I'd have sacked both of last nights bottom two, their "singing to save your life" performances were both terrible especially The Haircut.

On the other hand, what a good idea that would be - literally singing to save their life.

I'd have sacked both of last nights bottom two, their "singing to save your life" performances were both terrible especially The Haircut.

On the other hand, what a good idea that would be - literally singing to save their life.

Saturday was the first time I have had the misfortune to watch any of it this year. My daughter is usually in bed by 8 so we record it for her and she watches it Sunday morning while I'm at training. However, it's half term and she negotiated a 9pm stay up so we had to sit through and hour of it. WTF are these people? I guess that's what you expect from a panel of judges so musically challenged. Barlow is supposed to be the one with musical credibility but my favourite Barlow creative period was when he created 8 extra stones of fat by eating every donut in Britain on a daily basis. I wish he'd go back to crying over the harsh taunts of Robbie. Come on Robbie, start taking the p!$$ out of him again, it was hilarious. You know you want to.

A show that's died on it's @r$e like Strictly Come Wait for Bruce to Die and Bad Ice Skating By Total Amateurs We've Never Heard Of, did 5 years ago.

Ah, an X Factor thread...

Week 1 and it was no contest, Craig was head and shoulders above everyone else, and bonus points should go to him for deliberately changing the words one time to "Jar Of Farts". That was very well done. It's a shame he was so disappointing this week.

Everyone else, based on last week, was nothing more than an also-ran, although Sami surprised me by being quite good.

This week was THOROUGHLY disappointing, it comes to something when Jonny turns out to be one of the best acts. Frankie was HORRENDOUS. Janet... I just don't get it. It'd be "cute" to hear a 6 year old girl sing like that, but for a "senior" class singing competition, I really don't understand the fuss about her. She can't even sing in tune.

Nu Vibe were crap, but I'm confused as to why they're out so early, despite the fact they were so much better than last year's One Direction. Still crap, though, obviously.

Basically, as long as the final few end up as Craig, Marcus, Misha B and Sami, it doesn't really matter what order the rest go out. Apart from Craig's week 1 performance, no-one's really stood out and shone.

But Frankie's presence in the finals is basically a huge insult to the rest. Frankie, Janet and Rhythmix should never have reached this stage. Ever.

unfortunately i caught a few minutes of the sing off last night also. now i think there is something illegal going on regards the sing off.
i was under the impression people phoned to keep their favourite in the show??(possibly a premium rate phone line, im not too sure about that though)
surely then there should not be a sing off as the one with the lowest votes goes out?
x amount of thousands of people would have wanted the group to stay in and less might have wanted the lad to stay in, yet in the end the judges decided who stayed and the lad stayed in.surely that is wrong (legally and morally)why would people spend their money to vote for their favourite but at the end of the day its the judges who decide, not them and the show is still raking the money in. its a CON and surely lllegal??

You might have a point if not for the teensy fact that the people voting all know exactly how it works!

Yep, I'm not sure why the people who vote actually do it, because the public don't actually have a say in who actually goes until much later in the series when the producers have managed to whittle it down to who [ithey[/i want.

Frankie was p[ii[/iss poor last night in the survival sing off - don't think I've heard many worse performances on the programme than that. Gary Barlow saying that it's unbelievable he was in the bottom two is obviously an effort to save face because of him constantly bigging him up - he knows he's garbage but doesn't want to admit it.

On another note, how appalling were The Wanted?? I've never actually heard anything by them but constantly hear of people going on about them - they wouldn't have looked out of place as contestants on the programme given how bad they were. Katy Perry was actually pretty good, considering a lot of people say she's terrible live.

Sophie Habibibibibibibis still in, so I'm happy anyway

I remember seeing an interview with Simon Cowell where someone put it too him that the winner doesn't get £1 million as publicised. Cowell said straight up, no, the winner gets £150000, the other £850000 is what they spend on the winner in producing and promoting their album. That won't go that far for launching an act from scratch...if you have seen the video for Matt Cardle's single you can see its been done on the cheap. If the act was REALLY talented then they could get their own momentum and their career would kick off from there but for someone who is not that good just won a TV show then £850000 will allow them to put one album out and then if it bombs they will be dropped.

Frankie is well out of his depth and its hilarious that they say stuff like 'lock up your daughters' and out walks a very average looking lad with silly hair and clothes. If it was about looks then the tall lad from Widnes that they kicked off in the twist was much better looking than Frankie and more stylish, and he sang better, I expect he was removed so as not to intrude on their ability to promote Frankie as the sex symbol of the competition.

I agree with that, I'd never seen the Wanted before, Id only heard them on the radio and I assumed they were teenage boys, it surprised me that they looked like they were guys in their 20s.

And every penny is accounted for, those four star hotels you got a taste for, the mini bars you raided while touring the UK's HMV stores on that meet and greet tour, that nice penthouse flat overlooking the Thames that nice Mr Cowell put you up in, the limo's instead of taxis, the weekend you went back to your mums and flew home instead of getting the National Express, all of it, it all came out of your advance.

One of my cousin's has done plenty of rehearsal sessions as "AN Other" guitar player in the height of the boy band era and they loved it when they were left sitting around in a studio all morning until said young kids could be d getting out of bed, when you're a "paid by the hour troubadour" it makes it all the more enjoyable when you, and everyone else in the business (except said boy band) know that they are paying for every stick of chewing gum that you used up waiting for them.

There are plenty of "bands" who never saw a single penny from the advance once the accountants got their hands on the books.

TBF the blurb has always talked of "£1m recording contract", I don't think it was ever implied that there was like a £1m cash prize.

Indeed, anyone thinking of finding "fame and fortune" in the music industry may possibly discover that one does not necessarily follow the other. A quick read-up on the relationship between The Small Faces and Don Arden should be sufficient warning

A quick check on anything that Don Arden did will cause involuntary gasps, Sharon Osbournes biog doesn't exactly paint her father in a good light.

Elton Johns biog (can't remember the title but its the one done with his consent) also has some very interesting details about his long fight with Dick (Robin Hood) James Music and the accusations that Mr Dwight's actions caused Mr James' death.

I can't remember the name of it, but Ben Elton wrote a book satirizing the whole X Factor phenomenon, and explains exactly how this particular element can be used to choose 'the right' candidate, no matter what the public thinks.
In short, you can be one of the two lowest votes every week, but if the panel wants to keep you, then you're kept in, no matter how dire you actually are.

It's all a con, and people keep buying into it.

BTW, just how much echo, reverb and protools were they using last week? Never the sign of a good singer, they're usually used to mask weaknesses and missed notes.

it was particularly evident on the camp fella singing the Kylie song. all through the song, there was a female voice in the background echoing what the bloke was singing.