Finished reading Steve Brookstein's biography today. Fascinating stuff. Of course we were never oblivious to the manipulation that went on behind the scenes of the X factor, but to hear it from someone who went through it first hand is a revelatory read.

And it also speaks volumes about the sheer power Cowell, Max Clifford and his ilk have (had?) over the media.

And of course reading it today with the benefit of hindsight, one could accuse Brookstein of being somewhat naïve, and the book itself has flaws and is not particularly well written...but when you now consider the fate of Max Clifford, and the implications and revelations of the Leveson enquiry and the scrutiny of journalism in recent years...well, it does add a whole new perspective to the whole ridiculous circus.

For the record I am not a fan of Steve Brookstein and have never heard his music (more of a prog/rock fan), but was intrigued by a friend who had also appeared on X factor around the same time who recommended the book to me.

I wish he would get over it.

Get over what?

Stab in the dark, XF?

His little girly tantrum.

Nope...no idea what any of you are talking about.

Hardly ever watched X Factor, as I said before Brookstein's material is not my bag.

Does anyone have anything constructive to say here, as opposed to the same old clichés that have been trotted out for the last 10 years or so, fed to the public by the likes of Max Clifford, and sundry hacks and journalists that have since been disgraced by the Leveson enquiry and various police/legal investigations?

What cliché? He's been whinging for almost a decade. It's time he moved on, it's can't be healthy to keep desperately clinging to the show he hates so much. He just comes across as a very sad, bitter man every time X Factor starts a new series.

It seems you only want praise for his book as the first post saying he does indeed need to 'get over the x', you claim its not constructive and a cliché.

You see this perfectly illustrates how a lot of people have bought into the whole concept of Brookstein and people like him, as presented to them by the media.

When you examine this whole concept, essentially you are presented with certain 'facts' by the media, you are told by the media of events that have supposedley happened, and quotes are attributed to people also by the media.

Therefore the impression that people have of certain people, actors, celebrities, tv stars, sports people etc is not from personal experience, but of what they have read and been told by other sources.

I have therefore never understood why people decide they hate (or equally love) a particular person, when they have never met them or spoken to them. And when you have powerful people like Cowell and Clifford dictating to the media on what they should and should not print or reveal about certain people, you can see how easy it is to manipulate the public into hating someone and making them a figure of ridicule.

I suspect a lot of people are always going to hate Brookstein and will not change their opinions, because the damage has been done already over the last 10 years, and basically mud sticks.

Personally, I will always question what is put in front of me, especially by the media. And I would never believe or judge people based on what I read about them from other sources.

Its nothing to do with the media for me, if you have seen his twitter account over the last few years you would see how much of a idiot he is, he's incredibly bitter and twisted about it all, it really is time he moved on.

He is the only past contestant who seems to have a massive problem with the show, some others probably will do too, but they have got on with their lives and not let it eat away at them for years. He should do the same.

I'm pretty sure most people here are basing their decision on his Twitter account...

I think you and others are being incredibly naïve.

Once the media campaign against Brookstein kicked off after he won X factor, he was effectively buried and erased from the history of the show, and the only stories that appeared about him were negative.

It was a conscious decision on the part of Cowell and Clifford to ensure that the media, of who they had a lot of influence over, would not only ensure negative press was the order of the day, but that any positive stories regarding him or his career, gigs etc were simply not reported. He was effectively persona non grata.

And on top of that the stories that did appear were grossly exaggerated or simply just made up.

And this campaign against him continued for 10 years, and has most definitely had a negative effect on his career. And yet when he tries to speak out about such unfair practises he is simply seen as whinging again, being bitter etc.

I don't doubt he is bitter, considering what has happened to him. But If you have had an injustice done to you, like anyone you would want to do something about it. But when no one will listen, when the press and media close their doors and will not speak to you, then you would surely find an outlet to counter the negative press that is circulating and tell your side of the story.

What saddens me is that most of the public have been sold this notion of Brookstein being difficult, awkward, big-headed etc, which has been spoon fed to them by the press for so many years that they now accept it without question.

Now I doubt anyone will actually read the book, but there is far, far more to this story than what was reported, and what it says about not only the stuff that goes on behind the scenes at X factor, but also the power of the media and certain individuals to control what is and is not reported is extraordinary...resulting in a complete and utter character assassination and also killing any potential career a person may ever have.

He was a nobody then and he is a nobody now

The public aren't always right. Here's a rundown of previous X factor winners and their overall album sales (found here)

Leona Lewis - Spirit 3,115,366
Alexandra Burke - Overcome 818,628
Shayne Ward - Shayne Ward 537,573
Little Mix - DNA 344,969
Matt Cardle - Letters 276,845
James Arthur - James Arthur 255,558
Leon Jackson - Right Now 135,892
Steve Brookstein - Heart & Soul 105,199
Joe McElderry - Wide Awake 104,445

Hardly a coincidence that all the artists from Cardle downwards got dropped after their 1st album.

Except Brookstein was not 'dropped'. Yet another common misconception engineered by the media. Brookstein left the label voluntarily (and he has the emails to prove it), when it was apparent that Cowell and the label decided not to promote either him or the album.

Well, I agree Ted. What everyone is avoiding or not mentioning here is the Brookstein was the winner!

At the time, he was the most popular one on the competition, so people must have liked him at some point.

I also think those sales are pretty good for albums.

So what kind of things are in the book? I've heard people talk about it but not what's actually in it. Does it reveal much about how X Factor works?/what's fake and what's real?

That was prettymuch my point. The people liking him enough to vote him the winner are not necessarily going to buy their album because they're fickle or (more likely) the album doesn't properly showcase the person they voted for.

I don't need the media, look at his Twitter feed next time X Factor is on and you will see the stream of comments from him. What I read from Steve Brookstein comes from Steve Brookstein.

I think Steve's points about Simon and Max are true, but even then I wasn't a fan and won't be reading his book