The shock winner of Britain's Got Talent earlier in the year, beating out bookie's and judge's favourite Ronan Parke, Jai McDowell came out of nowhere to scoop the crown, and Believe is his debut album.
Comprising of a collection of cover songs from well known artists, Jai's voice is powerful, and he is on form throughout, with There You'll Be (Faith Hill) being probably the highlight of a solid collection of classical tinged versions of pop/rock songs.
Lead single With Or Without You (U2) and Fix You (Coldplay) are good numbers, as is the fantastic To Where You Are (Josh Groban), which is a great version, if less powerful and stunning to that of Joe McElderry who included this in his Classic album earlier in the year.
Everything else works pretty well, with Nickelback's How You Remind Me appearing as a nice surprise in a version never heard before.
Evanescence's Bring Me To Life should have been left alone, as the classical conversion didn't work for Katherine Jenkins, and it doesn't work for Jai McDowell. I couldn't bring myself to listen to Elbow's One Day Like This, as I can't stand the song.
That aside though, it is a rather pleasant offering from a very likable and down to earth character.
Believe is a solid bunch of songs, and is an enjoyable listen. It is not world-beating. Whether he has the staying power to be around for a long time remains to be seen, but he has as good a chance as any.
It will really depend now upon how many records he can sell, and whether he can truly capture the imagination of his audience and the record buying public.
His tenure with Cowell will depend on it.
6/10
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