X Factor 3 Preview - Ashley MacKenzie

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Ashley MacKenzie

Manager - Simon Cowell

Odds - 11/two (Outright), 7/4 (16-24 Winner)

Ashley MacKenzie is 20, from Croydon and presently unemployed. He is the dark horse of the 16-24 year old group and is second in the betting behind favourite Leona Lewis. He created an immediate impact in the Bristol X Factor auditions when he sang Stevie Wonder's "Ribbon in the Sky" and Basically Red's "Holding Back the Years".

He was proclaimed "brilliant" and with "a good style" by Simon Cowell although Sharon Osbourne stated he was the second individual she would bear in mind on the day. Louis Walsh was also enthusiastic and mentioned he had a good voice.

Ashley is 1 of 5 youngsters he has two sisters called Leah and Ella and two brothers referred to as David and Rory. He has sung all his life although not in a professional sense.

He describes his musical influences as varied. As a child he listened to what his sister was into at the time, such as Grease, Dirty Dancing and old school R & B. It was his mother's music collection which allowed him to appreciate Reggae, Queen, and retro music by way of to his present tastes of Small Mo, Amy Winehouse, Beyonce and Stevie Wonder.

Ashley names Small Mo as his favourite artist in terms of vocal capability and his favourite album is 1 of hers referred to as "Based On A Accurate Story". He has respect for all the large players in the business such as Barry White, Luther Vandross and Stevie Wonder.

He does not come from a musical background and his household are a lot more into sports than music. Ashley has a cousin who plays skilled football and his uncle Clinton is a former boxing champion. Ashley himself is a keen gymnast and won a trophy in 2000. He has previously accomplished modelling work for Topman and Storm.

Following a promising begin at the initial auditions, Ashley discovered Bootcamp a struggle. He felt that the Ronettes' "Be My Baby" would be the song that could earn him a quantity one hit but he left the judges unimpressed.

Simon Cowell said "I really feel like I've backed a horse that will not go the distance" and "his phrasing was so poor". Ashley clawed back some credibility throughout the final stages of bootcamp when he performed James Blunt's "Beautiful".

Simon claimed "This guy is honestly genuinely beneficial, when he's fantastic he's wonderful, when he's bad..." Simon also described Ashley as "cocky, unreliable and all over the location" and that he "worried about his reliability to be able to perform at the live shows"

If the X Factor judges want something numerous to separate the winners and losers, Ashley is willing to try some ska to set him apart from the rest.