Olly Murs has become one of the most successful X Factor contestants to date since his stint on the show in 2009. Despite coming runner-up to Joe McElderry, Olly has racked up the success with his 2010 debut self-titled album and 2011’s follow-up In Case You Didn’t Know both being certified double platinum in the UK. He’s also found success back in his old stomping ground by presenting X Factor spin-off The Xtra Factor with Caroline Flack which he’s currently doing for the second year. As he prepares to release new single Troublemaker featuring Flo Rida and third album Right Place, Right Time Olly has released his first book Happy Days.
Happy Days is an autobiography of sorts, despite Olly saying contrary in recent press interviews. The hardback book contains around 100 pages of text with the remainder of the book a compilation of photos by renowned photographer Dean Freeman. The book opens with Olly’s recollectons of waiting to hear his fate at the judges’ houses stage of The X Factor in 2009. He describes being stood outside Simon Cowell’s house in L.A. anxious as he was the last in his category to find out if he’d made it through to the live shows or not.
From that point the book rewinds to the start as Olly talks about his childhood, growing up and his love of football. He recounts his first disastrous appearance on Deal Or No Deal before he became a successful singer before swiftly moving on to his beginnings in music. The details of his time with The X Factor will likely be what most fans will be interested in. He gives plenty of insight into his experience from his multiple auditions right through to coming second.
The experiences after The X Factor are what we found most interesting. Olly describes his journey from X Factor star to recording artist admitting he didn’t feel confident in the beginning as a songwriter after being thrown together with some of the biggest songwriters in the world. He goes on to talk about his success but also the decline in his happiness as his work schedule and pressures of fame began to take hold of him. There are some great celebrity stories in there too like Olly being speechless after Cheryl Cole complimented his live return to The X Factor and Michael Buble calling him to congratulate him on getting a number one.
The second half of the book is a collection of unseen photographs of Olly on and off stage. Photographer Dean Freeman catches Olly at his finest but manages to get some candid shots that show him being more reflective and contained. The photos also serve to document Olly’s travels around the world and changing style over the past few years (we think he’s getting more and more suave!).
Olly’s personality shines through the book and he still seems to be the same down-to-earth, cheeky chappy that the nation fell in love with in 2009. Happy Days is a surprisingly frank and honest book that combines fantastic photos making it the perfect gift for any Olly fan this Christmas. Whilst never being a fan of Olly on The X Factor we’ve grown really fond of him in the past couple of years and he’s a great live entertainer. Happy Days has made us like him even more.
