X Factor's Ray has Quinn here before

Ray Quinn knows what it is like to reach the latter stages of TV’s prime time talent series, only to be rejected.

Not that it has done the young singer any harm as he still got to fulfil his ambition to record an album, barnstorm the charts and to go on a 30-date tour – the reason he is at Sheffield City Hall next Tuesday.

In spite of not winning that last series of X Factor – Leona Lewis, anybody – the youngster was signed to that nasty Simon Cowell's label Syco Music on which he released his debut album Doing It My Way earlier this year.

It’s hardly the most essential thing in the world – basically it is a collection of Ray’s favourite swing tracks, originally performed by legends such as Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr. and Frank Sinatra – but it went straight to number one.

His endeavours on X Factor clearly won the 19-year-old runner up plenty of fans as tickets for the show - a fairly hefty 23 a go - have been selling well. Not that Ray was exactly a newcomer to performing on TV, having been a child star of long finished soap Brookside.

“It’s definitely been a learning experience, but a lot of highs,” says the crooner of his experiences since facing Cowell and company. “The highs have been constant for me and the opportunities I have had and the travel, it’s been amazing.

“I’ve been all over the country and all over the world, to LA to record the album, and I’m only 19. Having my own tour is a blessing. It’s been going amazingly. The reviews have been great and I’ve had standing ovations every night.”

Support at the Oval Hall comes from the delightful Lauren Rose, who is clearly a fan of the lad with the quiff, last in town as part of the X Factor tour that landed at Sheffield’s Hallam FM Arena.

“Ray is a great entertainer,” says the 17-year-old. “When watching him on X Factor last year I never thought I would be supporting him on his tour a year down the line. This is a new experience for me.”

Lauren has been singing since the age of four but realised her ambition when she was given a recording session in a studio as a Christmas present. She’s since recorded an album called Here I Am, out next year and from which I Go To The Beach is her debut single.