Aaaah that takes me back - NEC, early 80s. Still one of the best live bands I've ever seen.

It was the que for all us nerdy, girlfriendless lads to get up and dance at the Christmas school disco (usually at the old Astoria).

If you don't get even slightly tempted to dig out the air guitar to a Rush song then you've got something seriously wrong with the wiring in your brain.

Or you're a girl. One or the other.

Did you get the T-Shirt with the Signals album cover on... a dalmation sniffing a fire hydrant!... smart piece of clothing that!!

Bit fookin stupid arent they.

So you're going to go hang about queuing for 7 hours to not even make it past the first set of judges (which means you wont even get to cowell etc) then go home.

How fookin stupid are you all?

I didn't like Joe and wanted him out in the early rounds but to be fair on him he turned out to be the best of an average bunch in the end this year. One thing though, why fid they pick a song that has already been released in the same year?surely this will have gone against him in the sales.

Anyway, compared to the last 2 winners Joe was poor and will be gone in the next year or so.

Great track,and album, is RATMs in my opinion. Preventing a kareoke singer with limited talent getting to number1, is an added bonus.

They all disappear after 3yrs tops anyhow, because much like the girl in the local she's good at kareoke but that's as far as it goes.

Joe is miles better than Leon Jackson.

He was that bad that I'd forgotten about him and skipped a year. You knew what I meant though. Campared to Leona Lewis and Alexandra Burke. Now they can sing and make the show worthwhile.

I knew exactly who you meant, I was just been an ar$e.

I also like what you've done with that spelling mistake, even if it was an accident.

So true. X Factor is not a patch on American Idol for various reasons.
1. They stick to the single and young singer format (no naff group or over 25's catergories).
2. A different style of singer wins Am. Idol every year, from C&W to Rock to R&B. All X Factor churns out are pop singers aimed at a teeny market (one that is easy to exploit and manipulate, eh Mr Cowell?).

I wouldn't have cared less who beat Joe to the no. 1 spot. At least people power has changed the predictable Christmas top spot for this year.

I've quite enjoyed the campaign. I think all those who point out the "irony" in the lining of Simon Cowell's pockets miss the point. He's a very rich man, nad when you consider the cost of a single and the size of his cut, this chart race hasn't made any difference either way financially. That was never the point. He's a business man, he knows his market and he's got rich, I won't hold that agianst him. The campaign was for those of us who'd like to see a bit of competition in the charts again, having seen them steamrollered by the X-Factor's marketing machine for years. It's for those of us who are nauseated by hearing how hard the talent-show winners have worked for all 12 weeks of their career, when there are real musicians, writing real music who have spent years touring the country/world in vans, playing tiny venues to handfuls of people before finally getting their break, most of whom still wouldn't dare to call it work. #

I'm sure this Joe guy can sing very nicely. I know several people who can sing very nicely. It doesn't make them artists.

A lot of people don't care about that stuff, which is fine, but clearly enough people do for this year's viral campaign to work. That, of itself pleases me. Chart music isn't a big deal, in the grand scheme of things, so if you want to protest about it, the one proportional and appropriate place to do it is the chart, which is exactly what happened.

I own every Rage album, I still bought Killing in the Name. It cost me 49p, which I can spare. The few quid for the associated charity campaign didn't break the bank either. If nothing else, by the time the dust from this settles, Shelter will probably be about £100k better off, which is quite nicely in keeping with the RATM spirit if you ask me.

Plus the fact that the song must be the worst song ever released. Even stuff like Mr Blobby and Bob the Builder was better than this complete poo box of a song from Rage against the Machine.

Shocking, absolutely shocking.