Man charged with murder of mum Levi
Cowell scraps All Stars version to take on Little Mix BBC band show
COLLAPSED Levi Ogden
A MAN will appear in court today charged with murdering a mum-of-two.
Lloyd Birkby, 26, was arrested following the death of Levi Ogden in the early hours of Sunday.
He is also charged with two counts of assault.
Ms Ogden, 26, collapsed after a street “altercation” in Halifax, West Yorks, and was later pronounced dead in hospital.
Her mum Clare paid tribute to her daughter.
She wrote on Facebook: “She was my rock and I’m broken and not in a good place.” Levi’s brother, Milo, said he was “absolutely broken” after her death.
A JustGiving page has been set up for Ms Ogden, of Elland, West Yorks.
Birkby, of Halifax, is due to appear before Bradford magistrates court.
ASIMON Cowell is facing the biggest challenge of his TV career with the prospect of The X Factor running out of hit singers and viewers.
A planned series called X Factor All Stars has been axed at the last minute as Cowell struggled to get big name former stars to take part, it is claimed.
Leona Lewis is among those believed to have backed out.
Amid chaotic meetings behind-the-scenes, the music mogul cancelled his 60th birthday party last week, flew in his closest confidantes for advice and allegedly sacked six staff in a week as he worked tirelessly to save his brand.
But at the weekend The X Factor: Celebrity series, which features Nicole Scherzinger as a judge, drew its lowest ratings yet of 3.1 million.
The embarrassing figures add to Cowell’s woes as ITV bosses have yet to sign a new contract for X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent next year.
A TV source claimed: “Cowell did not have a happy birthday and this is now a real crisis for the show. He has struggled to get anyone to take part in All Stars.”
Yesterday Cowell revealed plans for a new X Factor show next month called X Factor: The Band. It is being rushed out to premiere before a similar BBC show called The Search, featuring Little Mix.
But Cowell played down claims of a crisis saying: “When I cancelled my birthday party it was written I was in some sort of crisis mode. I swear to God I’m having the time of my life.”
A senior exec who works with Cowell also insisted last night that he was not panicking about the current situation.
The source said: “Simon has really rolled his sleeves up and is determined to make both the current series and X Factor: The Band a big success. He is more focused on work than he has been in years.
“All Stars has been postponed until 2020, it wasn’t cancelled because of a lack of big acts. “The new contract with ITV has not been formally signed But there are only a few minor details being finalised.”
TV SOURCE REVEALS X FACTOR PROBLEMS
Cowell and Leona
X FACTOR judge Nicole Scherzinger dazzled crowds at the MTV EMAs wearing a black velour minidress.
The former Pussycat Doll, 41, had
He has struggled to get anyone to take part in the All Stars show
presented the Best Pop award to Halsey at the ceremony in Seville.
The British winners were Little Mix, FKA Twigs, Muse and Liam Gallagher.