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Ten acts who made it by winning TV talent shows...

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In a world where Simon Cowell gets increasingly more powerful by the minute, there is a very real prospect that soon his TV production line will be the source of ALL of our new pop talent. Here are ten acts who have made it as bona fide pop stars on the back of winning TV talent shows...

10. Kelly Clarkson

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Kelly Clarkson won the first season of American Idol in 2002 and has since gone on to sell over ten million records and bag two Grammys.

9. Jordin Sparkes

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Jordin Sparkes won series six of American Idol and was catapulted to stardom following her 2007 uber smash duet with Chris Brown, No Air. All of her first five singles broke the Billboard Top 20, three getting into to Top Ten.

8. Will Young

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Will Young won the UK's inauguarl Pop Idol contest in 2002. Has since sold over 8 million albums and spent more weeks at number 1 on the official UK Singles chart in the 2000s than any other solo artist.

7. Alexandra Burke

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Alexandra Burke having tried and failed on X Factor 2005, Burke came back three years later and won the competition. Hero debut single “Hallelujah” went to be Christmas number one and she became the first British female solo artist to sell a million copies of a single when it passed the seven figure mark.

6. Leona Lewis

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Leona Lewis Won X Factor Series Three in 2006. Her debut single “A Moment Like This” became the fastest selling UK single after being downloaded over 50,000 times within thirty minutes of its release, while her second single, “Bleeding Love” reached number one in over thirty singles charts around the world.

5. JLS

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JLS came second to Alexandra Burke but have since gone on to win two Brits and sell over a million copies of their debut album. Having hit a level of ubiquity here in the UK, the four piece are now heading Stateside to try their luck.

4. Susan Boyle

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Susan Boyle won the hearts of the Daily Mail set when she sang I Dreamed A Dream from Les Miserables on Britain's Got Talent in 2009. Her album came out at the end of November and in six weeks it became the biggest selling album of the year globally, having shifted over three million in the States alone. Kind of stranage – and worrying - to think that an eccentric 48 year old from Scotland is one of our biggest success stories across the pond.

3. Girls Aloud

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Girls Aloud created on the ITV talent show, Pop Stars: The Rivals in 2002. Having achieved a string of huge hits since, the five piece are now named in the Guinness Book of Records as being the “most sucessful reality TV group ever” thanks to the estimated £25 million fortune they have collectively amassed.

2. G4

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G4 another success story despite only coming second on X Factor, this time in 2004. The vocal troupe released three albums, two of which went top ten, and toured extensively before splitting in 2007.

1. Jennifer Hudson

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Jennifer Hudson the American Idol 2004 finalist might not have won the competition but she has since gone on to win a Grammy, an Oscar and can count Barack Obama amongst her friends. Not bad considering she only came seventh in the show!
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