The British singer was a virtual unknown across the pond until he supported One Direction on their first ever North America headline tour earlier this year.

He went down well in the States and he suggested to MTV that his future looks bright in the US. Murs said:

"The American reception has been great. I've come here from literally nothing really. No one knows who I am. Of course, in the U.K., I've had success and #1's, etcetera, but here in America, no one knows who I am, which is kind of starting from scratch, which is good and fun, and everyone's hearing my music, and there seems to be a really good vibe about it."

The 'Oh My Goodness' star added: "I mean, to be honest, I did the 'X Factor' three years ago in the U.K., and it's been a real building process for me in the U.K.; so, I never really expected to sort of like come to America this soon. I'm really happy that it's happened. So, yeah, it's great. That's what Simon's vision is: he wants the 'X Factor' to breed stars that are gonna go across the world. It's been good so far. I'm sure there's going to be more heard in America soon."

Other UK exports to have enjoyed success in the US recently include X Factor graduate Cher Lloyd and The Wanted, who performed on American Idol.

Speaking to the British funnyman, Horan explained that he "can't back out" of talking about it because the place they had dinner at posted a tweet to let the pair's fans know they were there:

"We went for a bit of dinner after the VMAs. And I can’t back out of that because the restaurant tweeted that we were there! We just had a bit of dinner.”

Earlier this month, Lovato denied that she was nothing more than just friends with the 'One Thing' hitmaker and told E!: "There is nothing going on. Niall's my friend. I'm really happy for One Direction and the success that they've had."

"It just goes to show you how crazy this competition is to making stars and the success that they have. He's a good friend of mine."

Speaking to Billboard for its new cover story, the 'Your Body' hitmaker explained that the album title represents longevity in a way that reflects her own career and is a "celebration" of her artistic rebirth:

"This album represents a celebration of the new me, and to me the lotus has always represented this unbreakable flower that withstands any harsh weather conditions in its surroundings, that withstands time and remains beautiful and strong throughout the years."

When asked about the reception of her last record, 'Bionic', Aguilera revealed that it was something that probably only appealed to 'true fans of music' and although it wasn't as popular as she would have liked, it still resonates with her and she's proud of it:

"With 'Bionic' I fully went in there with [the idea], 'I'm going to experiment and not be commercial or pop.' I wanted to play with different sounds and textures of my voice while bringing an electronica feel to it because that's what I was listening to a lot at the time."

"I can proudly say it was ahead of its time, to be honest. It wasn't so commercialized. You had to really be a music lover, be a true fan of music and the love of being open to really appreciate that record. It's just a special piece in my body of work that will forever live on. The older the record gets the more people will come to appreciate it actually and check it out."

When asked if she plans to watch her former Mickey Mouse Club co-member Britney Spears on X Factor USA, she joked: "[Laughs] I have no time to even watch my own show. So there's your answer."

'Lotus' is set to be released on November 13 through RCA and you watch the video teaser for its lead single below:

The pop princess is appearing on her first X Factor series this year as a judge after signing up for the show earlier this year alongside fellow newbie Demi Lovato.

She had been filming auditions for weeks and now the series has started to air in the US.

Spears was seen singing 'Happy Birthday' on a recent programme to colleague LA Reid, who was celebrating his 56th birthday at the time.

The vocal cameo appeared on an episode in which X Factor UK stalwart Louis Walsh filled in for an absent Simon Cowell.

Britney Spears meanwhile thanked fans last night (September 19) for enjoying the 2012 X Factor USA series so far, posting on Twitter:

"I'm so happy y'all are into the show. I love it too. Tweeting along again for tomorrow's episode. Hope 2 C U 2! Night tweople :)."

Speaking to Ellen DeGeneres yesterday (September 18), he explained that his initial reaction to her was phenomenal and he told her: "You are going to change music."

Reid then said that when an A&R representative played him Gaga's demo he had an immediate change of heart and even went as far as to describe her tracks as "disgusting". He recalled:

"I said, ‘You know what? This is disgusting', and I dropped her and I dropped him. It was the biggest mistake I ever made in my life."

He is currently working alongside Britney Spears on the X Factor USA panel and when asked by DeGeneres how being part of a team with her is, he exclaimed: "It's wonderful. I really enjoy working with Britney, right. She's really responsive. I'm having fun with her."

Watch part of his very honest interview below:

The 2012 series of the reality TV show has started in the US as Britney Spears and Demi Lovato join the judging panel.

Quatrele Da'an appeared on the show in San Francisco to perform his take on Lady Gaga's hit track 'Born This Way', but he turned heads however by taking to the stage in a wedding dress style ensemble.

He sung the song admirably however and managed to convince the majority of the judges to keep him in the show.

Lady Gaga tweeted today (September 17) about the audition, calling it "amazing" and praising the colourful nature of his performance. She said:

"UM XFACTOR!! What a colorful entertainer sang Born This Way! @britneyspears, demi and even simon loved it! #amazing."

The show launched earlier this week and was met with fantastic reception, and attracted a massive 8.5 million viewers with the very first episode.

According to news blog Mashable, the show gathered 1.4 million comments from viewers using both Facebook and Twitter, which has set the record for the most talked about series premiere of all time.

Despite making a significant impact on social networking sites, X Factor USA lost out to rival show The Voice in terms of viewing figures as the latter drew in an audience 12.3 million.

The Irishman has continually been linked to the 'Skyscraper' singer for months, but there has been no definitive movement.

Horan is one of only two One Directon members that are currently single, with Zayn Malik, Liam Payne and Louis Tomlinson all happy with women.

However, it doesn't seem like that will change any time soon, with the Mullingar man admitting that he is too busy to hold down a relationship. Horan told the Mirror:

"I try to go and see my friends but that's easier to do than go out with a girlfriend."

He continued: "Travelling around the world and all the promo that we do – it doesn't leave time for a girlfriend. It really doesn't. Demi [Lovato] is really cool and we're really good friends."