a lot more than 5K. As for Marcus Collins, I don't think Syco had anything to do with his album did they? It was released on a Sony label but only after Gary Barlow had financed its recording and hawked it around. Unlike Malloney, Collins did not have a clear market to pitch to. The X Factor producers destroyed his credibility in order to guarantee success for the girl group.

News to me.

Will be voting for Chris all weekend.

Recording your own material takes a lot more money, it means hours an hours in studio's , experts in writing and music production teams, the average studio costs 300 to 500 on a daily basis, using covers that the music is already recorded with does not require music production teams of hired writers and can be recorded in one studio sitting

This is one of the reasons that the winner always takes almost a year to release a first album with new material, it takes a long time just to get the lyrics and music just right and a lot of studio time

Even people that write their own stuff, that does not mean it equates to being good , or that the lyrics work, or that the tempo or music production works, that is what the experts are for

I'm resigned to Chris winning now. He'll have his moment of glory and his nana can die happy idc. I'm sure he'll fade into oblivion eventually and probably sink into depression. . Of James and Jahmene I guess James could prove to be the more marketable but I'm feel both of them will do better than Chris.

Part of me feels a bit sorry for Chris - in the longer term I think the diappointment of leaving earlier in the series would have been less than the failure to 'make it' as a winner.

The show is so manipulated and dishonest I am surprised that anyone would waste their money voting. Spend the dosh on a takeaway, and enjoy the show. If Cowell is going to pick the winner anyway, which he does every year in terms of who he invests in it is disgusting that he pockets a share of the voting revenue.

Trust me. If chris wins cowel will test the water with an album.

With a week's worth of hard slog in a recording studio it might even be possible to produce an album of seasonal standards in time for Christmas.

How about "Chris at Christmas" as the album name?

Marcus hasn't been dropped, he's recording a 2nd album according to his tweets.

Jahmene and James will make sure that two credible artists have manged to secure a very much deserved career from this failing show.

Recording covers can be much more expensive for the label as they will be required to pay royalities to the original composers/songwriters...they'll have to seek permission to use their material first. And they'll have to find producers to produce the album...they can't just steal the original instrumental and dub his voice over it. They'll have to tweak the songs in terms of arrangements...etc.

It will need to mastered and mixed...the only thing Chris will be not be getting is a promo budget, well, he'll get to promote the album on a few morning shows but i doubt anyone will want to taint their reputation by playing his records on the radio or having him on any major network shows. I'd be surprised if they'll have an easy time finding a producer willing to have Maloney on his resume