Tulisa - The solo star to watch in 2012

With the impetus and hype generated by the BBC Sound of 2012 and various other 'Ones to Watch' list, it's sometimes easy to forget that some of the easiest successes to predict in the coming year are the ones that have already been graced with success.

When it comes to pop music, it's these stars that you can make a fair wager and be certain of return investment - we're talking about the safe runners here, the ones you can count on to carry the cash home.

And for me, one of the undoubted FutureStars of 2012 has got to be Tulisa. The girl from N-Dubz, the one off of X Factor, Miss Contostavlos... call her what you want, but her appeal on the ITV super smash this year speaks for itself. With the allure of the contestants themselves at a debatable low this year, the focus has again returned to the judges and the nation has taken both Kelly and Tulisa to their hearts.

The thing about Tulisa is that like her predecessor - Cheryl Cole - she is resolutely a woman of the people. She's relateable, tough talking, feisty - everything we love to see in a popstar. Even thinking back to her early days in N-Dubz, she stood out - the girl amidst the two guys. It was clear she could hold her own.

With her solo interviews mounting up and her personality and presence pre-established on the X Factor, the attention has been turning to her solo plans. N-Dubz on hiatus leaves a Tulisa free to pursue her solo ambitions, and like Cheryl building on the foundations of her Girls Aloud career, it's easy to imagine a slick UrbanPop album in the making.

Picture it now: Songwriters and producers - the best of the best. Photogenic Tulisa styled up to the nines for a glossy album cover (I absolutely adore the cream-dress shot above, if anything, this girl could launch a career on her looks alone). Urban pop is the sound of now - not just in the UK but in the US too, the charts are awash with dance-orientated pop hits rammed to bursting point with catchy choruses and slick beats. The market is primed for Tulisa to make her debut.

It all comes down to material - if Tulisa picks the right debut single to lead with, I see no reason why she can't replicate Cheryl's success and sell 292,000 copies of her lead single. Already she's allowed us some tantalising glimpses at the sound of the solo star she could become - while it had its many detractors and certainly wasn't without fault, The Collective's cover of Teadrop felt like a real vehicle for solo Tulisa and her bits of the track were without a doubt the best - The Wideboys mix in particular offers a look at the sleek dance-pop star Tulisa could style herself as. There's also the N-Dubz version of Tinchy Stryder hit Number 1 (this version featured an extra version sung by Tulisa).

HMV are already offering Tulisa's debut solo album for pre-order, with a release date pencilled in as the 1st of March - will this hold true? I certainly hope so...