Olatunji and Armstrong departed the show, victims of the overcrowded mid-20s-to-early-30s black male demographic niche that was one of the reasons we’d expected a further cull before the first public vote – totally wrongly, as it turned out. We assume the decision to keep Janice was to spare Ayda’s blushes – it would have looked bad for her to lose two acts in her first live show, especially the two more credible ones.
There have been mixed opinions in the Sofabet comments about the quality of last night’s show. The fact that ratings are yet another million down on last year suggests the wider viewing public are with the naysayers.
As for us, the enjoyment we’ve taken from the X Factor over the years has been entirely down to analysing TPTB’s techniques to nudge the vote the way they want. Unfortunately for us, as has been the case throughout the audition stages, our main takehome from Saturday’s show was that the producers just don’t seem to care that much this year.
That’s reflected in the media, too. On Saturday morning (the day of the first live show!) you had to scroll down 20-odd stories on The Sun’s TV and Showbiz homepage (The Sun!) to get your first mention of the X Factor, which was the stunning news that Danny Tetley had been a bit ill but is now feeling better. It’s a sad state of affairs.
There were a couple of moments early on Saturday when we wondered if there might actually be something interesting to analyse. For long-time readers and obscure staging aficionados, there was the reappearance of Abi Alton’s week 2 pink umbrellas for Molly Scott (though sadly no commentary on the sexiness or otherwise of her feet).
Then with Janice, it did cross our minds to wonder whether they were trying to push some unsavoury subliminal buttons among the Daily Mail demographic by dressing her in garb that looked vaguely East African and having Ayda tell her “You’re a single mother! You’re three thousand miles from home!” – but given the lack of any other seeming interest in nobbling anyone, we’re inclined to put that down to coincidence and old Sofabet habits dying hard.
It is true that the show is usually more even-handed in week 1 with giving acts opportunities to fly, but they do usually try to nobble someone, as most brutally with Bupsi in 2015. Having seemingly been willing to let the cards fall as they may this time, and coupled with casting that overcrowded black male niche, the show ended up with the terrible optics of an all-black bottom three. It felt needlessly careless.
At the top end of the market, Shan deservedly raced back to favouritism, albeit more down to the quality of her vocals than the extent of her pimping. Dalton became second favourite, but we should bear in mind that first show pimp slots don’t always portend much – Seann Miley Moore sang exactly the same song, ‘Life On Mars’, from 2015’s week 1 pimp slot and was gone in week 2.
Pre-lives favourites Misunderstood slipped back after coming across as a poundshop Rak-Su, and Brendan also drifted after a mildly disappointing first showing, although the comments suggested no harm to his long-term prospects. The same can’t be said for Scarlett, who has slightly surprisingly been backed after her own mentor tagged her as “pub singer-ish”.
And there’s not much more to say. None of the more credible acts made much of a dent in the iTunes charts – the days of Grace and Rak-Su original numbers slugging it out in the top ten seem long gone. We think both Danny and Gio both have some potential as entertainers, but why you’d dress Danny in a suit and have him sing Mariah Carey is beyond us – give him a Hawaiian shirt and something fun. And give Gio’s stage presence something more interesting to work with than an Elton John song that’s been done to death on this show.
We haven’t completely given up hope – the first live show did feel very rushed, with too many acts to get through, so maybe this week with some more room to breathe we might see a return of more clarity regarding producer intentions. But we said that after the audition stages, 6CC and judges’ houses, and so far it’s all continued to be anodyne and bland and lukewarm.
Did you manage to do any better than we did at discerning some signal amid the noise on Saturday? Do let us know below.
Hmmm….I wonder how many of Louis’s incredible 33 million twitter followers will be blindly supporting his boys as we go on. He obviously tweets asking for support and is getting 60K ish likes for these.
One of the boys verses Shan in the final…does it make a big difference?
A while back I said I felt they were after a showman/woman this year, obviously inspired by the film but also after last years worthy but dull focus on songwriters. This weekend has done nothing to make me change my mind on that. I think they want a strong performer. My guess back then was Janice was that act, but I now think it’s Dalton.
The showman/woman theory seems plausible and I wouldn’t rule Dalton out but I don’t get plan A vibes from him, although he’s probably the alpha boy at this stage. Brendan’s treatment wasn’t great on Saturday and they seemed to show a lot of him wearing those glasses that don’t suit him particularly well, almost trying to dampen the teenage girl vote?
I wouldn’t rule out Bella as Plan A. They’ll know she’s divisive so won’t want to be too on the nose about it, but they’ve gradually made her more likeable and she seems to be following the classic journey trajectory. Not sure if they’ll get her over the line but she’s had good treatment since a not overly promising audition.
No TCO yet but it’s possible one develops. The other judges aren’t following Cowell’s leads and don’t seem to be working to a script. He’s not controlling them as in the past.
Such analysis maybe academic this series but, as for Bella, to mention a big negative in the VT with an excuse for it is still a negative ie “you’re not here just for your personality”. Best nothing like that is mentioned at all. The other judges didn’t seem that interested in her either.
I also noticed how the judges are not playing to Cowell script. I can see them going rogue in the sing off
Missunderstood still look an attractive price to me at 7/1
I still believe they will get a push over the next few weeks.
Not a great song and first up, certainly wasn’t good for them, hence price drift.
Looks like they are going to be pushed to constantly perform decent original material throughout the shows. Hopefully a decent cover and better slot this coming week for “guilty pleasures”.
Interesting to see Anthony Russel performing best out of everyone in the Itunes chart.
Never underestimate the power of the scouse support.
Haven’t managed to catch up on the shows from the weekend yet, which is rare for me as I am an avid viewer. My love for X Factor is thanks generally to this site (and Betsfactor back in the day!).
Taking Stoney’s points I’m happy to have got Mistunderstood at 10/1 a fortnight ago. They were certainly the stand out act going into the lives IMHO. I did quietly back the LMA choir aswell as they were an unpredictable quantity. Like Henry VIII says maybe TPTB just haven’t yet decided who to push until they see more of the voting stats?
I wonder if new judge Louis and his twitter following could push one of his acts to victory? I recall with much amusement how hard it was to shift Christopher Maloney (his devil eyes backdrop is still the greatest X Factor moment for me ever!). Another scouser in Anthony Russell could cause them huge problems. His back story is emotional/inspiring plus support from Louis who 1D fans love. He couldn’t. Could he?!
I was sure Anthony was weak enough to be bottom 3 this week but I was obviously proved wrong. I think the backstory and overall exposure helped him out a little bit but I really doubt he topped (or nearly) the vote from 2nd, also having lukewarm feedback and an empty stage. If he has, god knows what TPTB will have to think up to shift him!
As for Louis’ following, I think last night showed that even if he has one of his acts sing one of his own songs, if they’re crap no one will vote.
I thought Antony Russell was dreadful tbh he’ll be lucky to make it another few weeks! Can’t imagine the producers wanting him to win either so will be dispatched when required imo !
I think TPTB are more laissez-faire this year, just as two years ago. They seem to be alternating between railroading a winner (2015, 2017) and being less tethered to a specific act (2016, 2018?).
I do wonder given that we’ve been talking about showmen and musicals about the choir who seem tailor-made for that kind of thing, and also potential cash cow now they seem to be less and less invested in actually launching an act to get chart success.
I would keep an eye on if they start individualising them and/or reaching out for regional support.
Otherwise I predict the male acts to start dropping now and this to be a female-dominated final like the Little Mix year.
Robbie asked ‘scousers to mobilise’ for the choir… regional vote
Finally watched the first show – skipping the judges parts because I think they’re dreadful this year. Tptb were very hands off this first show, more so than in years past. I understood the bottom 3, and guess A&A were probably right above those three at the bottom.
I did find Danny restarting his song after being called out as Anthony worthy of a chuckle.
just a note about the choir. with the amount of them that there are, and the hammering the scouse-vote button got on saturday, would it be worth considering that, with the viewing figures being so low, they may make it to the latter end of the competition purely on friends and family votes?!
a rather inflated statement, but if the show is pushing a “showman” style act, they are the perfect candidates. simon has been trying to get in on a choir-type act through bgt for a while, and they’ve always fallen short but this lot are young and scouse, and have at least one decent singer.
i’ve no idea what their odds are, but i’d consider them ones to watch. their treatment was favourable saturday with a hugely popular song choice and some critique to ‘bring them together’.
I have to say I thought Dalton was absolutely outstanding on the first live show. Definitely the best vocal for me on the night. I also liked him at Judges houses. The tone of his voice is beautiful and he has great control of his voice.
It seems clear to me that they are trying everything they can to derail Misunderstood. Not only being on first but also Robbie Williams saying they are the “bookies favourites”, surely people will think they might not need to vote for them if that is the case and get complacent.
I’m not overly convinced by Shan, she is good but for some reason I can’t quite connect with her and she hasn’t blown me away, yet. I can imagine they want a female to win as there is a gap in the market but women don’t tend to fare quite as well as men on these competitions. Ella Henderson springs to mind only finishing 5th in 2012.
Although I dont really disagree with this, dalton is reminding me of sean miley moore and his 2nd week demise.
Dalton could be the dark horse. His voice and tone rlly is amazing. He is in a strong category but imo vocally he’s the strongest in the competition.
Shan rlly did shine last week. Imagine was a great song choice and it was very much a moment. Confused how uve said she hasn’t wowed u but misunderstood has. They’re a mess imo.
LMa choir have more chance they definitely would appeal to normal voters over misunderstood and vibe 5. Misunderstood r singing originals yet can’t do well on itunes.
Janice could be the one to watch this week. She could do dreamer again for guilty pleasures
Nothing guilty about the pleasure I get from “Dreamer”!
Would like to see her do another dance record but a good one, unlike “Clarity”
Hi Uzair,
I didn’t say Misunderstood wowed me. I just think they did very well in the auditions and are the sort of act that could do well. However, the producers seem to be doing everything they can to derail their chances (probably too similar to Rak-Su)
As for Shan, I don’t know. I just didn’t enjoy it. Parts of the song I liked but she maybe oversung it a little bit at times and that annoyed me. Her voice was good but maybe didn’t buy into what she is singing about. Probably didn’t help that it’s a song where I really like the original too.
Whereas with Dalton, I did buy it. Didn’t oversing it, just sung beautifully.
Just my opinion of course.
Dalton has a great voice. But does his history count against him?
He won an “xfactor type” show in Jamaica in 2010, signed a record deal and since then has done 3 albums.Most acts have a singing past…but is this the sort of act tptb want to push?
Also I don’t think any non UK based act has ever won Xfactor?…although Saara Aalto was close.
My problem is with Janice is that she doesn’t have much range her voice is quite deep and her growls r overused. She’s not exactly a strong singer she just has a good backstory. If she had the range clarity could’ve been good. Doubt she’ll be much bttr with dreamer cus she fluff any of the high notes
Even though I wasn’t 100% with raksu their music atm is quite good. Sales wise it’s not great but for me and my friends it’s the type of music we do listen to.
But misunderstood I just don’t think will sell. Even if given an opportunity I don’t think ppl will rlly get behind them. They don’t have the sex appeal or Likeability even within the contestants insta they don’t seem to be who ppl r getting close with unlike raksu from last yr and even 5am from the previous yr. When me and my friends first saw their auditions. We all listen to that type of music regularly and they were just trying too hard and their first live show was horrid. It just baffles me how ppl have backed them so much when imo they’re a bttr 5am not a raksu
Speaking of Shan though. She reminds me of all the girls producers have been reluctant to push before. Chloe Paige and Melanie McCabe r the examples that bring to mind. Attractive girls with nice voices who have good high notes. They’re a bit older than the likes of holly tandy Lauren Platt and this yrs Molly but not exactly the vocal powerhouse that was Louisa.
A nice girl with a good voice that’s a reasonable age. Easy to pimp and push but no fear of them crashing under the pressure. I don’t think Shans the winner yet but she would appeal to ppl Who just tune in now and again. As one can tell she’s a nice girl with a good voice. Not only that she already has a lot of training too. My only problem with her is shed need more current songs to prove she could be anything but a one off winner
I don’t see the comparisons with those at all. Shan is in another league.
An alternative perspective.
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2018/oct/25/great-british-bake-off-strictly-come-dancing-x-factor-why-do-people-believe-that-reality-tv-is-fixed
Non Article. I don’t believe the X Factor is fixed.
I do however believe it is calculated and manipulation tactics are used to reach the desired end result.
This article is fascinating.
Well worth a read to anyone trying to make a few quid from betting.
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/sep/01/revealed-tipsters-deliberately-recommend-losing-bets-to-punters
Are we not getting a review of week one’s shows? If manipulation is dialled now we need that expert analysis more than ever. Plus it helps people like me who couldn’t stomach watching it past the fourth contestant!
Hi Alan, we covered as much as we felt we could in the above article. Like you say, the manipulation was dialled down. We live in hope that all this changes in the second live show.
** dialled down
I see the early Brendan supporters are out in force writing off misunderstoods chances of winning the competition.
Lets see what happens this weekend before writing them off 😉
I dont think either are Plan A. Strikes me they are both considered solid performers who will lend the show a bit of credibility as a singing contest. Neither seem like they have any real commercial prospects so I cant see why TPTB would want either to win.
That said I have absolutely no idea who plan A might be.
Maybe just maybe, for the first time ever they are going to run with an open contest and give everyone a fair crack.
Wont bank on it though.
Shans great but she’s no Louisa. She’s a very skilled singer but she has shown no head voice or falsetto. Or much on the lower range she has good high notes though they’re very controlled too. She’s as good as Lauren Murray was defo not a Louisa
She seems to have more goodwill than Louisa though, which may make all the difference.
As far as I’m aware Louisa didn’t have many fans (outside of voters) during the show or after it and was dropped without even getting the customary album that even the likes of Matt Terry and Saara Aalto managed.
The producers biggest mistake with Louisa is that they didn’t make her appeal to mainstream audiences and they did the opposite with raksu. Louisa music was so different from her power ballads. While raksu first single was a cover after all their original songs. They need to find a good mix between the 2.
What’s best for the show would be to take a 1yr break like American idol did and come back. This yrs American idol was great with good talent and a strong popular winner. Hopefully they can replicate that for x factor
Oh yes we loved Louisa 😉
Uzair you might be right to point out some flaws you see with Shan and Misunderstood….but then I look at the rest and struggle to see anyone who is more talented, likeable and might be plan A ?
Presume tptb will look at week 1 votes and we will get a clearer picture tomorrow.
Missunderstoods odds continue to fall.
By far the most talented act in the competition. The money coming in betfair today would suggest a good song choice. They arent gonna throw these under the bus this weekend. Im expecting they will be the stars of the weekend.
Apparently Brendan Murray is singing Believe by Shawn Mendes.
Demo pleasing, he is definitely being built into a vote magnet for the young girls.
I can’t work out if your being serious or not. That’s an absolute nightmare of a song choice. He’ll be lucky to stay out of the bottom 3 this weekend.
Plus it was the wrong song anyway. Can’t wait to hear Brendan sing the Cher version in a chipmunk voice.
Won’t be too far off Johnny Robinson’s version, albeit I doubt it’ll go uptempo. I wonder if they’ll dress him as an oven ready turkey???
Stoney
You got your wish. Even worse than he was in Eurovision. I nearly spilled my drink it was so bad, and comical.
GIRLS
Bella Penfold – Diamonds Are Forever – Shirley Bassey (w/ Kayne West rap)
Molly Scott – Little Do You Know – Alex and Sierra
Scarlett Lee – Always On My Mind – Elvis
Shan Ako – Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word – Elton John
GROUPS
Acacia and Aaliyah – *Surprise on the night*
LMA Choir – Proud Mary – Tina Turner
Misunderstood – Close to You – Maxi Priest (w/ original rap)
United Vibe – Party in The USA – Miley Cyrus
OVERS
Danny Tetley – Crazy For You – Madonna
Giovanni Spano – *Surprise on the night*
Janice Robinson – Show Me Love – Robin S
BOYS
Anthony Russell – I Want To Know What Love Is – Foreigner
Brendan Murray – Believe – Cher
Dalton Harris – I Have Nothing – Whitney Houston
Oh no, wrong believe lol!
Think it will be a slowed down version.
Can see Danny and Vibe 5 leaving this week.
If it is ella henderson’s version, then I think he’s in it to win it.
Running order according to Dan@TellyStats.com on twitter
LMA Choir
Shan
Danny Tetley
Brendan Murray
Misunderstood
Molly Scott
Dalton Harris
Scarlett Lee
Acacia & Aaliyah
Giovanni Spano
Anthony Russell
United Vibe
Bella Penfold
Janice Robinson
Giving every chance of Janice to stay?….Gio to go first for me
Song choices give me these thoughts:
Choir being given support. That’s a Maloney pick if ever I see one.
Danny Tetley attempted burial after doing too well last week for comfort.
Girls category all being tested tonight to see who will come out on top. All with fairly safe choices though aimed at particular demos.
United Vibe in the firing line. A song by a girl singer, soloist, about America?
Janice being pushed to bounce this week, vote well under control, to try and get some of the others out.
Can’t see teenage girls going for Brendan at all. Surely they’ll be throwing their knickers and votes at the boyband. Brendan doesn’t have the looks.
Id be amazed if United Vibe aren’t given every chance to do well. Biggest potential cash cow for Cowell by a country mile. And a Miley Cyrus song pleases their demo surely.
No mention of acacia and aliyah. Surely this surprise isn’t enough for them to be safe. They’re garbage
Think Danny’s safe after Simon saying the competition needs him. Also what’s wrong with the front camera
How many times was the word boring used in Brendan’s VT?
I feel like they’re setting up a narrative for Brendan of someone who keeps falling into the sing-off and getting saved. Given the Louis Walsh links I think he’ll be around for a few weeks yet.
Misunderstood poor garbage. The taller singers higher register is appaulling. Also they dress horrible too. They look a bit camp don’t u think
Yes uzair no way misunderstood are winning this probably won’t make the finals they have gone downhill massively since JH ! Negative comments again aswell
Ive cashed out on missunderstood. Tonight told me everything I needed to know. I guess the choir wins from this point.
LAM choir new alpha group. Even last yrs bets group cutkelvins were much bttr then misunderstood.
Also rip Molly. Think she’ll be in danger
Tough week so far, nobody shining.
There’s a definite feeling to me that this is a LOT less scripted than previous years. With the exception of Simon, I feel that the judges are genuinely saying what they believe. As a result, I think it’s a much more enjoyable watch, but it doesn’t half cloud my thoughts on who’s at risk. It could be anyone. Is that why this site is much quieter this year?
Dalton’s just won it it I think
Dalton favourite what a performance 🙂
Dalton is leagues above everyone else.
A & A portrayed as sassy in VT, reminds me of Rai-Elle from last year, another young and urban act.
I think Bella could be in for a pimping tonight
Backed the LMA choir from the start so still hopeful. Dalton was great but has he peaked too soon? Or is he the winner waiting to be crowned?
Id still be looking towards a home born act to beat him when it came to the crunch.
I agree, they were even laying the groundwork of the come down during the pimping. “If there was a gold medal for singing you’d win the gold (for Jamaica)”.
Well spotted mate. I noted that.
Its very hard decoding their intentions at the moment. Im swinging towards a Bella win now.
I’m glad I got Dalton long before the lives now! Will get a tidy sum if he wins.
Anyone getting Maloney vibes from Danny? Even the panels comments feel very circa his year when it comes to him, and we all know what happened there!
Gio is like a Eurovision entry by Georgia or something.
Phil More like Malta I’d say. But you are right, definitely non-qualifier from the semis.
Anthonys terrible ruining such a good song. He deserves to go
And yet he got a standing ovation. Bizarre. It felt set up for poor comments and a targetting to me. I thought everything about it was awful. Who goes on TV in front of millions and wears that jumper?
He looked as though his mother had chosen his outfit for the Christian disco. Dead in the water.
Brendan Murray finally at his correct odds
25/1
Those comments for United Vibe are some of the worst I’ve seen.
Looks like they’ve given up on the one direction replacements then.
Bella cant win this. Tricky series this.
“The public are rooting for you” Ha.
Poor Bella and Anthony the show make it seem like they’re getting through by their personality which they r. Shan and Dalton r the superior in this category while scarlet and Brendan lack quite a bit of personality
Final 3 surely have to be Shan v Dalton v LMA. Who wins out of that is a hard one to call. Anyone think otherwise?
I’d replace LMA with Bella. I think LMA can get far but they lack the appeal to go all the way, imo
Shan and Dalton are way ahead of the pack. 3rd is up for grabs.
Janice pimped. Surely the “I love this country” moment was scripted, it was a great way to get votes. Janice will be out of the bottom 3, I think United Vibe will be bottom and A&A will be sent packing in a singoff against Gio.
Flashvote tmrw night ish. Some1 leaves at beginning and vote reopens for bttm 2 for sing off. I think United vibe or whatever r a goner for the flash vote thing. And bttm 2 could be molly/dan/A and A and if it was up 2 me Anthony would be first gone
That was the most negative show since 2016 lmao
More interesting when they do criticise the poorer contestants though. The judges comments felt a lot less cliche this week. Robbie and Ayda in particular felt much more believable.
I agree with Ben cook dalton and Shan are streets ahead of the pack and will put on a brilliant show in the final 3rd is up for grabs!
Agree that Dalton and Shan are leagues ahead. Think third could go to a few, poss misunderstood, maybe Bella or Scarlett.
I think LMA could be in trouble. Janice and Molly also although I think she was a little unfairly ripped apart.
Also IMO Brendan was by far the dullest tonight. Needs to step it up to keep clear of bottom three next week.
LMA choir on first and then memory holed by Shan. Or merely a test to see how their vote holds up going on so early? I’m inclined to think the latter. Money has come in for Dalton that has sent him favourite. LMA stared episode 1 at 66/1 and now down to 16/. All to play for.
I’ve focused very little on this series because it gives me little reason to. My notes:
– The show is trying hard to keep Janice safe for at least one more week.
– I think Dalton is starting to pick up steam.
– Shan is getting a voting strength test.
– I think Bella will at least be a semi-finalist if the show tries to push her.
– One of the non-Janice Overs is doing very strongly in the vote, but who?
– I had LMA Choir dead on arrival before the show but despite going on first, I’m not too sure now because everyone has been…
– If United Nations Vibrations get a name change, I expect death soon. Suggesting “New Boy Band” as the new name.
Dalton and Shan may well be in a different league but since when have the best two singers finished first and second? Dalton won’t win if TPTB don’t want him to.
I think he’d be a credible winner but I’m not sure he has any real commercial prospects after the show. Difficult to see any act that does though.
I just don’t get the feeling Dalton is a winner they would want to invest in. Hes had the best treatment so far and is the rightful favourite.
Ive pulled all my stakes from x factor for the moment with a small bet on the choir just for interest. Shan blew her chances before she even sang last night. What on earth was she doing.
Totally agree with Stoney on this. Enjoyed Dalton before the lives and felt he was likeable but don’t see him as someone TPTB would push to victory. There isn’t enough substance to him for me, a bit samey so far.
I went home to visit the parents this weekend and after watching Strictly which they love they endured watching X Factor with me! They are mid 60’s, liked Dalton and Scarlett but both said the LMA choir would win. My Mum commented to Shan after her opening speech “it’s just a song love!”. Then after her comments to Dermot said “she’s taking herself far too seriously”. Says it all. Shan isn’t going to win this.
We havent had a choir win x factor or bgt before. The reason they dont win bgt is the public dont back singing acts in that competition. The key will be once they get rid of Anthony and hand the scouse vote to LMA.
Im wondering if this is also the reason they are chucking missunderstood under the bus as they only want 1 group in the final.
So who is for the bottom of the vote and kocked out after the sing off?
Simply can’t call it at all. I think Janice will be down there again but I think a good two-thirds of the acts could be down there with her. I’d say Dalton, LMA Choir and Bella are safe. If I had a gun to my head, I’d say A&A bottom of the vote.
I’ve gone for Molly next to leave. I had never heard the song, Ayda referenced that aswell in her comments, no stage prescence and sadly no fun was allowed to be displayed for someone her age. Forgetable.
TBTB are keen to Janice with the “I love this country I’ve thought about you every day all these years”. Will the public buy it? I reckon they will. Robin S will please the demo.
Boyband were awful. A star aren’t likeable and Danny was weak.
Some stats from the app
Janice – 3.26k likes 1k dislikes
United Vibe 2.4k likes 3k dislikes
United Vibe are the only act with negative approval on the app. Surely they go first?
I think the longer voting format plays into United vibes hands a little. Im not so sure Janice bounces off the bottom.
Ive gone in again on brendan, those odds are ridiculous.
I fail to see who else the app wielding demo would vote for. If united vibe are goners, even more so.
I think hes doing a ben haenow/matt terry with the vote.
The key point your missing is he is anything but a heart throb. There is no hysteria surrounding him whatseover.
App users aren’t keen on him if the poll stats are correct, they had him as 5th least favourite performance in week 1 and 2nd least favourite this week. He’s my value pick for bottom 3 this week @3.85 lpm on Betfair and I think we’ll see Vibe 5 there for sure along with any one of Danny, Janice, Gio or Molly.
United vibe – least amount of votes
A and A vs Danny/Molly – sing off.
If Danny Danny goes
If molly A and A goes
Rating of tonight
1. Dalton
2. Shan
3. Lma
4. Scarlet
5. Janice
6. Bella
7. Misunderstood
8. Brendan
9. Danny
10. Molly
11. Giovanni
12. A and As
13. Anthony
14. United vibe or Poundland 1d
Have taken the 12-1 about Molly next elimination. On early, memory-holed by Dalton, non vote motivating comments, little known song. Totally forgettable. Would imagine they will be happy to lose a girl to even up categories and the other girls all got much better treatment. Reckon she’s toast if in the sing-off.
Dalton’s performance has twice as many views and almost three times as many likes as anyone else on YouTube so far
Im going for Janice as bottom of the vote. That speech was all to desperate. It was a pretty naff performance prior to that as well. Repeating I love the UK isnt going to be enough to save her in my opinion. I can see United Vibe/Molly in sing off with UV going home.
Stoney
Well done!
That speech was a real cringe.Finished her in my household
There was a lot of obvious indicators as to why she wouldn’t pick up the votes. Her outfit was pretty scary as well!
I suspect they may try and keep Janice around to shoot for a Danny/Janice singoff in week 3 to force Danny out then by Ayda refusing to choose an act.
Of course this is based on an assumption of Danny being a vote spooker in week 1.
As for this week, UV being rock bottom would be unlikely I think as it’s a boy band, but singoff likely. I also still have question marks about Acacia and Aaliyah, and Gio as well – and Molly is seeming like a classic gamma girl.
I still think United Vibe will be given another chance. Look how rubbish stereo kicks were and they kept getting saved. Molly offers no commercial potential whatsoever.
But agree that the I love uk will do Janice no favours. Just highlighted the fact she was foreign.
Exactly. Plus I think its safe to say she was second bottom of the vote last weekend. Otherwise Cowell sends it to deadlock. There’s no doubt they want to keep her in this week. I just dont think they can.
rewatching now. i’m getting 2013 running order vibes with the first two acts – playing their hand early with two strong acts, almost making the other acts pale in comparison.
shan is above this show. her formance gave me alicia keys/janelle monae feelings – her staging made her look like she was at the grammys. i’m not sure whether that is to her detriment though, when it comes to votes.
lma choir are still my shout for the time being. i’m only three acts in and danny tetley seems in for a rough ride. a ropey performance with middling tempo forgettable track. wouldn’t be surprised to see him down near the bottom tonight.
Danny has the lowest YT views this week (59k). Brendan is actually doing quite well (111k). I still don’t think Danny will be bottom 3 however as his demo probably don’t watch a lot of youtube in general. Only worrying thing is that Bella’s views are relatively low (80k) when her demo should be youtube savvy…
youtube views reliability has been questioned over the years, largely due to christopher maloney constantly getting low views and topping the vote, but i think the past couple of years they’ve been reflective of the vote? i could be wrong tho. and danny is a maloney 2.0 if i ever saw one.
the thing with danny was, his performance just got lost. the song choice did not stand out one bit, he seemed rather poisonous in his comments after the judges had spoken – i don’t know if he had enough of a core vote to keep him safe. of all the acts, i’d be concerned about him from my viewing of it.
brendan – i don’t think he was as bad as yall are saying. the show as a whole felt a lot more ‘as you were’ than it has this week, and a lot of the acts finally got some cold water poured on them. the same as last week, brendan got comments which suggested he has got things to work on rather than attacking his core as an artist, and his wounded puppy face to negative comments may generate sympathy.
i think janice did enough to avoid bottom outright but i would not be shocked to see her on a sing-off again and saved ala saara alto
That’s because it was all the nans voting for Maloney
finally got around to the whole show. it seems clear that the show was looking to push lmc choir, shan, anthony, a&a and dalton this week and i see them all being safe. everybody else had valid criticism and i wouldn’t be surprised to see them down there.
i see janice and danny in the sing off as i previously mentioned. i’d place gio as finishing last and out however united whatever they’re called are worth covering as i’m not entirely confident that danny doesn’t have a huge bunch of support to keep him afloat for the time being. it is wide open – molly was completely forgettable too, with the second unknown song in two weeks, and misunderstood continue to be a budget rak su. a clear divide this year.
1st CATEGORY safe. WTF?!
Well it’d be a bit dull if they went through every single act who was safe twice in the same show. And good idea to split the two eliminations out I think.
Bingo. A decent winner for me
Wth Janice is gone . Tbh any of the overs could’ve gone and I wouldn’t have cared . Unite vibe vs Molly or Danny for the sing off
Has any act in the pimp ever fell into the bttm 2 let alone finishing bttm of the vote
Carolynne Poole did it. In a show that finished pretty late if I recall.
Brendan vs LMA choir every1 us shitting themselves rn. Unites vibe Danny and Molly r all safe
Happy with that. Called Janice and LMA, tidy profit in tonight so far.
Tough sing off now!
If anyone had money on LMA Choir v Brendan in the sing off I think they’re going to be pretty rich right now.
Brendan gotta be gone
oh ok, interesting bottom two. i was wrong and yall were right with brendan. surely he goes?
surprised at lmc. i guess the scousers only mobilise for one at a time.
Do we know whether the vote was reset after Janice went? Unless I missed it, I don’t think Dermot said our previous votes rolled over – and we did get another 5 extra app votes too. If that’s the case it could lead to some odd results.
I’m pretty sure Dermot said the lines were frozen rather than closed and reset.
Wonder if Strictly crossover impacted the choir.
Do feel like this week was a test of their vote. They performed really well, and a crowd pleaser too!
Reckon Molly was not the 9th this week tho she probably wasn’t too far from it. Danny getting through does not surprise me even after Madonna.
he just re-opened, didn’t he? surely they wouldn’t reset the whole lot?
reply to ben, sorry bad connection
i don’t know about a strictly crossover for lma, but definitely going first impacted them. they were treated favourably and their performance was excellent. can only conclude that their vote was decent last week with a decent r.o slot and tptb thought they would survive being first on as they weren’t shat on obviously.
Happy to see Brendan in the sing off after calling him bottom three but does he go here? Would they want 4 left in the groups and only 2 in the boys when Brendan isn’t a threat going off app stats and being bottom three here and his vote is under control?
Well, there you are. He’ll be gone soon anyway. Diabolical performance from Brendan, but he has his followers. Don’t you love X Factor.
deadlock?
Surely Ayda votes for her husband’s act, so it just depends if Simon wants to take it to deadlock or not.
The blonde girl in LMA Choir is incredible. They can’t go after that.
Louis gives it away whos going home again!
Pray tell, what do you mean? Did he fluff his lines (that I missed)?
First time we’ve seen deadlock since 2016 week 6
TPTB just messing with us this year clearly!
So much for ‘first choir on this show’!
Who wins it now, Shan by default? Bella?
What did Louis say? I thought Brendan’s sing-off was absolutely shocking.
LMA traded approx 3/1 and Brendan 1/3 on betfair pre sing off.
God knows what they’ll have to do to United Vibe now to get rid of them.
The name change is coming!
It’s really weird.
They have done better at this stage of the competition than the last put together boy band from soloists, Stereokicks who ended up in the sing off in week 2 out of 14 acts, and they were a supported/favoured act.
Really interesting result tonight!
Saw a twitter spoiler just as the vote closed about Janice which promptly disappeared. Thought she was in trouble though along with LMA.
Brendan hit the bottom 3 a week earlier than I thought so overall v.happy.
Anyone going to wrestle this away from Shan or Dalton now?
Good to see Louis’s 33 million followers voting for his acts.
I’m surprised they haven’t branded this the most unpredictable show this yr cus u cant rlly call it.
No one I predicted landed in the bttm 2.
They saved Brendan cus they couldn’t have Louis losing 2 acts. The girls r easily the strongest category this yr. Even Molly was probs 8th or 9th on the vote definitely not right near the bttm
Chatterbox….Dont think Ayda was never going to vote for husbands act 2 weeks running after last weeks feedback!
Reckon that was a difficult one for them to manage. LMA clearly the better sing-off by miles, and have had much better comments from the judges so far. Wonder if there’s some truth in the rumours of an agreement to have Brendan on the show as part of the deal with Louis Walsh not returning?
Well that was a close one!
Im sticking by my guns this series and saying he wins. There was quite an engineered feeling about that singoff and the application of last nights vote to decide deadlock. A bounce, a vote builder and a pimp slot will see him into the final.
I’ve come out unscathed this year. Cutting my losses. Cant even be bothered to try and work out what’s gonna happen from this point. Im only going to risk eating into my strictly pot if I carry on betting on this programme.
Good luck to everyone with the rest of the series.
Hi Sofabet team,
Can you guys explain what happened tonight?
Thanks 🙂
Have been out tonight so haven’t seen the show. Followed comments on here so thanks for updates. Can’t work this one out, positive comments and standing ovation last night surely means they weren’t targetting LMA? They must have been comfortable that they were safe enough to put on first. What went wrong? How did they score so low?
Yet even with poor comments for Brendan last night and by the sound of it weaker in the sing off they still saved him? I don’t get it.
Lost on LMA for the win with a few quid left on Mistunderstood, they might make the final but not sure. 50/1 for Brendan The Juan if you think he can win from here. That would be quite something.
Brendan must have the Irish vote is all I would say. That was a poor performance.
Like other posters here, I’ve lost the plot this series. None of the normal clues have worked. EG Janice, who got the full pimp, with even the megastar video screens at either side of the stage, best running order, great lighting, good dancers, good sound, yet she still got kicked out. Yes, she gave a stupid speech, but that doesn’t normally count for much.
I’m mystified.
Fright night back making it’s 2 yr return. Hopefully we’ll get more focus with that theme.
I’m ready for some black and red staging for Danny and United vibe and maybe a mess with Molly like there was for sam Laverty in 2016. Think I could see A test for Shan and Dalton next week too. Maybe for scarlet to shine alongside misunderstood but can’t see Brendan bouncing with that theme
Uzair
Yes, a definite de-ramp for Danny and UV. Maybe dress up Danny as a psycho clown, from any one of dozens of movies.
But then again. Ayda only has 2 overs left surely theyd want her to keep her 2 a week. For a judge that’s been heavily doubted losing 3 acts in 3 weeks rlly won’t help her. Look at Mel B lol
Having slept on it ive decided to go with my original pick to win this series. The Scouse Rocky Balboa. The British love an underdog.
Still feel fairly comfortable with this week all said. Called most of the safes. Am wondering if A&A will be an Abi Alton act.
Re LMA am still fairly certain this was a test of their vote. If they were flagging this badly now, expect producers were happy to let them go. Tbh other concern about them real-world wise is the number of them. How are 20 members going to be paid and tour and travel across Europe? Big cost associated with signing them.
Reckon concern this week was equalizing the ranks a bit and additionally establishing Ayda as her own woman. For that reason, unlikely that she would vote with Robbie. Expect to see more of that in future.
Molly and UV square in the firing line for next week.