Every loser wins

However, Gareth Gates showed him that losers can be winners and Liberty X told him that waiting beats the rush. He heeded both lessons and his snowy-white grin as he took to the stage last night revealed that his strategy has paid dividends. He confidently prowled the stage with a real sense of athletic power, his sinewy chest suggesting a man in his physical prime.

His voice was similarly fit and the chargrilled timbre which served him so well on the TV series was a remarkably impressive instrument in the flesh. It lacks the range of mass-market superstars such as Luther Vandross but on certain numbers, like his cover of Al Green's Let's Stay Together, it was superbly seductive.

His 10-piece band were unfalteringly efficient as they smoothly dispatched tracks from his platinum-selling Dedicated album. They even managed to smooth over the angular glam rock in a far less expected cover version of The Darkness's I Believe in a Thing Called Love.

The Brit winner was well aware that as an urban act he should keep his flirtation with glam rock to a minimum and he quickly returned to his palatable brand of mild R 'n' B. The excellent 50/50, which borrows heavily from vintage soul melodies, and his uptempo debut single Dance (With U) proved his strongest offerings but there was plenty of filler.

Lullaby, written with fellow Fame Academy inmates, was a dreadful fusion of Celtic pop and Christmas carol. His new single, Another Day and What About Love?, seemed more suited to Daniel Bedingfield's minuscule talents.

The UK soul market is there for the taking and 25-year-old Lemar is well-equipped to clean up. After pursuing his dream for seven years few could deny him the success that has finally arrived.

Lemar