SPOILER ALERT: this blogpost includes the name of the winner of X Factor 2011.
It's been a
turbulent season, to say the least, for the
X Factor. No, not the stage managed, and almost certainly scripted, fallings out of the judges, but
the frauds and cons continue.
And, after Tuesday's
revelation of the winner, four weeks BEFORE the final and the public's chance to vote, surely ITV, OfCom and the viewing public have had enough of this
tawdry and tired format?
This season,
heralded a fresh start with new judges, has already courted controversy with a
public phone-in quiz in which the options changed between commercial breaks. That's been followed by
Tulisa (who many must wonder why she was a judge as her singing ability and charisma would, surely, have seen her not make "boot camp")
using the show to get free advertising for her own perfume - even in last week's semi-final she was still doing her one-armed salute, prominently showing off her tatto with the product name on it (had the only Bazis thought about it they could have used their sown one-arm salute and conquered Europe with crass consumerism and over-priced fragrance instead of bombs and the
Final Solution).
There's also been the fuss about
Frankie being thrown off the show, and him being replaced by
Amelia Lily, who had already been
rejected in the first live show.
Now, I do wonder whether
Frankie was a stooge, a fall guy, set up to generate column inches in the red tops. He really couldn't sing (go to YouTube, there are many examples) but he was prepared to make himself look an
arse and a manwhore. The producers needed Frankie because, let's be honest, very few of the other acts have any signs of stardom, and ever fewer have a personality. He may be an arse but, having done their dirty work, I hope the show sees Frankie right somehow.
Then there's
Amelia Lily. In the first live show, in a "
dramatic twist" (!), each judge had to get rid if one of the acts they were mentoring.
Kelly Rowland, mentoring the girls, chose Amelia Lily. No one thought anything if it - she seemed, like her mentor, rather vapid and had, being generous, an average voice and limited stage presence. Then, when Frankie was chucked out, they allowed the public to vote one of the first show rejects back. However, well
before the phone vote closed, the STV website announces that Amelia Lily had won the public vote and was overjoyed! Whoops!
The public vote had been a scam.
In the few weeks since her return it's apparent that
Amelia Lily is a changed performer and has undergone some major voice coaching and styling.
The X Factor final is this Saturday evening. (There's hours of it!). The public phone vote for the final won't close until something around 10 p.m. on Saturday.
Odd, then, that the HMV website had Amelia Lily's winner's song for sale on its website on Tuesday.
Yes, four days BEFORE the public vote, Amelia Lily knows she's the winner of X Factor 2011.
I wonder how the other contestants feel about that? They've been so blatantly robbed - or, let's hope not, they're all in on the scam.
Sadly, fans of the show will make excuses for this situation. They'll blame errors. They'll say she deserves it. They'll excuse the show and Simon Cowell because, deep down, lots of the wish they could be in her shoes and signing a £1 million recording contract.
I just wonder WHEN she signed that contract. Was it back in the summer?
I really hope this is the end of the road for the X Factor. I'm not anti talent shows per se, but when
the public is being conned like this and there is no real contest, just a fix, it has no place on our tv screens.
The immediate problem for the producers is that if Amelia Lily is announced winner on Saturday,
will anyone believe it is anything but a fix - even though she is probably the strongest contestant left (well, after a couple if months of intensive training she ought to be!)?
The longer term issue, though, is that this should lead to some criminal charges.
