It’s a problem of their own making. Producers would probably quite like Misha B in the final, but her standing in the public vote was irrevocably tarnished by bullygate. They have at least got her to this stage. Will they make one big push to get her to the final, or decide that she has come far enough? The format of this week’s elimination may hold the key.
To remind you, every time there has been a four-act semi, there has been no sing-off and the lowest in the public vote has been automatically eliminated. Last year, however, the five-act semi contained a surprise sing-off – the first ever at this stage of the competition, allowing Cher into the final over Mary. Crucially, producers were happy to keep viewers in the dark about whether there would or would not be a sing-off until the Sunday results show itself.
As someone who has made the vast majority of my profits on the elimination market this series, I am obviously hoping there will be one. The stage of the series at which it goes to public vote alone marks a severe narrowing of options for me. There have been reports there won’t be a sing-off, but at the time of writing nothing has been confirmed in any official capacity, and it’s best not to take anything for granted until this is the case.
So, we have a ‘Sliding Doors’ situation this week with four different scenarios.
Scenario 1: It is officially confirmed there WILL be a sing-off
An announcement at any point on Saturday that there is going to be a sing-off will sound like very good news for Misha, as she seems much the most likely act to finish last in the public vote.
Indeed, it’s hard to imagine why the show would hold a sing-off for any other reason than to shoehorn Misha into the final. We would expect them also to want to save Little Mix or Marcus if either of them finished last, but that seems an unlikely fate for either of the only two remaining acts who have yet to experience a sing-off.
Could a sing-off announcement possibly indicate they fear Amelia Lily being bottom, and want her in the final? There are a couple of reasons to think not. Firstly, with Amelia already having been parachuted back into the competition halfway through, sending her through to the final from bottom of the vote would look even more ridiculous than saving Misha for a fourth time.
Secondly, if they did want to boost Amelia’s vote and dampen Misha’s, it would be a lot easier than the other way around – some fierce urban styling and bullying references would surely do for Misha, if that happened to be the aim.
In sum, if there is an announcement of a sing-off, we would expect Misha’s elimination price to drift very sharply.
Scenario 2: It is officially confirmed there WON’T be a sing-off, and there is a major de-ramping of Amelia
However, if the show confirms there will not be a sing-off either before the Saturday show or during it, it doesn’t necessarily spell bad news for Misha B. It could possibly indicate that they are confident they can get Misha above Amelia in the public vote. If producers feel they can get Misha into the final on the public vote alone, we would expect them to prefer this to the embarrassment of another sing-off save.
In such a scenario, it could be that our preview of last week’s elimination market – which turned out to be wildly wrong – was merely a week premature and there will be a major de-ramp of Amelia this time around.
We’re getting to the stage when judges tend to praise rather than criticise in order to big up the remaining entrants, so any de-ramping may not be as obvious as some of the ruthless kills carried out in the earlier shows. Nonetheless, the treatment of Amelia will be watched most closely. Lukewarm praise may be one tactic that is used – though we would love her to come out in a haze of smoke with a red and black backdrop, to prove Richard from Betsfactor right.
Scenario 3: It is officially confirmed there WON’T be a sing-off, and there is NO major de-ramping of Amelia
Probably more likely, however, an announcement of no sing-off could indeed simply indicate that producers are resigned to losing Misha. They may think she’s sure to finish bottom of the vote, and that shoehorning her into the final by saving her for a fourth time wouldn’t be worth the controversy it would undoubtedly cause in a year where they’ve already taken plenty of liberties with precedent.
Likewise, if Misha seems destined for last place, they may want to avoid any risk of either Marcus or Little Mix joining her in a sing-off. It makes obvious sense in terms of dramatic tension to avoid a situation where all but one of the acts in the final has been proved to have weak public support by having appeared in the bottom two.
If there’s an announcement of a public vote elimination, and no discernible de-ramping of Amelia, that would most likely spell curtains for Misha. At which point you will no longer be able to get around 4/5 with the likes of Boylesports that she will go.
Scenario 4: No clear announcement on Saturday
There was wiggle room in Dermot’s words during last year’s semi-final. To remind you, his explanation then was that, “It’s now all in your hands, your votes and your votes alone can get your favourite act safely through to the final.” Some interpreted the use of the word ‘alone’ to believe there would be no sing-off, but we interpreted the use of the word ‘safely’ to mean that producers could justify letting the judges decide between the two acts that weren’t made safe by the public.
So unless we hear an official announcement before or at the beginning of the programme, we’ll be listening very carefully to Dermot’s words when the lines open towards the end of the show. I will require a definite ‘read my lips, there will be no sing-off’ moment to be certain it is the case.
If it isn’t clear on Saturday, it shows that producers are hedging their bets – and, as with scenario 1 above, the best reason I can think of for them doing this is to keep open the option of saving Misha if she finishes bottom of the public vote. So if viewers are left in the dark, we would expect Misha’s elimination odds to drift after the show and Amelia’s to shorten, as in scenario 1.
Having considered those four scenarios, let’s briefly entertain two less likely outcomes. The fact that the elimination betting is dominated by the two girls reflects a view that Marcus and Little Mix are (a) most likely in no danger of finishing bottom, and (b) most likely to be wanted by producers in the final. For the sake of completeness, though, we should consider if there is any chance of waving goodbye to either of them this Sunday.
We’re struggling to see it. We agree with Sofabet commenters who have made the point that an all-female final would likely not do much good for ratings, so we’d be amazed if any chance of losing Marcus was taken.
As for Little Mix, the reported romance between Perrie and One Direction’s Zayn has done nothing for their “not going to steal your boyfriend” USP – it seems likely that at least a few of Little Mix’s core demographic will now be feeling intensely jealous towards the blonde Geordie lass. We highly recommend reading Richard from Betsfactor’s entertaining take on the snog crisis, but we’d be amazed if it were enough to cause the girls to sink below Misha and Amelia – and even in the highly unlikely case that it did, we’d be amazed if the show didn’t hold a sing-off to save them.
Because odds are tight and much depends on which of the four scenarios take place, I recommend sitting out the elimination market until Saturday’s show tells us more (or maybe doesn’t). Which scenario do you imagine occurring on Saturday and what will it mean for the remaining four acts? Do let us know in the comments box below.
For me, Scenario 2 is the most likely, especially with the motown theme and the rumour that Misha is going to sing Respect again, a song she nailed at her audition. In fact I thought it was the best audition actually. A pimp slot Respect would surely carry Misha into the final.
Marcus and Little Mix are safe, I’d be amazed to see them slip into the B2.
I definitely think we’ll see the axing of Amelia Lily. With two pimp slots in three weeks, she’s due a bad slot as well.
So, I’m sticking by my guns as Misha being bounced over Amelia and then Misha being the first act out in the final, a la Cher. And then a predictable final 2 of Marcus and Little Mix.
Sorry,I said Marcus and LM slipping “into the B2”. I, of course meant eliminated!
Respect isn’t motown though, so is that her personal choice.
I’d guess so, but the Songs to get you to the final are the second ones, so if she got the pimp slot, she’d be closing the show with Respect.
I get the sense they favour Amelia-Lily over Misha. I can imagine Cowell et al ordering the UK underlings to bring her back as a marketable, manageable cash machine as opposed to any of the other girls selected at judges houses.
As a result they will deliver her to the final. She even has started to do Misha’s bit at the end of the advert.
I understand the argument that she was brought in to damage Janet but the advert convinces me.
Ha – thanks for the plug! Lots more drivel lined up for this weekend.
A few thoughts:
– I wonder if we may have seen the end of Red and Black this series. As you say, we tend to get praise towards the end of the series, and I suspect they may stop these sorts of things now! You can’t over use them.
– On the Snog Crisis – I agree, it’s not going to nuke their chances, but it’s “unhelpful”. I don’t think the show will just suddenly hold a singoff to save LM or Marcus. I think these things require a lot of planning, a decision will already have been made. Whilst you can throw a show running order out of the window it’s not a good idea, and to fiddle with the format to that extent could lead to accusations of fixing etc. I think they’re being ultra careful to be transparent at the moment, so I think the decision has been made already.
On the singoff:
I’d be 90% sure of NO SINGOFF at all.
* Betfair haven’t bothered running a market on it. Nor have most bookies. This is a business decision, so it must be based on something solid!
* Digital Spy have used the word “confirmed”. That must also be based on something! They are a decent showbiz site.
* There was a lot of “fix fix fix” publicity last time around, probably best that they don’t risk that again.
However, you do wonder how they are going to fill an extra 12 minutes, especially as far as I can tell, with only two artist plugs mentioned so far this week (Justin B and Kelly’s own single). My guess is the loser will be invited to sing “one last time” which will pad out a bit of time. Maybe a re-run of the charity single?!
On who’s going: No idea. I think they need to get rid of Amelia but would have taken it to deadlock anyway if the two came up in a Singoff, to avoid any unnecessary negativity in finals week. So Misha to be ramped, Amelia to be deflated. They want ideally Misha to survive, but never mind if it’s Amelia who stays, as long as Marcus and LM are safe, that’s the top priority.
Happy enough to say they don’t need a sing off to save misha.
But for the 12 minutes quite sure it’s possible to show highlights one more time from last the previous night maybe extra 2 minutes question to judges. But when I have enough liabilities quite sure dermot is capable of chatting serious shite to cover the 12 minutes!
The advert is created/edited/adjusted by marks and spencers any decision to amend will of had nothing to do with X factor producers having made the decision.
Does nobody else think it highly probably that this week has been setup to perfection by the producers?
Basically they wanted misha to do well (make the final) and Janet to go last week
They easily got rid of Janet last week, but cleverly what they did that’s perhaps been overlooked. They gave Amelia the pimp slot knowing this is highly likely to save her from bottom 2 and as a result push misha back there knowing they can safely save misha in a sing off.
This week Amelia will NOT be on last as she was last week giving opportunity to give misha pimp slot. With careful comments and pimp slot there is no reason why misha can nit bounce above Amelia again as she did 2 weeks ago.
FinLly it’s worth asking the question why was Motown week rumored to be last weeks theme then changed to this week? Motown surely suits misha more? So was this carefully planned to aid misha’s chances of a bounce to the final.
To sum up I think the past week and this week has been cleverly setup to get rid of janet and bounce misha to the final, avoiding damaging the x factor brand by having an eliminated contestant go on to win.
i agree with this. however, i’m just wondering if a big enough sympathy bounce can be engineered this close to the final. traditionally more people vote at this stage which will perhaps be more damaging to the less popular contestant – if indeed she is less popular?
there was written somewhere ds or tellymix that winner song is Cannonball by Damien Rice… now who shall sing it?:)) i cant see any of them singing that..
No chance, it’s an original song that be written by Gary Barlow allegedly.
The days of remakes by xfactor are gone I think
yeah maybe its another “TWIST”?
I hope not. That’s one of my favourite songs of all time. I don’t want any of the X Factor finalists murdering it!
Not like the Sofabet team to sit on the fence so much – out of the four options which do you see as most likely? I’m still on Option 2, because you’ve convinced me they won’t want her to win, and because I don’t think Amelia beat Janet by much last week, even with such good treatment.
If not? Probably 3 if they decide to go for a positive last couple of weeks and just to let the acts compete.
I’ve noticed the Perrie/Zayn story as well. It’s been a pretty slow news week so the positive is that it’s kept Little Mix as the act people are talking about. But Richard Betsfactor is right that it’s dangerous. It’s probably worse them flirting and maybe-being-together than in a stable relationship given the Little Mix brand, but imagine if he is there cheering her on at Wembley Arena?
Honestl quite shockingly a lot of One Direction fans want the rumor to be true, are have said if he’s happy then they are cool because they like Perrie, and the ones who were not cool with it, never were voting, are they don’t live in the UK. Perrie, and her Mom have both denied the rumors anyway
It’s been a while now since they put up a bet other than opinions with not much reflection on price, but the articles are a great read. Offering good insight to anything readers may have overlooked.
Morning jscouser, tpfkar,
Yes, we’re getting quite comfortable on the fence there 😉 We wouldn’t put a bet up unless we were having one ourselves.
The Sun this morning are reporting a “source” saying no sing off
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/tv/x_factor/3975800/Misha-B-Ill-get-aXed.html
Still won’t entirely believe it until it’s on the XF website or Dermot uses an un-wriggle-out-able of forms of words, but it looks like scenarios 2 or 3 now.
Really hard to say before the show which is most likely, especially after last week taught us not to be too confident in expecting an Amelia de-ramp!
There has never been a singoff with 4 acts remaining. Happy to assume no reason to change. Think it will ve very easy for them to get rid of whoever they want without the need for sing off
Teenage girls are not the kingmakers in this competition and they wont colour the result even if Little Mix and ID decided to hold a weekend orgy of reciprocal group sex.
Who is going to perform and entertain the older generation the most?
MISHA? nope – best voice soiled goods
LM? nope – nice kids poor vocals and styling
The good ship? – yep – what a NICE pleasant young man!
Amelia – yep – what a pretty young girl and what a lovely voice.
MISHA or LM are going
If LM are bottom there is a sing off
But if LM are bottom they are torpedoed anyway
The DAILY STAR reckon LM are home and hosed – this is not just a story but their Saturday morning headline!
Cripes!
http://www.dailystar.co.uk/home/
A bit premature methinks!
The Mirror dont say much, the Sun more neutral sizing up MISHA for the chop.
Interesting side article about Michael Bubble
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/tv/x_factor/
I would assume that the little mix article will lose them votes(ppl think no need to vote as already safe)
And the misha b article will gain her votes.
The Daily Star reckoned Janet was topping the vote!!
I don’t see why Janet couldn’t have been topping the vote until very recently.
I still say after last week that there is no real reason to believe that they are desperate to get Amelia Lily out. I still don’t agree that they think her winning would do any damage to the brand (which it wouldn’t – it would be better for a “ready made popstar” to win than another doomed male)
I think they realise the public don’t want Misha in the final, and if Amelia makes it there’s still enough uncertainty about whether she could actually win it, whereas Misha would be certain to go first anyway. I think all they care about now is that the final 3 will be a boy, a girl and a group, which it almost certainly will be whether they manipulate anything or not.
Bad press for Misha in the papers today
“Misha: I’ll be Axed”
Hope so – then the current 6/1 for Amelia will look like a steal and be laid off!
I must admit I’ve had a sneaky dabble on both of the girls; I reckon I’ll be able to lay off tomorrow night on whoever is left standing.
If I was running the shop today I’d be trying to get Marcus out now as he has all the hallmarks of a Joe McElderry career and that’s not making anyone money. Just a thought.
Other than being polite and male, he is nothing like Joe McElderry as an artist. Its rather lazy to just link a male artist to one of the previous male artists.
In my opinion he much more similar to Olly Murs (only with a better voice) and he happens to be the most successful solo male contestant… (And I say this as a Little Mix supporter).
There’s only room for one Olly Murs in the world though, unfortunately for Marcus.
Please can anyone tell me. If I record the show on my digi box PVR, does this contribute in any way to their viewing ratings. I enjoy I.T, but, am probably more comfortable with Hughie Green and his clapometer (you’re now saying what, who? No I’m not blue rinse). It’s just that, I vowed not to watch again, after the shabby treatment Janet had to endure. However, being the hypocrite that I am, I now would like to watch the show purely from the angle of this site and these posts. You have re kindled my interest from a different perspective and now, in the words of my favourite “I don’t want to miss a thing”
Oh for the days of Hughie Green’s ‘clapmoter’. None of the over excited hype then about the contestants, but maybe I have a short memory. They did have a phone vote then too though.
X Factor is now off my ‘to watch list’ for good also. I am more upset by Janet’s treatment that any monies lost on her. The X Factor could have done more to showcase her unique voice than trying to pigeon hole her in to some plastic pop figure. This is the first year I have actually watched the show the whole way through and cannot watch it again. I will just be looking for all the manipulative tricks that may be apparent in song choices and staging, etc. Even if you are not a betting person the X Factor articles, and the great analysis, on Sofabet have given a brilliant insight as to how the X Factor machine operates. It does not always make pleasant reading
The remaining acts in the X Factor do nothing for me and to use Gary Barlow’s turn of phrase I find them a bit ‘predictable and boring’. Misha B has been moulded in to a Gladys Knight/Aretha Franklin type figure. Marcus reminds me of Little Richard/Sammy Davies junior. Amelia reminds me of a young Bet Lynch character when she wears her leopard prints, although her new makeover is an improvement. Little Mix are OK but still feel they mostly appeal to the teeny bop market, ‘little’ being the type of person they most appeal to. Any of these acts could win. It will be down to how they perform or how they are made to perform on the day.
At the end of this year’s competition it should be the stylists, and the team who choose the songs who should be voted off! The X Factor is basically a young person’s competition. Many of the song choices, although classics, have been decades old and possibly not that familiar to many of the young contestants. Add to this, the styling of the contestants has been mostly awful. Even to a middle aged person such as myself the X factor just feels rather stale now. Perhaps it is time for it to be binned!
P.S. A young Gary Barlow appeared as a contestant in 1986 in the ‘BBCs Carol Competition’: an annual contest for choir boys and girls. I wonder what comments he received from the judges then! Hopefully, more constructive than those he has dished out to some of this year’s X Factor finalists.
What a great reply. Agree with everything you say. My feeling is Little Mix will win, based on the opinion of the young people in my family. I have decided to keep my integrity and not watch again, after all. I’ll just follow the outcome on this excellent site.
This I mean most sincerely folks!
I remain of the opinion that the production team might still be angling for Misha to win at this stage – maybe not as Plan A but as the best option available – and I think she does still have a viable, if unlikely, path to victory.
It requires the judges to play along though, by creating a Moment for her – a song where their praise goes beyond pimpage and into outright anointment. The best example of the Moment in X Factor history was Alexandra Burke’s unexceptional ‘Listen’ being treated like Christ’s entry into Jerusalem. The Moment is accompanied by standing ovations, tears and pronouncements that a star is born.
If Misha gets into the final – and this should be relatively easy to engineer even if she doesn’t get a Thoroughly Dead Cat Bounce off of last week – watch out for who she gets to duet with. Again, 2008 is a pointer where Alexandra got a considerably higher-powered partner than he rivals, which may have helped propel her ahead of JLS.
I’m not saying that Misha’s situation is parallel to Alexandra’s, but the techniques are there.
It should also be comparatively easy to highlight the weaknesses of her competitors, by painting Marcus as a lightweight, Amelia as an also-ran, and Little Mix as not quite ready.
The only judge who might not go along with such a strategy is Tulisa, so I suspect that if Misha is the Chosen One then they will want to get rid of Little Mix this week. Headlines about Misha fearing the axe and LM being the hot favourites to win can’t do much other than generate sympathy for the former and complacency for the latter.
Of course, this is all speculative. They might be itching to ditch Misha as soon as possible. But if it does pan out the way I describe then I will feel simultaneously smug and annoyed.
I see two possibilities tonight. The producers are either going to pimp Misha very hard, or they’re going to hang her out to dry ala their previous favourites Craig Colton and Kitty Brucknell. My first response if Misha doesn’t come out first tonight will be to lay her on the elimination market.
When was Kitty a favourite?
A producer’s favourite I meant. Pimp slot week 2 plus consistent late slots until the week she was dropped, plus 2 sing-off saves would suggest she was definitely that. But then she was dramatically dropped the week she went, as was Craig Colton.
I’m not sure she was favoured particularly, and was lucky that her first two sing-offs happened in weeks when she was up against acts they wanted rid of more (and tbh I think they would have been happy to see her go when they had the bottom 3, but the Risk messed up their plans by coming last).
I suspect she was pimp-slotted because they knew she could give good show-stopping performances rather than because they thought she was a potential winner. She was fun to have around for a bit rather than a Janet-like Frankenstein Monster that they realised they had to slay.
off topic totally here but has anyone seen x-factor usa just caught up with it and OMG whats going on over there??simon cowell prodigy DREW has been dropped,voted off by his very own hand picked prepaid crew,he looked so pissed with this and his reaction was a real peach,never thought he would react like this to anyone,guess it shows that not even he can prevent things from internally combusting ,to me its looks like they done to Drew what they did to janet and very may simular remarks made about her to from the judges.
Drew on US X Factor confused me. I haven’t been watching avidly enough to say anything concrete. I thought she was a producer’s chosen one and unlike Janet, she didn’t seem like she was feisty behind the scenes. Like I say, haven’t watched enough to have an opinion really. To me, unlike Janet, I found her to be just not that good, and that’s as good a reason as any to drop someone.
The question is, how closely have sofabet been watching US X Factor this year? I know you did an article on it a bit back and although a lot of us didn’t agree with you that X Factor US was that good (me included), it’s still interesting to me how the producers (who after all, were mainly poached from our show) have handled the series. I’d love to see you do an article on that and to be honest, particularly Drew’s exit, as I’d like an explanation. Is it perhaps that there is less producer manipulation in America and the judges were actually allowed to do what they want, or was Drew dropped by the producers for another reason?
Hi sam, Curtis,
there were some comments already here:
https://sofabet.com/2011/11/30/x-factor-2011-final-duets-who-will-little-mix-marcus-misha-b-or-amelia-get/comment-page-1/#comment-10163
Thank you, hadn’t seen this chain of comments. Interesting theorising (or should I say theorizing as we’re discussing the US iteration!)
sorry for the hijack on the post boki,been away from the old site for few days must of missed this one,chears
Official song list for tonight below:
Amelia Lily – Ain’t No Mountain High Enough and I’m With You
Little Mix – You Keep Me Hanging On and If I Were A Boy
Marcus Collins – Can You Feel It and My Girl
Misha B – Dancing In The Street and Perfect
Don’t think those song choices necessarily hurt or harm anyone. Ain’t No Mountain High Enough is a bit rubbish for Amelia but then her second one (assuming they’re sung in that order) is good. Marcus’ song choices are dated, but that’s what we’ve come to expect.
I think it’s all down to VTs and running order at this stage.
PS I think we can assume Misha will be singing Pink’s ‘Perfect’ rather than Fairground Attraction’s ‘Perfect’ 🙂
Hi Daniel,
check out the lyrics to Hedley – Perfect, they seem “perfect” for misha’s journey
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nBU9VR2X5g
Amelia=”aint not mountain high enough” well she is trying to climb Everest i guess,but think Misha sould of had “you keep me hanging on” this would be more apt i think?
Honestly, think Misha’s songs couldnt be any worse.
I would like to give a serious opinion. My feeling is Misha is the best act as far as polished performance goes and I think they are anxious to keep her because of that. Amelia was brought in as ballast to get Janet out. This has worked, but, she is a bit amateurish and is now expendable. Marcus is frothy. Little Mix is their creation. In view of their teen appeal and the doll manufacturers appeal, they will be pushed to win. Just my humble opinion.
Ready made evening for “The Good Ship”
“Can you feel it?” will be a superb all action song and dance number
“My girl” will show off his superb falsetto with no low notes to distract
MARCUS to displace LM as favourite overnight.
Wish I felt as confident as you Simon. My heart dropped when I read those song choices. I realise Marcus likes the retro style but my can’t he try something current at least once with two songs available (something from Cee Lo Green would be perfect: ‘Bright Lights’, ‘Forget You’, ‘Crazy’ etc.)
But I suppose its got him this far so hopefully sticking to the formula won’t go against him.
Yes, but again, very dated.
Marcus performing last 🙂
this years x-factor reminds me of that imfamous brit awards show of 1989 with sam fox and mick fleetwood,and like that will be remembered for all thw wrong reasons,lets just hope tonight these 4 remaining acts can redeem this show and pull off a good semi who ever get into the final,going on the motown theme should be a good 1,i hope, i still think misha will go this week though even though this theme may well suit her style ,or though the song choices could be better i think for all but i think the inevitable may well happen tomorrow,but i wait to stand corrected
Misha B first up, some boring crappy VT. I’ve traded out my Amelia Lily next to go bet, Misha is gone.
PS, Red and Black lol
LOL Misha B pimping: no sing off, first up, black(and some red).
Amelia – black and red – perhaps they are all going home?
The “Black & Red” is more evident for LITTLE MIX. Did Leigh-Ann just forget the lyrics?
Little Mix – heavy red and black theme, unflattering camera angles, unflattering judge comments (esp. after the praise ladled on Misha and Amelia’s karaoke-thons) followed by staged argument. Please see my “Little Mix will die tonight” conspiracy theory above, and feel free go “hmmm”.
On the other hand, the audience chanting their name was as loud as anything I remember on this show.
Leigh definitely forgot the words but none of the judges mentioned it. What a surprise. Guess we won’t be seeing it in the reminders like we did at every opportunity last week.
Thought LM were poor, but it seems that the public have ther personal favourites, so the voting won’t change too much from here. Plus the judges had the big row about the vocals and the audience backed the group, ensuring the voters will pick up the phones.
R..would of been good if they had of mentioned it as it was very obvious and we aint deaf we do hear these mistakes,guess there was a reason for not mentioning it,nudge nudge,wink wink
me thinks she did!!woops..and puts in a little rap to discise it some what,hum very motown!judges not over keen on it either but no real negitives either,see what the girls come up with in part 2,i did not think it was that bad myself though.
i don’t think she forgot the words. she was having trouble getting the mike out of its slot and it distracted her methinks
Wasn’t expecting quite so positive comments for Amelia but LM? IT’s a set up my friends and the girls may just be about to crash.
Favourites to win?
Not anymore they aint.
The good ship sails to the front and he hasnt even sung yet!
could it be that they got their top4 and now they only care that Marcus would get in to the final?
Smoke for misha 1st thing i see!
MISHA nashed as a result of the song choice – never heard of it and neither will anyone else.
Its between her and LM to go.
Retraction of BULLYGATE all a bit late I think
The Judges comments sounded like they’ve discarded MISHA B. “If you’re lucky enough to make it through”, “you can’t win this competition”, “X Factor or No X Factor”, etc…
think the writings on the wall then for miss B,they know it and so does she i think,lame attempt from gary to detract away the bullygate issue,was hopeing they would play fair tonight but why break the habbit of the entire series.hope she at least has a respectfull departure
Who chooses these kak songs?
Amelia’s song was awful choice – its all a bit vanity performance by the judges – why dont they chose something that folk back home know?
Not good for Amelia.
We’ll see.
I have to disagree with you about the song choices. Tonight was pretty much the first X Factor ever where I’ve known every single song chosen. Am I not a ‘folk back home’?
Little Mix got the Pimp Slot!!!!!!! Thanks for the 13/8!
PAYPAY IS THE CRYYYYYYY
No they didn’t
MARCUS did!
Sorry Chris- LM have got it.
Didnt like the deramping of MARCUS there.
Louis Walsh talks crap but MARCUS has enugh steam to get to the final and we’ll take it from there…
Have they definately confirmed that there’s no sing off? Have heard lots of ‘its in your hands comments’ but isn’t that what they did last year?
Dermot said at the start of the programme that the judges won’t get to vote.
Later on there was talk of a bottom two, but Dermot’s statement seems watertight.
Think again sunshine. The pimp slot is last to perform.
sorry good ship or not ,no no no no no no.sorry just not right
Black and red. Heard a lot of nonsense in my time but that takes the biscuit.
I thought it too but that along with lots of smoke has seen Every act this year go
Summary of tonights betting moves for those that missed the show.
Start After 1 After 2
L.M 11/8 13/8 11/8
Marcus 6/4 11/8 15/8
Misha 12/1 20/1 25/1
Amelia 11/2 9/2 4/1
Tonights winner on the betting – Amelia
Tonights loser on the betting – Marcus and Misha
Tonights neutral – Little Mix
Betting aside, I thought tonight was a really low standard, even by the expected standards.
Misha bum draw, flat VT and performances
Amelia great feedback but vocals very shaky/shouty
Marcus first song OK, 2nd song just horrible
Littlemix seem to be being carried by Perrie after a couple of only OK performances.
I’ve decided to have a grand on Steve Brookstein being parachuted back in the for the final at and WIN at 2/1.
yep im right with you on that one chris,for a semi is was really poor,the only one for me that was anygood was misha!!,yes it surprised me to,amelia was ok but agree to shouty she seems 1 angry little girl dont know why!!
little -mix big let down not good(sorry mix suporters)forgetting words in 1st song and poorly covered up with a little rap.woops and 2nd seemed a little out of tune to me and they did not gell well tonight,but there excessive pimping is getting stupid now from the crowd now though,why no comment from judges on the fluffed line,guess they all went deaf at for those 2 seconds.
marcus first song was ok for me but the 2nd wtf,no no no just wrong coming down from celing,could it get any more crass than that bad move and his vocals were off,but his pimping should keep him strong.
going on tonigh i see little-mix v misha bottom 2 misha going as to be expected i think after garys ill timed and pointless comment about her,am not a fan of hers but why bring it up again in the semis,enough already..
Massive LM ramping as predicted by Richard on Betsfactor. Compared to Girls Aloud and the. Kelly says they will “Change the World” and Gary says they were poor so “if you want to see them in the final pick up the phones and vote.” Tulisa does the hand slamming on the desk thing (any Derren Brown fans out there will be familiar with this) as she tells Newcastle, South Shields etc to pick up the phone.
Very observant. Maybe Tulisa should start betting on greyhounds.
some shocking performances tonight. sorry simon but marcus was pretty poor for sections of his songs. noticeable that he had less backing vocal help. LM also ropey in parts. misha was ok but songs were fairly boring. amelia the winner for me tonight and that’s saying something as i really dislike her.
Here’s the betting – can’t see 15/8 Marcus but 7/4 with Ladbrokes a step in the wrong direction.
http://www.oddschecker.com/specials/tv/x-factor/winning-act
No one stood out – I agree with CHRIS O.
Perhaps the best all round was AMELIA.
LM are not that great but the judges had some pretty lousy comments for them all at some point
In fact as the show sinks into the market, AMELIA clearly had a great night and is now as low as 11/4 and dropping.
Could be 5/2 by tomorrow morning.
I always avoid betting on these stages as there’s no accounting for taste but here are my thoughts.
Mischa out is pretty solid. She had no production favours at all, the fact it’s public vote only means they don’t care who goes that much and all the things that made her less mainstream were back. The rapping and the styling.
Amelia did well across both songs and seems to be portrayed as doing it all alone which will probably play well.
Little Mix won one and lost one. Screwing up the lyrics at this stage ain’t great, do it at Wembley Arena next week when th pressure is on…
The good ship might have been struck below the waterline. His last three performances have been vocally bad now. All that whooping just looks amateur hour along with songs in the wrong key.
The usual woeful standard we’ve come to expect from this series. Last year was an interesting well received show in comparison and yet not one of the final four has yet to make any real money making impact on the charts apart from Matt’s winner single. God alone knows what this year will dredge up. Maybe they’ll abandon all but Little Mix, I would.
Misha was best tonight for me, still probably doomed but I’m not putting any money on anyone. I want a sing-off, one more please 🙂
Apologies to Richard. You were right on the button. Michelle Williams (Destiny’s Child) has just said that Jade from LM reminds her of her younger self and the band remind her of Destiny’s Child.
Strangely all got pimped by the guests except Marcus.
Still no mention of LM’s lost lyrics. hmmm
Not worried about the Good Ship
Still the best all round performer but sure hope that when he gets to the final, they dont give him songs in low keys.
Which other acts dances and sings like him, and smiles too. The VT was good and the bad comments were not too bad and everyone had some.
Clear winner of the evening is AMELIA – three horse race for second though.
Simon. Oh dear oh dear, MARCUS really let us down tonight with that second ‘lackluster’ performance (great tune but totally wrong and far too a low a key to make an impact).
The fist song was classic but he should have got OFF the ‘same old dated soul theme’ to show what else he can do (maybe too late now though).
I need him 2nd too for my best forecast bets behind LITTLE MIX (though AMELIA will do at a slightly less pinch, much as I can’t stand the toneless KARAOKE QUEEN SHOUTER).
He had every chance here to win some much needed ‘Brownie points’ with the younger ‘Bruno Mars’ voting age group element and ‘away’ from the tough competition (and indeed he ‘should’ have done a more modern one by his other hero like the others did).
Now trapped in a cabaret performer ‘revival time warp’ (and below a fast rising AMELIA in the general popularity polls on the Net), he is now in great danger after MISHA’s redeeming performances and better VT’s.
I agree with SHANE from WESTLIFE and ‘IF’ he does manage to scrape though he has a lot to do now.
Despite their first song problem tonight, the LITTLE MIX STEAMROLLER is now becoming a HUGE unstoppable ‘brand’ as I predicted months back and have built up a powerful HUGE snowballing fan base.
Therefore I am not worried one jot about their forgivable ‘LITTLE’ mistake tonight. At least it was honest and innocent and they are all under a lot of nervous pressure up there.
Just what WAS ‘Uncle knob-head’ on about too ? Sheeesh !! He wanted the band to feature a lead singer more and he got it in the second song with PERRIE doing most of the lead vocal lines with her fabulously ranged (and trained) voice. He needs a good slap round his smug face with wet Fish.
Though seemingly a better performance from the PINK KARAOKE QUEEN SCREAMER, it was satisfyingly drowned right out by the overpowering backing singers.
Also with the PINK rocker image killed off and and SOFTENED down by XF for some ‘MISHAesque’ type reason, I half expected her to finish the second song with….
“HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU MR PRESIDENT or …. DIAMONDS ARE A GIRL’S BEST FRIEND…
BOOP BOOP BE DOO..”
We had better get the prayer-mats out my friend.
i wonder if misha will say in any of her interviews over the next few days she knew she was going out wednesday,as did craig and janet!!!!will be interesting for me if she does.