This felt like a hard show to read, and that’s reflected in the next elimination betting market: it was pretty much a case of “as you were” in the odds for 4th Impact (13/8) and Lauren (2/1) after the show as before. Ché shortened to around 3/1 after his unfortunate ‘Hello’ misstep (chin up, Ché), flipflopping with Reggie N Bollie, who drifted out to around 10/1 after more fun and big productions.
We’ll need to watch the show again, but this is a first-reactions post, so here we go with our initial impressions.
Louisa was sent out first in what seemed to be a show of confidence, just as Ben Haenow had been for Jukebox week last year – but unlike Ben, she was later also given the help of the pimp slot, which felt like the opposite of a show of confidence. That’s just one of many mixed messages to untangle from tonight.
Her VT portrayed her as a star in the making, before she got to hang out with her friend. Current chart hit ‘Love Yourself’ featured a band at the back, like it was an informal gig, and her bandana reminded us of her first audition, which Nick went on to reference in his comments.
Her vocals weren’t quite at her best, which Simon pointed out, though Louisa made the point that she wasn’t feeling very well, and she sounded genuinely throaty. She’d reached for her throat and looked slightly sheepish as the song finished, suggesting she was well aware it wasn’t her best performance.
Fourth Impact had the first post-Louisa slot. Their VT featured a visit to the Filipino embassy, which reminded us that Andrea Faustini finished in the bottom two after a similar trip to the Italian embassy. They had nice enough if unremarkable staging, with flowery purple backdrop, which did however also have the effect of making them look about two inches tall.
Simon said it was “vocally the best you’ve sounded so far”, though he undercut it by referring to Almira as Girl “B”, recalling his “A, B, C and D” insult from the previous week. That turned out to be a setup for the second performance, but other comments still struck us as less than helpful. Grimmy observing that “dolphins will be arriving in Wembley” as Rita imitated the high note was not exactly the most flattering way to praise a vocal.
Reggie n Bollie’s first VT started with Cheryl giving us an exposition to the “Whip Nae Nae”, which was a way of helping us to understand the performance. They were then shown being loved by all demographics whilst out at Winter Wonderland, and cutely learning the dance moves from their kids over Skype. (And just like last year, Fleur East was appearing in every VT. Producers can’t help themselves).
Like Fleur and Lauren Platt last year, they had members of their family appear with them on stage, this time their kids. They also got their judge up dancing with them and joining in the fun, the first such interaction we can remember prior to the final. Audience reaction was huge, and Simon didn’t just paint them as finalists but as contenders. Rita said they were “credible recording artists”.
Lauren’s intro wasn’t promising, with Rita saying she had to change the mood – the implication, after the huge reaction to Reggie N Bollie, being that Lauren would bring the mood down again. Lauren questioned her song choice in her VT and was shown enjoying donuts before her visit to an Essex nightclub, reminding us of the running “donut deramp” joke about Andrea in these parts last series – although we’re not suggesting it was significant here.
Things seemed better for her once it was clear she was up above the crowd like Louisa last week – perhaps producers felt their favour had previously been too obvious in granting Louisa the heavenly position, and they had to share out the favours. The lighting was a lot less spectral than Louisa’s, though. Some commenters compared it to a black hole; our first thought was that she was in a tunnel but at least it meant the focus was clearly on her. Judges’ comments were mixed, with a distracting argument over song choice.
Ché’s VT showed us his disappointment at a singoff appearance last week. To cheer him up, Nick gave him some gigs, reminding us that the show has a career in mind for him. His staging saw him in a cage of light, usually a negative sign, although at least with an opening for him to peer out of.
Unfortunately, he missed a cue and a whole first part of ‘Hello’, although he did mange to recover his thread. Comments were clearly intended to include some element of a setup to be paid off in the second round, as Cowell’s “you looked like you have just turned up from work” prefigured Ché’s change into much smarter garb. But the lyrics flub dominated judges’ comments, with expressions of sympathy and poor Ché looking mortified.
Simon’s half-time ranking was Reggie n Bollie, Louisa, Fourth Impact, Lauren and Ché.
The order switched around in the second half, with Fourth Impact up first – in a Ché sandwich. Their VT again reminded us they are getting lots of support from their home country, which may not be intended to whip up British support for them – and the extended subtitle sequence again called to mind a Faustini VT. Their staging was some kind of high-concept colour-vomit dolls house, with the girls starting and finishing in boxes; did going back into their boxes at the end perhaps subliminally suggest that they’re all packed up again, and ready to be returned?
The names on boxes and an addition of a “Simon, remember our names” lyric paid off the comments from Cowell last week and in the first round, though it’s open to question whether that was intended to help them seem memorable or distract attention from the performance and carry a hint of “journey completed”.
It’s unusual for an act to sing so quickly again in these shows, but probably no bad thing that Ché got to exorcise the memory of ‘Hello’, at least to some extent. He had a nice VT showcasing his strong relationship with his lorry driver dad, Ché senior, as they enjoyed a fry-up at a greasy spoon – something Ben Haenow had done with his van driving mates in one of last year’s VTs.
Staging was black and white with an old-style TV, firmly pegging Ché to his niche in older songs. This looked like it was intended to have been a good moment for Ché, with all four judges standing to applaud, though reaction in the comments section was sceptical that the vocal this time had merited it and Ché has now drifted out to be rank outsider in the win market. Cowell told him that “the mark of a man is that when he’s knocked down, he gets up fighting, and you just delivered a knockout blow”.
Lauren got a VT of sisterly bonding and dress-choosing with stylist Gemma, and Rita ended her VT with “for the first time you’re going to see Lauren as an artist”. Unfortunately, the combination of dress and sleazy-looking hotel backdrop made us think she’d been sent out looking more like a lady of the night than an artist, and Lauren never managed to get down from being stuck high up at the back of the stage. Consensus in the comments, however, was that she had nailed the vocal, and it did feel like the standout performance of the night.
Cheryl said Lauren had “turned into a different character”, which may not be a good thing given how many of us love the usual one. Cowell’s comments were positive, however, saying that Lauren had “found where she should be as an artist”, the choruses were “sensational” and the song had “put her back in the game”. Lauren’s “I bloody turned it around, didn’t I?” to Olly made us love her all the more.
Reggie N Bollie got another feelgood VT meeting Fuse ODG, and with Cheryl and Grimmy enthusing over their energy. They got to make a rock star entrance from backstage, but initially looked a little lost on stage until they were joined by backing dancers – fewer, however, than their big productions usually get. Multi-coloured laser lights roamed everywhere, which would normally be a staging red flag although that is less of a concern for fun acts.
The judges weren’t on their feet and dancing, but Simon joined Cheryl for an ovation at the end as the studio erupted again. Cowell noted that “the crowd have spoken” before calling them “artists”; Nick told them they’d become “national treasures”; Rita called out the ropey vocals but admired their distinctive style; and Cheryl noted how much they improved the atmosphere.
Having opened the show, Louisa got to close it with Labrinth’s ‘Jealous’, the song which made Simon cry when Josh Daniel performed it during the arena auditions, knocking up 29 million YouTube views. It would have been a perfect moment to build up some emotion around Louisa in her VT, but it felt like an opportunity missed as all we got was her going back to an Essex nightclub and chatting to her mum.
She got winner’s staging, with waves of shining starry lights twinking in the background. She again sounded like she was struggling with sore throat issues, however, and the studio reaction felt very flat afterwards. Cheryl and Nick both referenced the illness, while Simon said: “I’ve got this feeling about you, Louisa, I think you’re really special, really special, you’re potentially one of the best we’ve ever had”.
But Simon also said: “This show wouldn’t be the same without you,” which seemed strangely downbeat. Then a tearful Rita said “regardless of what happens in this competition” you’re going to be successful, which is an odd thing to say about an act if they’re cruising to the inevitable victory the odds still suggest.
Just to indicate how confused everybody is, Lauren has come into second favourite in the outright market but still vies for favouritism at the head of the elimination market. We’re looking forward to a rewatch. Your impressions? Do let us know below.
X Factor images and clips ©SYCO/THAMES TV/PA
Just re watching some of the performances. One things for sure – Adele’s not going to be dueting with Che. What a car crash performance that was.
Indeed – trying to work out if it was intended by the producers or not?
RE 4I, they could’ve pushed I’ll Be There as a moment if they wanted to. Just watching it back now and it was a stunning vocal performance.
The judges didn’t give 4th Impact the credit they deserved tonight while gushing all over the awful Reggie n Bollie performances.
Similar story with Lauren really.
I’m out DJing, as I am every Saturday night between now and Christmas. It is on a generic cable-based hard disk recorder to watch when I get home. But just on the basis of that, I am Confused.com
Honestly until now that wad the worst we hears louisa but the sympathy for it will be enough. Lauren still the only and biggest danger to the fave
Going to reiterate what I said in the other thread. The pimping of Reggie n Bollie stresses to me that they’re just clearing the drop zone and they’ll be in danger tomorrow night, whilst Che felt underwhelming overall and with the sympathy bounce not having its usual effect this year, I think we’re in for a Che v RnB sing-off and Che really should be saved. Another question: Why pimp slot Louisa? I know I said the same last week but it does imply she’s struggling in the vote, but we shall see.
As a Lauren fan I find it hard to be impartial but I thought You Don’t Own Me was brilliant and far and away the best of the night. If she ends up in the B2, she’d be dropped though; no question about it.
Honestly don’t feel louisa is struggling but I feel this ruined what was meant to clear her from the field. However it is no surprise a 17 yo gets vocal chords mullered.
Shall be an interesting night tomorrow
I’m not a Louisa fan or backer, but why shouldn’t she have been in the pimp slot? Her and 4th Impact were the only two acts left not to have had the pimp slot. tbh, I was shocked when she didn’t get it last week. I think perhaps they’re being careful not to over-pimp her.
I think that horse bolted last week Tim.
Lauren was easily the best of the night (the first song was a stunning vocal), but by the judges comments she was the worst of the night. Very interesting how they think this spin will work, because in my mind it will just motivate more votes for Lauren out of injustice.
If this was a singing competition I think Lauren won hands down tonight. That’s just my opinion. At the same time I’m amazed that Cowel has the front to come on and talk such total bollocks. Totally out of order not to praise the vocals from the first performance – no matter what he thought about the song that they chose. Contrast the OTT comments about Che’s second song. Unless l’m going deaf he was out of tune in parts of both performances. R & B you can hardly make out the vocals. OK I get that live in the studio it’s fun for the audience. But vocally these have to be one of the weakest acts to ever make the live shows. Some of the comments are just embarrassing.
Welcome to the x factor. Only 2 acts interest me and both are louisa and Lauren. From the males I think Simon lynch or josh would have given us more
Louisa went first so we would forget that performance completely! It was the worst thing on the live shows for a while (maybe week 1) and nothing that bad would happen again at this stage in the competition. Then came Che! WTF!!! That was just horrendous! It was clear Hello wasn’t going to work the second it started and when he started mumbling through it was quite painful… Both Louisa and Che improved a lot for the second performance, but both went back to what they’ve been doing every week: Che with old songs and Louisa to her ballads. Unfortunately all I thought during Louisa’s performance was Josh Daniel did it better!
Absolutely LOVED both of Lauren’s performances if focusing on her only and nothing of the production. She’s said before she’s scared of heights so putting her up there in LJs platform may have been intentionally cruel.
I did like 4I tonight, but the high note was a bit iffy. Almira recovered for the rest of the run though. I thought the rap was quite nice but I did remember the Belle Amie coffins and noticed the colour vomit.
RnB were fun on whip nae nae but very lacklustre on Dynamite. I really didn’t enjoy it and didn’t get the SO.
Laurens odds on Betfair steamed in during both her performances. She was the only act whose songs had this effect. Market was ambivalent towards both Louisa efforts, hated both Che’s, and was positive to R&B first but they steadily drifted back out. Think Lauren remains extremely popular and it was interesting that her odds just kept coming in as the judges talked down her first effort. She remains my winner. Louisa at 1/2 is worst value favourite ever. Just unlikeable
I think 4I have been under exposed from the start and have definately been value for money (9/1 out to 12/1, pity I never went EW) They are tight and havnt really had a bad night, delivering everytime. Little credit from the fudges of shitfactor. They smashed it tonight. Their closeness is apperent and they didnt need a cheesy J5 song to reiterate it. I think all other contestants and cowell & co are running scared for the upset.
The thing is the only people I see who say Louisa is unlikeable are people on here
In the real world everyone I speak to finds louisa the best on the show vocally and adorable. What gives? Anyone know what middle england thinks?
You know people who are still (admitting to) watching the show? 😛
Unlikeable is perhaps harsh, although she did seem distant after her first auditions and that, along with some unengaging performances of difficult songs, is perhaps why.
I posted a while back that I thought Louisa was coming across as someone we could admire while Lauren was coming across as someone we could love and I wondered which the public would go for. I don’t think it’s Louisa’s fault. I think it is the way she’s been presented along with the fact that up to now she hasn’t said much and she hasn’t shown us much of herself.
She’s seventeen but they’ve presented her like some sort of goddess in human form. If they’d let her be 17 from the start (instead of just telling us over and over again), if they’d offered us her rather than this stylised image of stardom (as if she is somehow better than the rest of us) then I think she’d be more relateable.
Taylor Swift, for instance, is so massive because people find her relateable despite her wealth and beauty. Lady Gaga was speaking for her Little Monsters, not to (or God forbid, at) them. She showed who she was and inspired people to say “me too”. I don’t think Louisa has the same connection and trying to switch it up now is possibly a bit late.
Louisa passes off as a teenager better than Ella. Her branding may very well be like the singing competition equivalent of an A student.
Ok, but A level students aren’t all the same. They come in lots of different flavours.
It’s funny because going right back to the original popstars, Will Young v Gareth Gates was a massive event and generated huge interest. Instead of putting all their eggs in the Louisa basket they could have gone for the two of them. They still can, even though it’s late in the series. They can even avoid the mistake that was made with Gareth and instead of having a winner’s single and leaving second place to go hang, they can have a “shock release” and make it a duet.
Now that would make a great story with an unforgettable ending and they could go on to both make records afterwards. Fans of both would be happy and everyone would be a winner.
Enough Is Enough by Barbara Streisand and Donna Summer with an EDM flavour could be just the ticket. 😀
Haha! I thought u had already covered every xfactor related theory and angle imaginable in previous comments but the idea of a winners duet is definitely a new one.
Well it’s not relevant to betting but it would be great for ratings. The show has been the same for 10 years. They have a bunch of great contestants full of personality and talent and they just nuke ’em. It’s daft.
Funny you mention Will Young and Gareth Gates, I’ve been reminded of them all season because Louisa is always in white and Lauren in black – that was such a theme of the final that year and I’ve wondered all through the lives this year if they were deliberately trying to evoke that.
I’m not sure how comparable it is, although iirc the producers seemed to favour Gareth and he was favourite right up to the end…..
Well, on the bright side he got to have sex with a very pregnant Katie Price and a mention in her 30th autobiography. “Rabbit in the headlights” was the phrase I think.
7/1 on Louisa to B2 on Skybet. What is she on Betfair?
b2? 3/1 to back 7/1 to lay. … not much liquidity
9 year old’s random comments:
1. Why is she bouncing around the stage? – during Louisa’s first performance (even the cameras were having trouble keeping track and got her back a couple of times I then noticed)
2. Mum, you are really mean!!! – when I started giggling at the start of Che’s hello realising his voice sounded like Adele on helium. Then it all went pear shaped and she said it was awful!
3. That’s the Monica job! – she said Lauren’s firestone had the same bad beat of Monica’s Crazy in Love and tptb were out to get her ( I’m not sure what it was but if she noticed it some of the more musical commenters may be able to help)
4. That note was screechy but I liked the rest – 4I first
5. Why is he wearing leggings??? – confused by Che’s second outfit… I laughed really hard on that one…
6. That dress is so bad! It doesn’t work for her body shape- now for Lauren’s outfit
7. Hahaha In your face Simon! – when 4I girls shouted Simon! Remember my name…
8. That is weird! Whip Nae Nae was way better. – confused by RnB’s Dynamite.
According to the comments sections in the forums it seems like 4I and Lauren was the most appreciated with Louisa wrapping up the top three acts. This also coincides with VTs pimping Ché and RnB (possibly with the hopes of pushing down Lauren or 4I to sing-off territory). THen we have to consider sympathy votes for Ché and Lousia and a sing-off bump for Ché. Hmmm… I’d still be very surprised if Ché wouldn’t end up in last place at this stage.
Thus I feel like this elimination is a very hard nut to crack. Like many others me I feel like Ché, barring a major screp-up in the sing-off, would be favored for the save against most other acts. The odds are also too short for 4I, Lauren and Ché so I feel like the value-bet is on RnB leaving…
BTW, I had no problem with my App votes. Worked both IOS and Android.
If I understood Olly’s announcement correctly, the problem was with registering rather than voting (i.e. affecting people who were trying to install/set up the app).
If Lauren doesn’t hit bottom 2 this week, I’m starting to wonder if she is pulling away with it in the voting. I think R&B are struggling, no matter how hard they pimp them. The biggest unknown for me is how strong is the 4I vote? My gut feeling is strong enough to get them to the final but not enough to win. I fancy a Che and R&B sing off, with one leaving this week and the other next week.
Based on performances I think it should be Che and R&B B2. However it looks like they’re really pushing R&B, l think they would be saved over anyone other than Louisa. Saving R&B in a sing off – what sort of farce would that entail. Louisa clearly not at her best tonight but I doubt she’ll be in trouble. Lauren best performances of the night and 4I were decent overall. If R&B aren’t B2 with Che then it becomes difficult to call. Lauren selling on iTunes might help them decide that Lauren is the better prospect. But anyone with ears would have known that anyway. I’m thinking Che to go out but who knows.
Syco doesn’t have wit or the imagination to market artists like Che or like Lauren. With those two and Louisa, never mind the possibilities with FI, R&B and even Alien (given the right tunes) they should be absolutely laughing. Instead they’re blowing up their own gold mine.
Not sure if relevant, but 4th Impact never seem to do very well on itunes. If they are storming the vote, it might explain the show’s lack of enthusiasm for them- (while not going out of there way to criticise them either).
The more I reflect, the more confused I get. Here’s a rough summary.
4I: Bad slot in running order, and not a stand-out performance in either round. Yet somehow I feel they’re safe. Maybe it’s all the money I’d lose if they weren’t.
Ché: Awful in first round, and the second round may have been a bigger disaster for him. Good enough to erode sympathy for his first performance, but not good enough to motivate actual votes.
Lauren: I’ll be plain – I don’t think she was as good as people here are making out! I thought her first performance was better than the judges said, but her second performance wasn’t as good as they made out. And they hookerised her, but in a less demeaning way than they did with Monica, so none of the sympathy, but all of the negative effects in my opinion. Middle England frowned upon her.
RNB: Pimped heavily in both rounds, but notably toned down performance in round 2, plus red and black and colour vomit AT THE SAME TIME! But if this were their week to go, you’d expect them to occupy the slots in the running order that 4I did. They were certainly due an early slot.
Louisa: As someone who has enjoyed Louisa up to this point in the competition, she delivered her worst 2 performances tonight. Some very odd judges comments after Round 2 as well. But she has to be safe because she just has to be.
Conflicts of interest: Big green on Lauren in elimination market, break even on Ché, big red for everyone else. No stake in the winner’s market.
I found tonight’s show as confusing as many here, but in a weird way I think things have also become a bit clearer:
– For now, they still are still behing St Louisa; she will be the next Fleur in so far as she can rely on being signed and praised no matter what. Rita’s and Simon’s comments to me hint that she is not top of the votes and may actually be in danger, although I think the sore throat may save her, and she would be saved against everyone in the B2.
– Che is disposable and no threat; if he somehow avoids B2 this week there will be another sing off next week and he’ll be out then.
– R ‘n B are clearly wanted to inject fun into what is proving to be another dire series. They are pimped to rediculous levels, but they are actually the worst vocally that we have seen for quite a while. I mean, Wagner could actually hold a tune ffs. I somehow refuse to believe that they are an actual threat, so their treatment to me suggests that they may be heading for the B2 this week.
– Lauren and 4rth Impact are interesting as far as they do get no major help, but equally there is no outright nastiness towards them, considering that there would be a lot of material against both acts. ( 4I previous talent show experience, Lauren’s mental issues and the controversy from last Sunday to name a few). Which makes me wonder if both could be heading the votes, and they are careful not to be too negative towards an act that may well turn out to win.
And are we going to have the gift of Simon’s ‘impartial’ opinion on how we should order the acts next week again ? That was totally weird, coupled with the intro that went against the usual entrance of the judges…
I’m surprised noone mentiined this from The Sun.
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/features/6771206/4th-Impact-or-Lauren-Murray-will-be-kicked-off-The-X-Factor-this-weekend-according-to-bookies.html
I think RnB will definitely be in the bottom 2, I said preshow they only had one performance and it’s going stale.
It’s between Che and Lauren for the other place. I don’t think Lauren’s performances will have a wide reaching appeal, I thought the first was much better than the second. (The second reminded me a lot of Monica’s Crazy in Love in terms of sleazy styling.)
Che forgot his words and then was quite dull. He’s helped by the bounce and probably picking up the lion share of Anton’s vote. (I think the double the number of app votes hurt him last week too). But it’s still too close to call and may depend on the start of the results show.
Louisa moved backwards in the outright, but if not her then who? I think 4I are the only credible threat so being from the Philippines was pushed strongly today. (That and it being strongly implied they weren’t even Cheryl’s first choice.)
I’ve now watched the show and am even more confused. I’m saying Che vs. R&B with Che going on deadlock if he’s rock bottom. If Che is second-from-bottom, I can’t call it.
I actually quite like this series, to be honest. I genuinely think everyone on the show is talented, apart from RnB, who I genuinely appreciate, unlike Stevie last year. Easily the best series since 2012, maybe even 2011.
2011>2008=2010>2012>2015
I think I’d agree that this year had the potential to be the strongest series in quite a while but their desperation to push a certain winner to the crown has hurt it badly. Jennifer should have been an Over in place of Bupsi; they already had a joke act with Reggie & Bollie. Monica should have gone through automatically ahead of Keira instead of bringing her back as a wildcard then cutting her down to size in week three. Acts, as ever, are not given the chance to show off their skills. David Cook compared it all to The Wizard Of Oz – I think the problem is the curtain was ripped back a long time ago.
Thank you for reminding about Jennifer! Imagine if she is the final 5, would have literally blown everyone out. I heard a song in The Voice youtube channel “Great is Thy Faithfulness”, a perfect song choice for Jennifer.
Still scratching my head, was a mess of a show. Simon first night as impartial judge total failure. Fun night on Sofabet during show but this stuff is a serious buisness if you punting hard and tonight show potentially as dangerous as been for a long time.
Same for all no matter whag your stake. Nobody likes loosing, celebrate great wins but minimise any losses always.
Here are some thoughts,
RandB being pimped to high heaven to try confuse public who is the better group, gives them chance to try claw back some 4I vote. Cheryl chosing fav group etc. all confusion tactics, then seconded with Simon confusion re names.
4I love the line “some kind of high-concept colour vomit house” 4 dolls boxes already designed and the dolls, serious money for Syco. VT far from good, peformances solid, the girls sing and have fun. Cheryl Simon distraction stuff continues with names etc. but deep down body language suggests they might be trying to run with hare while chasing with the hounds.
Che, you couldn’t make it up. Must be in danger, they really done a number on him on second song after the poor devil shooting himself in the foot during first song, then Simon went over and kicked him with his comments, then had the audicity to go to comment second song about man down getting back up. A real classic They do make little slips on mentality. Nick comments to Simon after first song did no favours either. More on that below.
Louisa, 17 years of age, sick , sore throat, no wonder, heavy schedule for 17 year old throat since August, same happened Lauren last year, she is a beautiful girl, looked stunning, pimped to high heaven, seems more like desparation, I had flagged the comments during show. If hits bottom two tomorrow deserves to be saved as ill.
Lauren, my God, this lady rocks! Sang herself out of a black hole while scraed of heights on first song, not just sang herself out of a hole but nailed it. Second song on the balcony, sang to the nation and nailed it again. They made one hudge error tonight with Lauren, the left her be static, Lauren can sing and go in the zone as it known when singing, much easier go in the zone when not moving around but in fairness to her she can go in the zone and it comes across raw and poweful on TV. Especially when static. Long shorts fair enough weak but any close up nailed on and Lauren got in the zone both times and nailed it.
Lauren was best followed by 4I tonight followed by a sick Louisa, so if competition fair result they are top three followed by the bottom two of Che and RandB. RandB kept in to keep confusion on 4I.
Now extra care, here why, judges panel is split, you got Simon, and Cheryl, old hats at this stuff, Rita with two acts still left and Nich who IS NOT Louis, so there is a risk of someome going rogue ie Nick, and we do not have Dermot either. Rita is crying already with worry. The warning signs are there that trouble brewing in that panel, don’t let it cost. We are to win. Great weekend lasg weekend
Vote transfers where likely to have gone, another unknow, not even remotely narrowed down as so many double elimintation so quickly and a much shoter live shows run. Look what happened when Paul went last year on votes.
At the moment Che looks likest to go.
More head scrathing in the morning.
I agree about the split im the panel. A couple of things stood out last night. Rita has the two best acts – she looked genuinely annoyed, almost disbelief when Simon called R&B top act. Also Nick caught in edge pf view rolling eyes as soon as Simon started hos critique of Laurens first performance – he knew he was talking ‘rubbish’.
Watching Reggie ‘N’ Bollie’s performance on YouTube (without the odd pimping) makes me wonder: WHY???
Exactly. It’s like the emperor’s clothes. Strip away the huge backing track, the cast of thousands and the hype and there’s nothing left. Just a couple of normal blokes with cute families prancing around. It’s supposed to be a singing competition, but they can’t hold a note. I’m not getting at them – it’s being told that they are credible artists by Cowell that sticks. This coming from a man who totally ignored the best vocal performance of the first round. R&B top Lauren fourth. What sort of imbecile is he.
Actually it’s prabably more the Wizard of Oz I’m thinking of. Striip away the high waist trousers, the low cut shirt and the hype – peer behind the curtain and it turns out to be a little bloke pulling levers.
It never has been a singing competition! They’ve never even pretended it’s a singing competition, the rare non deception of the show.
RnB not even got past BGT 2015 producers round. Louisa got into final 200, but not shown on TV
Got to laugh that are saying Louisa is the worst value favourite ever… Do they not remember Fleur being 1.3x the morning of last years final and iirc still odds on when it started…
Confirmation bias is what I think they are calling it.
Stoney “confirmation bias” as in “my act can’t possibly be another silly priced fav like Fleur etc because it’s different this time”? 😉
But Fleur wasn’t that price with two weeks plus a results show to go. Louisa is truly terrible value.
I think we both know the bookies don’t get it wrong much. When an act is odds on at this point 9 times out of 10 they win
Oh no, not more confirmation bias! If it really was such a sure thing in Specials her odds would be even lower. Bookies don’t often get it wrong because of the overrounds they can get away with but I’m sure Louisa will be their worst, or least good, result.
If she’s winning 9 times out of 10 they have done a terrible job pricing it. Odds have real meaning in terms of percent chances and 4/7 implies 63.63% chance of winning and even this is an over estimation due to the overround.
She’s a weak frontrunner, she’s favourite just because the field is weaker still. But it wouldn’t take much for someone else to catch on.
The bookies will set the opening odds but the prices after that are purely down to the market and the weight of money backing each act. It’s not the bookies saying Fleur was 1/3 last year it’s the cumulative effect of all the money in the market, which was mostly for Fleur.
Correct. And most of the time at this stage the odds on status proves to be correct in the outcome of the result. In fact last year was the only time I can remember this decade where the market got it wrong
Lauren and Louisa together have the least amount of Facebook ‘likes’ on the x factor page. I know it doesn’t necessarily mean much but the people with the least likes have usually fallen into bottom 2
You know, overall I’d say Lauren and Louisa were my two least favourites if we’re just going by last night. Fanbases may be established by now and in the main vote people may just vote for their favourites regardless, but I liked all the other acts better this week. Don’t get me wrong though, I thought everyone’s first performance was awful in some way.
Louisa’s were both boring. Lauren is probably my favourite act from this year, but her first song didn’t suit her at all. She did her second one very well, but it looked a bit ‘stagey’, like it was from a musical, and as they said like she was playing a character. Not Lauren’s fault really, but that’s never helped anyone.
Reggie n Bollie just did what they always do, but they stand out at least. The only thing I quite liked about the whole first half of the show was Cheryl going on and dancing with them.
I really enjoyed 4th Impact’s second performance, if anyone did a fun performance this week it was that one. I thought their first performance was a bit too sickly-sweet. Maybe that’s why they usually don’t give them ballads.
I felt really sorry for Che after he messed up the Adele song. In fairness, I was wondering if he had forgotten the lyrics or if it was just a rearrangement, so he covered it up well. He has a great voice, and again I find him very likeable as a person, but if he doesn’t go this week he needs to show he can do something other than Motown.
well, one thing is clear.
Lauren needs to stay away from B2 to stay in the competition.
Lauren vs Louisa – maybe Grimmy would save her, Rita abstains, Cheryl and Simon save Louisa
Lauren vs. Che – she looses the vote from Nick and Simon and Cheryl will save Che
Lauren vs. either of the groups – her best chance probably Nick, Rita vs Cheryl, Simon Deadlock… And I am not sure she will win in either case
With no duets announced so far, a Che departure gives the show an option for “duet with your mentor”.
Simon Cowell – far from the harsh, honest and brutal judge as we all knew from american idol days. He is just another judge, following the script.
Lauren was the best yesterday, slightly pitchy in parts but great control and connection. But again, her voice sounds very thin, lost a lot of timbre in the mix. She did her best but rest is upon the sound desk engineers. LOL at the dresses chosen for her, the staging was similar but very dark and dull, her trousers (jumpsuit?) also black. This is in contrast with angelic white wardrobe for Louisa (in most of the live shows, i guess), probably Louisa likes white.
Louisa is still struggling to relate, there is something missing. Both songs were average at best, her belting voice is forced particularly the mid-upper register but she is good in lowest with breathy mix and very high. Reading Daniel’s blogs and comments here and in DSF, many of the public including myself has trouble in relating to her. Once again, my observation this week – please check out the beginning of first performance, her voice in the mix is lot (a lot) powerful and rich with very fine, minimal and quality acoustic track. This arrangement always showcase the Voice.
Straight to FI – if they have given a chance to perform with a minimal instrumental track / live acoustic environment, they would sound a 100times better than their first performance. Their harmonies (most of the time) drowned in backing vocals, poor arrangement in terms of allocation of parts and key. Script writers should have done their research before handing over the script to Rita Ora.
Che – felt sorry for him, though producers tried their best to push him to finals. He has the best voice with control and always in pitch, but nerves! In my ears, second song was also out of tune and lost control in many parts. I don’t think we will be seeing Adele in the finals!
I think Simon will sign FI & Louisa.
I really think Lauren will have easily topped the vote tonight. If she didn’t, I don’t see who else could’ve done. TPTB need to stop trying to sabotage her and just embrace her. She’d be an excellent winner for the show, and they can still sign Louisa.
Sabotage her? I haven’t seen any signs of this too be honest. Nick Mcdonald was sabotaged. As was Marcus Collins
The story from last week about her pushing one of 4I away last week was a massive sabotage and the type of thing that affects votes.
The story had nothing to do with producers who (as I predicted) steered well clear of referring to it in last night’s program.
Some of the comments about Lauren’s treatment by producers have been a bit laughable really. Conspiracy theories abound with no tangible evidence to base them on.
Compare her treatment to Monica, Anton, Max, Kiera, Bupsi, Mason. She’s not done too bad really. Ok she hasnt been given much help but at the same time they’ve not gone after her to any extent either.
well, that dress and staging does kind of qualify for sabotage, doesnt it …
Let’s wait and see if she’s given candy or hey ya to sing in the final
fair enough, could have been worse….
a question.
I read on Digital spy that it only takes less then 1000 copies to end up in the iTunes top 100? is that so? anyone info on that?
If that much for the top 100 – different story to get higher up. Apple are notoriously opaque about how the calculate charts though so data is difficult to come by
Last week Bieber sold 52,329 (not all on itunes, assume they are) which is 7,475 a day (It is a 24 hour rolling chart). Lauren is selling 13% of that which is 972 copies. Taking into account that Saturday/ Sunday are the biggest sales days but Bieber will be selling less this week and not all sales are iTunes. 1000 seems about right.
that doesnt sound like too much, does it?
even if every single one of those people who bought the song voted 5 times app+5 times phone its still only 10 000, which is nothing to 3 million votes cast.
so basically chart succes doesnt mean too much.
Yeah, it’s obviously a drop in the ocean and not only are there not many of them they aren’t very representative either.
Depends, but front loaded, updates automatically ever hour. Is it “hype” free? Free from street teams? Not all the time reckon. There are massive gaps as you go down. Here is a figure that will help give an idea on figures bias, 1% of artists are capturing about 77% of recorded music revenue with the remaining 23% left for 99% of artists. Apple can have as much as high 90% of gross digital download sales on most artists, rarely below 90% that even including Amazon dowload store. Pre-orders is a whole other chapter of promotional tool. Then you got YouTube. iTunes not at all reliable as a betting form guide for X Factor.
Award for the most pathetic de-ramp comment of the series has to be Rita’s critique of 4th Impact’s 2nd performance. Clearly there was nothing tangible to criticise so what was it she said? “Boxes on stage aren’t my thing”? Something like that. Talk about scrape the barrel trying to find something negative to say about them. Im surprised she didnt just fall back on the “you appeared nervous” comment.
My take on judges comments this year is that Simon and Cheryl are allowed a little bit of freedom to genuinely critique the acts and Rita and Nick are very tightly scripted.
I actually believe the opposite. Nick and Rita need the show the least – I don’t see why they’d follow the script if they truly didn’t believe it. See Nick calling Lauren his favourite girl last week.
Do u think the xfactor needed Rita and Nick so bad that it would recruit them on the basis that they cud say what they wanted?
One of Cowell’s favourite and most powerful de-ramping techniques no longer works. That is, the very long shot where the act is an unrecognisable dot in the distance, with enhanced effect if they’re somewhere up a busy platform. The change is that with the cost reductions and ease of modern technology there are now two giant portrait screens either side of the act which are for the close up.
Therefore in Lauren’s long shots her face was still coming to us clear, large and bright on both screens.
Surely they could just change the shot in that screen if they really wanted to?
I did notice a few unflatteringly close up shots of Lauren during ‘Firestone’ last night. Not Wagner/Andrea close up, but the closest I’ve seen so far this series, uncomfortably so.
I don’t think they’re sabotaging her. It’s a gentle attack so far, but it does suggest to me that she’s doing way better than they’d like. Week three was the week they lost control of her.
Might find this hard to believe, but if in the studio during broadcast of show no one sees the actual broadcast edit, it is not shown not even on a monitor. So most likely no feed for those screens either. Most people don’t even realise how small the actual studio room is.
Yes it would be too distracting for them if say the judges could see the broadcast edit. I know very little about the modern studio, those two left and right huge screens are on stage aren’t they? With the long shots capturing a real output from them?
I’d assume the camera angles will be decided in dress rehearsals and programmed accordingly for the live broadcast. Same goes to audio feed as well, all programmed before and just switch the settings based on act.
What’s on the screens at the side and what is in shot is very much in the hands of the director so the long distant shot with no facial sight of the act is still very much there if they want to use it
But they don’t use it any more, or hardly ever. Because it would look abysmal. Like going back to black and white when you have the facility for colour.
Gotta love the small, appropriate bowls of popcorn for Louisa and her mate compared to the bazillions of cake trays for Andrea and Lauren last year and the donuts for Lauren this year.
Louisa’s first song. Eek!!!
First time posting here after reading this site for a good while.
The treatment of Reggie & Bollie is really interesting (and at times confusing) to watch. I agree with others that their continued late running order slots and continual pimping by the judges does bring into question just how well (or low) they are polling in the votes each week.
One thing that intrigues me is the reaction from the studio audience. This is always incredible for R&B but I think that is a combination of two things. 1. The up tempo nature of their songs which almost certainly go down better in the studio than on the TV at home. But also 2. And this may be quite controversial. A large number of the audience at the Live Shows is black. As it was at the 6 Chair Challenge that we attended. I think this skews the reaction to R&B as this would seem to be their target/main audience. Therefore perhaps the studio audience isn’t reflective of the wider UK and equally the viewing public. This is by no means meant in any way as racist whatsoever, simply an observation that perhaps explains the OTT reaction in the studio week on week.
The treatment of 4th impact is equally interesting. Continually given middle of the road comments week on week, consistently in the first half of the running order, outsiders on all the being sites for the win, now in the danger zone for B2 / elimination this week, yet (not so far) in the bottom 2. I reckon if they place B2 they’re gone against anyone but Lauren. Simon clearly doesn’t value them in terms of their UK marketability so they’re disposable in that regard, he’ll sign them anyway and make his money from the Asian market. Will be interesting to see the voting stats and whether they suffer a big drop in the voting in any one week, reflective of the producers tightening up the overseas voting via the app.
Not racist at all…
Lauren now 9/2 to win with many bookies
Last night was an odd one…wasn’t it?
Let’s look at the acts (although most
Of this has been touched on already)
Louisa – on first with an obvious throat pinch for the cameras. The bandana takes us back to her first audition. On last for the second song… I thought she looked a bit rough. The vt with her friend was not overly positive and she was performing on the mini stage to the left of the judges.
I thought it felt a little ‘end of a journey’ with the positive comments (confirmation bias). Although a point to note was her appearing with her mother in sugar hut (Essex)… This could be an attempt to tap into the “essex” vote (or a vote transfer) which could be holding Lauren up near the top. Last week West Ham… This week Essex, haha.
Fourth impact – good ballad, Rita pointing out the not great whistle note and comments about the Philippines aren’t great, I think they’ve been softened up and are going next week. The second song was good and showed 2 sides to their performance.
Che – poor vt and he Adele song was far to big, felt sorry for him and the bars of light, similar to the prison staging from previous series. Try a little tenderness wasn’t great, more of the same without improvement. Bottom 2 this week.
Reggie and bollie – any idea why Cheryl was joining in on the desk, how choreographed was that..? The second song lacked production and started to show off the non existent vocal tptb had joked about in the titanic vt previously
Lauren – ok, I’m a little bias. Great vocal on both songs, avoided the pitfalls of the second song with the potential to shout. The staging was awful for both of her songs and was the strongest from tptb. Here’s the type of artist you will be (prostitute outside sleazy hotel) do you like this artist then vote for her! Who will vote for a prostitute and the red heels?
Anyway, I think she smashed it. Let’s get some sympathy votes in for the obvious crap staging.
If she does fall in the bottom 2, then all along the panel have said that it has to be judged on the vocal and the sing off alone. The only competition is Louisa and I think, based on vocal alone, she wins.
Bottom 2 this week is a tough one, they have to be careful of the bounce… So, I say che v Louisa.
I think that the final will be Louisa, Lauren and r & b.
Come on Lauren!!!!!
Watched it again and can’t believe the pimping Louisa is getting. And I am not even talking about the staging where again she is being given the spotlight with stars in the background treatment compared with the atrocious staging for Lauren on the 2nd song. I am more focused on the mixing of the audio. While Lauren’s come off flat (the mix and not the vocal quality and tone), Louisa’s is done perfectly for her voice with appropriate reverb and echo effects. 4i’s mix was also not done right. These girls can blow but usually sound very small due to the inappropriate mixing. Compare their initial audition and bootcamp performances with their audio mixing now.
Ricky
You’re absolutely right. The mixing for the audition & judges’ houses episodes was spot on for 4th Impact but now just seems to be too blended and ‘soft’ for almost all of the live show performances (other than week 1 where the sound engineer for that performance should surely have been sacked as they sounded really sharp (rather than soft) in that one).
For the majority of the viewing public it probably isn’t even noticeable and therefore clearly does the trick as it suggests the song is too big for them or their harmonies aren’t on point.
Lauren and 4th Impact both shortening considerably in the outright market which seems a little strange after last night.
Why? There were both great. After last night it would be weird if Louisa maintained her dominant position. To me it looks like the compeition is still wide open.
I can’t see beyond a Che / R&B b2 tonight. Cheryl’s dancing, while well intentioned, made for slightly awkward viewing. It seemed contrived rather than spontaneous. Their second song was overpraised to the point of incongruity. It was a bit like watching breakfast tv presenters reporting on something “cool” and stopping a trend in its tracks. Also, visually the first one was horrendous.
Che’s missed lyrics will hurt him (even though I didn’t really notice since I was not watching, just listening when it happened) and there were a few dodgy notes in Try A Little Tenderness. I don’t think he has done enough to motivate voters.
The criticism of Lauren’s first performance was clearly unfair, as was Simon’s risible pretence at an impartial ranking. A double facepalm is just not enough. Hasn’t he worked out that the audience knows….? I know I posted this yesterday but I have to do it again. Simon mate – this is about you. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9R89oERKCaU
Lauren’s second performance was better than her first. I don’t agree with those who see her styling as a negative. It was clearly a performance. Her personality is strong enough and established enough for people to see the difference between performance and person.
Louisa had a very dodgy first performance but the second shouild have pulled things around for her. Simon keeping the comments realistic rather than gushing for the first performance helped. Her voice definitely didn’t sound right.
I thought FI looked good and were ok. Their fans will definitely not have been put off and they may even have attracted some new ones. I didn’t hear much of the first performance but I enjoyed the second one.
Another thing that struck the other half with 4th Impact’s 2nd performance is that there seemed to be something odd going on with the beat … it seemed too slow and sucked most of the life out of the song.
Just checked youtube links/views & social shares. In less than 20 hours FI crossed with a remarkable count of 1 million views from yesterday’s performance. Closest is Louisa with 340,000 views.
Che has lowest count, with just only 88,000 views for the second song where he has all judge standing ovation.
FI brings a lot of ad revenue (3-4 times more than their nearest competitor) via youtube.
Hi Simon. I noticed all this too and agree. 4th Impact (alias Mini Mix) are also racing streaks ahead in all the online flash polls, Digital Spy, Tellymix and Huffington Post.
They will sell more records than all the other acts put together (which is what Simon is quietly rooting for), so I am on these now and hope my hunch pays off again, as with Little Mix.
Methinks the signal last night was that the preparation and ‘packaging’ is complete now to launch them into a big vacant gap in the girl band market as the next ‘big thing’ and that the collectable ‘named’ Barbie type dolls are probably already being manufactured as we speak.
It looks like the Little Mix (can’t do any wrong) pimping story all over again, as they have been very stable (with mostly positive Judges comments) all the way through, and I have a feeling that it will be a showdown between 4i and Louisa for the winning slot in the final now (but 4i will cream it with the vast teeny votes market).
As with my big Little Mix win in 2011, I used my young granddaughter and her friends as a sounding board and regardless of Louisa’s obvious ability and star quality (and R&R’s popularity with kids too), it’s 4i all the way for them. These ‘bubblegum pop music’ girls are fresh, modern, cute and different and they are gonna be huge (and they can all sing, dance and ‘fast rap’ too).
For added extra bounce and shock factor, they may just use them tonight to oust Che as they are such a none risky safe bet now.
They have a huge fanbase, but most of it is abroad – mostly in their home country, The Philippines. Filipinos are always ready to support their own in every way they can. They are totally ready to rig every online poll and create fake UK iTunes accounts to download the voting app. What they are not that good at is buying music legally.
I totally think the same.
My question is if the show notices this anomaly … can and will they do anything about it?
I have no doubt that they will try but I have every confidence that the show has adequate counter measures. I read one comment from a 4i fan that they are not able to buy the 4i performances on itunes. If Apple can restrict purchases, it will be easy to do it on votes.
One more thing that makes me think this is not happening is the fact that there are too few votes. If indeed there is a barage of votes from the Philippines, the vote totals will be so much higher.
Both 4i and Lauren were shortchanged in the audio mixing department. Lauren’s is a little more obvious though as she sang ballads. Compare the mix on Lauren’s 2nd song with Louisa’s. What a world of difference.
I have a quarter baked theory I came up with just now in the shower.
Lauren’s running away with it despite the producers’ best efforts. They want Louisa over the line. It’s Ben and Fleur all over again.
Thoughts?
I agree. I thought of this today after seeing last nights Twitter trends. Lauren Murray was trending top, above Louisa and Firestone was trending. Her second song is on iTunes again and the original has shot to #4. I know there’s no correlation to votes but they are treading so carefully with her it makes me think they’re scared of shooting the winning horse.
Yes it is certainly reminiscent of that situation last year. It doesn’t really matter who the actual winner is – SyCo will sign who they want, and they are still pimping Fleur even though the series is over. Whoever said she was the new Sinitta really made me laugh.
I went to the Oxford St Christmas lights ‘switch-on’ – Ben was top of the bill, but lo and behold who was there performing her new single too? Yes, Fleur East.
How many vts was Fleur East in last night?! It’s like she’s still on the bloody show, doesn’t she have anything better to do?!
To be honest, the treatment Fleur seems to be getting, in appearing in all these VTs, is that of the winner of last year’s show, rather than the runner up that she was. I bet Ben Haenow, if he is paying any attention, feels pretty confused not to be the one asked to be the show’s poster person for success.
Ben’s smart enough to realise how the land lies. He’s probably already made plans for being dropped before a second album.
Ben’s probably at home reading Steve Brookstein’s book.
Some great comments on here. I find the theory of Lauren/4th Impact running away with the vote very interesting in particular. It does actually make a lot of sense considering they’re clearly being “softened” yet aren’t being assassinated in the way Anton, Kiera and Monica were. I’m in two minds about 4th Impact’s vote. I think they could quite easily have a strong core vote but at the same time, there’s a lot of factors holding them back and could definitely hinder their vote.
If Louisa is struggling in the vote, wouldn’t the producers want to “James Arthur” her and get her into the bottom two, then save her and make it clear to everyone that they need to vote for her?
I think if this was a fair contest all the female acts will be safe tonight. But this show is rarely fair. If RnB were really one place away from the bottom two last week, it’s easy to assume they’ll be in the danger zone this week. If they do hit the bottom two, can the judges really save them since they won’t have all of the gimmicks or production support of their usual performances?
Depends. What if they have one of these as their sing-off song?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rGU4eUsDDY
or
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_aO26shbQM
I think if anyone is ‘running away’ with the votes this year it’s 4th Impact and it’s because of their large fanbase manages to vote from abroad. The whole push-gate last week opened my eyes to what a large and determined fanbase they have. And I’ve seen mentioned just how the app can be used from abroad too, with some rather basic IP address hacks. And I am pretty sure filipinos would do it if they have the opportunity. I feel as if it was some sort of generall validation for the whole nation if their girls do well on a british pretense tv talent show. weird.
Otherwise I don’t suspect any runaway straightforward winner exists…
Though I definitely wouldn’d have guessed Maloney was one in the most part of 2012.
If 4I go to the final they will win. They are more entertaining, better on the eye and sharper than the rest. So if baseed on talent they got my vote.
Lauren is too static, great voice yeah, bubbly yeah; but not entertaining.
I have the Same view of Louisa. That bobbing up & down shit she does is comical and annoying.
I think there is a void in the girl/boy band market that new faces need to fill and 4I are ideal.
Kids in TV land are gonna vote for them IF they aren’t depimped into the shadows.
I had to laugh when Olly did the into-break teaser with the two girls. Lauren looked bubbly and excited, Louisa looked vacant and almost droid-like!
I’m saying Che vs. R&B, R&B get a “shock” save.
i’ll join you in a B2 prediction
che vs louisa – che to go (obviously)
You can get 16/1 on a Che & Louisa b2 at bwin.
I think 4th Impact vs Reggie n Bollie with the latter being saved.
This is what I think too, if Ché bounces enough. If not replace either with him.
Lauren vs Reggie ‘N’ Bollie Rita and Nick save Lauren, Cheryl and Simon save RnB. Lauren goes home.
I don’t think we need to take the overseas manipulated votes into account; there are reportedly around 200.000 filipinos in the UK. If only half of them use their 5 free votes to keep their girls in the contest that’s half a million votes before we add any votes from other nationalities in the UK or before we assume that they will get multiple voting from super fans.
Personally, I find them very cold and clinical. There is a hard edged professionality to them that sits at odds with their supposed little-girls-lost-far-from-home story. Also I have to say that I find them very hard to distinguish, and their limited grasp of the English language has not allowed them to bring across any personality apart from “Thank you for allowing us opportunity to sing”.
That’s floor logic… That’s assuming 100,000 of them all watch the show, all want to vote on it and all vote for 4th Impact
That’s the equivalent of me saying there are100,000 Ghanains in the UK, so Reggie and Bollie are getting 250,000 votes guaranteed
Or saying there are X people in Essex or X number of West Ham fans, therefore Louisa is picking up 2,000,000 votes
You still have to wonder who’s voting for them though? I think they were fairly lucky to get through weeks two and four without appearing in a sing off.
well, week 2 they were still surviving from their good start and there was plenty of other dry wood in the forrest…
But last week does make one wonder.
I have no doubt that fans from abroad will try to vote and may have been successful in voting. The question is whether or not it is counted. I have every confidence that the show has adequate counter measures. I read one comment from a 4i fan that they are not able to buy the 4i performances on itunes. If Apple can restrict purchases, it will be easy to do it on votes.
One more thing that makes me think this is not happening is the fact that there are too few votes. If indeed there is a barage of votes from the Philippines, the vote totals will be so much higher.
i suppose you mean ‘flawed’ logic, and I admit that’s correct, but by all accounts the Filipino fan community is quite rabid in their support of fellow nationals. Plus there is traditionally a bigger incentive to vote for ex-pats rather than, say Essex people voting in the Uk. Scots are another good example of that principle, remember the McDonald Brothers and little Nick ?
Also, before they re-introduced the jury system Germany would always give their 12 points in Eurovision to Turkey, because the Turkish community in Germany would simply out-vote all other nationalities.
I am not saying that this is exactly what is happening, but it would be an explanation without having to assume that bhalf the Phillippines had to hack their way into the voting system…
I am not so sure Che will get to have a bounce. People like him, but he doesn’t seem to have a passionate support, plus he wasn’t that good yesterday….
During Reggie N Bollies first song,the background seem to have letters “A” “U” “P”
Does anyone have any clue what thats about? Maybe I am missing something obvious.
http://postimg.org/image/6z26yvsj5/
Thanks
Maybe they’re trying to appeal to us Northerners?
Read today supposedly Shaggy is being bought in for XF final to sing with RnB. Their final slot has to be sealed one or way or tother?
Cant call bottom 2 at all. Louisa would probably be the biggest shock but even that seems possible. Che to leave seems the most likely outcome and I nearly backed it at 2s but then thought better of it.
Che to go against RandB steadt stake night for me. Be intereting to see whl the bottom two are. The market could change.
Casual “vote is so close” reminder.
Worth bearing in mind that this time last year, Fleur was 800 votes off the bottom two, despite being clearly favoured by that point.
Edit – getting their money’s worth out of the bit above the audience!!
Olly hitting Che one there. You forgot them lyrics mate. Hes improving in his role lol
nice reminder of the forgotten lyrics by Olly – dampening the vote for Che
Then reminding us that Louisa is ill. They are shameless
good luck all …. i’m green on all but 4I and my best result will be Che disappearing
well that’s stitched my big win then!
now i have to cover 4I in the signoff
Che got his double sympathy bounce fir the lyric fluff too
nooooooooooooooooooo!
Save Order:
Che
Louisa
Reggie and Bollie
I have a sense of mission accomplished.
Bye bye lauren 🙂
So Louisa must have this sealed then in the votes. The huge pushing of RnB means they can’t be at the top
Oh bloody hell 🙁
I think we all know how this will go.
Oh no! Every week when I vote for someone they go B2.
Poor Lauren 🙁
Having said that. Rita will vote for Lauren. Can they swing Nick if she’s not dead bottom?
Gambled and got on Lauren at 5s just before the voting closed. Please don’t burn me judges 🙁
deadlock? will they allow Lauren to live?
Right, well I love Lauren, but I’m afraid money dictates that I need her to go!
Whoops – so much for 4I and Lauren running away with the votes… Looks like subtle unhelpfulness is more of a deramp than outright nastiness after all.
Lauren clearly not running away with the vote then. Extremely hard not to see Louisa winning. Should be 1/5 after tonight
Guess this ends the debate about the mass Filipino vote now then?
They got on top of it, said theh had technical problems with the app at startt last night, churned all the opt ins probsbly.
Are Louisa and R&B the only 2 not to have been bottom 2 now? I justchope the novelty effect doesn’t stop her from getting the win…
Rubbish 🙁 Well, they got exactly what they wanted. Well done producers. Voting public is truly the sheep they wanted them to be.
Producers are experts in their field. People need to learn to stop taking this so seriously unless it’s because they have lost huge money
There has hardly been any Janet Devon or Chris Maloney this series either or if there has its only been to Anton.
Got Lauren at 3.3. As much as it hurts, she’s toast.
Lauren still 2.5 on exchanges
Time slows down and Ché twists away from the assassins bullet.
Then overpimped R+B dump two acts touted as sure fire finalists into B2.
Guess we’re about to find out who they think the biggest threat to Louisa is!
well, nick didn’t give a standing O 🙁
ps. I am so happy :*
Lauren vs 4I is really ironic considering.
OOOOH. Now we have a question, was that intended, or did Nick go rogue and throw off the intended majority?
I’d say it was intended. I think Simon would have seemed more annoyed if otherwise.
You know what, I may have just lost a fair amount of money on that, but I can’t argue with justice.
So she lives to fight another day. I guess her vote has never threatened Louisa then
Ouch. Burnt. Bigtime.
How many times now has Nick saved Rita’s acts in the sing off? Seriously starting to think he’s going rogue.
saved myself in the singoff — got burned in the top group though
Lauren surprisingly saved over a group in the quarter finals am I watching a repeat of last year?
Reggie and Bollie are now the highest-placed joke act in the show’s history, even if they go out next week.
They’re not a traditional joke act in the betting sense – more akin to McDonald Bros or Same Diffrrence
Have the producers missed a target this season? Another clean hit
Sorry anyone who backed Lauren to go. She had to get through as my fave always goes at the semi. 😛
Good job steady night, I did get out right side, spotted paper being handed to Simon, deadlock likely. Strange show.
I thought Simon should have just saved Lauren – 4I were good but Lauren really nailed it. It would have been embarrassing to send her home after that – and yes I know they don’t care. At least we know she wasn’t bottom.
Can Lauren bounce into the top 2 next week to secure a place in the final I wonder?
The truth is contrary to popular belief the show is giving them chances. The Lauren furore I see is only on here. No one else really cares about her, shes a good singer who modlels off Sam Bailey and will sell no records in the real world (despite her good iTunes number) I am surprised they haven’t used the cruise ship liner on her.
Next week I believe they will do their best to surpress Lauren’s vote and will probably do their best to get her out at the SF leaving the judges with 1 each apart from Simon in the final.
I guess we now know she was not a Haenow steam train sucking up votes from everywhere and in fact she was always destined for a Lauren Platt kind of journey.
I suspect Louisa has every chance now and the only way she does not win is if she shoots herself in the foot. There are still 2 weeks and I do not know if TPTB can really give RnB another major pimping next week to get them in the top 2 again. They have already done everything possible, much more so than they have for Louisa for sure in this series. Looks like they will need another mammoth pimping of RnB next week to get a Che v Lauren sing off perhaps.
Wonder what people make of that 1/2 now? Suddenly looks like free money if you ask me
People will still say that she is the lay of the decade, because she’s only there by pimping apparently…
The alternative to her now is the even heavier pimped Reggie n Bollie
So what did they want TPTB to do with their supposed plan A? Give her bad productions, bad staging, bad VTs and bad comments. Lol. For anyone complaining that its unfair. Don’t watch, don’t bet. Simple. I have been stung with TPTB change of minds or just not pimping my bet in the past. Look at Lauren Platt last year. It happens.
4th Power => 4th Impact => 4th Place
*5th
Can’t believe I got that wrong! Thanks.
After that sing off I did wonder whether they’d keep Lauren – 4th Impact were terrible.
Although I am glad for Lauren, I do hope nobody is nursing too much of a loss tonight. I think this result does show that we may over analyse things at times, and when it comes down to it, sometimes the sing off can make a difference. Unless I’m being naive. Realistically, the best Lauren can hope for now is third in the final – her vote is likely under control along with Che’s, RnB will never win and so smooth sailing for Louisa.
Free money? same as it was free money last year with fleaur east lmfao lauren bounces to the final and wins it same as james arther did
Lol coming from the professional gambler this must be true. I’m just laying all my louisa money onto Lauren on your say so.
I’m shocked they saved Lauren over 4th Impact. But the only way to save 4th Impact was if they were above her on deadlock, given Nick’s fierce loyalty to Lauren throughout the series.
The good news is at least the online polls will be a better indication as to who is popular now.
Bizarrely after tonight I feel like Lauren can win more than before. Just for one moment there she had something very valuable that I don’t think she’s had for 3 weeks – producer support.
That’s not to say I think she’ll win at all, I still fully believe Louisa will win, but I could at least hypothetically imagine a scenario where Lauren wins now. Definitely not true for Ché and RNB.
I think this result will lead to two Girls in the final (GASP) as Lauren will bounce. Question is, who leaves next? I have a feeling that the last Group will be exposed as an emperor with no clothes next week.
They need Reggie n Bollie in the final, no question at all. I think Che will be bussed next week.
That’s also all of the acts apart from Louisa from the daily star leak gone.
Did you see Cheryl’s strange reaction to RnB being called safe? She looked devastated as she hugged them. Very odd after supporting them so overtly. Fair enough if she’d looked upset after congratulating them, as it meant 4I were bottom two, but strange to be immediately gutted.
My interpretation is that Cheryl immediately took the fact that 4I were bottom two to mean they were goners. Presumably the result of knowing how other judges would vote in that bottom two scenario. Apart from spotting that, I was otherwise surprised that Lauren was saved over 4I.
Yes! I noticed that very strange reaction from Cheryl. I think maybe she was gutted because she wants to be Winning Mentor, and maybe she saw 4th Impact as having more chance of achieving that than Reggie N Bollie.
Tim, sounds plausible. Which would lead us to conclude that RnB are not miles ahead of all others in the vote. Perhaps she should have shown 4I the same level of love she has shown RnB if she wanted to be winning mentor….!