Charlotte's ex-manager blasts book

Charlotte Church publishes the story of her life - so far

The man behind the phenomenal success of singer Charlotte Church has said the decision to leave him out of her autobiography "smacks of Stalinism".

Jonathan Shalit discovered Ms Church and managed her for almost two years before he was sacked in acrimonious circumstances.

Mr Shalit said he was deeply upset by the book Voice of an Angel, which makes no reference to the help he gave her.

Jonathan Shalit: 'Deeply hurt'

Ms Church's lawyers agreed to an out-of-court settlement - believed to be £2m - with Mr Shalit rather than endure a high-profile case.

Mr Shalit said: "To delete all references to the man who discovered Charlotte, secured her first recording contract, took her to America and managed her to two platinum discs smacks of Stalinism."

The criticism referred to the Soviet practice of "airbrushing" figures from history and state photographs.

I can only assume that the Voice of the Angel is now being distorted by the discordant voice of her advisors

Jonathan Shalit, former manager

Mr Shalit said that the draft of the book had contained "full and generous" accounts of his part in the success story, which had since disappeared.

Mr Shalit helped the Cardiff-born teenager rise to international success after he spotted her singing as an 11-year-old.

But he was sacked in January 2000 and Charlotte's mother Maria took over the job as manager.

'Distorted'

Now his previous role has been altered, he claimed.

"I was aware of the original manuscript, which was approved by Charlotte's American agent and which did include a full and generous account of my part in creating the Charlotte Church phenomenon.

"I can only assume that the Voice of the Angel is now being distorted by the discordant voice of her advisors."

A spokesman Sony - Charlotte's record company - said: "We are not interested in giving him publicity. We have no comment to make."

Mr Shalit recently signed up Celebrity Big Brother and Brookside star Claire Sweeney.

Charlotte's book - Voice of an Angel: My Life Story (So Far) - is due to be published on 12 April and is being serialised in a national newspaper.

The teenager, who has sung before the Pope, the Queen and Bill Clinton, has sold more than 7m records worldwide.

This summer, she is set to perform at the Pavarotti concert in Hyde Park.