Fightstar make a bid for the big time the door closed on the brief but successful career of teen pop sensations Busted last week, when the most-recognisable group member, Charlie Simpson, announced he was leaving to concentrate on being part of rock group, Fightstar.

But, as the saying goes, 'when one door closes, another one opens', and Busted's demise has thrown the door wide open for one young Northamptonshire musician. Alex Westaway, from Naseby, is Charlie's fellow vocalist and guitar player in Fightstar.
Back in December 2003, Charlie played his first (and very hush-hush) gig with Fightstar at Northampton's Black Bottom Club in George Row.

But now, 21-year-old Alex, who is known as Al, told the Chron that he, Charlie and the rest of the band were looking forward to a bright, high-profile future. Taking a break from walking his Labrador dogs near the London flat he shares with his sister in Maida Vale, Al said they were busy getting ready for a UK tour.
"Everything kind of blew up last week," he said.
"It is a bit weird with all the attention because of Charlie, so we don't really know what to think and there is a lot of focus on us now.
"But things have been great so far. Rock Sound and Kerrang! have been really good about us and they are probably the most credible rock magazines around."
Fightstar have been together for about 18 months and are made up of Al and Charlie on vocals and guitar, Dan Haigh on bass and Omar Abidi on drums.
They recently signed with the Fierce Panda independent record label, and will be releasing their debut EP, They Liked You Better When You Were Dead, on February 28.
Their sound has been variously described as 'grunge', 'dirty rock' and 'American punk', but Al prefers to call it 'post-hardcore rock', with influences from many sources.
But the group might never have happened at all if it hadn't been for a certain party in London a couple of years ago.
"Charlie's girlfriend had just moved in with my sister as a flatmate, and I was recording in London at the time," Al explained. "I had a few guitars on me, so we had some drinks and then had a jam together.
"I moved down to London a year later to concentrate on music and ended up sleeping on Charlie's floor for a while. And that's how it all started."

With all the flurry surrounding their first tour, Al might not make it back to Northamptonshire for a while, but he said he tried to spend time in the county as often as possible.
"I come back as much as I can because I live in the middle of nowhere and I do miss it," he admitted. "We were rehearsing there last week and it was really relaxing."
In the meantime, his proud family in Northamptonshire are supporting him every step of the way. Al is the son of Derek Westaway, the managing director of Westaway Motors, a family business with garages in Naseby, Maidwell, Moulton Park and Spratton.
Mr Westaway said there had never been any doubts in his mind that Al was destined for a musical career.
"He has always been artistic and very musical. He was always very keen on playing in bands with his mates," he said.
"We have always been very proud of him and I have been to every one of his gigs, although I don't expect I'll be doing that now!
"They have been working very hard as a band and this has all really happened quite slowly, so we've got our fingers crossed that it keeps going well for them.
"Alex has been pretty cool about everything. I think he and Charlie hit it off straight away because they had their music in common."
Al went to Rugby School and won a scholarship to study art and design at St Martin's in London. Realising this wasn't for him, he started a business studies' degree at Birmingham University, but the call of music was too strong.
"It has always been the case that he wanted to go into music and he even built his own recording studio at home in one of the attic rooms," Mr Westaway said.
"Alex has always written his own music and it's great to see things start to happen for them. They've had very good reviews so far."
At first, of course, Charlie's presence means the band will have to put up with the inevitable comparisons with Busted.
After the Black Bottom gig, the 6'5" singer admitted Fightstar's sound was a big departure from Busted's pop sound, but one he welcomed and felt he was ready for.
"I suppose it is a bit angst, but when I met Al and the guys, I had a really cool feeling about what we were doing," he said.
"We'd get together, have a few drinks and start playing, it was as simple as that.
"When you play a gig, it doesn't matter how many people you're in front of, it's the same buzz in front of 100.
"We don't think of him as Charlie from Busted," added Al. "He's Charlie our mate, he's part of the band."
Fightstar's fist gig of the tour was at Warwick University students' union in Coventry on Friday, the day Busted announced their split. The event was a far cry from the pop boy band's multi-million concerts, with NUS tickets costing only £3.

Fightstar recently returned from Dublin and will be playing in London on Thursday, followed by a string of other venues across the country.
After that, Al said they aimed to get an album sorted out by this time next year.
"I can't wait to start writing for the album," he admitted. "We have already got a few ideas up our sleeve, and while we are touring we will be writing a lot."
Meanwhile, the boys will have their work cut out trying to play down their bandmate's famous former connections.
"The link with Busted does give us some concern, but we're hoping there's more people out there who like us just for our music, and not for that image," said Al.
"We hope people forget about that side of things and enjoy the music."