'X Factor' Mary signs record deal

ELIMINATED X Factorsemi-finalist Mary Byrne has penned an album deal with Sony records, her mentor Louis Walsh said yesterday.

Television judge and music manager Walsh said the Ballyfermot singer could count on help from himself and fellow judge Simon Cowell.

“I’ll help her with picking the songs and producers. She won’t be going back to Tesco,” Walsh said.

Walsh is predicting a successful future for the singer despite her exit from the television talent contest.

"She is doing the X Factortour and her own tour with promoter MCD. She is going to get a whole lot of work," he said, "She could potentially make a million," he added.

“Simon knows she could sell a lot of records; after her first performance on the live shows he told me he thought she stood a strong chance of winning,” Walsh said.

He compared her exit to that of Susan Boyle, who was the runner- up on Britain's Got Talentlast year but went on to sell millions of albums. "Susan Boyle didn't win and look how many albums she's sold. Simon will definitely look after her and I see a great future there for Mary," he said.

The singer was also keen to get back to normal life, he said. “Her health is not great. Living in that house is stressful, it’s like a goldfish bowl,” Walsh said.

Byrne said she was “very excited about returning home to my daughter to prepare for Christmas, and now I can”.

Dublin City Council has agreed to hold a civic reception for the singer on her return to Dublin. She is also due to appear on The Late Late Showon RTÉ this Friday, he said.

Supermarket worker Byrne (51) was eliminated after finding herself in a sing-off at the weekend with Cher Lloyd. Many of Byrne’s supporters believed the judges were wrong to send her home, maintaining she would have made the final had the public, not the judges, decided the outcome.

Walsh dismissed the criticism. “The show is absolutely not a fix. I could say a lot of things about Simon – he’s vain, he’s arrogant and ambitious, but he is 100 per cent honest and by the book on the show.

“He wants the public to decide who will win . . . and that’s the great thing about working on the show – and that’s why it’s so exciting for the public to watch.”