Joseph losers win dream roles

Any Dream Will Do also-rans Lewis Shaw and Ben Ellis have picked up major stage roles just weeks after losing out in Andrew Lloyd Webber's talent contest to eventual winner Lee Mead.

17-year-old Lewis, who finished third behind Lee and fellow finalist Keith Jack, will share star billing with Lee in the West End for one show each week. The move comes after Lee, 26, said he didn't think his vocal chords would stand up to a ninth weekly Joseph performance at London's Adelphi Theatre (there are currently eight shows per week).

"It would be difficult," Lee said. "I'm doing eight shows already and working on a solo album."

Meanwhile, fellow contestant Ben Ellis has landed a role in top West End musical Hairspray. The 19-year-old student, once described by the Joseph judges as a "young Robbie Williams", said he was delirious to have scooped the job.

"I am over the moon," he said. "I can't talk about exactly who I will be playing but it's one of the main parts. This has been my dream and what I've worked towards for years."

Elsewhere, second-placed Keith Jack, 19, is said to be busy working on a solo album, produced by X-Factor judge Louis Walsh.