Please Don't Let Me Go

In 2009, Murs was runner-up in the sixth series of singing competition The X Factor, following which he was offered a joint record deal with Epic Records and Syco Music in February 2010. Work then began on his debut album and, inspired by a demo scouted out by his A&R team of a reggae-influenced pop song called "Feel Free" by an unknown writer from Australia (this was actually nearly the title of Murs' debut album), it was decided to make Murs' material for the first album of a ska/reggae influence throughout. "Please Don't Let Me Go" was written by Murs along with Claude Kelly and Steve Robson in one of the first writing sessions for the album. They have continued to work with Murs on all his following albums since. Murs said he was excited to be releasing the single, stating that it was important to him that it was an original song, and that he wanted it to be different from his performances on The X Factor. ==Music video==

The music video for "Please Don't Let Me Go" premiered on 23 July 2010. It was filmed on location at a house near Reading, Berkshire. The video shows Murs pursuing a young girl who is playing hard-to-get at a large party. When he starts to lose hope, she then pursues him and the video culminates with both of them dancing into the night. The woman playing the female subject of the song was chosen personally by Murs. The owner of the house also appeared as an extra in the video. As Murs was well known for his dancing on The X Factor, he wanted a video in which he did not dance, to make it more about the song. ==Critical reception==

Nick Levine from Digital Spy described "Please Don't Let Me Go" as "a lovely summery reggae-tinged pop tune that bobs along in a thoroughly hummable and not un-Will Young-like fashion" and said that the music video "is just as quintessentially pleasant". A reviewer for children's news programme Newsround rated the song four out of five, stating: "The song is funky, catchy and easy to sing along to. It's quite a mellow, summery sound." ==Promotion==

Murs promoted the single with live performances on a number of TV shows in the run up to the single's release, including GMTV, The Michael Ball Show, This Morning, ''Stephen Mulhern's Magic Numbers, Suck My Pop and Live from Studio Five. Later performances of the single came during promotion of the Olly Murs'' album in the winter of 2010, at T4 Stars of 2010 and that year's Christmas Day edition of Top of the Pops. It was also infamously, in an interview with Heat magazine during promotion for the single, that Murs declared he would strip naked in a photoshoot for them if the single were to reach number one, despite his belief that it would not, as it was being released the same week as Katy Perry's song Teenage Dream. After the single debuted at number one, he then went on to fulfill his promise for the magazine, appearing naked in the 14 September 2010 issue, with a trilby hat covering his modesty. ==Track listing==

The single made its chart debut on 3 September, where it debuted at number five on the Irish chart. ==Personnel==

• Lead vocals – Olly Murs • Writer – Olly Murs, Claude Kelly, Steve Robson • Producer – Future Cut, Steve Robson • Mixer – Steve Fitzmaurice • Mix Assistant - Darren Heelis ==Charts==

Weekly charts Year-end charts ==Certifications==