by David and Sinead. Note 8: In the final, the public vote alone decided who would win the competition. At the first voting freeze, Lemar had the fewest votes, and was sent home. David and Sinéad then competed for the title. Final (6 December) The final was broadcast live as two separate shows. The final three contestants were David, Sinéad and Lemar. In the first half, after votes totalling over 4 million, Lemar was the first to be voted off by the public. Neither of the two remaining finalists, David and Sinéad, had been in the original group of eleven students chosen by the judges at the start of the series. In the second half David sang "I Don't Want To Talk About It" and Sinéad then sang "The First Cut Is The Deepest". Then David and Sinéad sang "I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues". After a total of over 6.9 million votes were cast, David won with 3.5 million votes. He then sang what was to become his debut #1 single, Stop Living the Lie, to end the show. David Sneddon signed a £1 million record contract with Mercury Records as part of his prize. His debut single "Stop Living the Lie", entered the UK charts at #1 and remained at the top for two weeks. He is one of only a few artists from reality TV shows to have a number one hit record with a self-written song. He had a further two top twenty hit singles and a top ten album, Seven Years Ten Weeks, (which was recorded with Elton John's band) and signed a development publishing deal with Universal Music in October 2003. Sneddon signed to major music publisher Sony/ATV Music Publishing in 2009 as a songwriter. Lemar signed a deal with Sony Records, and has since won several BRIT Awards as best urban act. Malachi, Ainslie, Lemar, and Sinéad also went on to release hit records. Ratings of the show were average, but not fantastic. Most of this was blamed on the format being too similar to Pop Idol, while fans of the Reality TV element were disappointed by the awkward timings of the highlight shows . Despite this, a second series was commissioned for the following year. Album and tour Album An 18-track album featuring songs by all the contestants was released at the end of the series. It sold over