Ok, If it’s not been previously established, I’m a Raging addict of the Eurovision. I love it, follow it, can’t wait for it, have all the dvds and cds. No-one in England would understand that, maybe the odd gay man who likes Eurovision because it’s the stereotype (absolutely NO offence meant, if you like it genuinely then have at it and get in touch with me ;)).
Well, in my kind of skewed logic, I thought “I can’t say I like Eurovision, and then with the same breath say I don’t like The X Factor”. So, last year I watched X Factor properly for the first time. I was routing for Danyl Johnson (his stage presence makes me come in my pants :O 16 million viewers people!!). Simon Cowell didn't even stand up for One Direction, he stood up for Danyl!
I love The X Factor concept, until I figured out the truth of the contest. Unlike Eurovision, X Factor is not genuine at all – Don’t Stop Reading. I am NOT jumping on the “fiX Factor” band wagon, far from it!!
Last year I thought it was ok. I watched it week on week and enjoyed it, listened to the judges, got sad when acts I liked went out but had forgotten them by Monday, and thought all negativity to Danyl was entirely unfair and that he should have won. I mean, just look at Stacey Soloman. Good singer?...not really. Interested in music as a career...obviously not. Wanting to put something out into the world...are you kidding me?
This year I watched it Avidly!!! I enjoyed it immensely ... obviously not as much as Eurovision, but I do enjoy X Factor, otherwise I would have switched off week one and had done.
My favourite part of it is the group performances. I have read some INCREDIBLY scathing pieces of writing on the internet about these, as if these people are supposed to be Pavarotti and they are disappointed that they (appear to but it’s not proven) mime these performances.
Along the way of the competition I kept a record of these performances, initially to see if you could predict the winner by watching them (you can, I checked with last years videos), but eventually because I like watching them so much. The choreography is spot on – how they have got it so specific people do specific things at certain times in genius.
Here is my tribute to my favourite part of X Factor:
1. 16 rhythm of the night
2. 14 telephone
3. 12 forget you
4. 10 so what
5. 9 can't stop moving
X Factor is basically a puppet show. At first they have many puppets, most of which are just ‘canon fodder’ (Nicolo Fester, FYD, Storm Lee for examples). They make up the numbers, and make it a ten week show instead of a two week show.
They have girl puppets for the tweenie girls, five Justin Bubo puppets again for the tweenies and teens, a twenties single mother for the 20-something girls, an older lady for the middle aged and unsatisfied, a comedy puppet for effect, a lad/workman-come-good puppet... we all know how that one turns out.
The judges have scripted and thought out responses to the performances, what they say becomes truth – it is never about what actually happened, it is about what the judges SAY happened.
Case in point when one week Paije Richardson sang “I’m a believer” and they gushed over him saying he was brilliant, and the very next week he sang “Crocodile Rock” and the comments were “your chances are zero” and “that song was made in 1972, he wasn’t even born” ....errr.... hello, “I’m a believer” was made in 1966 for pete’s sake...
I don’t want to be negative about the X Factor, because I do genuinely like it, I watched every week and got VERY excited on a Sunday night waiting for who went out and who stayed.
I was definitely a Rebecca Fan from the start. Her highlight for me was this song...
It’s so good done by her, she shyly makes love to the microphone. I hope she goes onto success being the second place man this year. I mean come on – Olly Murs did brilliantly!
But I would have LOVED One Direction to win this time, if I was 14 I would have had a little banner of them and would have loved to go to Bradford HMV to be part of the ridiculous mania that befell it!!
The winner this year....I have never seen the appeal of Matt Cardle. He had everyone in tears with his “First Time I Saw Your Face”, but that’s only because it’s an emotional song, not because he sang it particularly well. Dannii Minogue kept giving him girl songs, and claimed that he was the only boy that could pull them off (see above about ‘what they say is the truth’). The only reason he pulled them off is because he has a high voice like a girl. Sometimes I felt he was straining himself to get up that high though, it never sounded a comfortable sound to me.
He was highest in votes every single week apart from the first when Mary Byrne ran away with it...apparently the X Factor viewers go Ape over a big woman singing about the world is nothing without a woman. For me, whenever I see this, I think of this :S
I have to mention Katie Waissel ... I had an inclining at first that she would win, that there was some deal cooked up with Cole/Cowell. She came out with this performance for Guilty Pleasures week, and I thought it was Spot ON
However, after that week they ran with “Quirky” instead of “Unexpected” with her (which are very different things). Such a shame.
Part of the reason that I watch X Factor is that I like to know about things that other people know about. Kind of herd mentality, but also so you have something to talk about with certain people.
Case in point, my hair dresser. Around six weeks ago at our appointment we talked about X Factor and how she liked Matt and I like Rebecca. I had an appointment this week, and it was never even mentioned. The fickleness of people - and that is a CORE part of the X Factor phenomenon. The fact that the majority of the public like something only when it’s popular/fashionable, (and some people because it's popular/fashionable), and when it’s finished they discard it.
This week my weekend is a lil bit empty without The X Factor, and I will be watching next year!
You could say... this X Factor is Unforgettable.
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