Pakistani Fish seller’s catchy tuna may hit No1

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Trader's song could be new 'Gangnam Style'

“Come on ladies, come on ladies, have-a, have-a look, one pound fish. Very very good, very very cheap, one pound fish.” Once you’ve heard it you can’t get it out of your head — and it might just be the Christmas No1. The One Pound Fish Song is the creation of market stall trader Muhammad Shahid Nazir who has just reeled in a record deal with Warner Music.He was spotted after a YouTube video of him singing at an east London market notched up more than 3.6million views. Not bad for a guy who was rejected by the X Factor panel. Now Warner Music execs reckon he could be as big as Gangnam Style star Psy — and are pitting him against the winner of X Factor for the most remembered hit of the year. Alesha Dixon and US boy band Mindless Behaviour have both recorded versions of the song and Rio Ferdinand has tweeted that he’s a fan. In Queen’s Market, Upton Park, 31-year-old Shahid seems like an unlikely pop star in tracksuit bottoms and old beanie. But the moment he starts to sing we are suddenly surrounded by a sea of fans.Yolanda Riley, 20, travelled from Ashford in Kent just to meet him. She says: “I am obsessed with his song, I had to meet him. “He smelt like fish but he was amazing. I’m so happy now.” Shahid says the attention is not unusual. He explains: “People have come from Australia, the US, Canada and all over Europe. They don’t come here to work or shop, they come for One Pound Fish Man.” Shahid moved to the UK just over a year ago with only a bag and the hope of making enough money to send to his wife and four children in Pakistan. On his first day working on the fish stall, Shahid’s boss told him to shout to the customers to get their attention. He didn’t like shouting so made up a song. Shahid explains: “My customers said to me, ‘Your song is very good, so catchy’. They said, ‘You should be a pop star, you should go on X Factor’.” He appeared on this year’s live auditions. Guest judge Rita Ora voted for him to go to Boot Camp but regulars Tulisa, Gary Barlow and Louis Walsh turned him down. They could be left feeling pretty silly if Shahid achieves his dream of getting the Christmas No1 — beating the eventual winner of the talent contest. Producers are working on a dance mix of his song, which will be his first single. But even if he achieves the success of his hero, Psy, there is no chance of him forgetting his plaice. Shahid says: “I love this stall and these fish. I will always work here. “None of this would have happened without the fish.”