Posts tagged The X Factor
The X Factor: Did The Right Singer Win?
Dec 23rd
And the X Factor winner is… Melanie Amaro. Wow, what a shocker! I mean seriously, did anyone out there really have any doubt that the hands down strongest singer in this year’s competition was going to scoop that $5 million record deal? You think Simon Cowell was going to let The Stereo Hogzz or Leroy walk away with that prize?
Looking back, it’s been pretty obvious from day one that Simon had his sights set on crowning Melanie his first X Factor USA champ. I lost count of how many times Amaro ended a show in the prized ‘pimp’ slot. And then there was that patently ridiculous last minute switcheroo, in which Cowell pretended to eliminate Melanie at the Judges’ Homes stage of the contest, only to bring her back at the last minute as an extra contestant. Are we seriously meant to believe that Simon let Melanie go for the likes of Simone Battle? Come on!
The X Factor Season 2: Five Key Changes The Show Has To Make
Dec 16th
The end is almost here…
After countless weeks, an avalanche of hype and the biggest promo campaign in recent memory, The X Factor will finally unveil its $5 million winner next week. But will it be Melanie, Josh or Chris?
While far from the smash hit Fox expected, The X Factor has been a solid Fall performer for the network and has given us some great drama along the way. Remember Astro’s bottom 2 brat attack? Simon flipping out at Paula and Nicole after Drew was sent packing? And most famously, Rachel Crow’s elimination breakdown which had many of us questioning if the X Factor age limit was too low.
But while The X Factor has done plenty right this season it’s also made some crucial missteps. So now Simon Cowell, Fox Exec Mike Darnell and the rest of the team have 9 months to right the ship ahead of Season 2.
NETWORK SCORECARD: FOX
Dec 12th
Time for another end of year Network Scorecard – and this time around we’re heading to Fox…
WHAT’S WORKING:
AMERICAN IDOL / THE X FACTOR: Did Fox make the right decision in adding ANOTHER music competition show to their line-up?
Sure The X Factor is nowhere near the ratings league of the mighty American Idol – but then again, what is? The new Simon Cowell show is generally delivering between 10 – 12 million viewers a week versus Idol’s 18-20 million. Plus it’s an expensive show to make. Sounds like a flop right?
Not really. Many of the costs of The X Factor are borne by deep-pocketed brands like Pepsi. Plus the show is a hit among the advertiser coveted 18-49 demo and has been instrumental in increasing Fox’s Fall ratings year on year (they’re up 17%). Fox can now legitimately claim to be a year round network, instead of a channel that only kicks in in January.
As for Idol – well rumors of its post-Simon Cowell demise proved to be totally unfounded. Sure the show slipped a tad from seasons past – but the new lineup of Steven Tyler, J. Lo and Randy Jackson proved a hit with viewers (though not with myself) and More >
Are The X Factor Contestants Too Young?
Dec 9th
Okay so who watched the X Factor elimination last night? Dramatic stuff, right?
In case you missed it, the shock result saw 13-year-old former favorite Rachel Crow sent packing after Nicole Scherzinger refused to vote, pushing the result to deadlock with the viewer vote going Marcus’s way.
But it’s what happened next that provided the X Factor USA’s most stunning moment to date. I’ve seen a lot of contestant eliminations over the years – but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a singer react quite like that!
In case you missed it – Rachel had a complete meltdown upon hearing of the result. She literally collapsed to the stage, bawling her eyes out, while Simon and her mom came onstage to comfort her. Meanwhile Nicole also collapsed into tears – and was later booed by the crowd. All great drama for the show. But I can’t have been the only person left wondering – was Rachel too young to be put in this position in the first place?
The X Factor Top 7: Michael Jackson Night – It’s Bad!
Dec 1st
If you were feeling that Michael Jackson hadn’t been in the news enough recently never fear – The X Factor is here – to put the King Of Pop firmly back in the headlines.
Yep, how wonderful – to commemorate the sentencing of Dr Conrad Murray – the Fox talent series dragged out several of the Jackson family to witness the wholesale massacre of Michael’s back catalogue. We had the leeches (aka Marlon, Jackie and the other one), who continue to live off Michael’s legacy, mom Katherine who host Steve Jones desperately wanted to speak (he succeeded later in a horribly ‘awkward’ interview) and Michael’s kids – including the permanently unhappy looking Blanket.
Mind you, who can blame Blanket given the wholesale mess the contestants made of his father’s songs. Talk about Blood On The Dancefloor. Here’s my take…
The X Factor Top 9: Reasons To Be Thankful?
Nov 23rd
I don’t know about you but I felt like taking a shower after watching last night’s Thanksgiving inspired X Factor.
Sure the sentiment of ‘Giving Thanks’ was a worthy sentiment but did the whole episode have to be quite so heavy handed and mawkish? I felt battered by the non-stop barrage of pre-performance videos featuring the Top 9’s sad person stories. Put it this way – a little goes a long way – and there was nothing subtle about this week’s show!
The love fest continued into the actual performances which to be fair were generally strong. But did the judges have to give everyone quite such a free pass? Personally I’m just thankful Thanksgiving is just once a year!
So how did the Top 9 fare – as usual here’s my impressions of the night:
The X Factor Top 10: The Judges Bite Back!
Nov 17th
Did my ears deceive me? Did Nicole Scherzinger actually utter a few words of criticism last night? And Paula Abdul too? What is happening to the world?
Yep, finally, after three weeks of ‘live’ shows the X Factor judges are now starting to get real, a great relief after the lovefests of recent weeks. Simon especially was back to his American Idol best, blasting several contestants with blistering attacks. And as usual – he was spot on.
Last night’s theme was Rock Week – but don’t worry about that – it’s clear the contestants and mentors didn’t as the genre was pushed to breaking point. As usual here’s my knee jerk reactions to the Top 10. But do you agree?
The X Factor Top 11: Save The Best For Last
Nov 10th
Question time – what was the most awkward moment from this week’s movie themed X Factor. Was it:
a) The Final 11 heading to the premiere of Adam Sandler’s Jack And Jill – a movie that looks about as appetizing as a bowlful of toxic waste – but to quote Drew ‘the funniest movie she’s ever seen!’
b) Stacy Francis’s horribly unflattering Queen Of The Night outfit (which pretty much matched the vocals). Pure cougar.
c) Paula Abdul attacking Drew’s dress – only to be told that the young singer designed it herself! Oops…
d) L.A.Reid’s ignorance of the song ‘Ain’t No Other Man’ – a major Top 10 hit for Christina Aguilera in 2006.
e) Nicole Scherzinger. Period.
So many options to choose from in the craziness that is The X Factor. To be honest I still don’t think the US version of the Brit hit has quite found its feet yet in terms of the judging panel – where only L.A. and Simon seem to want to play the game. Still this week’s show was a step up from last week as we FINALLY heard some criticisms and a couple of acts really veered of course. So once again here’s my one line recaps…
More >The X Factor Top 12: So When Does The Judging Start?
Nov 3rd
So what did you make of last night’s X Factor – the first show of the season so far where we the audience will be voting?
Well first up I have to give some praise to stiff-as-a-board X Factor host Steve Jones, who FINALLY started to display some personality last night. Brit viewers will know that Steve can be a likable, funny presence on UK screens, but ever since he started hosting The X Factor it’s as though all vestiges of personality have been sucked out of him! Thankfully it seems that Fox took the note – and Steve was markedly looser last night – though he still has some way to go…
Meanwhile I have to be honest – pretty much every performance across the board was good, eliciting non-stop praise from the judges and making it hard for viewers at home to tell them apart. I felt a bit bombarded by last night’s episode since there were so many contestants and so much spectacle. What I needed – and wanted – was some real judgment from the ‘mentors’ which would have given the evening some much needed punctuation. But Nicole and Paula didn’t utter a single negative word all night, L.A. More >
They’re here – The X Factor USA live shows have arrived – but what did you make of all the much hyped production numbers? Any $5 million winners in the bunch?
Before I deliver my category by category thoughts here’s a few general notes:
1) Could host Steve Jones be any blander? Sure Jones looks great in a suit but I don’t think I detected anything resembling a personality during the entire length of last night’s 2 1/2 hour show. It just goes to show how valuable Ryan Seacrest is to the Idol franchise.
2) What a relief to finally hear some DIFFERENT songs on a music competition show. I’m so tired of tracks like Mack The Knife, Alone and Hallelujah being performed on Idol – so it was definitely a breath of fresh air to hear contestants taking on Britney’s Womaniser, Come On Eileen, Do You Really Want To Hurt Me and I Kissed A Girl. Sure it didn’t all work but it was good to see X Factor artists actually trying on some more contemporary songs. No Fleetwood Mac / Beatles week here!
3) I liked the Judges’ squabbling but it’s gonna get real old real fast if they don’t start criticizing More >
