The dream fades

Poor little Leon Jackson. The teary Scottish crooner must have been born under a bad sign because he's suffered yet another setback. It was reported recently that he'd been dropped by his record label Sony after only shifting 130,000 units, but now it seems like his luck has gone from bad to worse. It's been announced that he's had to cancel ten concerts on his forthcoming UK tour, including dates in London, Manchester, Cardiff and Edinburgh. Still, Ipswich and Birmingham must be delighted that the pint-sized troubadour is still heading their way.

According to the fan forums this is 'heartbreaking news'. Especially since no real reason has been given for the cancellation, except unforeseen circumstances. I suppose both acts (because Leon was being supported by Same Difference) being suddenly dropped by their fair-weather record label could be considered an unforeseen circumstance - they certainly won't have been expecting it. Scottish enthusiasts of the bargain-bin Buble can at least take heart that there are still seven events taking place north of the border. Although it's telling that a spokesperson said "We tried to cater to as many fans as we could and we think we have done that.", meaning that there weren't a whole lot of people interested in spending £30+ on a ticket in the first place. Especially since most people couldn't drum up £8 for the CD, where at least he sounds like he's in tune.

It's not all bad news though. The silver lining on this thunderhead is that Leon has a powerful advisor in his camp. Ex-X-Factor mentor Dannii Minogue has apparently been on the phone to offer career advice. Which is nice. So let's try not to point out that this is a woman whose own record contracts seem to have about the same shelf life as soft cheese.

It could have all been so different. A little bit of encouragement, a half-decent marketing budget, and maybe a singing voice that could cut it live, and who knows what heights Leon might have scaled? He did at least have a couple of decent songs on his album. In fact, here's one of them, so have a listen and imagine what could have been...