To nobody’s great surprise, Union J departed. Last night had felt like the show suddenly got disciplined in their efforts to drag Chris down, but the market move that saw him backed down to as short as 6/4 on Sunday afternoon felt somewhat optimistic: if the Star leaks were correct about Chris topping the vote up to week 7, then Union J had never finished above the Liverpudlian crooner.
The questions now are: Which of James or Jahmene needed pimping last night because they were in danger of not making the final, and which needed pimping because the show is hoping to get them over the finishing line in first place? Does Christopher have enough support to make it into the final two? And, if so, who is the AntiChris?
Do check back on Sofabet throughout the week as we look at each of the contenders’ journeys to the final and keep abreast of the developing news and rumours as the buildup gathers pace. And, as ever, do please keep the conversation going in the comments.
Maybe Jahmene and James are being equally pimped through to the final because the producers are living by the mantra ABC Anyone But Christopher.
He’s obviously been necessary to give the show a narrative this year, can you imagine the bland conversations going on this week if it was the three Js in the final?
Tradition has shown these marmite figures never actually win, no matter how many people claim him as an anti-Cowell vote.
The charity angle has also been held back till the end this year. Very much with a view to a vote for Maloney means a rubbish selling record and that’s bad news for sick kids.
Oh yeah – who wins? No idea although Jahmene has proved to be more popular than James, as has Chris. 3 James, 2Chris, 1 Jahmene would be where my money is
Duets for the final announced on Xtra Factor as being with the mentors (Nicole for James/Jahmene), Gary with Chris. An interesting twist as that’ll give J&J much less of a boost than it would with big names?
Confirmed: James and Jahméne are duetting with Nicole. Christopher is duetting with Gary. How cheap is that?!
So based off the development of mentor duets, I would suggest that either:
a) They’re confident Chris isn’t going to win
b) They don’t care enough about Chris winning to arrange celebrity duets
Celebrity duets would have been a very easy way for the producers to deramp Chris by pairing him with someone wholly unsuitable with the aim of failing to delight the demo.
Instead we have Chris performing with Gary, who I think is more than capable of delighting the demo (and clearly they’re not going to be tempted away from Chris by Nicole Scherzinger duets).
Fascinating developments…
Think in the final you’ve got to do more than delight the demo. In fact it could be argued you have the demo that’s voted you through, now is the time to spread your support to other demos.
A very good point – not that Gary Barlow is bad for spreading support. I imagine the general X Factor viewership to be quite big Gary Barlow fans in general. I still don’t believe Chris can win because I don’t think he himself can be supported by enough people, but perhaps I’m just naive.
I’m sure I read somewhere that no celebrity was willing to duet with Christopher and so Gary was the back-up plan. If that’s true, they really had no choice but to repeat the “Mentor Duets” approach, so that it wasn’t obvious.
A James/Nicole duet will be…. interesting.
I’m sure Gary Barlow (OBE) has enough influence and muso mates to get someone to duet with Shakey, even if it’s only Robbie. I think this story was probably propaganda, to be honest.
Nice profit on the weekend, I simply laid Chris to go on Saturday morning and enjoyed the show. I’ve been away for most of the day, so not sure whether to be gutted I missed better odds today, or relieved not to have seen anything to panic about. UJ were also my last red line in the win Market so looking good there.
Second week in a row which felt like going through the motions, very predictable all the way to the elimination.
Will have a think on the AntiChris question- everything else now depends on that.
Good job split the bet tonight and covered James part!
Great questions, I touched on some earlier today. They have still kept shovelling it at Christopher again on the Xtra -Factor tonight and Louis saying the voting public will do the right thing etc.
Gary looked uncomfortable, they seemed to have got second wind on the Xtra Factor being anti Chris and Twitter vulture land dived in as usual.
I would say the onslaught will continue, but “Songs For My Nan” could gather serious more momentum with believe it or not Twitter spreading the news. Saw a tweet earlier about “don’t know who he is but he pi…… allot of people off.
I wouldn’t call it at the minute but at a push (a certainly no bet yet) Christopher to barely survive the onslaught, Jahmene second and James third. Never thought I’d be typing that but not let the heart rule the head is name of the game, they might get him with increased viewers but it could swing the other way in Christopher favour also. So the weeks events have to be monitored, Already tonight James is already TOP featured video on YouTube home page, http://www.youtube.com/
I think they will spin it with some kind of line “This man dividing the nation” to build up the viewing figures and make it a must watch show, expect them to be trying to get it onto main news with that angle, at they end of they day they don’t give a toss, the show and panel are the stars and viewing figures pay the piper. That my soapbox bit out of the way for the week!
I want to be on whoever wins so at this stage if think that is going to be Christopher that where my £ will go. I don’t have 1 cent on any of the final three yet, that the way I choose to play this year but a dog won BGT and we got that right, the favourite won Eurovision and after much debate went with Daniel so a well focused week ahead.
Next elimination first!
It is intriguing and not much value or margin for error from here on in, tonight was the last of that. On with the show and good luck to all.
Really looking forward to this weeks “Can X win” articles for each of the remaining acts.
Who now fancies Jahmene to win? I am very interested in hearing your opinion on why? I struggle to make a case FOR him, so keen to see what I am overlooking.
Jahmene, most affecting back story of any contestant ever? That’s not to say I think he’ll win, but I wouldn’t rule it out.
Picked because of it, of course.
I have nothing to say about the X Factor, but keep up the good work on the article titles.
I agree, lots of backstories repeated over.
Nerves
Bullied
Had a bad father/childhood
Doing it for his mum
Doing it for his brother.
etc
What worries me is why have they continued with these stories? Perhaps he was lower in the vote than needed and they gave him these every week as didnt trust him without them.
Then I think, will they bring the sob stories as heavily in the final? I’m not sure, I assume its more about the acts and their performances, entertainment etc.
If this is the case, 3 songs, all likely to be exactly the same style, he may struggle, to pick up all those additional votes for a final, when the most votes are counted.
Sorry above was in reply to Roach
Contrary to afew people, I have a good feeling about James. Having survived 2 weeks now, I think his rendition of Lets get it on gave him more momentum. Obviously Chris will win but I wouldnt be suprised if James came 2nd.
Ive found myself very excited about the finals tbh, much more than i though id be. Putting aside Nicole singing with James which should be hilarious, Im excitef about Kylies comeback since she dueted with Leon
*excited
I find the show increasingly “vom” with all the breaks, adverts, judge pimping and insincerity of the whole pantomine. I watched Strictly on Saturday night and it knocks the spots off what is left of X Factor.
Maloney is probably going to win the competition but the reality is whoever does, the credibility of the show went out the window weeks ago and there are only naff acts left and none of them will be remembered in 12 months
Good call with Union J going team.
If he gets to the final 2, James singing a Christmas song has great car crash potential. Can imagine a dubstep version of Oh Come All Ye Faithful or Little Donkey.
I haven’t watched or bet either last week or this because the show has quite frankly lost my interest. I may or may not watch the final. Apropos of which…
So, we have our final. Chris, Jahmene, James. I’m reminded of a certain TV show on BBC One earlier this year where a down-to-earth and highly relatable yet “uncool” act, dismissed as “dated” and “cruiseship” by pundits who failed to take her seriously throughout the contest despite her good voice, because she simply sang ballad standards capably and without affectation, went into the final as the bookies’ least favourite – up against 3 “marketable” “artists”, each with a distinctive but more niche style – despite the fact she’d already sailed past the show’s relentlessly pimped Plan A at an earlier stage. Sound familiar? I’m not saying it’s 1:1. It obviously isn’t. But it’s a very similar situation in some ways. I’d also add that the Ella/James B2 is highly comparable to Ruth and Jaz’s failure to qualify. A combination of the public knowing what it likes and not liking being told what to like, and underdog voting.
To revisit this site’s prediction article from October: as a newcomer to X Factor betting, my 1-13 prediction was a wolfhound’s breakfast to say the very least, but not only was I one of the small minority not to predict an Ella win, I was the only person to predict she would finish outside the top 3. I guessed 5th; she finished 6th. Here’s what I wrote on Oct 5, before the start of the live shows:
“Finally, I’m going to play cat among the pigeons. I don’t think Ella will catch on. To me, she’s a human tumbleweed. I didn’t think her Believe or her JH performance were that stellar. She shares the same problems Kye does – no matter how much they pimp her, she’s still generic and beige, and I find her unmemorable. The show’s intentions and what viewers will actually like are two very different things. […] Ella doesn’t have Janet’s looks, charisma, unique voice, Celtic vote etc., nor Little Mix’s sense of fun or emotionality. She’s Miss Boring and miscast – more miscast than Janet was last year.”
We’re going into a final where (as per usual) one act has previously been in the bottom 2 and (not as per usual) another act has required constant VTs and press coverage detailing a litany of abuse, torture, suicide (both successful and unsuccessful), panic attacks, low self-esteem, you name it, probably fucking ebola virus by the time we reach the final, to reach this stage in the competition. (What next? A North Korean extermination camp escapee playing the spoons to victory on BGT?) Redemption through song dot com. By contrast, the remaining act in the final taps into a huge demographic, is the most at ease with the public, is the only act who’s non-niche and who performs unadulterated covers of ballad standards in a style with broad appeal, who taps into one of the country’s strongest regional votes and a potential Irish vote, and – my key point – has reached this point in the show (without ever having been in the bottom 2) and even apparently extended his lead entirely despite the show’s treatment of him, not because of it. This is in direct contrast to Woe Is Jahmene and his Lemony Snicket-esque tales of suffering. He has been given every possible help and still failed to come close to getting as many votes as Our Orange Overlord.
I know who I’d back.
ok, the phrase “Lemony Snicket-esque tales of suffering” with reference to Jahmene has made my day!
My heart is still convinced that Chris can’t possibly muster up the 50% (ish, presuming the votes will carry over from Saturday as usual) of support he needs to win. The problem is that which of Jahmene or James is actually capable of taking the 50% themselves. It’s at this point I come up short. I tell ya what, I reckon if Ella was still in the competition now she’d take it purely for being the most universally appealing of all acts. Unfortunately it seems she ended up getting the unwanted honour of “everyone’s second favourite” and so here we are!
Maybe Chris does win it, but I won’t be placing any money on it anymore – the odds no longer represent good enough value.
Jahmene certainly got the most pimping on Saturday (and was the only one I felt would be as safe as houses yesterday). To answer your question of whether it was it because he needed pimping to get to the final or pimping to get to 1st place? Possibly both. It was definitely designed to take votes off Chris. If they can get Jahmene ahead of Chris, Jahmene wins: If Chris leaves in 3rd place, Jahmene picks up Chris’s votes for the win. If James leaves in 3rd place I suspect a lot of James fans won’t vote, but those who do would vote for Jahemene I suspect.
At this point i can already see the ranking order of the quarter final results. Chris 1st (not by a big margin) Jahmene 2nd and James with the unlucky spot of 3rd, eventhougha sympathy bounce was suppose to occur. (With a big difference with the top3, we have Rylan 4th and UnionJ 5th).
Seeing the rankings, I can understand why Jahmene was pimped out max saturday, and even called last by Dermot, to imply he might not win and urge people to vote more than ever next week.
James was also pimped alot, although not as much as Jahmene, in case if Jahmene doesnt manage to level Chris, they have some sort of back up plan. They can try any tactics, manipulate who they want, I think Chris regional vote and the huge fanbase hes been growing since live shows started will still make him a winner.
Im happy with James in 3rd place. Ive enjoyed Amelias latest single, Stacey would have made a good career if she hadnt chosen to eat live animals instead and 1D havent been doing too bad.
They got the final 3 they wanted. I always said that was the case with Chris (false enemy / false flag) but not many here would have it.
They’d like a nail-biter with Chris in the final two to boost ratings on the Sunday but from here on in they can’t do much about it. They normally get the final 3 they want but have limited success beyond that because they have to (and want to) give decent productions, VT’s etc to all.
Not that they’re that bothered anyway. They got James in the final 3 and he’s their most commercial. They don’t need him to win. In fact I don’t think they want him to win anyway as the other two (unlike James) increase their earning capability from a win.