In a week where British journalism has come under intense scrutiny for other reasons, our Sofabet commenters have been assessing the implications behind numerous intriguing tabloid allegations. Most notably, eurovicious wondered if Chris Maloney really is still topping the votes, as suggested by The Sun on Thursday.
The story saw Maloney’s odds in the market cut from 33/1 to half that. There is a Wagnerian ring to this. The Brazilian lothario from the 2010 series exited when the hype began over his previously unconsidered chances.
Meanwhile the drip-drip of anti-Maloney stories continued just this morning, following an article brought to our attention by Caro earlier in the week reporting that the Liverpudlian votes for himself on numerous occasions.
But there is a sense that X Factor producers agree with Oscar Wilde that there’s only one thing worse than being talked about, and that’s not being talked about. If that’s so, it’s District 3 who should be most worried this week.
Whilst the Maloney story is still bringing plenty of intrigue to the series, our commenter Neeve pointed to a Daily Mail article that air-brushed District 3 from X Factor history.
Perhaps producers would rather it was this way, having seen the boys survive for the last two weeks of silly productions and judges’ barbs. But they may have learnt their lesson from last week when fierce criticism possibly acted as a motivating force for their fanbase.
If so, expect something altogether more muted from the judges tonight, which is what did for Melanie and Kye. It doesn’t bode well for the threesome that, as Heisenberg informed us, their boyband rivals Union J have a heartwarming backstory to tonight’s Best of British-themed show in the shape of George Shelley’s brother being a Royal Marine.
Shoulders also made the genius point about the theme potentially allowing the patriotic implications behind the foursome’s band name to come home to roost. If producers do want to make break-out stars of Union J, you sense they really have to go for it this week.
With the show allegedly having a pre-recorded One Direction performance on hand for tonight, there are plenty of methods at producers’ disposal should they decide to go in for the kill on District 3 once more. As mentioned, however, they may prefer to smother the babes in arms rather than more obviously shoot them down.
It’s worth bearing in mind that if District 3 manage a fourth week of safety after a singoff save, it would be a feat equalled in X Factor history only by Danyl Johnson and Ray Quinn. One counterpoint to that is this year’s presumably lower voting totals may make it easier for a motivated fanbase to keep an act clear of the danger zone.
Still, with only seven acts remaining there’s increasingly little room for manoeuvre, and that also applies to Rylan Clark. He managed a second singoff save last week but the sympathy bounce typically loses some of its power second time around.
Much depends on how producers decide to play it. Last year they pulled out all the stops to help Misha B bounce after her second singoff save, in a memorable VT showing her bonding with mentor Kelly Rowland by crying over family heartbreak. In a similar situation, Kitty Brucknell was shown being a diva in her VT and shoved into the death slot. Kitty was eliminated, Misha B lived to fight another day.
With only seven contestants left, Rylan’s time is shortly up – if he left this week it would be in the same finishing position as both Kitty Brucknell and Katie Waissel, similarly divisive acts. His treatment tonight will tell us if producers still think they can eke another week or two’s mileage out of him.
That leaves us with the ‘big 3’. As mentioned earlier in the week, only Jahmene feels like he’s secure from danger this week. His help in raising awareness about domestic violence on Twitter this week, which our commenter R mentioned, continues his positioning as this series’s most positive role model.
I’ll be fascinated by the treatment of Ella and James this week. Both were name-checked as finalists last weekend, but may not be doing as well in polls as producers like. I generally believe that programme makers will look to rectify this tonight by doing their best for both, but I’m looking out for possible red flags.
District 3 look like worthy favourites to go this week, although that has been said before, notably after last Saturday’s show. I’m very much going to watch and learn tonight. Let us know your thoughts below.
Saturday has rolled around again and I’m completely with you on D3. I have all of Rylan, Chris and Union J as safe.
– Rylan’s fans will have realised he’s in danger again after last week. He also gave his two best performances last weekend (his Saturday performance and singoff performance respectively). He’s not disliked anywhere near as much as previous non-bouncers. The show also will want to avoid a Rylan/D3 bottom 2, as it would pretty much have to go to deadlock, with Rylan likely going. And they want D3 out more.
– Chris: continues to perform well, continues to delight his demographic, continues to be totes emosh and garner a massive sympathy vote
– It’s crunch time for the battle of the boybands (more of a fey tiff than a “battle”, let’s be honest), and D3’s failure to return to the bottom 2 despite the show’s earnest efforts means they’ll be throwing everything at Union J tonight. Rather than yet another dire upbeat performance from D3 with excessive leaping around, I expect a return to their low-key, dated, forgettable performance style from weeks 1 and 2 – the style that landed them in the B2 the first time around. Last week’s jury comments have already set us up for this. (Either that or they’ll be dressed as terrorists and made to perform the Egyptian Sand Dance, complete with unnecessary backflip. Mullah Greg, nul points.) Regarding Union J, I expect some serious sob-storying and stirring up of patriotic sentiment – they may have been introduced by name and hometown last week but they’re still too anonymous and not emosh enough. They remain too cardboard, and possibly not fun enough and too mature in style for their demographic, hence D3’s continued survival. If the show can pull off the whole military-industrial entertainment complex thang with Union J as well as the Beeb did with those Christmas Army Wives or whatever they were called last year, the lads could even top the vote. In short, I almost expect UJ to be ramped as much tonight as Amelia was the week she “replaced” Janet, as I anticipate the primary aim of tonight’s show will be to “replace” D3 with UJ. As an addendum, I’ve also seen much less Twitter activity surrounding D3 this week than in previous weeks, which makes me a lot more confident in thinking that their time has come.
(Off-topic and regarding the other “journalism” issue you touch on, I think Schofers was right to do what he did; Tom Watson will be proved right in the end. These very specific rumours have been going around for decades – it’s all there on the Internet – all Newsnight did was bring them the into the spotlight. As Tom Watson tweeted yesterday, “the pushback has begun in some sections of the media” to try and shut the whole thing down again. Cameron was pathetic to call this a “witch-hunt” and conflate it with persecution of gay ministers(???) – it’s only a witch-hunt to the extent that Murdochgate was also a witch-hunt, in that there are genuine witches to be hunted. My only reservation is that Schofield didn’t use Gordon the Gopher to present Dave with the “peado” list.)
Well said, EV. And full credit to Tom Watson for bringing this issue to light.
‘Genuine witches to be hunted…’ A great, great line, and one which I will no doubt be plagiarising in the future.
Also meant to add: it is obviously worth bearing in mind the difference between Sun “leaks” and Star leaks, something I wasn’t aware of. By all accounts, a Sun voting “leak” is likely to be much less credible based on previous form.
Just had another (frivolous) thought. Picture the scene – it’s 5 hours from now and time for Union J to perform…
VT:
Josh: “We love Britain which is why we’re called Union J innit. If you don’t vote for us tonight, YOU HATE BRITAIN.”
George: “My brother is in the marines, yadda yadda yadda. It’s been difficult and we miss him shitloads but we’re proud of what he’s doing.”
JJ: “As a fan of Dad’s Army, I was devastated to hear of Clive Dunn’s death this week. I own all the DVDs and everything, it’s well sad.”
Jaymi: “Tomorrow is Remembrance Sunday, so we thought we’d pay tribute – to George’s brother, to Clive Dunn, to the home guard, and to everyone whose sacrifice meant we could be here today. Apart from Jade.”
VT ends. Union J perform “Grandad”, with Jaymi as Clive Dunn and George on the guitar. After a minute and a half, this segues into a sprightly version of “Who Do You Think You Are Kidding Mr Hitler?”, with the band marching around the stage and JJ playing the role of Pike. A sea of poppies falls. Every old person in the nation picks up their dial telephone and votes for Union J. Josh gets a poppy the wrong way and has to be hospitalised, increasing the sympathy vote.
Flash-forward 4 weeks and Union J win, having ridden a wave of nostalgia and maudlin patriotism all the way to victory. Ella comes second and releases a moving version of There’s No-One Quite Like Grandma as her debut single in a desperate attempt to equal their success. Maloney finishes a strong third, embarks on a sellout tour of the nation’s bingo halls, and has a Christmas 2013 bestseller with his ghostwritten autobiography, It’s Not Easy Being Orange. Also released in time for Christmas 2013, his debut album Orange sees similar success – every old lady in the country wants an Orange in their orthopaedic stocking.
Wow, I can’t wait for tonight’s show now! You should’ve got Brian Friedman’s job 😎
In a parallel life…
Epic. Genius. You made it your own. For me, not just the comment of the night, the comment of the series.
Thanks Sauron (not a sentence I get to say every day) 🙂 you won’t be laughing when it happens 😉
I’m just thankful to be here.
When it comes to the big 3 (I back Ella emotionally, but I think a James/Jahmene final 2 combo is possible), I think Ella is the ‘gamma’ now and, if the producers are desperate enough tonight, could engineer a ‘shock’ exit in a bid for increased Sunday ratings.
Jahmene is the ‘feel good’ contestant of the series. When you pick up the phone to vote for him, there’s that warm feeling in there that assures that ‘you did the right thing spending that 35p, he needs it.’ James is getting celebrity and outside support, a lot of guests and contestants have backed him to win, including Ella herself.
Ella is neither of this. She’s far too competent for a singer, has no journey element, and is considered very boring. The one ‘spine-tingling’ performance she had was executed too early. Plus, she may not be doing well in the voting. Prods have a lot of ammo to make a very exciting and emotional Sunday night, it’s just the question of whether or not they want to assassinate the half-dead weight of the big 3.
Besides, Ella has already fulfilled one of her conditions. If she does get eliminated this coming Sunday, she’ll exit as alpha girl. The producers have no need for her to continue, unless they still have a vested interest into making sure that she at least eeks into the final 3.
As for who I consider the alpha and beta of the big 3, it’s interchangeable. But as it stands now, Jahmene is Alpha and James is Beta.
although i have said for some time that ella has been massivly over rated by the bookies and the show, theres no way i can see the show wanting to sacrifice the only girl left so early, they will want her in the final thats for sure. I shouldnt see it taking too much of an effort to get her there, but her chances of winning are much less than the bookies lead us to believe, im suprised jahmene isnt a clear favourite by now, but he is creeping through much the same way as joe mcceldry did, and thats often the best way to go. But have some heart for some of the people who stated on here that they lumped significant amounts on ella to win at silly odds
Indeed… But the fact (as I see it) is that rumours of Ella’s death have been grossly exaggerated. Producers will definitely want her in the final; in front of a much larger audience she performs her own song (‘Missing’) and duets with Adele (if the rumours are true). Just think about the potential in that, if you will. For anybody to write her off now is ridiculous; yes, JD has all the momentum behind him, but for viewers for whom the back story, etc, is less important than the performance Ella still holds tremendous appeal.
For sure: those odds earlier in the competition (we now know) were unrealistic, but just recall how heavily she was pimped. Also, recall the dampening dished out to JD. Also: recall just how very few people on here actually tipped JD to win before the lives. A lot of people now claim to have done so, but it’s easy to prove because a lot of the regular commenters submitted their predictions. Only ‘Simon Le Chat’ (off the top of my head) tipped Jahmene, rather oddly in a piece of rambling free verse which (I thought) had been composed whilst drunk. There were one or two others – but not many.
Similarly: it’s very easy (and fashionable) now to state that Nicole is the ‘alpha judge’. Very true, but not something anybody on here expected or predicted before around Week 3 of the lives.
Should be an interesting show anyway.
so i havent said jahmene would win from the start??? ok then :S
I’m agreeing on this.
Maybe I should’ve been more pedestrian with my first comment, oops.
I just want Ella in the final, and I can call it a good series for me. Is there any chance for a four-act final? It’s looking likely that they can only fit in three acts now, unless they pull of a non-elimination week, which I can’t see happening.
I’m all for bringing back Bun And Cheese as a surprise wildcard.
BTW I do completely agree with your second and third paragraphs (why people vote for Jahmene and why Ella isn’t doing as well as hoped), I just don’t think they’d want her out at this stage under any circumstances, especially as the last girl and Plan A.
Ah no comment then??? I’ll even provide proof of my bet receipt at 7/1 when it comes in just to prove u wrong 😉
stoney
October 7, 2012 at 1:42 pm · Reply
id be interested to know if the sofa bet team and the rest of the posters still see jahmene as only lasting up to half way, hell be in the final mark my words
stoney
October 6, 2012 at 1:23 pm · Reply
Also for the record im predicting an almighty performance from jahmene tonight who has pretty much slipped under the radar this last week. 8/1 is huge odds in comparison to ellas 6/4
anyway point proven 🙂
Last week I noticed that the lighting gave Jahmene a halo effect during his performance. Nicole called him ‘a little slice of heaven’. To reiterate this subliminal message, this week his song choice is ‘Angels’ by Robbie Williams, according to a Sunday Mirror journalist.
https://mobile.twitter.com/search/?q=Deanpiper&s=typd
Oh god, if he’s singing that crock of faux-sentimental shite (as Charlie Brooker once called it, “the unofficial soundtrack to thick people’s funerals”), he’ll be safe for sure. Generally though, I don’t think Jahmene is as safe as many think he is – the shows has pimped and pimped and pimped him, but his vocals remain a matter of taste. The huge amount of help he’s had implies he needs it. I’d still definitely see him as less safe than Ella and probably Chris and James.
This has the look of an intriguing week to me and in my view the value lies with Chris..too..far Maloney to go at around 7.6. For me this is such good value because in reality we are backing him to be in the bottom 2. Leaving the big 3 aside we have a 4 horse race for the bottom 2. If Maloney is in the bottom 2 I fail to see any scenario where it won’t be 3 votes to 1 in favour of the other act. The only possible upset would be if he was there with one of the groups and Nicole bottled it with the final vote, sending it to deadlock. I was delighted to hear these trash stories during the week about him topping the votes (better chance of topping Mount Everest). These claims may lead some of his so called supporters into thinking that he is safe this week and there is no need to vote. As for the other bottom 2 contenders, we heard District 3 talk about going back to their original stuff and they can’t be any worse than last week. Rylan being in the bottom 2 last week may lead his fans to gather round for one last hurrah. I don’t really have a view on Union J. At 7.6 Chris..too..far is great value to go this week.
When do we get all the songs and where ?
Did anyone think that the USA xfactor reveal of votes was an attempt to get voters to vote for the young commercial act, by saying “this guy doesn’t need votes as he is already top”? If so will they try it on Maloney over here – any thoughts pls?
Hi bluebee, we were speculating just this in the comments section underneath our USXF preview piece that you can see here: https://sofabet.com/2012/10/31/x-factor-usa-2012-in-vino-veritas/
thank you Daniel – will go and read
I think it would be much more difficult to do it on the UK version. A few reasons:
1) They did the reveal in Week 1, so it can be continued or played off as a special opening week bonus (maybe? not sure if this would be sustainable) as needed. If they tried it at this point in the UK, halfway through the series, the intent behind it would be much more obvious.
2) There is much more cynicism about XF in the UK than in the US in general, so the odds that it would backfire are much higher.
D3 in a Jahemene and Ella sandwich, Rylan in a Ella and Union j sandwich
By this time around the competition, you’re always gonna have a non favoured act between two favoured ones
That VT and performance felt like the Maloney kill. Not vocally driven, surrounded by a load of distracting dancer in front of him, doing too much choreo – in other words, anything but just standing and singing, which is what people like him for. The song was demograpic suitable, sort of, but the performance definitely wasn’t. I normally like his performances and I didn’t like it. The VT also seemed unprecedented in its lengthy exploration of his vocal difficulties – they’ve taken a leaf out of the Kye book. However, they then overdid it with the comments, engendering sympathy again. Tulisa’s critique was fair but ignores the fact that a lot of people do like that sort of music and would buy his album, and they’re the ones who are voting for him. The judges are almost dismissive of older people’s music tastes, and it’s this snobbery in pursuit of a younger audience that’s turning people off the show compared to the successful cheese-fest of SCD.
Possible bottom 2/elim.
mmm……….chris to stay is a winner in my book but that really stank the place out! hope that there is worse to come……..(Rylan)
More hyperbole for Jahmene , they will be running out of superlatives soon.
Nicole wiping a tear at D3’s performance (well waving a tissue at least.) This seems more than going lukewarm – bad news for Chris and Rylan who are now an obvious bottom 2.
That was pretty good going from D3 right? If Chris does end up bottom 2 do you think they’ll ditch him? Is Gary being left with no acts such a big deal?
The fact it was comparably good (yet still dated) is the whole point – it communicates to their fanbase that they’re safe and they don’t need to vote. It was also suggested that UJ are better.
I’m not sure I buy this line of thinking. You could say Gary suggesting Union J are better will motivate their fanbase to vote It’s stoking the battle of the bands thing. I won’t be surprised if they’re bottom 2 as they’ve been there before but I don’t think the producers were doing a job on them this week.
don’t get the Gary myth myself, think he is an arse
e
Oh I am aware that i haven’t sold 40 million records blah blah..he is an arse
I was wondering when they were gonna bring in the Umberella …ella ….ellas, lol
Can’t stand Barlow either. Can’t wait until he’s on Children in Need telling us that £5 can save a child’s life while forgetting to mention the millions of unpaid tax. Maybe he could give it to charity?
Btw, has anyone noticed that Betfred have taken Rylan off eliminations? (I’m looking on Oddschecker)
One big problem with that Rylan performance: the whole thing was in far too low a key for him. He William Shatnered the whole thing. Sprechgesang.
Some1 here mentioned Chris’s odds shortening. Its not due to rumours hes topping the votes but more cos of one person placing a £1000 on him to win
James’s best performance by a country mile. Safe as houses.
So wand erectionn are 20000x better than union J
Whos wand erection? :S
Jake. Say it quickly (and think of a certain little blue pill for men).
Well a much more voteable performance than last week certainly. Safe as houses? I’d only put Jahmene in that category tonight.
Bad night for Ella, having to use the old ‘she’s not safe’ appeal and from being a huge fan she’s left me disappointed three weeks in a row.
Tonight should test just how strong Maloney’s vote is. Under normal circumstances I’d say he would be B2 but then I have thought that before in the opening weeks and been wrong.
Tonight should also strongly test the bounce factor. Rylan sang quite deplorably.
Wouldn’t really like to bet on this week but at a push … Rylan V Union J and Rylan gone.
Chris is surely their target this week. Everyone else – even Rylan – got really good reactions from the judges. Just how big is that vote of his though? I’m hoping he shares a similar voting group as Jahmene and so by being put on before him people held off for a moment and then ended up voting Jahmene – a one-sided sandwich kinda thing.
Tonight felt v much like an old-school running order. Chris and D3 on early, best performance last.
Chris certainly looksed like the target, on first (I know… might not be a death slot this year… but X factor is on at varying times and 8.05 is one of the earliest this year so some might have missed him?). Lots of red and black 😉 Really rubbishy comments from the judges… So I think if he is not in the bottom two tomorrow there is some serious support for him and that is crAzy and also dangerous for the show! D3 could have been stitched up but they weren’t, they did well, they got great comments, Nicole cried, and only Gary (fast losing credibility) said they were not as good as Union J. Since Gary said it- others could have said it too if producers really wanted D3 gone. Rylan’s singing was appalling but he is getting more and more likable (!!??!!). Fingers crossed Maloney will go home. If Maloney really has enough fans to stay out of the bottom 2, I guess it will be Rylan v D3 and Rylan will go home.
I mean really, Maloney got dancers prancing around, dressed like bowling pins, on a song about “still standing”…they must be in stitches backstage.
Playing catch up on Sofabet again, great info here all, watched the show, I thought it was intriguing to say the least. Lots of old tricks applied by producers and few new ones attempted..
Not for the faint hearted having a bet on tomorrows elimination but if you not in can’t win. I think wait to see the market tomorrow afternoon.
Interesting that Christmas feel introduced into few acts tonight both with arrangements of songs and lighting and general feel.
And Chris Maloney with I’m Still Standing unreal, I did mention Elton John last week. Wonder will he last to do maybe Frosty The Snowman? Will write in more detail later or AM.
They are really desperate to keep Ella in, right? Tulisa reminded me of well Tulisa last year with little
mix haha.
Christopher was their clear target. Taking him out of his comfort zone with an uptempo and big production. Allthough the big critisim could motivate the voters again. I liked Nicoles: dont mix confidence with arrogance. Just to remind us of the diva claims.
Anyway District3 are not safe at all. They def did what
some predicted in here: go back to a stripped oldfashioned performance. The same kind of performance that put them in the bottom two before.
Plus Nicoles crying (although that might have been real
as she was in the US this week for personal reasons), good compliments, some critique.. it all felt: safe! and thats the key. Their fans are supposed to feel safe. Plus they pushed Union J as much as they could and let one direction perform.. District who?
Couldn’t agree more with all of this, superb comment.
Average night, Union J had a decent performance but they didn’t bring the house down like I thought they would. Ella’s just passing through, fingers crossed. Tulisa’s already bringing out the big guns, her ‘nobody is safe, so vote’ speech.
Rylan’s vocal wasn’t good tonight, too low key for him and the audience and judges’ reactions seemed too farfetched to me. X Factor’s YouTube is awfully slow, so I’ll have to review the boys and Chris (minus the VTs, unfortunately) later.
What do we make of Tulisa’s comments about D3 and UJ being so good tonight that they could split the vote? It’s an intriguing thought – could they both hit the bottom 2?
Can’t see Ella going anywhere. Whilst the idea of Gary losing all his acts seems plausible, I just can’t see them doing that to Tulisa.
James was BRILLIANT yet again. Think he’s becoming *too* good though and I fear he’ll be in danger soon.
Also – I don’t agree with the Jahmene love. I also don’t think he’s polling well. Remember which of Marcus’ performances last year gave him his lowest share of the votes?
Agree with all of this on Ella/James/Jahmene too.
I also do not get the Jahmene love. Commercial claptrap from the judges, he has been earmarked as a potential money maker by TPTB. The sad thing is that he will discarded like a wet rag once deemed surplus to requirements. His nervous chuckle is perhaps justifiable in this regard. He is being taken for a ride. It is probably easier in the long run for people like Jade Ellis who get spat out sooner.
Disagree with all this 🙂
I mean re Phils post and on Ella/Jahmene/James
Ella’s price on OR taking a massive walk atm…
Not sure what you disagree with, be interested to know what you think otherwise. We are just throwing out opinions after all.
Fair enough. To clarify I dont find James performances to be brilliant. I quite liked him at first but have gone off him – he’s just too intense. I find it even harder to believe he is connecting with the core X factor voter.
Jahmene is getting better every week and most certainly will be connecting with the voters imo. I have gone from disliking him and his over singing to him being my favourite to listen to. Gary had it exactly right, simplicity is the key.
And Ella, oh my gosh . I absolutely adored her in auditions but as I said previously she has had three bad weeks in a row with songs familiar to the audience. I simply find her repetitive and dull now.
I think Tulisa’s shout out actually for Ella really does mean she needs the votes to avoid the bottom 2. Will probably make the difference this week but who knows still wouldn’t shock me.
As for OR Ella needs something very good fast. She won’t be favourite in fact isn’t on Betfair as I type this.
I am back knocking at the same door and took 5/2 on District 3 going. After last weeks failure to nab them I think TPTB took a different approach that may land them B2. Maloney’s odds are dropping but he is an enigma whose vote I do not care to second guess. 5/2 is value on D3 being B2. D3=B2=LOL. QED. (What are we becoming!!!!)
A great week from a punters view IMO. With lots of difference in an opinion. I think a decent enough case can be made for any of them to land in the bottom two tonight apart from Jahmene. But elimination… A different matter.
The show started with some mild bickering before any act had even sung! Gary awfully defensive for Chris already, when dermot mentioned his booing last week, perhaps he was ready? Given that 15 seconds later we were told Chris was up first. That explained Gary’s tone.
Chris – The VT couldn’t have been much worse IMO, no sympathy vote from the bad press stories instead saw Chris laughing at them. when watching I thought the viewers were being reminded of the booing previous week this translated to “you are the audience, you are the viewers, you don’t like him” then the VT focused on Gary highlighting errors in the notes has he rehearsed the song he was singing, followed by little clips of Chris then singing the same line Gary told him he couldn’t sing. I took all this as viewers being told already “you don’t like this performance”. All thought a couple of people on twitter took this as an effort to show the viewer how hard Chris was working to be better? I’m not sure though, nor sure what message this would put accross to viewers.
His song choice was perfect for “delight the demo” I’m still standing, despite everyone trying to knock me down every week, with a back drop of a bowling pins and dancers, creating the same story. Was this all to give the illusion you are about to knock Chris down, just like a bowling pin.
Nothing unusual from the judges comments about Chris. He is in danger this week, but I am not sure they would want him gone yet, leaving Gary with one act isn’t good for the show. So this could just be about removing some of his fans/votes so that they can knock him down easier later.
Jahmene I don’t like him because I see him the nearest rival to James in already on James in various outright markets, but it looked a typical Jahmene performance and still seems plan a
District 3 – I thought the Vt was average and noticed nothing key. Other than this comment at the end “if we have any bad comments this week we are out!” Did this translate to “if we don’t get bad comments we are safe, so you don’t need to vote for us”
A good performance with no need for gimmicks allowing the camera to zoom in on each member individually allowing audience to connect with them for the first time this series. I think they are safe? But is that what the viewers were meant to think so their fans don’t vote in force again?
Ella – I notice every week now Ella gets positive comments with a hint of one judge giving a negative in her performance. Is this an attempt to de-ramp her to pave the way for Jahmene? If so it’s working because she is becoming totally predictable and boring, she won’t be gaining any extra fans.
Louis went on to isolate her by referring to her song choice as “urban” it’s a good thing Tulisa lept to her defence and reminding the female public she is only girl left so they must vote for her. Although I think she is safe she is most certainly on the decline and I wouldn’t put anyone off backing her for bottom two for a speculative bet.
Rylan – a typical rylan performance but the VT was very interesting “I am going to sing like its my last week” had viewers just been told “this is my last week guys, im going to enjoy this” ??
Then came Gary saying ” I liked it” a big negative past novelty acts Jedward/Wagner/Chico have gone on the week were the “anti-novelty” judge complimented the act. Rylan is definitely in danger this week. At 2-1+ a good bet.
Just before Union J were on the camera went to dermot in the audience at first he pointed out an older, larver women with a Union J banner, who did a bit of a cheer for UJ. It was what happened immediately next I’m interested in…. Dermot then looked to his left at screaming girls who hardly reacted when UJ were mentioned but then went into hysterics as he reminded viewers One Direction are coming up soon too! Did this translate to “you like UJ who are on soon, but you LOVE One Direction who are also on later too”??? Views welcome here perhaps I am over analysizing this? But producers don’t just plod dermot anywhere he will have been told where to stand and which audience members to interact with.
union j – good positive VT reminding viewers of their british forces connection. I already backed Union J and wrote a brief section on Escbet recommending them to go, only to find out the next day of their VT. I expected alot worse so was a little relieved that it wasn’t as heavy as expected.
Their performance had alot of red and black lightening late on but blue and red early on. The performance was vocally average I thought the expression on their faces said exactly that too.
With no negative comments form judges I was surprised. If it wasn’t for the British forces mentions I would certainly think they are in danger.
James Arthur – last week I think everyone saw signs that James Arthur was about to be setup for the chop over the next few weeks, including myself. But perhaps we overreacted, if you rewatch last week the judges comments were still highly positive, it was just his performance that lacked anything standout. As viewers at home I think we thought this as he didn’t connect with viewers he continually looked face down at the floor during the key moments in the song and the rap bits are not as good as the rest of his abilities.
For anyone that follows me on twitter or was reading the sofabet comments pre bootcamp, they know I am on James in every outright market, so constantly will him on to do week. This week was make or break for him.
I think it was his best performance to date. The stage presence was unlike any I can ever remember seeing, it was almost as if his stance infront of the stage video platform, gave the viewer the impression you was watching James Arthur in his own music video. I have never seen that on X factor before. With less rapping more laid back performances and continued stage presence training he has been lacking, I don’t think James can be ruled out of the outright just yet.
Overall I’m hardly financially involved this week and only backed UJ to go at 6s
Right now I think the likely scenario is Rylan will go, but also like any double figures Union J to go or as a shock Ella to hit the bottom two.
Im abit confused on your thoughts on Rylan and D3. If the public gets to see the boyband’s faces individually, wouldn’t it attract people to vote for them instead of ”they might think….then we wont”.
Also, wouldnt Rylans statement i’ll be performing like its my last mean people should believe hes not safe and make them vote?
Just a thought: James had a late start connecting with the public this year and he was out of the top 3 the producers wanted for the finals( chris replacing him). Over the weeks, he was gaining more support/votes and winning them over. We also realised the number of celebrities, whether as guests on XF, on Twitter or anywhere else showing their support for him. Same with Rylan after his first bottom2. Ella has had her first celebrity support in the name of Kardashian this weekend and we
know her last few weeks havent been her best, losing her votes rather than gaining any, imo. Could this b an attempt to boost her? This is all a thought though
But if this was an attempt to boost her, I am not sure Louis would have then gone on to isolate her by pointing out her song was “urban”
It all evens out in the end. Giving her boost with celebrity support gives her enough support to knock off Chris of the top 3 and get to the finals but saying the song is urban (a negative comment according to u) wont give her enough to overcome the 2 boys and win.
Anyway who says a singer like Ella can’t be abit urban. sounds more flexible than shes ever been!
Chris isn’t in the top 3 don’t believe a word that the sun says, I’m sure daily stars comments in the first two weeks were accurate however. But that’s expected since Chris has just been voted in by the public it’s unlikely they were going to abandon him immediately.
The top 3 in the producers minds are no doubt for me Jahmene, Ella and James, probably in that order. I don’t think they care much for the others
Never trusted the sun, was actually refering to the D star in earlier weeks. and I believe since wk2 Chris has been going down with Jahmene in 1st place and James in 2nd. Ella, whos been damaged recently and believing the star she was 3rd in wk2, must have been losing some support too in recent weeks which is y id say shes 4th in the votings atm thus why producers want her to overcome Chris but not gt too far ahead.
Sorry, this makes sense now 🙂
Didn’t understand your point earlier regarding boosts. But yep I see what you mean now. Regarding pushing Ella above Chris 🙂
Rylan saying “I’m going to sing as if its my last week” can be seen as saying “it’s my last week and I’m ok with it guys” it can resign viewers to resignation/acceptance that its his last week he has accepted it so i will. As opposed to saying something like “I don’t want this to be over so vote for me” this would do the opposite and attract more votes.
My thoughts on D3 are open, I thought the performance was much better than normal and allowed viewers to connect with them individually, compared to previous weeks of them
Jumping about.
But at the same time I am with the view that last week they were the target last week but were saved as the viewers watched the judges go over the top with their harsh comments which will entice their fans to vote in force. Hence why I think maybe the opposite might have been considered as an option for producers this week. “If we don’t get bad comments we are safe, so you don’t need to vote for us” only to be followed by no standout bad comments.
Also my thoughts are spoken as I saw them as the show unfolded, often with questions, posting as an open invite for others to give their opinions so I can take all things on board 🙂
I think with James you are drifting into persuasion at times. Good that you have declared your interest! Maybe like politicians the sofabet community should be implored to declare their investments!!!!!!!!
Maybe so, I fully admit now I hate jahmene because I’ve backed James and he is nearest competitor to my bets 🙂
But I did believe this week was/is make or break for James, especially after an average performance last week, which probably lost him some votes.
Thanx for clearing that up! I actually agree with you on both, especially Rylan and him saying on ITV2 tonight he thinks it was his last and expects going home tomorrow
This was the 1st time Rylan really made me smile throughout his performance, based on that he’s safe. Don’t know how to interpret Gary’s positive comment, it looked like he was also having fun. D3 worst of the night for me and should land to bot2. Don’t see Ella shock nor James, if any than Jahmene (sounds strange but he was most forgettable to me). Tiny hope they done enough for bot2 Chris this time…