The biggest moves today in the elimination betting were Anton shortening from big prices, with Mason coming in while Max drifted. The markets got it only partly right, with Max finishing last of all and Mason being the first act announced safe. That made it clear we were in for one surprise in the bottom three, and Anton duly provided it.
Monica traded at around 1.3 on Betfair during the singoff, and I was happy to take some of that. I felt all logic pointed to Anton staying: the way they’d treated Monica last week; originally giving her ‘Bang Bang’ this week; doubts about whether they would want Monica bouncing, when she’s a category rival of Louisa and with Lauren also looking strong; and a feeling that Cowell wouldn’t want to lose both acts four weeks before the final.
The judges made me sweat by taking it to deadlock, with Nick sending Monica home and Cheryl choosing Anton. Then Olly mistakenly told Monica that she was going home before Caroline jumped in to remind him they had to wait for the dramatic deadlock sound effect and the delivery of an envelope. As Jess posted in the comments, “They wanted her out so much they eliminated her twice.” One wonders how much money it would take to bring Dermot back?
As ever, we’ll have more to say in our midweek review post. In the meantime, do keep the conversation going below.
1 – Lauren
2 – Che
3 – Seann
4 – Anton
5 – 4th Impact
6 – Louisa
7 – Kiera
8 – Mason
9 – Max
10 – Monica
11 – Reggie and Bollie
12 – Alien Uncovered
13 – Bupsi
Currently on 13 points. 3 spot on, 2 a bit off and 1 completely wrong.
Poor Monica.
Think we were all wrong on Seann tbf
Note of caution for next week, Mason’s the last male with sex appeal standing. Beware the Marcus Collins effect.
did Marcus have sex appeal????
In as much as he wasn’t chubby or old. Being reasonably attractive, humble, cheery and an okay singer took Marcus from 6th and 7th in the early weeks to consistent top-half of the table and eventual second place after all other males apart from chubby Craig were knocked out.
Just saying, Mason could have a similar run when the only competition for a particular section of female/gay male? vote is diva Over Anton and chubby Che.
I think some people might like to have go on Reggie or Billie (or maybe both at once *blush*).
One of R&B is very nice *also blushes*
Mason… rather less so :p
I’ve no idea what I think’s going to happen next week, my pre-lives predictions were catastrophic.
Mason will be incredibly lucky to survive next week – particularly if it’s a double again.
If it is to be a 3 act final they need one more double. If it’s a 4 act final then they don’t.
I don’t know what Grimshaw’s deal with the show is but Mason is a more versatile and commercial character than Che. And Grimshaw has to have an act in the final.
Mason has more “seksapil” than Marcus Collins did. He’s the bad boy who’s a secret softie – lots of girls on Twitter love him. To quote Rita Ora, “it’s the Kayne West effect”.
Grimmy seems to be very fond of both of his remaining acts, but he’s been very vocal on Twitter about how much he loves Mason. It’s quite endearing really. I did fancy Mason on Saturday, too. Not enough to vote for him mind.
Now that Antons vote appears to be under control I wouldn’t be surprised to see che’s level of backing halted. Afterall the Essex vote is being split 3 way at the moment. Plan A will need the whole lot going into the final that’s for sure.
Lauren is not from Essex. She is from North London.
Well seeing as she’s a towie clone I would assume most would assume shes from essex. I did. Anyway my point still remains the same. Che will be taking votes from louisa at this point.
She’s nothing like a TOWIE clone.
*facepalm*
As soon as that announcement about the tour was made I knew that Max was a gonner for sure, along with Monica. He wasn’t going to add anything to the tour, and they don’t need Lauren and Monica on it as they are too similar.
And as for Anton – maybe the news that Anton dated Sinitta and then tried to steal her from Simon Cowell was just too much for the voting public 😉
I find this story unlikely.
I am trying not to think about it…..
😀
LAUREN MURRAY wins the x factor she has the lot voice likeability and a recording voice louisa has no likeabilty what so ever and is che a pop star no no no 4-1 a great price lump on lump on lump on
Che’s not a popstar but Lauren is? Intersting idea. I’d say they were very similar in that they both sound good, have the likability factor but don’t look the part.
*Laughing uncontrolably*
I am really upset Monica left, but you wouldn’t know that because I can’t stop laughing at Olly’s massive cock-up!!!
Way too funny!!!
Just FYI, I am moving all my votes to Lauren and would love to see a bottom of Louisa and Che. But I think Mason goes next week.
ROFL
It couldn’t have been more ridiculous if it had Norman Wisdom in it.
It’s now 20 past midnight and I’m still laughing at Olly.
It was painful and hilarious at the same time – my son and I were screaming with laughter with our eyes half covered. Almost worse than the bungle of eliminating Monica twice was the priceless moment when the two strapping figures of Monica and Anton were allowed to position themselves directly in front of the considerably smaller figures of Olly and Caroline – just as they were giving us the news about who was going out in the deadlock. We could hardly see them at all, there was just a little disembodied voice coming from behind Monica. Now we know why Dermot always carefully manhandled everyone into position on the stage during the results section.
Is anyone offering a price for Olly hanging on to his job?
And he apologised about 5 times. It felt like he was going to do it for ever. It was a please make it stop moment.
I haven’t seen this week’s performances but I’m glad it seems to have been a good week for Lauren. Think Mason and RnB will be up for the chop next week – with only a few weeks left, RnB are reaching their sell-by date.
Anton should bounce quite high I’d imagine but I’m shocked that he’s gone from 23% to 3rd bottom in two weeks. Maybe there’s really low voting figures this year, but that still seems surprising.
I’ll be adding some more comments later in the week when I’ve seen the Saturday show in full.
I fear you might be right about R&B, I think the show definitely wanted to keep them long enough to get them on the tour and they’ll be expendable now. Possibly the same with Fourth Impact?
Lauren was superb this week, and it seems there’s a story about her mother being ill to counteract the ‘diva leaving the house’ story.
Lauren 9_2 and cud be made into a pop star che looks like. Peter kays love child and will never ever ever be a pop star and is 3_1 its not rocket science lump 9n lauren lump on lump on lump on
Have you lumped on? What odds did you back her at?
I honestly didn’t think Anton would’ve fallen into the bottom three so soon. It was certainly a possibility in my mind but I still didn’t expect it. I actually thought when there were 4 acts left on stage that 4th Impact would’ve ended up in the bottom two. Does anyone know if there is a pattern between an act being called safe last and their position in the vote? I’d assume it nearly always turns out that the act called safe last is not that far away from the bottom two.
If I find some time I’ll do some number-crunching into this, but just from memory I’m pretty sure that that’s nearly always true.
Don’t worry Curtis I’ve just checked and the stats imply that either 4I topped the vote (and the producers didn’t want that outcome) or they’re nearing the danger zone.
A bit of light hearted fun: came across this article. It does reflect my household to a tee!
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-3310824/The-battle-Saturday-night-TV-happens-X-Factor-addicted-family-persuaded-watch-Strictly.html
Haha, that article basically sums up my feelings on Strictly. Can not get into it at all.
My parents’ house is the opposite though. They love Strictly and hate The X Factor. Finally this year they’ve decided to give in to Cowell and watch The X Factor again, but I think it’s honestly because they’ve heard about the money I’ve made from the show and want in on it! I refuse to tip because whenever I do, I always tip a losing bet!
Wise man. People blame you if they lose.
I just wave the betting slips in their faces, metaphorically. I email screenshots of my winnings, never my losses. Matt Stone was a big winner for me this weekend so thanks to sofabet for all the hints and tips. Luckily I waited until this week as I wasn’t quite sure earlier on.
Max Stone sorry. Something about him makes me want to call him Matt.
Okay so I’ve looked up some stats for acts being called safe last from 2014 all the way back to 2008 during the Top 9 Results. In brackets is the position each act finished in the vote that week.
2014 – Only The Young (7th)
2013 – Abi Alton (7th)
2012 – Christopher Maloney (1st)
2011 – Janet Devlin (1st)
2010 – Paije Richardson (6th)
2009 – John & Edward (6th)
2008 – Laura White (7th)
That doesn’t look too promising for 4th Impact. The only anomalies are Janet and Christopher who were obvious targets for TPTB. I can’t quite work out whether being called safe last is a help or a hindrance. It could’ve been a method to boost 4I’s vote (although that didn’t help Only The Young or in fact any of the above) or it could’ve made them look like a lost cause in the vote.
I would have thought they’d get a boost from Selina’s ill health. They may have done quite well.
Goodness me, Olly is out of his depth isn’t he? Not just that he can’t count to two, but being blocked by the contestants on the stage made him look a total dork.
I’m not following things as closely, and haven’t got money on this year, but I’d consider a back to lay on Mason – he’s got plenty going for him, even more with Max out of the way.
I can’t work out what they are doing with Lauren and Louisa. Running with both means a late elimination (possibly in the final) for the second, so no time to transfer the votes over to the other to get to the win. Are the producers divided over which horse to back?
Also why did the producers leak the week 1 result (if we assume the leak was accurate?) Making Anton look safe, certainly, but also to suggest the likes of Che and Lauren were desperate for votes – not encouraging for either long term, even if it works for a couple of weeks.
If her initial song choice for this week is telling us something it is that they find Lauren disposable at best.
But she’s had 2 lucky weeks when she was allowed and managed to shine, so the toothpaste is out. (an analogy someone used…). Next week’s song choice will be very tellling though of what they are prepared to let her get away with…
Nice to see the toothpaste analogy catching on 😉 haha I think Lauren was very lucky this week. It was all last minute, so I’d exercise caution on betting. Louisa being sent out third is a positive sign for her vote IMO, but as is them allowing Lauren another favourable slot in the running order, that VT and replaying Nick saying he’s her favourite girl in the comments last night. It appears as though they’re keeping her going, at least for the time being. Her performance was great. Maybe they’re happy for the toothpaste to be out of the tube.
Shocked that the Andrea Faustini-ing of Anton worked so quickly. Also, Mason being saved means people agreed with me that his performance had redeeming qualities (but unlike me, acted on it by voting): red and black aside, it was polished and easy to watch.
On Fourth Impact being saved last, I’m torn between “feel sorry for these girls and vote next week” and “they’re goners”. They seem like nice endearing ladies like Little Mix but lack LM’s star quality.
But did Little Mix really have that much star quality at week 3 in the live shows back in 2011? I think 4th Impact have widespread appeal: they’re cute enough for kids (and parents) to vote for them, they’re likeable yet fierce when performing for girls to vote for them, I think a lot of boys will fancy Celina and also they’ve got the criteria to win the show – likeable, powerful vocalists and humble.
The question is – would the producers like them to win? If they do, I’d expect 4I to sing a ballad next week and to also close the show.
Yes, I agree with this. I actually think the producers would be crazy to NOT push them for the win. The online hysteria surrounding 4th Impact is quite something, and hasn’t been seen on the show for any act since One Direction in 2010. Yes, lots of it comes from abroad, but this just shows that it won’t take much to make them successful on an international scale. They are blatantly the most commercial act in the competition and this would be a rare opportunity for a group to win the show .
I just don’t know what they were playing at making them called last to be safe…If I were them, I’d be giving them the pimp slot with a ballad next week. However Louisa has also not yet had a pimp slot, and her vote may be in need of a boost after singing third this week just gone.
I agree Tim. I think being called safe last isn’t a help since, looking at past stats, acts haven’t benefited in the vote the following week.
I actually think Louisa might have done really well in the vote last weekend despite being on third. I think the close up shots of her crying along with Rita being in tears would have got her lots of votes. Do you remember the same thing occurred between Alexandra and Cheryl after Alexandra sang Listen in week 8 of her year? She topped the vote for the first time. If Louisa did do well on Saturday, I think the producers will probably give her this week’s pimp slot to test whether she can gain some more momentum like they did with Little Mix a week after their breakthrough performance of E.T.
Hi Tim, are you aware that 4th Impact, Alien and Bupsi are the only acts not to have troubled the itunes top 100 in three weeks of live shows? Even Max, Kiera and Monica have managed it. For ‘blatantly the most commercial act’ this has to be a slight concern?
It’s hardly a concern. Their song choices so far have been more performance-centred than vocally impressive so people would rather watch those performances on YouTube than to download their tracks. I’m sure they’d chart higher with a ballad.
Beware confirmation bias Stu.
I know Jess, I’m definitely nearing that territory haha.
I liked LM when they were still Rhythmix and saw them going about as far as Hope (series 4, only girl group that didn’t end up in the gutter quickly pre-LM), so I did feel that they had something going for them. Fourth Impact are non-threatening (their family in the Philippines >> boys), talented, but I can’t find myself liking them as much as LM (four years too late?)
I completely agree with your main point and think 4I have an excellent chance of finding an initial market. However, I’ll admit I’m a bit skeptical they will follow the same long-term developmental trajectory as the LM girls. They are actually about the same age (on average) as LM and have been performing together longer as a group. That, along with what I suppose I’d call a lack of emotional insight and nuance in their performances, makes me wonder how high their ceiling is. I hope they can figure it out, because they are all quite sweet and highly talented.
Isn’t being the last to be called safe a positive until the last few rounds because it motivates viewer votes? I remember they did it to LM at least twice after they had gained favor.
We know that winning and commercial success do not have to go hand in hand (look which group were performing last night…). They don’t need (or even want?) FI to win, but just to get them to the final to keep their non-UK fans interested in the show.
If they are topping the vote, the late call may be part of managing this.
Personally speaking, I find the lack of connect between FI when they are not performing (sweet and endearing) with their performing persona really off putting. Agree with Nissl about the lack of emotional insight etc in their performances.
The contrast between their performances and personalities is alarming yes, but how much are we expected to emotionally connect to songs like “Work It Out” or “Sound of the Underground”?
If I were producing and wanted them to do well, I’d keep them well clear of doing a ballad, until at least we can see them doing two songs. It’s a language barrier rather than a lack of emotion IMO, but their performance is their skill.
Too polished for acts with “no professional experience” (because experience in different contests in different countries doesn’t count). They seem too rehearsed at times, even when they tried to make poignant moments (Judges’ Houses).
FI preferable to R&B for the final?
Seriously burnt tonight. In fact, that’s the biggest hit I’ve taken since I first got involved at Copenhagen last year.
Commiserations. 🙁
Lauren’s London accent is mentioned and knocked every week by Grimshaw. It’s pretended that it is affectionate but the intention is, in my opinion, to present her as low class. It’s not a positive. It makes her into a caricature instead of a person.
I thought it was interesting that Stoney described her as “a towie clone”. The people in TOWIE are all from famies that were millionaires before the show started. Lauren is nothing like them. The comparison however, was not complimentary. It shows that they way they are branding her is working.
They also use the old reverse psychology – I thought you were nothing but a karaoke singer / Whitney / hen night blah blah but…. Don’t think about the elephant.
Grimshaw is a smiling assassin. He’s not off message. He’s being paid a million quid.
Off topic: I am moving back towards hating the show again. The simple fact is that it works by shitting on people’s dreams.
I noticed that he mentions it, but I took it to be part of her ‘journey’ – she looks amazing now with the make-up and hair styling (though the clothes could be better – I think she is being made to look a frumpy to contrast with Louisa).
RE: Jess’ first paragrah – I was watching with a friend, and she said it’s like Lauren is a bo-selecta character. (And hence my comment of her being a parody of herself on Saturday).
On a rewatch, I actually found Lauren very endearing this weekend. She’s been a bit of a novelty character for me so far, almost to the point of irritation, but her VT was cute and I love how, in between lines and after big notes, she allows a small, almost triumphant grin to creep across her face. She’s very cute, but I do think you are right. They’re trying to cast her as this caricature, “basic” character. The trouble with that is, as Grimmy mentioned, plenty of popstars are like that and it helps with the complete contrast when she sings. Lauren is also arguably the most likeable contestant in the post-performance chat. Her styling needs work, but if they want to give her that journey, it’s something that they’ve got in their back pocket.
The show has always done that to people’s dreams Jessica. The public watch X Factor in the same way as they used to watch the Gladiators fight in the 230 amphitheatres of the Roman Empire…and the carnage is the fascination.
I think that is spot on, Don. And the Six Chairs Challenge makes that whole dynamic clear and in the open. Instead of thumbs up and thumbs down, we have numbers of fingers held up and I guess there are no lions to devour the losers, but it holds up very well as a point of comparison.
I’ve read elsewhere that Monica said something about Bang Bang at the end of the results show. Did anyone see it? What happened?
Here’s the whole cringe-inducing folly. Monica shouts something at the end but I can barely hear it. Don’t know what all the fuss is about.
As for Olly, it’s like watching someone throw custard pies in his own face. At school I bet he licked the windows.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=aeZdR7zek14
My favourite part (apart from all of it) is the expression on Cowell’s face when Rita starts gushing about Monica’s songwriting.
Another cock up that we missed at the time.
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/tv/6747704/Whoops-Did-anyone-spot-this-X-Factor-mistake-on-Sunday.html
Didn’t see it – but here’s the DM’s take on it: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-3319845/X-Factor-reject-Monica-Michael-causes-outrage-makes-bang-bang-bang-gesture-air-following-live-elimination-just-days-Paris-terror-attacks.html
Professional outrage takers making a story out of nothing. That newspaper is poison.
yeah that story is nonsense. i’m never sure whether it’s just me as I seem to have developed the ability to not take offense to anything, but that really is scraping the outrage barrel?! i’m not sure whether it was an inside dig at her “bang bang” song choice or Monica just being her usual “street” self, but it’s clearly not intended as a joke at Paris’ expense.
The Che as a sex symbol thing was laboured to the point of being embarrassing. Che himself looked embarrassed. It can’t possibly fly. Anyone have any thoughts on why? It was noteable that Caroline repeated the idea that Che had somehow “won Rita” so it was a message they wanted heard, if only for the night.
Wouldnt it be more surprising if Rita didnt find Che sexy? 😉
I guess they feel like they have Anton’s vote under control and Monica was a female that had to leave for Louisa.
Interesting enough the buying public seems to connect more with Lauren though. Ariana’s original is back to no. 9 and Lauren’s version is at no. 12 on itunes. Louisa is at No. 30.
If Lauren polled very well with votes this week I suspect her going on very early this week and Louisa close to end just to test who will pole better. If it’s Lauren I could see them switch Alpha girl.
Hello all long time reader first time poster
What did people make of antons song choice in the sing off. “If you don’t know me by now, you ain’t ever gonna know me” seemed a weird message to send if they wanted to keep him around till the final. There were other lyrics too that just gave it a feel of this was the end of the road.
Also was ollys mistake because the pre show briefing was for Cheryl to send home Monica and Olly wasn’t paying attention, as he got the scenario wrong when handing to Simon leading to a slightly confused pause.
Also ollys weird interaction with Harry styles, either styles was hammered or there’s a Caroline flack sized issue between them
Harry Styles is a very odd person. To me the way he stares at women is repulsive, although I think it is the key to his seduction technique. He stares silently until they feel uncomfortable and then talks to them. It certainly can’t be his mind or his singing voice.
I’ve never met him but having watched him on tv he seems like that all the time. Nasty reptilian sort of person with tattoos so bad his body looks like a graffitied toilet wall.
I doubt are any issues with Flack. She and Olly aren’t in a relationship and she and Styles were never in love. No one gives a crap. It’s just tabloid fodder like “poor Jennifer Aniston” every time someone mentions Brad Pitt. Those involved are well over it.
Reggie & Bollie have drifted again. I wonder if they’ll make the final. Has it been confirmed whether it’s a four act or a three act final?
Incredible that we don’t know, that we don’t know from week to week whether it’s a double or a single elimination. How have we let them get away with this?
Tellymix reported (that the Sun reported) the first four weeks would be doubles leaving a three act final.
http://www.tellymix.co.uk/reality-tv/the-x-factor/238625-x-factor-has-lots-more-double-eliminations-planned-this-year.html
It seems unlikely that they would want RnB in a three act final they got pushed into clear novelty act territory this week. Possible bottom 3 save this week and let them go the week after.
So one more double.
Usually the novelty act ends up in about 6th place so going next week is likely. The following week is the quarter final so treatment of other acts will be informative.
What are people’s thoughts on the preferred line up for the final? I think they’d like Louisa, Che and FI.
I think as long as Louisa is there, they couldn’t care less. Looking at the overall lineup and treatment so far, it seems Che is likely to be there too. The only question marks over the third finalist is whether Simon can swallow his pride and go into the final without an act. If he can, then great, Fourth Impact will make great finalists in terms of putting on a show. If not, and he wants Anton there, in my opinion, they need a “performer” in the final, otherwise you’ll have Louisa, Che and Anton rooted to the spot all weekend. Nobody needs that. Either Louisa needs to learn to dance, or they need to sacrifice Che’s final slot for Fourth Impact.
That said, if Che did slip into the bottom two (some seem to think this likely), would they cut him loose? Lauren is also looking as if she is being taken more seriously after this weekend. The top five is surprisingly strong, and I am working on the assumption that Reggie & Bollie and Mason Noise are eliminated this weekend.
I don’t see Anton anywhere near the final. I think we’ve seen that taken out of that ‘Luther Vandross’ style comfort zone he’s struggles. This week’s de-ramp was probably more successful as the song choice looked fair, and yet the performance really wasn’t great. I would suggest that he’s least marketable of the remaining 7. There’s no market for Luther Vandross nowadays never mind a copy. Even R&B could probably get away with a novelty song – followed by a career of live appearances milking it.
A final line up of Louisa, Anton and Che would be awful even if it probably would obtain the desired result.
I would argue that the song choice was terrible especially given the muiscal theatre VT he was given. It’s a hackneyed overdone thing which even the judges complain about when it is sung at auditions.
I agree – it was even more painful considering how much he was loving his song choice. I found the dodgy filter quiet alienating, too. Che fills the “singer” quota in the final, I was more questioning whether Simon would go into the final as an impartial judge as it’s never happened before but I suppose he knew that before the show, which is why he kicked up such a fuss about being given the overs in the first place.
They could still change their minds if it suits. If it is a double again this week that would suggest that things are going to plan and that they’re confident they can get the desired bottom three – presumably Mason, Anton and R&B. The risk may be a bounce for Anton. If they were prepared to go with a four act final it would seem pretty easy to dispose of these three over the next three weeks and ensure the remaining 4 make the final.
Assuming a bounce for Anton, surely they will aim at a b3 of R&B, Mason and Lauren. Whoever is saved bounces into the semi and is disposed of then (Anton going at the quarter final).
That way they get a final of Louisa, Che and FI.
I think that they’re using Che to dampen Anton’s vote, but also using Lauren to mop up votes that could go to Che. It’s trying to keep things in check. I suspect that Lauren might be getting a lot of female votes who might otherwise be voting for the bland male act. Saturday seemed a bit of a head to head to see who did better.
But Licence To Kill was surely planned as a deramp. One Last Time was probably her sing off song.
So what do we make of this week then?
Lauren with another very late slot and Che with the pimp slot. Are these 2 now being pushed more than Louisa? Strange to see Che being pushed especially as I doubt they want another male winner. However the last 2 weeks either tell us TPTB do not mind who wins of those 2 or Louisa… or that both are not really picking up the votes they want and they are just giving them extra pimping to keep safe.
Mason saved this week, I did like his performance probably the most this week. I know in the last article it said the production was not as big as promised, but either way it was a much bigger production than he has received so far and his actual performance with the dancing was very accomplished. Deserved to stay, but you feel it will only be for 1 more week. He will probably be next in line assuming they feel Anton will get a sympathy bounce given his prior popularity.
On the other side RnB could also be aimed at next week. Do TPTB really want RnB in touching sites of the final? They are on the tour now and they are probably happy.
Could see a B2 next week of Mason v RnB and really unsure who would get saved from that. Probably Mason.
Also just to make things interesting there is a possibility of another double elim next week, if the case I think Mason and RnB would be targeted.
My interpretation is that tptb are happy with the level of votes Lauren and Che are picking up and so are allowing them this favourable treatment.
I did find myself questioning whether we are using confirmation bias with Louisa, but her positive treatment was astonishing this weekend with the crying and whatnot. I don’t subscribe to the idea that somebody is ever “due a pimp slot” but surely they are saving one up for Louisa when she can finally deliver a “moment”?
I never hold the tour with much regard, it doesn’t seem to affect what they do on the show much.
I do hope that they can manage to keep Mason and Reggie & Bollie around a little while longer but the live shows are pressing on, I can’t imagine Mason lasting much longer which is a shame. I can see Anton getting a massive sympathy vote unfortunately, so it does put Reggie & Bollie in the firing line too. With what seemed like the arrow pointing at Lauren Murray, I wouldn’t be surprised to see them go in on her but she’s a bit of a question mark after she had a bit of a moment this weekend. That only leaves Che, who seems to be comfortable at the moment, and Fourth Impact. I do feel that they deserve to be down there at the moment, they’ve been a let down at the live shows.
I’m inclined to agree with this. I think the tour is irrelevant compared to the show.
I think Saturday was meant to be a transformational moment for Louisa. I’m not sure how successful it was. I worry that I am biased and I did read someone else describing her performance as stunning. She sticks in my craw just for the amount of pimping that she’s had, regardless of her level of performance. What did other people make of it? Do you think it was the moment they were looking for?
Is Che connecting enough to be a threat? Again I have no idea. It’s at this point that I get lost. I can’t help but remember how I thought Ben Haenow had no chance. The “you’re going to get laid” comments from Simon were all sorts of weird and quite out of context. It followed a VT in which we were told that a few weeks ago Che was sitting in his bedroom playing computer games. Is the narrative supposed to be the shy fat teenager turned singing sensation and sex god? Are they taking the piss?
Lauren is interesting too. The VT was nice but hardly a massive pimp – nothing compared to the gushing that Louisa got from the judges and the Holy St Louisa type staging and performance. I think if they have to they’ll have her as a feelgood winner but I’m sure they’d rather be rid of her before the final. She’s clearly popular though. Her performance on Saturday was a bit ropey but forgiveable given the last minute song change. The originial song choice was a deramp, no doubt about that in my mind. I think she’ll be deramped in the next few weeks.
I’m really not sure what they’re doing with Louisa – unless they think that what they’re doing is the only way they can get the public to vote for her. But it certainly doesn’t seem the best way to set her up for a post show career – I can’t honestly believe they think what she’s doing would sell. I was thinking this on Saturday – driving along on the radio they played Taylor Swift, Katie Perry and Demi Lovato in a row. Surely this is where the market is. She’s a decent looking seventeen year old girl with a good voice – she should be doing uptempo pop. At least mix it up a bit. Yes we know she can sing – so why not give us something fun and current for a change.
Given that the winner’s records don’t start coming out until the live shows, she has a year to change her image. They’ll have her learning to dance and all sorts and the Louisa you see in a year will presumably be very different from the one we’re getting right now.
I agree David – the show seems to have a split personality. They apparently want to lower their demographic and appeal to a younger market – hence Grimmy and Rita, but actually they know that its the middle-aged middle-of-the-road people sat indoors on a Saturday night that are voting, Hence they are trying to appeal to both, giving a teenager (who should be singing fun pop) songs she can’t connect to. In her VT when she sang Billie Jean I seem to recall she referred to it as ‘old-fashioned’ when talking to her friends about song choice.
In terms of ratings, there *must* *must* *must* be a male act in the final, hence the intense ramping of Ché over the last two weeks. The public seem to have abandoned Anton already, Reggie N Bollie’s days are numbered and so the only feasible option is Ché. I don’t know if he will win, but you’d have to respect his chances if he’s the only male act in the final.
Edit: I forgot about Mason, but he’s favourite to go first this weekend so…
I think it’s interesting that Lauren is ahead of Louisa on itunes. With all the pimping comments and the “emotion” and Rita’s disingenuous (to put it politely) suggestion that it was all Louisa’s idea, surely this was supposed to be a moment like Lauren Platt ripping off Foxes’ version of Happy last year. I know Happy was a huge and current song while this was a huge, old song but Louisa “cried” and (allegedly) so did Rita. The response to it has been a bit “so what”.
I think it was meant to be a showstopper but it didn’t quite happen. I wonder why that is? Is it that people haven’t quite warmed to Louisa?
Didn’t Jay James also have his standout week when he did a slowed down version of The Proclaimers’ 500 miles.
I think Che is getting the Marcus Collins treatment. He’s not appeared as a threat in the voting until now (I believe) so pushing him for a place in the final – knowing his vote can be controlled like Marcus’ – is probably the producers’ way of thinking. Funnily enough, Sofabet predicted Marcus to win in 2011 and have predicted Che to win this year. 😉
I honestly don’t buy the idea of Lauren being lined up as the new alpha girl. I think her vote has also struggled up until Saturday night and the producers want her for her bubbly and fun personality. Her song might be in the top 20 of iTunes but does Simon really want her to win just so she can perform the same type of songs with the hope that each one will be a hit? I’m not a big Louisa fan (I loved her Billie Jean performance though) but (cue Louis Walsh voice) she reminds me of early Britney with a more Christina Aguilera vocal. She may not connect with songs emotionally but she could probably be turned into the next teen superstar.
If I were to base each of the remaining contestants on previous acts (from the producers’ point of view) I’d say:
Louisa – Leona Lewis
Lauren – Stacey Solomon
Che – Marcus Collins
Mason – Misha B
4th Impact – Little Mix
Reggie n Bollie – Jedward
Anton – Christopher Maloney
Louisa is being presented as a young powerhouse vocalist who is unassuming. She’s being lined up to win, obviously. With Lauren it’s more her personality than it is her musicianship which is more valued by producers, I’d guess. They want her to go far, but not too far. Che, as mentioned above, is probably looking for the same trajectory as Marcus Collins. The producers have his vote under control so can allow him to be a finalist. Mason fits the “talented yet unlikeable” role, like Misha did. Damaged goods. 4th Impact are favoured but, admittedly, they are yet (if at all) to be Plan A. RnB are 1000x cooler than Jedward but, like them and any other novelty act, it’d be a miracle if they get to the final, or even win. They should be out in the next week or two. Anton is the Over that is (or was) a threat in the vote and is suffering bad press as a consequence. He could leave in 3rd if Simon needs to have an act in the final.
I completely agree with everything you’ve just said.
well I’d make one small change…
I don’t think Mason is this years Mischa B…
he’s more one of the ‘cute eye candy’ boys who always end up around 9th-6th place…
such as Lloyd from Joe/Olly year… Sam C from Sam B’s year… Andy from Series 4… Jack from last year…
XF needs a bit of fun, normally that is provided by a novelty act, but that undermines the show’s credibility because they have to pretend that they have won a sing off against a clearly superior act to keep them in the show. RnB are the best of both worlds, a credible act that they can use to bring the fun factor. As Simon has said on at least two occasions, ‘we have never had an act like you on the XF before’ and he’s right. I think some on here are writing them off a bit too soon.
How likely do we think it be that Reggie & Bollie be saved in the following singoffs?
R&B vs Anton – I think they’d be saved without question.
R&B vs Mason – Also, R&B saved.
—-
R&B vs Lauren Murray – Tough one to call. I’d say that Lauren would be saved.
—-
R&B vs Fourth Impact – Fourth Impact.
R&B vs Che – Che
R&B vs – Louisa – come on?!
On the basis that Mason is coming off a bounce, general consensus seems to be that he will be bottom. If R&B do somehow clear bottom three, it means that two of Anton, Lauren, Che, 4I and Louisa will be bottom. Not beyond the realms of possibility, but personally speaking Anton screams the sort of act who will benefit from a sympathy vote and I’d eliminate him from contention this week. Lauren is questionable going forward, but she seems to have a bit of buzz around her at the minute because of her performance last weekend. Her treatment this weekend will be telling. The remaining “power three” would be saved unquestionably in my opinion.
I’d love you to be right – R&B are by far my favourite act this year, but we’re three weeks in now and with a double this week, I see them being in the danger zone. It depends who they are in a sing off against. Anyone but Anton or Mason would mean them gone.
I wouldn’t write Mason Noise off too soon. He’s much more suitable as a male for the final than Che. And he’s versatile.
Its not a question of me being right Martin, like everyone on here I don’t know. I’m just putting forward an alternative version that no-one on here seems to have considered. RnB were asked to do something fun. Everyone is now screaming ‘novelty’ and writing them off, rather than thinking, ‘flexibility’ and ‘value to the show’ and giving them respect, which I think is an interpretation that should at least be considered.
Simon’s comments were certainly a concern, although there was plenty of positive stuff in there with the distracting talk about song choice. So definitely a case of ‘watch this space’ there.
As for their chances of getting through the next week or two, no-one foresaw Mason escaping the bottom 3 last week, few foresaw Mason beating Seann in a sing off. In the app age, such a likeable act as RnB could certainly avoid the bottom 3 for the next 2-3 weeks and if they hit the sing off, they could survive. Its all about the songs, treatment and slots they have coming up, and none of us know how that’s gonna pan out.
No, quite right. Sorry if my reply came over as condescending in any way, that isn’t how it was intended at all. My interpretation of R&B’s treatment this weekend was that it was a dampener, rather than an intended kill. I think it’s likely that it will have dampened them enough for them to be gone this week without too much of an attack, but you are right, the more alternatives we have to consider, the more discussion there is to be had and the more money we can all make!
Personally, I think them (and Mason to an extent) would be of way more value to the show, entertainment wise, than Anton or even Che.
I also agree that some people are writing off RnB’s chances far too soon. The dampener for RnB last weekend were the terrible events of Friday evening meaning the viewing public were less receptive to RnB’s style of fun and joyfulness – something everyone is now in much need of following those tragic scenes and events in Paris. That notwithstanding, RnB were still not in the bottom three therefore they were in the top six last weekend – upwards and onwards for RnB next weekend – I see them going from strength to strength and very likely finalists!
Not condescending in any way – sorry if I gave you that impression 🙂 I agree, if they don’t make the final, this will be the week that we look back on as the beginning of the end.
It would be good to have a group in the final than three powerful soloists all trying to out-tonsil each other and I think RnB have so much more to give than 4th Impact. They will create so much more of a feelgood factor as they get the crowd bouncing at Wembley than 4I ever could. It will be very interesting to see who gets the group pimp in the next week or two.
4th Impact said before the live show that they wanted to sing a ballad but made a deal with Cheryl to sing one in week 4 instead.
It will be make or break for them.
http://www.digitalspy.com/tv/the-x-factor/news/a774014/the-x-factor-2015s-4th-impact-we-want-to-survive-this-week-so-we-can-sing-a-ballad/
At this point, I think TPTB are still keeping their options open regarding the possible winner of the show. The question I ask is, of the remaining acts, who would they NOT want to win the show? They might be happy for that act to reach the final, but not win.
So, now trying to answer my question, I would suggest they would not want Anton to win (I think his back story, more than anything else, makes him a dangerous candidate to win – he is a potential PR disaster if what has been written about him is true. I think he is also the one with the least commercial potential left standing.)
Into the category of acts not wanted as winners – for me at least – go both groups, for the sin of not being British. The show has never been won by a non-Brit and although they are happy to have the groups in, adding the entertainment value that they both do, I think neither are seen as outright winners for that reason. FI can easily be given a record deal wherever they finish from this point, so winning the show isn’t so important for them. I suspect their future is already glowing.
RnB are also not wanted as winners; but they are hugely entertaining and I think TPTB will want to keep them in for as long as it is logistically possible to do so – which will depend on the voting public and who they end up against in the sing-offs. FI are clearly the alpha group (I haven’t heard any hint of deramp for them lately whereas with RnB it was very subtle, but indubitably sewing the seeds for later reaping). The likelihood of two groups being in the final is extremely low. So I think RnB may still go further than other commentators expect, but will be out before the final so that FI are the group ending up in the final. It will depend on how practical it is to save them as to how long RnB stay in. Sadly I don’t think my each way bet is going to bear fruit, but they might stay in until the semi-final.
So having dispensed with the three acts they do not want to win outright, that leaves four solo acts who are, at least at this stage, potential winners. At this point, I do think TPTB are keeping their options open – even though Louisa is obviously still Plan A (but may not be for much longer).
I think Che has been the Ben Haenow of the series in the producers’ eyes for a while now and the increasing pimping shows that they are keen to keep him in the picture for now. But they have the mother of all deramps waiting in the wings for when it is needed: how long is it until Che is told that he keeps on singing the same type of song and needs to show more versatility if he wants to be a credible winner? The following week, he does Ghostbusters and vanishes from our screens! The fact that, until now, they have kept Che in the soul groove, his comfort zone, suggests that they are aware he may be vulnerable if he tries any other sort of song. It seems that in most years they ring the versatility bell at some stage, but only when it suits them – otherwise they are happy to have contestants in their comfort zone for weeks on end.
The treatment of Lauren is less obvious to read. It’s as if they are trying her on for size right now, seeing how she performs alongside Louisa. I think this is a matter of keeping their options open. There are more potential deramps for her if needed, but for now they want to keep her waiting in the wings as a substitute for Louisa.
That brings us to Mason. Although I thought he was interesting and exciting in audition stages, he has pretty much been neutered now, even if Men in Black was quite passable. I suspect they will be happy he will be on the tour, as a source of entertainment (perhaps they will let him be more “himself” in that context?) But he is unlikely to be taken into the finals, it’s too hard a sell to the public and if they are still on a development arc with him, I really can’t see it coming to anything. As the show needs someone, or maybe two, to be eliminated next week, Mason surely has to be the most likely candidate. If it is a double elimination again, then I think it may come down to pragmatism on the part of TPTB. RnB do indeed look most likely in terms of their actual singing talent, but I think the debate about “novelty acts” has been a bit of a distraction because the bottom line is, their entertainment value outweighs their talent by a long way. TPTB have to be ready to let that go sooner, rather than later, if RnB really are to go out next weekend. I can’t see them saved against Louisa, FI, or Che though, and this is what I mean about pragmatism. They will stick around for as long as it is practical to have them there, not a minute longer.
If I were TPTB, I would want to play for time and have a single elimination this coming week.
Apologies for the length of this offering.
I agree about how it should be a single elimination this week and then a double the week after – that’s if the producers want Anton out in the next two weeks. If he bounces the week when there is a double elimination, will the producers be able to get him in the bottom two the week after? It’d be difficult since I can imagine him getting a Danyl Johnson-style bounce.
I assume the producers will try and eliminate RnB and Mason this week, allowing Anton to bounce. Then eliminate Anton in 5th place – leaving Louisa, Lauren, Che and Fourth Impact. Then they’ll want to cut Lauren at the semi-final. That’s weirdly giving me deja vu of 2008:
Winner – girl (Alexandra/Louisa)
2nd – group (JLS/4th Impact)
3rd – boy (Eoghan/Che)
4th – girl (Diana/Lauren)
5th – over (Ruth/Anton)
A semi-final sing off with Louisa vs Lauren would be interesting…
Really? Surely it’s obvious that Louisa would be saved over anyone?
Of course. No 2 ways about it
Sorry, maybe “interesting” was the wrong word to use. I probably meant “enjoyable” 😀
Elimination price on Anton for next week has dropped although Mason is still favourite.
Lauren is now pretty much equal second favourite with Che for the win. With Che you can now get 4-1. Can’t get that on Lauren.
The Reggie & Bollie odds train seems to have derailed. Personally I think it would be mad to put them in the final. People are so sick of the x factor and the succession of rooted to the floor balladeers that they could win just through voters’ bloodymindedness. Having said that, as a feelgood winner they would work and they do have the x factor.
Was never in doubt was it too be honest. Looks like my retirement plans are shelved 🙂
😀
Someone probably backed them when they were 150-1 and laid when they were 8-1 and is now planning a cruise.
Who is voting for Che Chesterman at this stage? I remain dubious about how far he can go. Agree with Rose above that TPTB have been ringfencing him from other genres than classic Motown. Saturday night was really, really lazy, and that was the pimp slot. Unless he picks up Max’s transfers which I think is unlikely, I’m convinced he’s a (surprise) B3 this coming weekend.
Heh!!
Maybe it was a dig at Mason. After all he previously “won Rita” when he danced with her at his audition.
I realise that’s a bit rabbit hole but Cowell made a big deal about it, Caroline repeated it and Rita simpered. It just seemed weird.
I think it was just a crass way of pimping him.
I don’t really have time to elaborate now, but I was thinking we all said that Lauren doesn’t have any commercial potential…
and then it occurred to me who she reminds me of…
well a young Kelly Clarkson 😀
I know times and talent shows have changed so much in the last decade since she won. What I found similar is that she as well was in competition with other more popstar looking contestants and I didn’t watch it back then, but as I understood there were other favorites that all fell and although she wasn’t terribly original in a musical sense (the way Laura hasn’t been either…) she somehow won people over with a brilliant voice coupled with her endearing and charming and somewhat ditzy personality, the same as Lauren’s been doing. (I guess I did elaborate in the end, hah 🙂 )
And Simon was there to witness that, so maybe seeing how the public are getting behind her without that much pimping they will give her a chance.
I think my (and most people’s) fear with her is that she would end up being a young Sam Bailey… But (as Kelly C. still proves it,) with a few well chosen mainstream pop songs and a bit of luck there is still a place in the music industry….
The main difference is that Kelly won American Idol, where the contestants choose what they sing (they might sabotage themselves still but…) and there are no sing-offs. Bottom contestant leaves. Kelly might not have survived the manipulation. In one of the first shows Simon told her she was not memorable as he couldn’t remember her audition. Bet he does now!
Much easier to market a pop star if they’re easy on the eye. By and large Cowell has made his money out of pretty boys and girls.
when Kelly Clarkson was on American Idol… not only was she a better singer than Lauren… she was also slim and more girl next door than Towie wannabe… so more pop star potential than I think they would see in Lauren…
so I think Kelly easier for AI’s TPTB to get behind when she started to click with the public and do well in the votes…
not wishing to sound harsh about Lauren, she seems like a nice kid and she is a decent singer… so I do not think TPTB see Lauren as anything more than this years Stacy Solomon… someone who has an endearing personality and can also sing… not as a potential winner / pop star….
yes, as I said too, it’s not only a different format (X-Idol) but different times of reality television. viewers are different.
let me explain what I mean.
I didn’t really like leopard printed Lauren early on, but with the Jessie Ware song and these last 2 weeks I really warmed up to her, but I (too) was/am struggling to see why tptb would get behind her and God forbid allow her to even win if it comes to that or would she be definitely nuked before the finish line, like so many how did well enough on Saturday night entertainment tv, but would have so clearly fallen flat on their face in the music industry ( Maloney for example…)
so I wasn’t trying to base her chances of winning on those that Kelly C had, but was trying to find an artist, any artist that I could somehow compare to in the real world so to speak that actually does sell records too.
It’s cleat that she’s popular with the public, a lot of good feedback on her personality and charisma and musically/commercially, well she managed to crack the top 1 i Tunes… so Simon seeing her as either a young Sam Bailey or a young Kelly C will decide her faith. and her treatment next week will tell us this.
I totally understand your point and American Idol also has the tendency to go for the WGWG that fails post show. I just think X Factor manipulation is on another level as Simon tends to be very stubborn with his pre-conceptions. It shows especially when he overpraises a crap performance and tries to shove acts down our throats, like octoband or that other country atrocity boyband in XF USA.
There’s no doubt that if sees Lauren as Kelly, who still has a great career not following the industry’s ideal looks anymore then she can have a chance. Kelly oozes personality, like Adele and I’d say personality is way more important than looks, but hell knows what Cowell thinks…
Well, there have been cases when he changed turned around as a result of brilliant performance and unexpected public support – one of my all time fave-s, Ruth Lorenzo comes to mind. Absolutely no interest in her showm during pre-live shows, even early live shows, not a typical syco-popstar image, yet the audience embraced her, Simon embraced her and was even willing to work with her post show, until they parted because of creative differences.
Fleur was sort of in a similar situation, ignored and then embraced. except that she did look the popstar part from the start.
Thing is, whilst Kelly Clarkson is a great great singer, she has been gifted (or written, I don’t really know her background) great songs at every stage of her career, and has been able to be consistent with her musical output. She’s been in a pop/rock lane since “Since U Been Gone” and hasn’t deviated (or hasn’t been allowed to deviate) and she’s still popular now, wheras other female acts of the time have chased what’s popular and no longer have much commercial success. I’m not sure who that’s down to,
If they did want to make her a success I’d look at Kelly Clarkson or Pink, and not Taylor Swift or Katy Perry (leave that to Louisa) or even Adele. You can’t manufacture Adele’s story – unless Lauren can tell the story of her heartbreak in the captivating way that Adele can, it’s a waste of time. You just end up with a bunch of boring, cliche love songs – ask Leona Lewis. Or she could just do a Stacy Soloman and not even bother trying.
yep. it is a great deal of luck, or blessing, or I dont know to name that great unknown that makes succesfull songs. kelly has certainly had it.
Bottom line is that with brilliant voice, personality and charisma and a little bit of luck even those not fitting into the mold can be succesfull popstars.
Kelly has made clear in interviews how hard she had to fight to do what she wanted to and release the type of music she wanted to. There were instances where her sonwriting was shreded to pieces by industries biggies, like Clive Davies who was in charge of her at the time Breakaway was released. He made her cry when he told her the song she had written about her own experience was a piece of crap and she should be grateful for what she was getting given (e.g. Whitney type ballads). That song was Because of You so we all know who was right. Heh! Mr Davies then followed on to sabotage her next album. She then parted ways with management/label in not very good terms and she is where she is now, thankfully.
When people say it takes very thick skin and guts to succeed in this industry, it’s no joke. I only wonder if Lauren would be able to fight this hard, even though I want her too and really would like her to succeed.
It is a shame that these so called “industry experts” can’t afford these good singers they apparently “strive for” a bit of creativity or flexibility. Kelly Clarkson isn’t ever going to be the most revolutionary artist, but “Since U Been Gone”, “Because Of You”, “My Life Would Suck Without You”, “Stronger” and even “Heartbeat Song” are great pop songs, they showcase her voice and only one is a big ballad. It can be done, it’s (partly) within the SYCO family – why are they not looking at this template?! Lauren has a fun personality, if they can translate her charisma offstage into her staging and song choice, she’s got more of a platform than Louisa IMO.
Agree 100%!!!!
I wouldn’t be surprised to see a massive change in how Anton is treated now he has been tainted by being in the bottom 2 similar to Andrea last year. After being in the singoff last year Andrea got to sing 5th of 5, 4th/3rd of 4 and was saved in the singoff against Lauren. The staging was also markedly improved.
I would argue a similar thing happened with Maloney, when it was clear he wouldn’t win he sang 5th of 6, 5th of 5 and 1st/2nd of 4 all while singing songs that delighted the demo. If they had had a semi final singoff they could have got rid of him then but they chose not to.
I think the final they most want most is Louisa, Che and 4I. But haven’t they already implied that 4I had trouble learning one song in a week, how about when that becomes two songs a week or four over a weekend. 4I are the hardest to gage how well they are doing as their facebook / youtube / fan polls are being influenced from abroad. I just have a feeling they aren’t connecting in the way they need to.
I thought Mason Noise was excellent on Saturday night. Going first he’s easy to memoryhole but its well worth a revisionist look. A Louisa, Mason and 4I (or Anton) final would be far more interesting and in tune with what TPTB probably hoped for by bringing Ora and Grimshaw in. I realise what I’m saying sounds far fetched. I just have this feeling Mason is not going anywhere just yet.
Yep, I missed the show live and started watching clips last night. My bf- who hates X factor and can barely concentrate when I force him to watch it- loved Mason’s performance. He was super impressed that Mason learned the moves and was like ‘thank god he’s stopped apologising’. It was one of the most enthusiastic I’ve ever seen him about an X factor performance. Also, he finds Louisa so boring (and even he’s realised she’s being rammed down our throats) he often wanders off in the middle of her performances. They really need to stop pushing her so hard and just pick better songs for her.
I too really liked Mason’s performance a lot, but that doesn’t change the fact that if this week is a double elimination (which I am assuming it is) to beat the bottom 3 you have to poll top 4. A sympathy bounce is usually a one week thing, this week to the benefit of Anton with Mason coming back down.
I struggle to see three other acts he could outpoll or be saved against. The only hope would be if he ‘s against RnB in the singoff.
True, although I think he might be saved in a sing-off against Anton (who could potentially bounce from absolute bottom but might not avoid the bottom 3 altogether). There’s also a small chance he’d be saved over Che if they really have decided they want a female winner this year.
I also thought Mason was pretty good, he sang alright, danced well, had charisma, looked good. But it was obvious that production was deramping him as much as possible: Memory hole, mediocre production, lukewarm praise….what does surprise me is that I always thought he would be appreciated by girls, him being the only ´fit´guy left, yet as I scroll though all sorts of social media I see the opposite of appreciation. He is mentioned quite a lot, but mostly in a negative light.
˝mason should have been eliminated´´mason˝s next…´ and so on. curious….
He was brought back when Tom bolted, leapfrogging over Ollie Marland AFAIK. His original audition was mere seconds – then we see him at 6CC with all that entailed. In the live shows so far he’s been played decidedly down, yet gets through bottom 2. Saturday we suddenly get a brief glimpse of how good he is. What the hell – pimp slot for Mason this weekend.
I don’t know why you say he jumped over Ollie Moreland. There was no divine right for Ollie to be there. Personally I found him limited and boring but more pertinent than that, had he been chosen he wohld have received similar treatment to Max – a succession of boring and inappropriate songs and a beige makeover.
Ollie Marland was the only other one with a chair at that stage that had a modicum of screen time, wasn’t he? There was also a bit of a twitter fracas trying to get him reinstated. I put that down more to him being friends with other SYCO products (Luke Friend, one of Loveable Rogues, Ella Henderson) though, and had more of a profile than other contestants. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him pop up again, if the show does continue.
He’s exactly the kind of act they don’t want.
I’d agree. He’s Sam Callahan with floppy hair and bad chinos.
Talking of friends with SYCO acts, I noticed on twitter that Che is friends with (i.e in house party pictures with) Lauren Platt.
Haha, working late and waking up early causes weird associations, I just realised who else is Lauren like, she reminds me of an Old Sophia Grace, you know the pink lovin´, overexcited little british girl that is a hit over in America with her little cousin Rosie 😀
Lauren reminds me of a little Katie Price – I think it could be the hair.
I am starting to wonder if the running order was changed after the decision to change songs. I wonder if Louisa and Lauren were swapped. It made no sense for Louisa to be memoryholed by the Warburtons / Muppets advert. It made no sense for her to be third in the show. It made no sense for Lauren to get a second late spot, particularly not the “double pimp slot” format of penultimate act, advert / fake finish, final act.
If Lauren had been there and Monica had sung her planned song then Max and Monica would still have been b3 but possibly joined by Lauren instead of Anton. Regardless it would have been the big deramp of Lauren and ramp of Louisa that they wanted, with added moment and memorable tears.
If she’d been there and sung her new song she would have stood out much more compared to Max and Monica than she did compared to FI and Che.
It’s a theory. Any thoughts?
It will be interesting to see the strategy for this week. Presumably an early slot and deramp for Lauren against a late or even pimp slot for Louisa, although if Lauren polled well it may be harder to deramp her than they planned. Song choice will be very interesting.
I realise a popular alternative view is that Louisa is polling so well that everyone else is fighting for second and it’s in the bag. I’m not yet convinced.
I did consider this at the time. Louisa’s performance was everything the pimp slot should have been, as you say, complete with tears and contestant/mentor bond. The thing that made me change my mind was that Monica was on immediately after Louisa. It would have only been done for logistical reasons, not to help out Monica or Lauren, especially to the detriment of Louisa, who, if this did happen, drew the short straw being thrown on third.
I think it was a show of confidence by tptb for Louisa, although she has been teed up now for her “moment” and I full expect her to be in the pimp slot this week.
“Hi Tim, are you aware that 4th Impact, Alien and Bupsi are the only acts not to have troubled the itunes top 100 in three weeks of live shows? Even Max, Kiera and Monica have managed it. For ‘blatantly the most commercial act’ this has to be a slight concern?”
I posted this above but as it has slipped off the recent comments you probably haven’t noticed it. I hope you don’t mind me reposting it here, as I’m genuinely interested in your views or anyone else who has one.
OK. Today’s daft technophobe question. The songs can be downloaded from the UK app store?. So if your not in the UK you can’t download the songs unless you go to the bother of trying to look like you’re in the UK and have a UK account? This seems like a lot of fuss to go to just to buy a song you can stream for free on Youtube from anywhere in the world. This might explain the high youtube viewing figures and low itunes sales?
I’m not sure whether songs are available worldwide, or just UK. If they were available worldwide, but were being downloaded in the Philippines, would they not show up on the Philippines iTunes chart? I’m just as technophobic as you.
I’d like to throw my two pence in – the examples of iTunes success in recent years I can think of are Lauren Platt – Happy, Fleur East – Uptown Funk and now Reggie & Bollie – What Makes You Beautiful and Lauren Murray – One Last Time. Obviously other acts have had success on iTunes, I just can’t remember them or they don’t fit in with the point I’m trying to make. “Uptown Funk” wasn’t available at the time, and Fleur kickstarted its success. It’s since gone on to be one of the biggest songs of recent years and would have been regardless of Fleur’s performance, but people wanted any version of that song because it’s good. All of the others mentioned are a different arrangement from the original version, which I think is 4th Impact’s problem. It’s not that they aren’t popular, but they aren’t giving anybody any reason to download their versions of songs because they’re similar to the originals.
“The iTunes Store is the world’s most popular music store with a catalogue of over 26 million songs and over 25 billion songs downloaded, and is available in 119 countries.”
They don’t have different versions of the catalogue for each country, you can access the same songs in all 119 countries. Of course, sales in the Philipines would show up on the Philipines charts, not the UK chart.
Follow up daft question – if this is the case has anybody checked to see how 4th Impact sales are doing outside of the UK.
Anyway irrespective of the itunes sales they’re still getting a huge number of youtube views – so there must be some interest in them from somewhere (week 3 views 4Impact are top 1-8m against second Louisa 0-45m views). I guess I’m just suggesting that even if they’re not doing so well with UK sales / votes that there still might be a bigger market outside UK which Syco may wish to pursue.
Are you sure that the same catalogue is available in all countries?
I can think of many cases in the last two years when I’ve wanted a hit K-Pop song and it hasn’t been available in the UK.
Likewise many US stars holding releases until they’re promoting in the UK.
I know there is currently a(nother) move towards ‘on air, on sale’ but is it completely uniform globally?
The iTunes Store sells different tracks in each territory. 4th Impact’s tracks are not available in the Philippines iTune Store
Thanks Kermit/EM, that’s useful info, I stand corrected.
Murun you’re welcome (and great name)
If the UK aren’t interested in downloading the track, why would they vote for the group?
Because they like their cute outfits and dance routines. You don’t get that from an undercooked iTunes karaoke version of “Sound of the Underground”.
Also may be worth mentioning that neither Ben or Fleur (excluding Uptown Funk) set iTunes alight last year. I think it’s a good way for TPTB to guage what sort of commercial prospects an act may have in terms of “the real world” but I don’t think iTunes success directly means voting success.
Yes, as you say a good way of gauging their commercial prospects and this doesn’t bode so well.
It looks like every one of Ben’s XF performances made the itunes top 100. Jealous Guy reached 17. http://www.itunescharts.net/uk/artists/music/ben-haenow/songs/jealous-guy-x-factor-performance/
I wouldn’t say it doesn’t bode well for Fourth Impact. I’d argue that their strengths, at the minute, are more dancing and performing, much like Fleur last year. She didn’t set iTunes alight (IIRC, apart from Uptown Funk) but was a constant spectacle each week and still got the votes.
Fleur reached number 40 with All About That Base, and a number of other performances charted as well. I agree that a strong part of their appeal is in the dancing and performance, but this is XF, not BGT. If people don’t want to buy their music, just watch them then its hard to argue that they are blatantly the most commercial act this year.
Their Twitter followers are less than Louisa, so we are left with Facebook and Youtube. I wonder how easy it is to generate false views? Could it be that our online frenzy is just a 14 year old Filipino kid with a clever bot?
I noticed that whenever I listen to XF performances it doesnt matter who I was listening to, YT always goes on to play 4I. I noticed because I dont particularly like them so I always need to skip the video…
Hi Annie, that’s astonishing, fantastic spot. I just tried the same, using three different browsers on my laptop, I watched Louisa, 4th Impact followed. Then I watched RnB on another browser – 4th Impact followed. I watched Max on a 3rd browser, this time the group song followed, then I watched Anton on the same browser, 4th Impact followed. Realising that 4th Impact followed Anton in the show I tried Che Chesterton again in the same browser and sure enough it was 4th Impact. That’s 5 out of 6 where they went on to play 4th Impact. No wonder they have such high views.
I then tried in on my laptop and iphone, but it doesn’t work the same way, once the video has been played it stops.
I noticed this when I was watching clips on YT as well. Can’t remember if it was actually every single time, but they seemed to queue up as the next act on autoplay repeatedly even though I kept skipping it- and it worked, b/c I watched them when I wasn’t planning on.
Most likely the way the youtube algorithm works. It knows you’re interested in current x factor, it knows FI are the most popular current x factor video, it knows you haven’t seen it on this visit. Here you go mate. If you liked that you’ll love this. Everyone else does. 🙂
I can’t see passed Rnb being next out. Their time is done. Now we’re at the business end of the competition and I can see them favouring Mason over Rnb
The problem is we still don’t know if it’s a double or not.
If you ever had any doubt about Kitty reading/commenting on here, I think that would have been diminished once you’ve read her latest XF column.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-reviews/x-factors-4th-impact-overworked-6834992
Someone said the exact same thing in the Sofabet comments section last week:
“it’s almost like she sings like someone who wants to show you how good she is, not like someone who wants to show you how good the song is.”
Jessica Hamby, are you in fact Kitty Brucknall?!
Shout out to “nuking of Maloney proportions” too, straight out of the Sofabet dialect
That plagiaristic bitch would sell a kidney to be able to write half as well as me. She’s got all the integrity of Rita and Louisa taking credit for 14 year old Quindon Tarver’s version of Everybody’s Free. By the way Kitty, if you want to hear it the way it should be sung try this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qO_0ceE4Kw
Louisa copied it, right down to the details. Like you, she doesn’t do original thought.
And remember, plagiarists, like all cheats, never prosper. They always get found out.
In case you need some more help (and let’s face it, you probably do) here’s a handy link to a definition for you.
http://www.plagiarism.org/plagiarism-101/what-is-plagiarism/
Next time show a little self respect and write your own words biatch.
I’m also astonished The Mirror publishes what she says without wondering whether their readers will be able to understand it. As one example, away from the context of this site, what is a reader supposed to make of a “nuking of Maloney proportions”? We don’t even get a helpful clue of “as in, Christopher from 2012”. Perhaps she set out her stall of pilfered opinions in an earlier article that I haven’t seen, though I would doubt it. When writing any article, and especially if you are making money from it (which she surely is), then your sources should be clearly referenced. It really is that simple.
Relax Jess! I’m still laughing at Olly Murs! Love u! Hahahahaha
Yes.
*hangs head*
Maybe I did overreact a little.
Thanks for the link Stu.
Looking at the content of the article (rather than the words, I’m sure that Daniel will make contact if sofabet content is reused without permission), it is surprisingly “on-message” compared to the general perceptions of what the show producers wanted.
The article also strongly encourages readers to vote – something I find strange for an “opinion piece”.
As for the authorship of the article, we are told that Kitty is in LA and has still managed to file her piece by 23:55 GMT on Saturday night – who knew you could get ITV live in California!? I wouldn’t be surprised to find that the Brucknell column is ghost written, at least in part.
Itv is available over the internet as well as satellite so I would imagine it is easy to find in California.
No worries Chris. It’s bad that Kitty hasn’t even credited Sofabet for the terms/theories in her article but maybe exposing Sofabet to the general public would make the show’s producers rethink about how they manipulate the show and therefore it’d be more difficult to bet?
Honestly, if she’s going to purloin sentences and ideas straight off the site, she might actually reference it in her articles!
Thank you dahling. If she’s not going to pay for it then she sould at least give credit. That’s what responsible writers do.
To be honest I’m tempted to contact the editor of The Mirror and show him all the ideas of mine that Kitty has copied – “botoxes her performances” does she? Newspapers don’t like plagiarism. It impugns their integrity.]
(Here you are sweetheart – I know you were a window licker
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/impugn)
Shame on you. I saw the others too.
In case it’s not clear by now, I’m very cross. You stole my intellectual property and passed it off as your own. For profit.
DON’T FUCKING DO IT AGAIN.
I’d encourage you to do that. I’d also quite like Kitty to show her face here. It’d be nice to have an insiders perspective. (and her reasoning for not crediting Sofabet for a lot of the thoughts she is being paid for).
I’m very tempted. Do a quick read through of her previous columns and fire off an email with the appropriate quotes and links to comments. Maybe I’ll get myself a new job!!!
The other thing is how can she have the barefaced bloody cheek to say she doesn’t know a song. They’re announced on the midweek show. She has ample time to find them on youtube, and she can still make the same point, saying she hadn’t heard of it until it was announced and had to go find it.
If she’d done that she would have known that not only was Rita giving Louisa credit for an idea that wasn’t hers but that Louisa copied the whole performance. The trills and runs, the phrases and the dynamics. It wasn’t proof that she’s a great singer. It’s proof that she’s not.
Instead of the gushing review we might have got an honest assessment and she would have had a real story for the Sunday edition.
Thing is, if you’re too lazy to come up with your own ideas then you’re certainly not going to bother doing any research.
I just had a quick flick back through Kitty’s Mirror articles (what wouldn’t I do for this site, eh?!) wondering whether she ever has explained the ideas she inserts into her pieces at any length – the answer is no. The earlier ones, about the auditions, are also noticeably less indebted to Sofabet for their content or wording. However, she is quoted in an article way back in December 2012 explaining the “theory of red-and-blacking” so it looks like she has been a long term reader of the site. I did feel quite sorry for her, though, reading an interview with her just after she was eliminated, saying she had been treated like a pantomime act by the show and had become aware by the night she went out that they did not want her to do well. Never heard of that happening to anyone, have we? It really would be good to hear more from an insider, as another commentator said earlier.
Just watched the elimination show from Sunday, I thought people might be exaggerating the shambles but they certainly haven’t been! THREE huge mistakes in a row- Olly mixes up the consequences of Simon’s vote before he’s even cast it, then sends Monica home early- finally (and most hilariously!) Monica and Anton totally block out Caroline whilst she tries to dramtically read out the result. I bet Simon is furious.
I dunno. Best publicity the show has had in years. Let’s face it, it’s hardly a fun watch usually. This was like the clowns at the circus.
I agree about the Olly mistakes because-as you say- they get publicity. But the bit at the end with Caroline obscured by Monica was absolutely cringeworthy.
Don’t forget them messing up reading the numbers at the start!
Hmmmm the possibility of Jessica being kitty does have legs. Wouldn’t surprise me too much
You cheeky bastard. Do you seriously think I would put my name on that slapdash, unimaginative, humourless piece of horsecrap.
Call me Brucknell again and I’ll hunt you down like a dog.
You being the dog, obviously.
😀
Hmmmm – so is that a ‘no’, then ? Don’t be so obscure…
HEH!
I like to keep you guessing. 😀
Is it pick on Jess time? I’m sorry but it’s funny…
😀
I was hoping to get a laugh.
I hope Kitty or her ghost posts. I don’t hold grudges.
*whistles*
They can pimp Louisa as much as they want from now on but I can’t see it making much difference. Everybody already knows how good she is so it won’t be much of a surprise when she eventually comes out with a showstopper. As is the case with most favourites, if they aren’t topping the vote or at least coming close at this point then they probably won’t win in the end.
“Everybody knows how good she is”?
Contentious much. Personally I don’t think she’s particularly good. The weekend’s performance, for all the praise it got, really brought that home for me. She copied someone else’s interpretation. Lauren comes up with her own.
The fact that Rita went out of her way to credit Louisa with the idea when NONE OF IT was hers shows you just how desperate they are. Copying someone else’s ideas and claiming them as your own is not just unethical, in many cases it is illegal.
The thing is; didn’t Louisa copy the Romeo + Juliet version of the song? If I remember correctly, they weren’t trying to make out she came up with the arrangement herself. I thought, since it is Movie Week, she used that arrangement of the song and made no secret about it.
Regarding Lauren, she pretty much just “John Lewis’d” One Last Time. It was hardly ground-breaking in my humble opinion of course.
EDIT: Okay I wrote this post before even reading your last paragraph. 😀 I can’t remember Rita saying that? That’s annoying if she did. It’s like when Cher did the version of Coldplay’s Viva La Vida that some rapper did yet passed it off as her own and said she took time rearranging it.
Rita specifically said it was all Louisa’s idea. I couldn’t believe they were doing it again after simar lies over Lauren Platt’s version of Happy that was stolen from Foxes. It’s not that she did it, it’s that she took credit for the idea.
I suppose since they pretty much got away with it last year they thought they might as well do it again. Very poor show from Rita though. She’d be upset if someone else too credit for her work.
And in fact it’s not just the style / arrangement, it’s the vocal performance.
When Rita said it was “all Louisa’s idea”, my take-away impression was that she just meant the song choice. I haven’t watched it back, so maybe Rita said something more concrete about the arrangement being her idea, but that’s not what I thought at the time.
For me the word “all” implies more input than that. Even saying “it” was Louisa’s idea without qualifying “it” or saying “the song selection” instead of “it” is open to misinterptation and in my view disingenuous when the song is so different from the original. To say it was “all Louisa’s idea” implies that Louisa had significant input.
I think it was a deliberate choice of words intended to he ambiguous. If she wanted to Rita could have mentioned explicitly that Louisa chose the song. Given the fuss last year over Happy I think they knew what they were doing.
But hey! Maybe I’ve become too cynical about the x factor. 😉
Perhaps I phrased it wrong but what I meant was that there’s never much scope for the pre-lives favourite to increase their fanbase further as they’ve already been pimped so heavy throughout the series.
I disagree. When an act drops out the votes transfer and early favourites don’t necessarily lead the vote.
The vast majority on here are quite negative about Louisa’s chances of winning, but the fact remains she is 6/5 to win on Betfair. I actually tend to agree with the sentiment here and think that price is far too short – Che, Lauren, 4I all look very real alternatives and I couldn’t totally discount a public campaign really getting behind R&B (After one of the most entertaining performances in recent years (week 2)).
However, with her price hovering at just over evens to win, there is either a huge amount of money coming from somewhere willing to back her, or perhaps some of those involved here aren’t quite as confident as they suggest that she won’t win?
There’s a difference between being keen on her as a vocalist and thinking she won’t win. Noone knows how the voting is going but it’s clear she is the producers’ favourite. All the rest is guesswork.
Personally I’m not keen on her as a vocalist but I recognise that she’s getting pimped to high heaven by the producers.
Who have you backed?
Personally I’m not keen on her as a vocalist. I think she is one dimensional and unimaginative. She brings enthusiasm but not much else to her performances.
I recognise that she is being pimped to high heaven by the producers though. Will that fool the public? We’ll have to see.
Jumped on her from day one at 11/2 I doubt anyone has much higher than that. Was a rariety for me I never back the early favourites especially not the girls.
7/1
8/1
She was 8/1 with ToteSport/BetFred on 29th August only (9/2 the following day)
On Betfair she was 6.6 on 13th Sept (when i backed her)
I think her position as favourite is justified for the moment but there are many things that could happen between now and the final. Important to do some forward thinking.
The early favourite rarely goes on to win. Shayne Ward, Matt Cardle, maybe Leona. Not many others.
Yes, last year’s producers’ favourite was clearly Fleur but in reality she didn’t come close to winning. The support was almost all for Fleur on here though, and based on that along with producer favour it was little surprise to see her as the overwhelming favourite in the week leading up to the final/vote leak.
I actually think you can have a reasonable bet on everyone bar Louisa but Che and Lauren stand out for me. Che comes across extremely well and I think the Essex vote is much stronger than given credit for. It would have been incredibly easy to get Lauren Platt over the line last year if the producers wished – her vote held up incredibly well.
Lauren seems to tick so many boxes as well with the voice/personality/real girl image and it sounds like she may have a bit of a backstory as well based on the papers today.
Can you link to the stories?
Agree about Fleur from last year. That moment at the end of the semifinal with them stood in front of the bus that said Vote Fleur was hilarious.
I wonder if the story that Louisa is guaranteed a recording contract regardless of the result will affect the outcome. People may vote for someone else to give them an opportunity too. Voters are more alive to the manipulation than ever more and I don’t think they like it.
*ever before*
Story about Lauren.
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/x_factor/6747763/X-Factors-Lauren-Murray-Im-depressed.html
Also in the Daily Mail.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-3321794/I-m-anti-depressants-X-Factor-s-Lauren-Murray-reveals-admitted-psychiatric-unit-losing-father-aged-11.html
Humanises her, makes her interesting, relatable, more votable. Something the two teenagers lack.
Bit horrified that she’s still on anti-depressants. Since 11? Aren’t they supposed to lose their efficacy over time anyway? Not that they ever have much more than a psychosomatic effect to start with.
I’d think that with the stigma on mental illnesses, this just makes her seem bonkers and unfit to be the winner.
slightly harsh view, but I suppose there’s a possibility that may be reflected in the general public.
i think it undermines her “happy” persona. she’s the most likeable contestant, but now we find our that she’s only so bubbly because she’s medicated to be that way?! i don’t know, it’s very complicated, but it sort of doesn’t add up with that happy-go-lucky lauren we’re used to and that may unsettle viewers.
Comments in the DM are mixed. Noone is disparaging about the mental health issue. Some say it’s a publicity stunt, some say they love her.
Leona was not fav she was 7_1 i was on big time ben was 11_4 fav
So when are this week’s song choice spoilers expected?
Thursday xtra factor?