It's Chico Advice Time

The life of former goat herder Chico Slimani changed beyond all recognition following his appearance on the ITV talent show The X Factor.

 

After years spent hawking demo tapes around town, only to get constant knock backs, the bubbly singer found himself with a No 1 hit entitled, It's Chico Time. He's got legions of 'Chicettes' (mad Chico fans - you couldn't make it up) and he's currently working on his plans for world domination (or something like that).

 

For Chico, The X Factor has been a gift from the gods; one suspects that even if his singing career dries up (and you know that it will eventually), his novelty value is such that he'll probably be back on TV in another reality show. His life, he says, has become a dream, and he's had "the most amazingly fantastically Chico-tastic" time since the show. "Every day I wake up and I think, 'Is this real? Is this really happening to me?'" he says.

The singer's advice to those who want to get themselves a slice of that dream? "Be precise, be concise and be nice. Be confident not arrogant and be charmin' not smarmin'," is how he sums up the elusive 'X Factor'.

 

Chico, who was voted off the 2005 show in the penultimate episode, thinks contestants need to be totally focused to ride the gruelling round of auditions, not to mention the nail-biting live shows, which see the wannabes singing their hearts out for the public vote. "The qualities you have to have to succeed are charisma, talent, ambition and drive," he says. "Without drive you have nothing. I always said to be good you have to be dedicated, to be great you have to be addicted."

 

The star, who played up his strengths by performing entertaining numbers rather than vocally challenging tunes, also believes song choice is a major factor in determining the winner. "Always sing songs that are suitable for your voice and don't go for songs by people like Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey unless you can do them as good or better than them. The likelihood is that doing that is very very unlikely," he says.

 

The Chico Time and D.I.S.C.O singer hopes this year's clutch of contestants see the show as a foundation to go on to other things, rather than sitting back and waiting for the offers to flood in. "I think it is a platform like no other," he says with a smile.