Dermot sent punters into a spin a few minutes into the results show by saying there was only 1% between first and second, 1% between second and third, and 4% between the bottom four. Punters assumed it’s Emily and Honey G who are within touching distance of Matt, and both contracted on Betfair accordingly.
It also apparently motivated the Coatbridge Cavalry to ride to Ryan’s rescue before the lifeline vote, which you would think producers will have anticipated. Perhaps that got them a chunk of extra revenue, too, as the Saving Private Ryan demographics who’d maxed out on their app votes took to the phones instead. Ryan’s now had a moment of redemption, which narratively perhaps frees up the show to drop the flash vote without it looking like too transparent an attempt to kill him off.
I was unable to access the app during the lifeline vote, and I wasn’t alone, but evidently the problems weren’t serious enough to concern producers. We’d said in last night’s review that if we were running the show we’d keep Saara around for the greater entertainment value, but after rewatching how little they did to help her, I wasn’t tempted to get too heavily involved on the girlband at odds of around 1.75. I’m happy enough to see the definitive wiping out of the liabilities I’d built up laying them in the win market.
As ever, we’ll be back in midweek with further thoughts. Do keep the conversation going below.
They didn’t have a choice. I think producers would have liked to finish Saara on deadlock but she won the singoff by miles. Also, with Disco night next week its open season for Brian. Not ruling out abother massive pimp slot production.
Although they may not see it this way, I still think they need back up because there’s not a lot of quality there. 5AM and Sam are both ropey in the vocal department and Emily could start to bore voters very quickly in which case do they keep her and turn off the audience or do they lose one of the few singers who can hold a tune?
So you’re saying TPTB and the British public will suddenly discard the likes of Emily and Honey G and support a kooky Finnish woman who’s already been in the sing off three times? That producers think, hang on, that Scottish girl and the rapper being cheered by kids week in week out isn’t worth a bean compared to Saara who can’t even get a deal in Finland.
No. I’m saying that 5AM have ropey vocals that have already been exposed and quite possibly will again. There may be a point at which they are not sustainable and that the praise they are getting starts to sound unrealistic. As far as Emily goes, there are plenty of comments on the thread for yesterday’s show that agree that she was boring and that she could easily meet the same fate as other, previous, similar acts.
But your backup plan is Saara, right?
Last week the X Factor had fewer viewers than The Apprentice.
http://www.express.co.uk/showbiz/tv-radio/727112/The-Apprentice-The-X-Factor-ratings
This week’s show was a much poorer offering than last week. They have to be aware of viewing figures. If they fall too much the show is unsustainable.
So Saara then. Just wanted to get the straight.
Back up for what?
It is my opinion that they need a back-up plan to make sure they have a decent final. The final gets a lot of viewers who don’t tune in for many of the other shows. I don’t think it is controversial to suggest they would prefer it not to be a bore or a laughing stock.
Andrea came third, Fourth Impact came fourth. There is plenty of time left. Simon said, in relation to the silly styling Saara got last night “we won’t do that again”.
Is no-one allowed to hold a different opinion from you or is it just me?
Last week I suggested Gifty was in trouble. No-one else was having that and I got attacked for it. Before today’s show I suggested that Ryan might be safe and Sam go b3. Everyone else seemed to think Ryan was a cert for b3 and it was between Sam and Saara for last place. The app didn’t register everyone’s votes and the X Factor page, according to Annie, showed a lot of support for Saara.
Your thoughts are not the only possibilities. None of us are always right.
Not at all, a different opinion is fine, I’m just testing it.
I just think the signals from the show are very clear and they don’t involve Saara.
They want Honey in the final and with Sam now in the deadwood column, she only has 5am to beat. 5am aren’t mentioned as finalists anymore and their treatment has appeared somewhat desperate.
Simon wants Emily in the final so he has a shot at the win, and the optics over the last two weeks suggest Emily can beat Matt. She’s most relatable of this year’s acts and has the Scottish vote to boost her support.
The Janet and Ella comparisons are fine, but neither were particularly likeable on camera. They had zero personality. Plus they were pigeonholed way too soon. Emily has more variety which I’m sure will be showcased over the next few weeks.
I think the performances are very clear. As far as 5AM go, you can’t polish a turd. Maybe rolling them in glitter will be enough, maybe not. Regarding Emily, her best performances have been repetitive and a little dull. Sitting on the stage being miserable and doing a John Lewis will only take you so far. We’ll have to agree to differ. Perhaps you can “test” some other opinions too.
So you’re basically speculating that Emily will fall short of the final. Yeah, I think we’ll have to agree to differ. Please let me know when you’re on Betfair.
I even started my post with the proviso Although they may not see it this way,. I can’t see what you’re so angry about.
https://sofabet.com/2016/11/05/x-factor-2016-week-5-elimination/#comment-75722
https://sofabet.com/2016/11/05/x-factor-2016-week-5-elimination/#comment-75724
https://sofabet.com/2016/11/05/x-factor-2016-week-5-elimination/#comment-75731
https://sofabet.com/2016/11/05/x-factor-2016-week-5-elimination/#comment-75732
https://sofabet.com/2016/11/05/x-factor-2016-week-5-elimination/#comment-75751
I’m not the only one who found Emily boring.
And then there’s…
I don’t like emily’s shtick and I doubt that she can carry on doing it and expect to make the final
https://sofabet.com/2016/11/05/x-factor-2016-week-5/#comment-75772
Emily also had, I felt, extremely distracting staging, and is being now pigeonholed as a theatrical Ella Henderson.
https://sofabet.com/2016/11/05/x-factor-2016-week-5/#comment-75780
Emily – sorry can’t comment – fell asleep watching her.
https://sofabet.com/2016/11/05/x-factor-2016-week-5/#comment-75789
Emily? I just dont see her being any kind of success on a label like Syco. Artists in that style who are successful are usually more independent and achieve success on their own terms. They’re usually talented song-writers who build up an underground following first. Its the polar-opposite of the “music by marketing committee” approach of Cowell.
https://sofabet.com/2016/11/05/x-factor-2016-week-5/#comment-75796
I can’t see why they would want Emily to win either. She isn’t going to do much after the show.
https://sofabet.com/2016/11/05/x-factor-2016-week-5/#comment-75800
I’m not saying she won’t make the final. These are decisions everyone has to make for themselves. I’m certainly not alone in thinking she’s not a shoo-in. Maybe you will challenge some of the others who hold similar opinions – or maybe not.
Gavster, of course Saara could get a record deal in Finland, what were you thinking? She just doesn’t want to be tied to a domestic contract in a small country with a language that is spoken by only themselves (less than half of London). She wants to sing in major languages to big audiences. She definitely seems to be good enough to make it, so why not give it a try.
In terms of the Lifeline Vote, they have to strike a balance between the result and making the show worthwhile to watch. If Planet Earth pulls in a strong figure and hurts The X Factor in the ratings when they come in tomorrow then why ditch the one thing which makes it worthwhile watching live?
My sister and her fella are staying at my late Mum’s this weekend, where there’s no broadband anymore. Hence the Smart TV isn’t very smart. With no iPlayer or BBC +1, they watched Planet Earth live and XF on +1 after. I wonder how many others with no PVR or Smart TV did the same?
Howard Donald was watching Planet Earth too.
https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/2129349/howard-donald-blasts-x-factor-in-scathing-twitter-rant-as-his-former-take-that-bandmate-robbie-williams-performs-on-the-show/
I think this puts paid to the idea that The Sun is the show’s poodle. I’m sure they’re happy to take leaks from tptb but if they smell a juicy headline they’ll run with it regardless of the X Factor’s wishes.
You know, I actually kind of agreed with who was in the bottom 3 this week. On the grounds that I didn’t enjoy the live show much at all and it was a contest of who was the least awful rather than the best. I’m not surprised that the vote was apparently so close between everybody, because nobody was great last night.
Now don’t get me wrong, I am in no way a fan of Honey G, but she at least has something that marks her out from the others. In a boring night, she didn’t get lost in the shuffle. Ryan wasn’t too bad this week either. He doesn’t interest me at all, but his performance was OK for what it was.
Saara is probably my favourite, but it was the first performance of hers I really didn’t care for. I blame the staging rather than anything she did, but still. Her vocals in the sing-off were beautiful though. I’m glad she’s around for at least one more week.
Sam’s voice has never appealed to me, but I think if there was anything different about last night compared to other weeks is it was her blandest performance yet.
I don’t think 4 Of Diamonds ever really caught on. They were just sort of “there”, just occupying space. In fact, that’s sort of all that happened for them isn’t it? There was suddenly a vacant space, and they came and filled it.
I picked up on Simon’s quote last night “open competition” announcing how close the voting is for the top spots tonight backs that up. Was that the plan?
I actually think last week where they gave most of the acts half a chance and great productions nearly all round was Honey Gs worst performance in the vote and would not have been surprised if she was near B3. The production was big but performance and energy was awful.
This week I felt as if there was a lot of non motivational comments and dull or overly extreme in a bad way performances to help Honey Gs vote lift and I feel it probably did to become her best week. Still unsure if she was a top 3 act as 5am would be pushing it close too given the pimp slot
When considering that Matt at best only has a lead of 1%, just remember what we’ve learned from results in previous years since app voting was introduced. The votes have become tighter, with leading acts garnering lower percentages in early weeks.
Louisa had a lead of 2.3% in the final 9 last year, and indeed a deficit of 0.1% in the final 7 (there was no final 8). Ben Haenow had a lead of 2.4% over 2nd in the final 8 of his year. What would be unprecedented would be if Matt had a large lead right now – particularly when performing an uninspiring song from the death slot.
However what has remained true is that in later weeks votes have gravitated more towards acts who are more middle-of-the-road. That’s when Matt will cash in big, like Louisa and Ben before him.
The free app votes has meant that contestants like Honey G can pick up votes for being entertaining and fun particularly if the timing of the performance creates an uptempo moment/lifting of the mood in the running order. The audience can cast a vote without having to spend money on televoting. Having the vote open at the start also allows for the spur of the moment voting rather than a more “considered choice” after the show. I do think with 5 free votes that significant numbers of the audience don’t just give all 5 to a favourite contestant regardless, I am sure a lot of spread voting occurs.
Saara has management deal and most likely record deal also.
Finnish media told that she made management deal with Roar Global. Same office handles the management of last year’s winner.
http://roarglobal.com/clients/profile/louisa-johnson
You can see roarglobal also mentioned in her twitter profile:
https://twitter.com/saaraaalto
I think that this is the reason why she looked so happy in the sign off. Looked like she did not care anymore and was just happy to perform.
What does this mean for betting then? Most likely they let her perform couple of excellent shows. This will decrease her perceived chance for winning despite the actual chance. Back her win now and lay off later and make some profit.
Correct me please, if I overestimate the meaning of that management deal.
One example and more backround about that company:
“Since the series ended we’ve signed with Syco, Simon Cowell’s label, and an agency called ROAR Global,” he explained. “I think Simon saw the potential for a brand in us, and a massive following, and he stuck to his guns the whole way through the show and supported us.
http://www.tellymix.co.uk/reality-tv/britains-got-talent/263368-britains-got-talents-boogie-storm-signed-simon-cowell.html
Brooks Way have this management too.
To compare to other finalists what they say in twitter about their management:
-Sam https://twitter.com/SamLavery_ (kimgloverentertainment.co.uk)
-Ryan https://twitter.com/RyanLawrie_?lang=fi
MANAGEMENT | ROAR global Georgia@roarglobal.com
-Honey G https://twitter.com/The_Honey_G?lang=fi
Mgmt: georgia@roarglobal.com
-Matt Terry https://twitter.com/MattTerry93?lang=fi
ROAR Global | georgia@roarglobal.com wayne@roarglobal.com
-Emily M https://twitter.com/emilymiddlemas_?lang=fi
(nothing about mgmt, production favourite)
-5 AM https://twitter.com/5AfterMidnight?lang=fi
Nothing about mgmt
Gifty: https://twitter.com/GiftyLouise
benji@roarglobal.com
Obviously this means next to nothing at all considering ongoing contest. Only question is why Sam has it different?
Thought Simon’s comments about 4oD having no future in the competition if they couldn’t even turn it around last night, reflected how I felt about their performance- as I said yesterday about the styling/staging/song suiting them- I didn’t think it was a kill like others did but an attempt to let them be themselves and see where the chips fell. They still couldn’t get out of the b2 so they got rid of them.
Seems to me now Ryan is on the tour and has had a reprieve he’ll be a major target next week.
I’d say now Honey G has made the tour, the deramp can start in earnest. I think it’s incredibly dangerous to drag her to the final because she’ll win. If TPTB wait until that final weekend to put the brakes on, it’ll be too late. They’ll have to drop the lifeline vote, possibly when the show moves to 2 songs per act, in order to do this; the minute she hits B3, she’ll be saved on lifeline.
If your right James then the one contestant that could kill off Honey G and keep up the pretension that it is a singing competition is Saara. If this was the case then surely next week they do need to set the wheels in motion.
I would love to see how the markets would react to a Honey G vs Saara sing off…
The “Kids entertainer” go-kart has been placed firmly on the lip of the ramp with the last VT. They couldn’t call her “cruise ship” because no cruise ship would have her.
Up until last year I would have agreed with you that there’s no way they would allow Honey G in the final. Last year they chose Reggie & Bollie over Fourth Impact and brought Craig David into the final to duet with them. Craig David has just won Best Male at the Mobos after an incredible comeback year. Also The X Factor will soon be going head-to-head with The Voice so promoting an act like Honey G might be thought useful to help it have a distinct identity.
Reading this show is part science, part art and part witchcraft. Anything is possible. Stevie Ritchie polled higher than Andrea Faustini and if they’d sent it to deadlock…..
I put a bet on Andrea to go the afternoon before that sing-off. I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that quite a few posters here did.
If it’s Honey G creeping close to (presumably) Matt and Emily, then I REALLY hope she wins so the show will look more farcical and TPTB learn not to throw stuff like that in the Lives.
What I learned:
If Simon really wants the winning act (slash if they really want Emily to win), he can.
I saw someone say Simon wants Emily in the final as it represents a chance for him to win. Like he cares about that. He wins whoever wins the final if they are going to have a successful career after the show.
Yes, but there’s a reason why (barring last year) he never gets the category with really terrible acts (see: Walsh, Louis). His ego wouldn’t allow it.
This is wrong. The history of the contest is littered with acts that failed to go as far as Cowell wanted them to. 1D, Stereo Kicks, Cher Lloyd, Fleur East immediately spring to mind. What he can normally do is stop an undesirable act from winning, but if that’s his plan with Matt, he has disguised it very well indeed, and he’s gonna have to crack on!
It’s disco week – surely the challenge to Emily is to go more uptempo, as the stream of slowed down songs is going to become seriously boring otherwise. I think ‘Call Me’ by Blondie could be a good choice – it worked well for Diana Vickers – and vocally it could suit her. I love the version Maryvette Lair did on XF France – but Emily’s not really sassy enough to pull that off.
However I fear an Abi Alton-esque Gloria Gaynor song may be on the cards.
I’m expecting a cover of Radiohead’s High and Dry.
Or One Day I’ll Fly Away… who knows!?
Of course the real challenge for Disco week is simply to produce an entertaining show rather than the tripe that was served up this week. They’ll never have a better chance to have a week full of up temp performances – go on you know it makes sense.
You’ve got to assume Saara was bottom of the vote last night haven’t you? Otherwise Cowell could have convincingly sent her home and gone to deadlock.
Not really – it was probably the most one sided sing off you’re ever going to hear even though 4OD sang well. I include the week she sang against Brattavio because last night she really stepped it up herself. Why make yourself look tone deaf if Saara was going to win anyway. Just look at the faces of the other contestants in the background as she finishes – even Matt looks thoroughly sickened.
“I don’t think either of you deserved to be here tonight but Saara, I think you’re one of the best singers here but the public don’t seem to connect with you, I think you’ve been here too many times now so with regret I’m sending you home”
Can’t read anything into faces of the others – maybe they’re gutted their friends in 4oDs are going home, maybe Saara isn’t nice to be around and they wanted her off the show. Watch confirmation bias.
Could be – but the point I’m making is that it’s not clear cut where she finished other than it was bottom three. We’ll find out when the results come out.
Or maybe they are afraid of facing Saara in the coming sing-offs….
“…but the public don’t seem to connect with you, I think you’ve been here too many times now so with regret I’m sending you home”
4OD were in the sing-off the same amount of times as Saara (and Saara actually bounced for two weeks whereas 4OD haven’t).
They were gutted. It’s like this one when Andrea did I Didn’t Know My Own Strength at 6 chair challenge. Look at the faces of the other contestants.
https://youtu.be/GxpwR_vIA_k
Matt was castigated when he laughed at last week’s’ elimination. I’d imagine showing any kind of joy this week was not a priority for him.
You make some good points, and not just about contestant reaction.
They could, if they wanted, have dumped her. It would have made the show look a bit dumb in some ways, but no dumber than it already is.
They could have easily dumped her and that really is the point, they chose to save her despite her proven lack of audience appreciation in the vote.
So the question is why. I don’t see her as a particularly viable artist (maybe if she’d gone down the BGT road she would have more potential)
The assassin theory is interesting but maybe it’s because she can put on a show and while not getting votes she raises the entertainment value of the TV show
They had to choose between 2 acts with 3 bottom 2 appearances each. One act provides the NUTS each week, and we love nuts. The other act provided the weekly wallpaper.
Not dissimilar to my view. They want to keep her around because genuine quality is thin on the ground this year.
Aye but bizarrely she only gets to show her true quality when she’s in a sing off! Everything else is a little bit whacky like it’s designed for people who think saying wine o’clock is major subversion and an innuendo on Bake Off is to be savoured to almost punk levels.
Which to be fair probably sums up a large slab of the ITV audience!
Simon did say words to the effect that they wouldn’t be styling her like that anymore. It will be interesting to see what that means in practice.
Quite a few people this year saying matt is boring. It was the same last year a few said louisa was very boring and maybe even the year before that ben was boring. It dosen’t seem to matter much in the end the best singer does tend to get over the line whether they are deemed boring or not and this year the best singer is matt terry!
Well said Phil. It’s a public vote and in general the middle ground wins any public vote.
Lets be honest how many times has a fairly dull act won this thing? Saying as this is a site encouraging picking the winner it makes no sense to be discounting people because you find them dull personally. Still my gran had a saying about a fool and his money!
I think that is very much debatable; there is a good argument to be made that Saara is the best singer on the show. However, Matt is the most middle-of-the-Road performer that can sing, and it’s the combination of least threatening (i.e. boring) and singing ability that tends to win through. Only exception I can think of to this is James Arthur, and TPTB had to do some hard work for that to happen…
It’s not a singing contest though.
Is he more or less boring / repetitive / predictable than Emily?
Stop in the name of love. How will I know? Creep. That’s what makes you beautiful. All done in the same style.
I don’t think it’s the best singer.
I think Andrea was better than Ben Haenow (and maybe Paul Akister but he wasn’t as good a performer) , you can debate about Louisa v Che v Fourth Impact girls v Lauren but I think Saara is head and shoulders above the other singers this year.
While I’m thinking ahead if I was running the show there’s nothing more I’d want that Honey G in the final.
The publicity it would gain from the tabloids running the “Can The Honey Monster win the X Factor?” front pages to the hand-wringing of the Guardian which will publish so many think pieces on it would be a big shot in the arm for the show.
I’d also want her to be there on the public vote every time so there’s some deniability “it’s the public that have voted her in there, not us” and be safe in the knowledge that in the final we run a Christmas songs round and give her Silent Night with a disco beat, rapping middle 8, no backing vocals and awful staging.
Watch this space.
Don’t forget as well that if Honey G can make it to the final cleanly (i.e. without a bottom 2/3 appearance) then that makes it seem far more possible that she might win it – where a bottom 2/3 appearance betrays where she stands in the vote.
To do that might require damaging other contestants in the quarter and semi final. It would be risky if they don’t want her to win.
Not really, damage Sam, Ryan, Saara towards elimination – even the chosen ones can survive a bottom two in the semi – in fact it would add to the drama of the final.
As I’ve said before killing her off/surpressing her vote will be easy.
But keep an eye on the franchise – having Matt or Emily triumph over Honey G will be the perfect story arc.
Surely she would need to be in the top 2 towards the latter stages like Reggie N Bollie to avoid a sing off.
Reggie N Bollie hit the top of the voting in week 4 and maintain top 2 position till the final Sunday. There were second in the voting in week 2.
If they have a sing off in the semi final the contestant who limps into the final usually finishes 3rd. Even if they get there by public vote through deadlock. Not having a sing off in the semi final would mask the public vote. Maybe they would be prepared to take that risk being comfortable whatever the outcome.
Should be noted that that’s not a “usually”, that’s an “always”. Well, unless you were referring to the time Cher Lloyd finished 4th after being saved in the semi-final sing-off because it was a 4 person final!
Point being without fail the act saved in a semi-final sing-off has always gone on to finish last in the final.
I guess a key determiner for whether they have a sing-off in the semis will be how confident the producers are that they will get the final 3 they want.
They may be keen to get Honey G to third wheel the final but her odds to win are staggeringly short. It seems inconceivable TPTB would want an act like that to actually win the competition and they could dampen her at any time. The only way she can win is probably through a very co-ordinated anti establishment effort – quite possible but still very unlikely.
#Honexit?
She’s 9/1 in what is essentially a four horse race given that it’s hard to see Sam, Ryan or Saara winning it. Looked at that way she’s not so short.
Here’s an intriguing new theory I have just cooked up:
You can say what you want about Simon Cowell – he’s vain, he’s an egomaniac, he’s a control freak etc etc, but he’s unlikely to be stupid. He above anyone must know that the music is a very different animal that it was 10 years ago, and talent shows like X Factor are very unlikely to produce long lasting artists that will make profits for the record companies beyond the fist couple of singles, if that.
So the money spinner are now the franchise and the offshoots like the tour. So, with the Voice re-launching on ITV next year, the X Factor can afford to re-position itself more into a fun, spectacle and event based show. We saw the beginnings last year when R&B, who normally would have featured in the ‘freaks auditionees’ performance, were allowed to progress into the final, where they were then killed off with a truly shocking song that exposed every bum note possible. It was like Jedward being asked to sing ‘Nessun Dorma’. A Capella.
So I think the emergence and ultimate triumph of Honey G is just the next logical step in that progression. And the reason why everyone is suspecting her to be a manufactured fake? Because she essentially is, moulded by SyCo.
Don’t disagree with much there. I think it was Jessica that pointed out with The Voice coming to ITV the X Factor may be redefining itself slightly as a fun and entertaining programme rather than pop star launch pad.
I’ve always said the tv programme is more important than the music side of things. The way it works is that the production company are guaranteed a lot of money per series, they then have costs to make the show. I don’t know if they have any share of ad revenue but it won’t be as large as the contract fee.
On the music side of things it’s incredibly risky trying to launch any new act. I struggle to think of the last X Factor UK contestant that would have made mega money for Syco. You really are back to Little Mix territory unless my mind is playing tricks.
I’d balance it slightly by saying there needs to be a bit of musical credibility in there to stop the show just becoming a joke. For that reason I don’t see a Honey G win being desirable.
The Voice tends to position itself as a serious singing contest where someone’s vocal capabilities are judged over their image.
The X Factor is an entertainment brand rather than a singing contest and has always been more tabloid in approach; focussing on image, narrative and commercial viability. As much as people complain about the tawdry and manipulative nature of the X Factor, the format works in terms of producing talent that the public cares about and invests in after the show.
Novelty and manufactured entertainment has been a fundamental part of the X Factor since the very first dodgy room audition. It just took a few years before they decided to take unconventional acts to the live shows. Chico, who would be quite normal by today’s standards, was the first comedy act, but it was Jedward’s inclusion in 2009 that made novelty a permanent feature.
I don’t think the brand is redefining itself to deliver something as shocking as a Honey G win, it’s just having to become more extreme to remain relevant in the same way that Celebrity Big Brother has over the years.
Plink I think you’re over-crediting SyCo if you think they manufactured her. She’s been rapping for years. I think they saw her and thought, for a laugh, how far can we push this? Like “Trading Places”.
Oh totally, I just meant they have taken her original persona and re-modelled it to fit into their parametres. From what I have heard, her original material was not at all saturday-night suitable. Funnily enough, it looks like all her old stuff has magically disappeared from Youtube and the likes…
I personally think there’s no reason why it should be any harder to find long term talent from a show like the XFactor. Id say Cowell was certain that he had found just such a person in Louisa last year.
What do you think has changed in the last 10 years to make a significant difference?
I disagree plinkiplonk. Bear in mind that Syco isn’t just a TV company – it’s a record label. One Direction may have split up, but there’ll inevitably be a reunion 10-15 years down the line – Syco would be the ones to relaunch them. Little Mix, James Arthur, Olly Murs, Louisa and Ella Henderson are all signed to Syco – would they really want to be associated with the likes of Honey G? Her winning wouldn’t only be damaging for XF as a brand, it’ll be damaging for Syco as a record label. They would have to hand over a £1 million recording contract to her.
And who have Syco scouted and signed outside of these shows? Noone I can think of. It is a proper little earner for them and they would be stupid to miss an opportunity to use the show to try and launch a career.
I agree the X-Factor is going to have a harder and harder time producing regularly. I don’t know that they want to go and have Honey G win though. Probably a finals appearance will max out her value, without turning off the few who still like to think of XF as a bit of a singing competition.
Alan: These days Leona Lewises of the world will blow up on social media and get signed without ever having to go through a reality show. I’ve said it before but i think the best opening for a show like this is with groups, who have a harder time getting their narrative out there and introducing their members. Not to mention they can be manufactured out of kids who aren’t quite solo material.
EM: James Arthur looks like he might be a good money earner now and he’s more recent than LM. Albeit there has been a lot of water under the bridge there.
Stu: I’m skeptical 1D will do their inevitable reunion under Syco, as the four that are trying for solo careers all sprinted for the door as soon as possible. Louis has stayed but he really has no other choice if he wants to go into management/A&R. Also the recording contract money is split across multiple albums, with most not payable if the winner is dropped. Doing a single album for a winner they’re not fussed about will probably cost them about one ad break in revenue, maybe not even that.
It’s too early to tell re: 1D but they’re still technically signed as a band to Syco I believe. I think after years away from Simon, they’ll eventually come back to him.
And yeah I know the £1 million contract isn’t entirely what it says it is but Honey G being signed regardless of whether she is dropped later on damages any credibility Syco currently have as a record label. Just my opinion of course. 😉
As far as I recall, it isn’t a £1 million record contract any more, and hasn’t been for some time – they quietly dropped that aspect of the prize some time ago now.
EDIT: This article says since 2009 – it’s now £150,000 or thereabouts to cover the first album and a stipend for the contestant’s expenses and promo http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/x-factor/8836492/X-Factor-drops-1-million-prize.html
Presumably they can spend more though if they land a Plan A winner, and of course they’re flexible about being able to sign any runners-up they want.
Oh that’s news to me. Cheers for that 360.
Who was the 4th man? Dermot said B4 had 4% between them. Are we sure it was Ryan? They gave him some negatives but big positives too – great production and massive vocal assistance to the extent that he magically continued singing through closing his mouth and jumping back on stage. I enjoyed the performance and many must have thought he finally deserves a break. But if not him B4, who?
I’d be really surprised if it weren’t Ryan since he hit the B3 every other week. It was a clever way to dampen his first non-B3 result, although I think the main goal was just to make the audience feel like it was a close competition.
Another clever way? Make calling him safe ALL ABOUT EMILY, which actually happened
I don’t think they were trying to get rid of 4oD, I think they gave them a decent chance, but they were just nowhere near ready. Should have done a year together in pubs and clubs first.
And Saara slaughtered them. Could be a good week for Saara next week so Cowell can say how clever he was advising her to lose her over-styling (the stylist of course having been originally instructed by Cowell to over-style her).
I agree with you on 4oD, even if they gave them minimal stage support in weeks 1 & 4 and awful support in the middle two weeks. Even great support all 4 weeks probably wouldn’t have helped, though it might have given them another week or two.
It was kind of a catch-22 for 4oD. Maybe with a year of gigging they would have been ready to at least make the top 5 and get a one-single deal, but then they wouldn’t get those gigs without the XF label behind them. I’ll be keeping to tabs to see if they actually stick to it and improve, because I did see a little something in a couple of their performances….
I think they will drop the flash vote, do a Saara turn around and try and get a Ryan and Sam B2 with Ryan going. They aren’t going to get a Ryan/Emily B2 so he’s serving no purpose and he’s had his feel good week.
Following week Saara goes against Sam (or if she bounces Honey G or possibly even 5AM)
Interesting points about the direction of the show.
For me what lead to the show success it also what is contributing to its demise. I have notice it in people who used to watch but who now stick to shows like strictly, bake off etc. X Factor is character driven entertainment. The audience is encouraged to get emotionally involved with the contestants – to have favourites. This is great TV when an audience favourite is a chosen one but not so good if the audience think the show is deliberately running their favourite’s chances.
Brutal is often used to describe the producers attempts to kill off a contestant. And that this is the issue – people can see that they are throwing the kitchen sink at contestants like Honey G but at the expense of other contestants – their favourites. The show is full of contradictions and it is not comfortable viewing, for some who have turned away it is was too much of a stressful experience.
YouTube offers a better platform for finding the pop stars of tomorrow.
We’ve been talking about the top 3 in relation to Dermott’s comment about the 1% between first/second and second/third. It’s noteable that he didn’t mention fourth. Is fourth as close or a more significant distance behind.
I ask because there are 4 acts commentators generally assume to be favoured – Matt, Emily, Honey G and 5AM.
In the past the novelty act has been closer to sing-off than top 3. Wagner, Stevie Ritchie etc were never really threatening the top positions even though they had big productions.
So I suppose the question I’m posing is, do people think Honey G was in the top 3 of the vote after Saturday’s show? I’m also interested in how people received 5AM’s performance. It was a huge pimping, particularly given the ovations and comments. Did it work for you? Do you think it worked on the viewers / voters?
I personally thought that was a great performance from 5AM. The whole arrangement of the track (and how the group executed it) was what set it apart from the other performances. Plus turning a Spice Girls track into something quite cool and funky for 2016 is a difficult task. I can’t really predict how well it has done for them in the last vote though – Surely top 3… maybe they’ve polled consistently third and the pimp slot helped them get 1% behind 2nd (Emily) with Matt leading by 1%.
According to Dermott there was 1% between first and second, and 1% between second and third. The bottom four were within 4% of each other. Looking back over recent series the act that finishes bottom when eight acts remains is generally getting 6 – 7% of the vote. Lowest was 5.4%, highest was 8.5%. It’s got to be the lower end or the figures don’t stack up.
Assuming the bottom act got 6% the break down must be something like 6% / 7% / 8% / 10% to put them within the 10% spread. That totals 31%, leaving the top 4 sharing 69%, or an average of 17%. The break down could be 20% / 19% / 18% / 12% or 19% / 18% / 17% / 15%.
I don’t conclude anything from this other than it’s very tight at the top and the bottom which I guess is what he told us anyway. We know who the bottom three were – but where were the others?
Having made up some daft numbers I might as well have some daft speculation on who sits where as well. Please feel free to tell me I’m an idiot – but please do it with some numbers of your own as I’m interested to see what people think on this.
1 – 20% – Matt. SCD overlap – rather flat song choice and very Karaoke.
2 – 19% – Emily. Kept firmly in her lane – but a bit boring. Doubt she overtook Matt with that song choice.
3 – 18% – 5AM. Pimp slot with OTT comments relative to performance.
4 – 12% – Honey G. Major pimping to keep her clear of B3 IMHO.
5 – 10% – Ryan. Where else could he finish if not B3?
6 – 8% – Sam.
7 – 7% – Saara or 4OD
8 – 6% – 4OD or Saara
If this is the case where does that 10% vote for Ryan land when he drops out? Probably split between Matt (boys) and Emily (Scottish) which is probably also where it came from this week. So it could still be close in that respect. My view is that Matt will still win – providing they are happy for him to win, but also they can still stop him should they wish. The only possible challenger is Emily. I still think third for 5AM – I think this is about as good as it gets for them. In answer to Jess’s question above I’m speculating Honey’s closer to B3 than the top. However providing she stays fourth they could push her to the final Cher Lloyd / Tesco Mary style. No she can’t win because at the end of the day there’s 2 acts and it could come down to a vote against as much as a vote for.
Imho Honey and 5Am should switch places in your list, I see 5Am as the ones who got pimp slot in order to avoid b3.
Can they grow Honey G’s vote?
Possibly relatively strong now but the comics/nutters/rebels who vote for the comedy act were in her vote figure from the beginning and she won’t gain any vote transference as others leave.
Unless they have a cunning plan….
They’ve probably already got someone writing a few original lines for the raps she covers. And Friedman will have been told to spare no expense with her.
I wonder if umbrellas should be memorized as something they do when they want to harm an act. See Abi Alton – Can’t get you out of my head. The beginning is very much like Saara’s last week.
I’m pretty sure they’ll give Saara a good treatment next week to prove Simon’s words prophetic. I also have a feeling Simon really likes her. It’s hard to imagine they’d prefer keeping Ryan or Sam over Saara, who is the best singer and much more fun. Might be wishful thinking.
Poor Ryan was damaged at the same time he was given a small bounce. Or how else can you explain that he was made to climb back to the stage in the middle of a chorus, to expose the backing vocals?
On a lighter note
http://waterfordwhispersnews.com/2016/11/08/breaking-honey-g-fatally-gunned-down-in-bitter-rap-feud/