Has Athlone's Joe McCaul got the X-Factor?

Local singer Joe McCaul is keeping mum this week amid growing speculation that he is on his way to X-Factor bootcamp. The former Eurovision star is thought to have made into the final 200 on the hit TV show from a total of 57,000 people who auditioned this year, to progress to the bootcamp stage in Liverpool. When contacted by the Westmeath Independent on Monday night (July, 16) the 24-year-old simply said: "Everything is positive, everything is good. I'm heading to the UK tonight and I'm hoping to come back a happy man." The past You're a Star winner, who represented Ireland at the Eurovision Song Contest alongside his sister Donna in the Ukraine back in 2005 as a 17-year-old, confirmed he auditioned for the talent show in Glasgow at the beginning of June. "I'm looking forward to good things over the next year. I'm looking forward to showcasing my talents and showing how different I am from You're a Star and Eurovision," he said this week. Joe is tipped to be among up to ten Irish pop hopefuls who will battle it out at X-Factor bootcamp, hoping to get into the final 32, and the chance to jet off around the world for the judges' houses stage of the TV phenomenon. The bootcamp acts are expected to mix, and spend time with, judges Gary Barlow, Louis Walsh, Nicole Scherzinger and Tulisa Contostavlos in Liverpool prior to the announcement of who makes it through to the next round, just prior to selections for the live shows. Speculation is also growing that a revamp of the programme, which lost millions of viewers last year, will be announced to the singers at the Liverpool bootcamp, with an upping of the age categories from 25 to 28 seen as a likely major change this time around. Athlonians are expected to get their first glimpse of Joe, a regular performer with Athlone Musical Society, most recently seen on stage in their highly successful 'All Shook Up' show earlier this year, late next month when the audition stages are expected to be aired on ITV and TV3. "I'm hoping by this time next year I'll be back in the public eye in a positive way," he concluded positively.