Cowell's Angelis storm music chart
Simon Cowell is celebrating today after his choir group Angelis stormed the album charts.
Their self-titled debut went straight in at number two - beating new releases from McFly, Katherine Jenkins, Paul Weller and Damien Rice, and knocking Girls Aloud into third place.
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The success provides some welcome good news for Cowell after he was forced to boot his own act Nikitta Angus off the X Factor on Saturday.
And he believes the group of six young choristers - ranging in age from 11 to 14 - could be his biggest hit yet.
Cowell said today: "When I first heard them sing I instinctively knew that they'd be a success."
"Here you have six truly gifted young people whose passion is singing - and singing well - rather than fame."
"In a sense it was almost the reverse of X Factor - we went to them."
The band are Moray West, 11, from Glasgow; Sam Adams Nye, 14, from Bristol; Natalie Grace Chua, 13, from Milton Keynes; Joe Martin, 11, from Preston; Camilla Seale, 12, from London; and Amy Dow, 11, from Cholsey, Oxfordshire.
They were only held off the top spot by Jamiroquai's greatest hits album.
And they are contenders to top this year's Christmas album chart.
But they face competition from rival choir group All Angels.
The all-girl quartet - public schoolgirls Melanie Nakhla, Charlotte Ritchie, and Daisy Chute, all 17, and Laura Wright, 16 - release their debut album today.
