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Wide Awake is the debut album of English pop singer Joe McElderry, winner of the sixth series of British talent competition The X Factor. The album was released digitally on 22 October 2010, with a physical release following on 25 October 2010.

Two retailer exclusive versions of the album were available, with Asda offering four bonus cards and play.com offering signed copies of the album.

McElderry recorded his first single "The Climb" in December 2009, releasing it on 14 December, shortly after he won the sixth series of the British television talent contest The X Factor. The singer received 61.3% of the final public vote. Joe's prize was a £1 million recording contract with Syco Music, a subsidiary of Sony BMG including a £150,000 advance payment. After completing X Factor Live tour, various meetings of the album took place and recording on the album began in July, before being completed in early September. Joe worked with producers Ray Hedges, Dallas Austin and John Shanks on the album.Simon Cowell contacted Journey for permission to release a cover of "Don't Stop Believin'", which McElderry had covered on the show before, as a single, but was declined. The album was originally planned to include a selection pop-rock, ballad and slow songs, however, the album's direction was changed upon completion of the single "Ambitions".

Ahead of the album's release Digital Spy reported that it would outsell previous male winners of the X-Factor based on pre-order charts where Wide Awake was 49% higher sales than 2006's winner Shayne Ward's debut album, 23.2% higher than 2008's winner Leon Jackson's Right Now and 40.7% higher than Steve Brookstein's Heart and Soul. McElderry had said before its release that the album had "some different elements" and is "definitely going to be a bit of a shocker", while Simon Cowell said that McElderry "has moved on to new musical territory" and that fans would be "pleasantly surprised". McElderry launched the album at G-A-Y. "Until the Stars Run Out" contains elements of "Faith" by George Michael.

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