The X-Factor Final 2011 - Amelia departs in stage one

By Jason Wright (Entertainment Expert)

THOUSANDS had fallen by the wayside and now just three acts remained.  This weekend, Little Mix, Marcus Collins and Amelia Lily competed in the 2011 X-Factor final, infront of 10,000 fans live at Wembley Arena.

After the casual, but always cringe worthy scene entrance of Dermot O’Leary, the three finalists kicked off with a group performance of Take That’s ‘Greatest Day.’  Then it was onto the real matter of impressing the public.  Each act had two songs to perform on the first night of the final and the act that finished bottom of the public vote would be eliminated.

Making a lasting impression

For their first performance of the night, each act was given a song they had never previously performed before in the competition.  With Wembley Arena’s bigger stage capacity, each act had the opportunity to add an extra dimension into their first song.  First was Marcus, who performed Outkast’s ‘Hey Ya!’ to the backdrop of a prop plane.  To say it was amazing was a bit of an understatement as he tore the roof of the building (not literally) with his cool, calm and collected approach to the song.

So, how could Little Mix match or even beat the stage display from Marcus?  Simple, arrive on stage, riding four Harley Davidson bikes before blasting into a rendition of Florence + the Machine’s ‘You Got the Love.’  They have been without question the revelation of this competition, not only having ripped up the form book of girl groups on the show but shredding and burning it.  The question was now, could the public believe that they really could go all the way?

Finally it was the turn of Amelia.  Kelly Rowland decided to take gamble in not using extra displays, deciding just to concentrate on her performance ability.  Though that might have sounded a big disadvantage, her version of ‘Ain’t No Other Man’ by Christina Aguilera was at the same level as all of her performances since her whirlwind return. 

The bond between acts and mentors exposed

As with finals in the past, each act would next perform a song with a special guest.  This is X-Factor though and with the new venue destination in mind, the stakes were raised massively.  So for the first time in the show’s history, each act was tasked to perform with their mentors.  It was a chance to see whether they really had either bonded together throughout the competition or were at each other’s throats.

First, Marcus and Gary Barlow performed Billy Joel’s classic ‘She’s Always a Woman.’  Collins announced previously he would be dedicating his performance to his mother and both he and Barlow made the song into their own unique way.

UNISON: Tulisa was like a fifth member of Little Mix in the duet round

Next, it was time for Tulisa and Little Mix (or ‘Little Muffins’ as Tulisa has been referring them to as throughout much of the competition) to give a medley of the Alicia Keys songs ‘If I Ain’t Got You’ and ‘Empire State of Mind.’  This performance perhaps gave no question that this is the best partnership between act and mentor in the competition.  At times, it felt like Tulisa had become the fifth member of the group.

Then Amelia and Kelly joined forces to perform Tina Turner’s ‘River Deep, Mountain High.’  As much as Amelia gave it her best as she has with any other song in this competition, the overall level performance lacked the passion and dedication that was required at this point in the final.

Only the public now could decide whether the acts had done enough to win a place in Sunday night’s decider.

 

The full time whistle goes for Amelia Lily…again!

The finalists weren’t of course, the only ones to take to the Wembley stage as The X-Factor promised that the final would be littered with guest stars.  On Saturday, the fans were treated a special “super group” performance by JLS and One Direction, as well as cameo appearances from Leona Lewis and Michael Buble.

Finally, the voting lines were frozen and the results of the first stage of the final were in.  Little Mix continued their incredible run by reaching the final two and despite going in as the underdog; Marcus’ performances were enough to sway the public vote in his favour of going through.

DIGNITY: Amelia was eliminated on Saturday, but achieved her target

It meant Amelia had to deal with the prospect of elimination for the second time.  However, unlike nine weeks ago, when she refused to accept what had happened, this time she was extremely gracious in defeat.  She said that her ambition was only to reach the final and she achieved it with flying colours.  Afterwards, she vowed that this would not be the last of her and for 17 years of age, she has an incredible voice.

ECSTATIC: Marcus and Little Mix celebrate their progress on Saturday

So as Amelia departed, the dream was now just beginning for both Marcus and Little Mix.  They would be back in the second stage of final on Sunday where one would win and have their lives change forever.  The Great British public now had 24 hours to deliver their verdict…

TO BE CONTINUED…

National Television Awards - The 2012 shortlist

BACK: Dermot O'Leary will host again in January 2012

THE lengthy nominations list for the 2012 National Television Awards was released this morning.  Many TV favourites have been included on the list in one of the most glamorous ceremonies on the TV calendar.  New reality hits The Only Way is Essex and Made in Chelsea will make the ‘Reality’ award one to watch, as they have been nominated against the more familiar shows, The Apprentice and I’m A Celebrity.

     Jonathan Ross and Graham Norton will go head-to-head over the ‘Talkshow’ award, whilst Australian soaps Home and Away and Neighbours join the heavyweights from EastEnders and Coronation Street in the ‘Serial Drama’ category. 

     Fans can vote for their favourites at the official website; www.nationaltvawards.com.  The ceremony will once again be at London’s 02 Arena and hosted by X-Factor anchor, Dermot O’Leary.  The long list will be knockdown into a smaller shortlist in December, with the prestigious ceremony shown live on ITV1 in January 2012.

THE NOMINATIONS

TALENT SHOW

The X-Factor, Strictly Come Dancing, Britain’s Got Talent, Let’s Dance for Comic Relief, Dancing on Ice, Popstar to Operastar, Got to Dance, So You Think You Can Dance

COMEDY PANEL

Celebrity Juice, Pointless, 8 Out of 10 Cats, Mock the Week, QI, Have I Got News For You, Odd One In, Would I Lie To You?

DRAMA

Downton Abbey, Doctor Who, Waterloo Road, Glee, Wild at Heart, Casualty, Lewis, Shameless, Holby City, Law & Order UK, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Midsummer Murders, Silent Witness, Monroe, New Tricks, Spooks, DCI Banks: Aftermath, Scott & Bailey, Inspector George Gently, Whitechapel, Doc Martin, Merlin, Waking the Dead, Luther, Hustle, Above Suspicion: Deadly Intent, Lark Rise to Candleford, Case Histories, Kidnap and Ransom, The Shadow Line, Silk, Vera, Torchwood: Miracle Day, Upstairs Downstairs, South Riding

TALK SHOW

Loose Women, The Jonathan Ross Show, The Graham Norton Show, Paul O’Grady Live, Alan Carr: Chatty Man, Piers Morgan’s Life Stories, The Wright Stuff, The Rob Brydon Show, The Alan Titchmarsh Show, That Sunday Night Show

FACTUAL PROGRAMME

MasterChef, Top Gear, This Morning, The One Show, BBC Breakfast, Who Do You Think You Are?, Antiques Roadshow, Countryfile, Big Fat Gypsy Weddings, Billy Connolly’s Route 66, Crimewatch, Daybreak, DIY SOS: The Big Build, Strangeways, The Biggest Loser, Watchdog, Britten’s Hidden Heritage, An Idiot Abroad, Ocean Giants, Lost Land of the Tiger, Inside the Human Body, Turn Back Time- The High Street, Wallace & Gromit’s World of Invention, Royal Navy Caribbean Patrol, Human Planet, Long Lost Family

SITUATION COMEDY

Benidorm, Trollied, Not Going Out, Come Fly With Me, My Family, Miranda, Outnumbered, Candy Cabs, Friday Night Dinner, Whites, Reggie Perrin, In With the Flynns, Mrs. Brown’s Boys

SERIAL DRAMA

Coronation Street, EastEnders, Emmerdale, Neighbours, Doctors, Home & Away, Hollyoaks

REALITY PROGRAMME

Come Dine With Me, The Only Way is Essex, I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here!, The Apprentice, Made in Chelsea, 71 Degrees North, Coach Trip, Peter Andre: The Next Chapter, Don’t Tell The Bride

ENTERTAINMENT PROGRAMME

The Cube, Harry Hill’s TV Burp, Ant & Dec’s Push The Button, Live at the Apollo, All-Star Family Fortunes, Who Wants to Be A Millionaire, Total Wipeout, The Million Pound Drop, Take Me Out, John Bishop’s Britain, Celebrity Mastermind, Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow, Tonight’s The Night, Red or Black, Lee Mack’s All-Star Cast, University Challenge, The Magicians, Sing If You Can, New You’ve Been Framed, The National Lottery: In It To Win It, Dynamo: Magician Impossible    

ENTERTAINMENT PRESENTER

Ant & Dec, Davina McCall, Dermot O’Leary, Harry Hill, Graham Norton, Jonathan Ross, Tess Daly, Vernon Kay, Paul O’Grady, Michael McIntyre, Alan Carr, John Bishop, Keith Lemon, Cat Deeley, Myleene Klaas, Bradley Walsh, Paddy McGuiness, Sir Bruce Forsyth, Steve Jones, Lee Mack, Holly Willoughby, Chris Tarrant, Piers Morgan, John Barrowman, Phillip Schofield, Dale Winton, Alex Jones, Adrian Chiles, Rob Brydon, Lenny Henry, Richard Hammond      

NEWCOMER

Chris Fountain (Coronation Street), Jacqueline Jossa (EastEnders), Jimmy Akingbola (Holby City), William Beck (Casualty), Chelsea Halfpenny (Emmerdale), Danny Mac (Hollyoaks)

SERIAL DRAMA PERFORMANCE

Jessie Wallace (EastEnders), Danny Miller (Emmerdale), Alison King (Coronation Street), Simon Gregson (Coronation Street), Pauline Quirke (Emmerdale), Nina Wadia (EastEnders), Jane Danson (Coronation Street), Lucy Pargeter (Emmerdale), Steve McFadden (EastEnders), Jake Wood (EastEnders), Jeff Hordley (Emmerdale), Chris Gascoyne (Coronation Street), Emmett J.Scanlan (Hollyoaks), Katherine Kelly (Coronation Street), Claire Cooper (Hollyoaks), Charley Webb (Emmerdale), Lindsey Coulson (EastEnders), Kieran Richardson (Hollyoaks), Andrew Lancel (Coronation Street), Jonny Clarke (Hollyoaks), Nitin Ganatra (EastEnders), Rachel Shenton (Hollyoaks), Steve Halliwell (Emmerdale), Stephanie Davis (Hollyoaks)

FEMALE DRAMA PERFORMANCE

Karen Gillian (Doctor Who), Amanda Redman (New Tricks), Laila Rouass (Holby City), Georgia Taylor (Casualty), Suranne Jones (Scott & Bailey), Freema Agyeman (Law & Order: UK), Dawn Steele (Wild at Heart), Sarah Parish (Monroe), Michelle Dockery (Downton Abbey), Maxine Peake (Silk), Sally Carman (Shameless), Eve Myles (Torchwood), Caroline Catz (Doc Martin), Kelly Adams (Hustle), Nicola Walker (Spooks), Emilia Fox (Silent Witness), Lesley Sharp (Scott & Bailey), Jaye Jacobs (Waterloo Road), Joanne Froggatt (Downton Abbey), Kelly Reilly (Above Suspicion), Brenda Blethyn (Vera), Tara Fitzgerald (Waking The Dead), Katie McGrath (Merlin), Julia Sawalha (Lark Rise to Candleford), Keeley Hawes (Upstairs Downstairs), Anna Maxwell Martin (South Riding)  

MALE DRAMA PERFORMANCE

Stephen Tompkinson (DCI Banks), Matt Smith (Doctor Who), Martin Clunes (Doc Martin), Bradley Walsh (Law & Order: UK), Laurence Fox (Lewis), James Nesbitt (Monroe), Brendan Coyle (Downton Abbey), Idris Elba (Luther), Bradley James (Merlin), Martin Shaw (Inspector George Gently), Kevin Whately (Lewis), Alun Armstrong (New Tricks), John Barrowman (Torchwood), Guy Henry (Holby City), Phil Davis (Whitechapel), Colin Morgan (Merlin), Adrian Lester (Hustle), Peter Firth (Spooks), Dennis Waterman (New Tricks), Ben Turner (Casualty), Stephen Rea (The Shadow Line), Jason Isaacs (Case Histories), Alec Newman (Waterloo Road), David Morrissey (South Riding), James Bolam (New Tricks), Ciaran Hinds (Above Suspicion), Rupert Penry-Jones (Whitechapel), Trevor Eve (Kidnap and Ransom), David Threlfall (Shameless), Ed Stoppard (Upstairs, Downstairs), Dan Stevens (Downton Abbey), Neil Dudgeon (Midsummer Murders)              

National Television Awards 2011 - A night of expected winners

By JASON WRIGHT (Entertainment expert)

WEDNESDAY night saw a host of stars from British television descend on London’s O2 Arena for the National Television Awards.  Now in its 16th year, it promised to be the best staged yet.

BIG WINNERS: Another successful night for EastEnders

As it turned out, the successful shows and stars of the night were just as who everyone had predicted.  EastEnders were the big winners, with three gongs.  Ricky Norwood picked the ‘Best Newcomer’ for his role as troublemaker Fatboy, Lacey Turner retained her ‘Best Serial Drama Performance’ award for Stacey Branning and the BBC1 soap itself won through in the live vote-off for ‘Best Serial Drama.’  Many felt it should have gone to rivals Coronation Street, but the Walford drama came through and the crew looked surprised.  So, not even a tram coming down on top of Weatherfield was enough for it to receive any recognition which is certainly rough justice.  Hopefully it will get what it deserves come the British Soap Awards in May.

Popular ITV1 duo Ant and Dec were also among the successes again.  The Tyneside-born pair added yet another two NTA’s to their cabinet for ‘Best Entertainment Programme’ with I’m A Celebrity and scooping up the ‘Best Entertainment Presenter’ award for the tenth time in a row.  Speaking live in Cardiff, where they are filming auditions for Britain’s Got Talent, they understandably gave credit to everyone who helped them succeed not just this year but the ten years they have achieved the Entertainment accolade at the awards.

HONOURED: Sir David Jason added to his collection

Other shows and famous faces that were winners on the night were ITV1 comedy Benidorm, earning the ‘Best Comedy Programme’ award for the second time in three years.  Sir David Jason was honoured with the ‘Best Drama Performance’ award for his final case in A Touch of Frost.  The E4 mega-hit The Inbetweeners beat hot rivals Glee to the inaugural ‘Best Digital Choice’ award, which celebrated the best programme offering from digital channels and This Morning were the victors of the ‘Best Topical Magazine Programme’ award.  After years of struggle and turmoil for the daytime offering, the popular partnership of Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby is ensuring that it is finally returning to the glory days of the nineties.  As an added beneficiary, viewers were able to see resident chef Gino D’Acampo cook naked on the following day’s edition, as he pledged to do so if the show won.

With the football sexism scandal caused by the disgraced Richard Keys and Andy Gray fresh in the air, it was being talked about a lot by those in attendance.  Even host Dermot O’Leary referred to it many times during the ceremony but it was Top Gear who had the last laugh and when they picked up the award for ‘Best Factual Programme.’  James May made a rather funny though obviously crude remark about it and it led to Jeremy Clarkson jokingly sacking him on the spot.  That’s what they call comedy around here!

The X-Factor proved to be the dominant force in the award for ‘Best Talent Show’.  Despite the controversy surrounding the previous series and that there were fears that people would rebel and vote against it, the ITV1 competition held on to win for the third time in four years.  No doubt this made Simon Cowell one very happy chap again.

The biggest shock and disappointment of the night was no awards for Doctor Who.  Although its popularity was slightly reduced after Matt Smith’s timid debut last year in the title role, it was still expected to win ‘Best Drama Programme.’  However it lost out to popular school drama Waterloo Road.  To add insult, Smith lost the Drama Performance to David Jason.  This will without a doubt call the show’s viability into serious question.

FINALLY: Bruce Forsyth get a deserved recognition

The biggest cheers though of the night went to the legendary Bruce Forsyth.  After over 50 years in showbiz, the soon-to-be 83 year old was finally given credit with the ‘Special Recognition Award.’  He sent the crowd into dismay and then hysteria by seeming to announce his retirement but then quipping one of his famous one-liners, “but I’m not bloody going to.”   It proves there is still life in the veteran yet.

Overall it was another night of impressive celebrations and accolades, proving just how much Britain really does say about the nation’s TV.  Here is to what should be an amazing 2011 of television and who knows who will come out on top in 2012?  These next 12 months will tell all.

The X-Factor 2010 - And the winner is . . .

BY JASON WRIGHT

JUST three acts now remained in the running, going through into one of television’s biggest nights of the year, the final night of The X-Factor itself!  Pubs and clubs across the country were packed and nearly 20 million were glued to the TV at home, waiting to see if either Matt Cardle, Rebecca Ferguson or One Direction would become Britain’s next big music star.

Dermot O’Leary must have been taking fashion tips from Louis Walsh as he emerged out onto stage at the beginning wearing a film-style suit and bow tie, something that Walsh has exhibited every Sunday since the fourth week of the contest.  The night began with a rendition of Take That’s ‘Never Forget’ by the final three, joined halfway through by the band themselves.

CLASS: Matt kept his A level up throughout the show

Just like last night each act’s first song was a new one and Matt kicked off with a rendition of Katy Perry’s ‘Firework’, putting yet another unique twist on it as he has done with most of his performances so far.  Questions though were raised over his dress sense for the first performance but that was his choice so there wasn’t a problem with it.  Meanwhile, after the troubles of Saturday night in Colchester, it was second time lucky there on Sunday and Stacey Solomon was able to chat to the supporters.

One Direction came next with their take on Natalie Imbruglia’s ‘Torn’.  Performing it atop a makeshift arch in the middle of the stage, they had the crowd and their fans over in Doncaster in hysterics for the umpteenth time and only strengthening their emphasis that this could really happen, a group could potentially win the show!

SWEET: Rebecca's dreams will probably come true

Finally, it was the turn of Rebecca Ferguson performing ‘Sweet Dreams’, the song did exactly what it said in the title, again the Liverpool lass sung it in such a soulful and heartfelt way and received huge acclaim from the judges again.  Her followers back in Merseyside once again voiced their approval but with Matt’s huge chances and One Direction’s big backing, it seemed a tough call for her to get into the last two.

After the pressures of the first songs, a little bit of humour was now injected into the night.  No, it wasn’t the return of Wagner but something worse than that, the return of the those who failed miserably in the auditions.  Performing the Lady Gaga hit ‘Bad Romance’, it was predictably so out of tune but just great to watch.  After all, they usually take the great appeal during the early stages of the competition just for their bad ability.

GLUM: Simon and One Direction after their demise

Voting lines were then frozen again. Only two acts would make into the third and most crucial phase of the final.  With the final three all in their smart and formal wear, it was revealed that Matt and Rebecca would move forward to sing again.  One Direction had been sensationally knocked out and it left them, their fans and even mentor Simon Cowell stunned and shattered.  Certainly though, this is not the last of them, they will surely become the next big boyband.

So Matt and Rebecca were now within touching distance of the X-Factor crown and just one more performance would now take them there, it would of course be a performance that would be released as their debut single should they win.  However this time there was a twist, both acts (as well as the already eliminated One Direction and Cher should they been in this position) had recorded a song which was suited to their voice instead of the traditional method of choosing just one song for the final pair which sometimes can be at a disadvantage.

First up was Matt performing his cover of Biffy Clyro’s ‘Many of Horror’ which was renamed in this take as ‘When We Collide’.  Yet again, Matt transformed this song from its original core rock into his own style and it totally worked and the judges seemed to say that it was his competition to lose now, though Simon of course didn’t want to count out the opposition yet.

So what could Rebecca offer instead?  Well she took the brave gamble of covering ‘Distant Dreamer’ by Duffy, and brave because it has never been released as a single.  This may work at a huge disadvantage but it still had plenty of potential.  Simon was right, don’t count her out yet and he used his trademark comment of not being able to claim it was a definite victory for anyone.  Many must have been thinking over what the chances were of placing a bet on a dead heat.

After Take That returned to perform another sensational number, the waiting was over and lines closed and the result was submitted.  Millions of votes were casted and after the usual tense wait, Dermot revealed the public decided that the winner of The X Factor 2010 should be…Matt Cardle!

SPEECHLESS: Both Matt and Danni look overwhelmed

Matt was left undoubtedly speechless after his success.  Dannii Minogue was delighted in joining Simon and Cheryl Cole in the ranks of being a two-time X Factor champion.  Cheryl at last was defeated and Rebecca offered congratulations to Matt.  Once again, I think this will not be the last of Rebecca; she will again get a music deal.

That just left Matt to bring down the curtain on this series with his first proper performance of his debut single, after which all of the beaten finalists (minus Cher Lloyd, who was mysteriously absent with no reason) came to his side to also say their congratulations.  The right winner indeed and it was proved as the official voting stats showed afterwards that he topped the board every time since week two but in the final he was chased all the way and won by just a narrow margin.

Round-up of the series

Despite a great final weekend, overall the series has been a massive disappointment, mainly due to the controversy and drama off camera.  It was surprising that the judges managed to keep it under control throughout most of it.  Simon Cowell always set things right and took responsibility for anything that went wrong, Dannii Minogue did a great job considering she missed the auditions due to her pregnancy whilst Louis Walsh was as impartial and usually foolish as before.  However the worst of the lot was Cheryl Cole, a disaster from start to finish.  While it was nice to see her back from her malaria scare, it screwed up her mind.  She became arrogant, thoughtless, and made decisions that were usually disgraceful.  Personally I don’t think we’ll see Cheryl back next year and there is great chance she will be replaced by Nicole Scherzinger, following her successful stint as a guest judges in the auditions and bootcamp this year.

This also may be Simon Cowell’s last stint, as The X-Factor airs in the US in the same time as the UK next year.  Before he has managed the show plus the American Idol auditions at the same time so I think he will be able to do it.  Plus, Dermot O’Leary may also be on the way out with reports that he may be off the present the new US version of the show.  Christine Bleakley, Davina McCall, Caroline Flack, Vernon Kay and Stephen Mulhern are the names that have been mostly tipped to take over should Dermot defect across the Atlantic.  If he goes, it is important that ITV will need to employ someone that has the ability to keep the show in its stride.

WINNER: Matt with Danni and the winning single 'When we Collide'

Whatever the case, The X-Factor has produced another great winner and good luck to Matt for what the future holds for him.  The countdown to summer 2011 and series eight is now well and truly underway.

The X-Factor 2010 - The pressure starts to show

BY JASON WRIGHT

If we have learnt something so far in this series, it is that all the domination is about controversy and shock.  The X-Factor continues to deliver quality TV and here is a look at the past fortnight’s events.

Week 7 (20-21 November)

SCREAMING: Matt would have got the girls attention!

Half of the field had now been decimated and eight were left standing.  For week seven, the acts showed the spirit of the sixties by performing songs from the legendary band that is The Beatles.  Two Boys were now left and they started off with Matt Cardle singing ‘Come Together’.  Of course, the song was made famous last year by Olly Murs ripping nearly half his shirt off during it.  Matt closely attempted the same feat by wearing nothing but a vest.  As for the performance, it was a mixed bag, sometimes good, other times a bit off-key.  Meanwhile, following the woes of Elton John week, Paije Richardson bounced back with a brilliant rendition of ‘Let It Be’ and Simon Cowell quickly took back his words of not having any chance of winning.

With four weeks to go, it’s remarkable and somewhat lucky that the Girls category still has three of the four remaining.  Cher Lloyd once again built up a debatable issue with her performance of ‘Imagine’. While it was certainly nice to give something that only showed her singing, a few people questioned the song choice because this was just a John Lennon track, but if Lennon was part of the Beatles then surely it is allowed.  Then Simon criticised Cheryl Cole for having Cher perform on top of a makeshift staircase and it got so heated that both had to be called to attention by Dermot O’Leary not once, not twice but three times! At times, you must wonder, give it a rest!

NEW: Katie changed her look, and it bought good fortune

As for the other two girls, Rebecca Ferguson was under pressure.  Being from Liverpool, she needed to give the iconic band pride but somehow her performance of ‘Yesterday’ just didn’t click.  Maybe it was little too much for her cope with.  Finally, Katie Waissel must be the luckiest girl on earth.  Despite four sing-off performances, she was still hanging around.  Now she had finally undergone a much needed change, new attitude and a new haircut, her rendition of ‘Help!’ was made her own. Could it be the start of a remarkable comeback?

As for Simon’s one remaining act, One Direction, the momentum of last week’s show-stopping was still fresh in their minds and certainly carried forward into this week’s performance of ‘All You Need Is Love’.  It wasn’t as good as the previous week but still, the value of the performance was priced at sensational.

PREDICTABLE: Wagner was out of tune, AGAIN!

Lastly, there was no sign of any change in pattern of performance for the Overs…of course!  Over the last few weeks, Mary Byrne had been underwhelming but this time around, she provided a great performance of ‘Something’ and that proved she shouldn’t be written off just yet.  If a medley of two wasn’t bad enough for Wagner, a medley of three was even worse!  ‘Get Back’, ‘Hippy Hippy Shake’ and ‘Hey Jude’ were not sung in tune at all but still another seemingly crowd-pleasing attempt.  There are some things in life money can’t buy…and for Wagner, there isn’t MasterCard!

TIME: Dermot passes the Cher vs Paije battle to the judges

For the first time since week three, the sing-off threw together two new faces to the experience, Paije and Cher and it was a sing-off of two halves.  The first half, performance-wise, seemed to put Paije in front as his was note-perfect whilst Cher, at times, looked to be crumbling under pressure, very nearly in floods of tears.  However, the intensity and emotion in Cher’s performance just couldn’t be overlooked, and that probably swayed it with the judges.  Simon put his obvious faith in Cher as he has been since the beginning and with both Cheryl and Dannii again protecting their acts from leaving; Louis was left in the dreaded position yet again.  His head told him to save Paije, his heart told him to save Cher, whilst the audience told him to take it to deadlock.  In the end, he went for his heart and kept Cher in.  This is perhaps seen as the best choice since she had been the more consistent throughout but the audience just didn’t agree, and she was booed and jeered off the stage.

This reaction certainly stunned the teen singer even further to core, if being in the bottom two wasn’t that bad.  Cheryl now had just five days to bring her “special one” back into contention.  Would it happen or is she a dead girl walking in this contest?

Week 8 (27-28 November)

Loud, metal and flames could only mean one thing, it was Rock night!  Now each act had to perform twice to make it through to the all important semi-final.

STANDING: Mary is Ireland and Louis remaining hope

The Overs began and the unusual position of Wagner being first when normally being towards the end.  For once, he gave a performance of credibility with Radiohead’s ‘Creep’, once being note-perfect before ‘Addicted to Love’ saw him return to normal.  If he took a pill to change his style, the effects wore off very quickly!  Meanwhile, Mary had somewhat of a night which many people hardly mentioned her performances of ‘All I Want Is You’ and ‘Brass in Pocket’.  Both were not captivating but still worthy of positive feedback from the judges.

BEAUTIFUL: One Direction continue to look the part

One Direction once again ended up right in the thick of it.  Simon gave them two rather strange choices, yet still both performances ended up being performed sensationally by the group.  ‘Summer of ‘69’ again showed the full vocal range but it was their second song, ‘You are so Beautiful’ that brought the debate.  The song’s original singer, Joe Cocker, was in fact not a ballad person as this song seems to suggest but in fact a rock singer, according to Simon.  Louis clearly thinks it was the former and hence after eight weeks…we rejoice in the return of ‘Louis Walsh’s Official X Factor Rule Book’. It won’t be long until he’ll get it out into the shops!

PRESSURE: Can Rebecca take the heat?

The Girls were once again up to their usual tricks.  After receiving a harsh reaction from surviving the sing-off last week, it left Cher feeling vulnerable and scared of going home next.  Her two performances of ‘Girlfriend’ and ‘Walk This Way’ again seemed to show more singing and less rapping, definitely a marked improvement on previous but still has a long way to go before the public’s faith in her is truly restored…and not long left to do it in.  Rebecca went the same way as Mary in going for more of the ballad-rock instead of the up-tempo rock.  Still her versions of ‘I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For’ and ‘I Can’t Get No Satisfaction’ were both top-class and looking certain of at least making the final.  If Cher doesn’t know how to cope with negativity, just talk to Katie, she can deal with it well.  She gave her best performance to date with Kings Of Leon’s ‘Sex On Fire’ really being made to set on fire and whilst ‘Everybody Hurts’ didn’t quite match the standard, this was once again a solid week for the constantly elimination-threatened girl.

When a judge has one act left, it can make them feel under pressure of having to deliver.  It must have been a distinct feeling of déjà vu for Dannii; last year when her last act standing Stacey Solomon was perhaps on the verge just a week after “you know what so I won’t mention it again for legal reasons”, she catapulted up to the next level and deserved to reach the final.  Now fast forward back to 2010 and with Stacey perhaps all set to win I’m A Celebrity this weekend, Dannii’s last act standing, Matt had to at least achieve the similar goal of getting to the finale.  The Essex decorator’s two songs, ‘I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll’ and ‘Nights In White Satin’ were once again effortless.  Like Simon with One Direction, Dannii should now have nothing to worry about in terms of elimination.

Seven acts still in and just two weeks to go until the final weekend meant there only one way to settle the exit dispute this week, a double elimination had to be held, which meant for the first time in X-Factor history, a sing-off was held on the contest’s eighth week.  Katie found herself in the bottom end of the vote for the fifth time but on this occasion, there was no way back, she came in last place and was out immediately.  Her luck having finally run dry, she was very gracious indeed, knowing it had to come to an end sometime.

FAREWELL: Wagner says goodbye to the X-Factor

For weeks now, an internet campaign has been in full swing getting everyone to back Wagner to win and it had a positive effect when the build-up to last week’s show had him installed a third favourite, odds slashed to 10-1 compared to the 150-1 given at the start of the contest last month.  However the support somewhat didn’t materialise this time and the manic Brazilian was forced to sing-off against Mary.  To ease tension, Louis, who mentored the pair voted first and put his faith in Mary and when Dannii and Cheryl agreed, the crowd went berserk, Wagner was gone.  Simon Cowell then declared a victory for the show; its credibility had been saved from total destruction.  He did though praise Wagner for his efforts, being the honourable gentleman he sometimes is.

So just five are now left in the running. Cher, Mary, Matt, One Direction and Rebecca will this Saturday and Sunday be fighting like they never fought before in aiming to secure a place in what has now become one of the television’s biggest highlights of the year…The X-Factor Final!

But who will make it and who will fall at the final hurdle? Semi-final weekend kicks off at 7:40pm this Saturday on ITV1 and ITV1 HD and a full report will follow next week.

The X-Factor 2010 - Competition levels go up and the show descends into chaos

BY JASON WRIGHT

Week 4 (30-31 October)

MAGIC: A new side to Mary worked a Halloween treat

HALLOWEEN weekend meant the theme was subtly songs that were at the least loosely related to the occasion.  The Over’s began the action with Mary Byrne performing the Take That classic ‘Could It Be Magic?’ it was certainly magic, much different to what she had performed before and held no fear to the challenge.  The least could be said for Wagner as he killed two classic songs, making a mockery of the X Factor signature tune ‘O Fortuna’ followed by his rendition of ‘Bat Out Of Hell’, was performed a language that has perhaps never existed. Simon Cowell asked Louis Walsh if he had been drinking, which was strenuously denied but to be honest that could have been planned over ten shots of whiskey!

AWFUL: Aiden's rendition of 'Thriller' wasn't a thriller!

The three Boys come next and the ghosts seemed to haunt Aiden Grimshaw as his version of Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ was less fun than watching paint dry!  He wanted to make it his own but that completely backfired.  Matt Cardle also had a difficult night with ‘Bleeding Love’. He sang it well but it was totally out of his depth.  Paije Richardson did manage to salvage some pride on what was a terrible week for the category as his performance of ‘Back to Black’ won some praise from the judging panel despite not really being stand-out again.

Both of the Groups had survived the previous week and were on top form again.  Belle Amie truly arrived with ‘Venus’ and Louis seemed to put to bed the criticism he gave the previous week.  Meanwhile One Direction again impressed singing ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’ and they are proving totally the decision by Simon to have them formed from solo singers into a group.

TOP CLASS: Cher answered her critics in stunning fashion

All four Girls were still left in the running.  Rebecca Ferguson was at the top of her game again with ‘Wicked Heart’ and even though it hadn’t matched the material shown previously, it was still well on par with the front-runners.  Treyc Cohen bounced back from the sing-off last week with an explosive performance of ‘Relight My Fire’ though it did draw criticism for not totally being her style of song.  Katie Waissel was another act who seemed to have finally arrived with a lavish performance of ‘Bewitched’ though it was kind of stolen by showing off too much make-up, perhaps enough to make someone go blind!  After three weeks of rapping, Cher Lloyd was surely on the brink of elimination, her support having crumbled rapidly during the build-up.  Finally Cheryl Cole listened to the abuse and gave Cher a ballad to perform.  Her performance of ‘Stay’ was not only sung, it was sung from the heart.  Simon labelled it as “the performance of the series”, Cher finally proving what she could do.

Belle Amie and Katie were forced into the bottom two on Sunday’s results, both for the second time.  After Simon and Cheryl kept their acts in the running, Dannii Minogue chose to send home Belle Amie, leaving Louis with a difficult decision.  He liked both acts and simply couldn’t decide so opted to send it back to the public vote.

TEARS: Belle Amie depart

For once, the deadlock was brought with a delighted reaction from the audience but it would prove to be misery for Simon as Belle Amie were sent packing with the fewest votes.  Once again, the ‘Girlband Curse’ had struck and so disappointing on this occasion as the girls had so much more to give. Four weeks down and Simon was now on his last life.

Week 5 (6-7 November)

The show went Stateside for the fifth week, the halfway point of the contest as the ten remaining acts performed popular songs from US artists.  The Girls began the show with Cher.  After the stunner of Halloween week, it was back to basics from her with ‘Empire State of Mind’.  It went down very disappointingly with the judges, and put her position at risk again.  Katie came next with ‘Don’t Speak’, again, which was very strong but weaker than the previous few performances.  Rebecca received plenty of praise again for a brilliant take of ‘Make You Feel My Love’ and after a dodgy couple of weeks, Treyc seemingly returned to form with the Aerosmith classic ‘I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing’.

DEBATE: Wagner's performances are the main gossip

It was another predictably mixed night for the two remaining Over’s.  Mary had struggled with her song all week and although her performance of ‘There You’ll Be’ was solid, it obviously wasn’t as good as previous.  The late Elvis Presley was the next world famous icon to be destroyed by Wagner, but to give credit, his medley of ‘Viva Las Vegas’ and ‘The Wonder Of You’ was certainly by far, his best outing to date.

BREATHLESS: Matt was superb

The Boys also returned to form after the horrors of Halloween.  Aiden’s performance of ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ was again a little subdued but this perhaps is what should be expected from him now, it’s his style after all.  Paije delivered his best performance of the competition.  His version of ‘I’m A Believer’ saw mentor Dannii declare him to have arrived in the show.  However it was Matt who well and truly stole the show with ‘The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face’.  Breathless is perhaps the only word to describe it and rightfully earned the first standing ovation of the series.

FORM: One Direction are a force

Louis was undoubtedly taking the Mickey out of Simon for having just one act left but the maestro was obviously not taking it seriously.  After all, his one remaining act, One Direction is a bookies favourite and proved it with an up-tempo performance of ‘Kids in America’.  If they keep it up, Simon shouldn’t have anything to worry about for a couple of weeks.

After having kept all four girls in the running for four weeks, Cheryl was finally destined to lose an act this week but for the first time, both of the acts in the final showdown were hers, Katie and Treyc.  It would descend into utter farce as first Katie ‘accidentally’ said “sod it” during her performance and then the show producers messed up totally by doing the order of voting by the judges wrong.  Simon first sent home Treyc and then Cheryl was told to go next.  She was taken aback by having to decide early, as normally if two acts of the same mentor are in this situation, that judge is saved until last.  As a result, Cheryl “claimed” she was not ready to decide and asked if she could wait until last.  The show’s host, Dermot O’Leary was told through by his earpiece, that he had to give it as a refusal to vote.

DIGNIFIED: Treyc put a brave face on her elimination

Treyc’s fate was sealed as she only received the support of Dannii with Louis’ casting vote going to save Katie.  Some people put the blame on Dermot for this but that shouldn’t be the case.  It was the producers who got it all wrong, but Cheryl doesn’t get away with it scot-free.  What she did was a complete and utter disgrace.  If she was last to vote, then forcing a deadlock decision would certainly be acceptable but in this situation it is no-no!  The tabloids called for Cheryl to be sacked and rightfully so.  The decisions she has made so far this series have been extremely shocking and this latest controversy has surely put her future on the programme under severe threat.

Week 6 (13-14 November)

TESTING: Paije produces a mundane performance

Quickly putting the controversy of last week to one side, the remaining nine acts celebrated the music of Elton John last Saturday.  First up were the Boys and it started off with Paije singing ‘Crocodile Rock.’  It felt like a drunken karaoke pub performance and it wasn’t a hit with the judges.  Aiden followed up with ‘Rocketman’, and again it was another solid if unspectacular performance from him.  Following the praise of last week, Matt was under huge pressure to deliver strongly again and although his version of ‘Goodbye Yellow Brick Road’ wasn’t as good as last week, it still kept him as the competition favourite.

The Over’s once again were in their predictable pattern.  Mary still looked below-par with her rendition of ‘Can You Feel the Love tonight.’  Meanwhile Wagner was getting worse week-by-week. If wrecking famous songs was his speciality, now he was after the films, firstly ‘I’m Still Standing’ wasn’t catching on, but it went out of proportion with ‘Circle of Life’, one of the best Disney songs of all time, totally ruined.  Maybe he does actually have a future…he could be the one to save the troubled Pontins resorts!

SURVIVOR: Katie is hanging on, by the skin of her teeth

No act had ever survived three sing-offs before but Katie was still holding on.  She kicked off the Girls performances with ‘Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting’, once again provided a lacklustre performance.  Getting lost amongst the dancers didn’t help and Louis didn’t find this performance captivating.  Simon’s response went as far as threatening to kick Louis off the show!  Cher finally delivered a good performance of her speciality, her version of ‘Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word’, did again have an element of rapping but not as much as previous renditions.  Rebecca continued to be the standout of the category with a strong performance of ‘Candle in the Wind’. It was again very consistent and captivating from the single mother.

One Direction meanwhile was the standout of the night with ‘Something about the Way You Look Tonight’.  This is genuinely perhaps the first time a group could potentially be in a strong chance of winning.  Regardless, it would be a travesty if they at least didn’t make the final.

STUNNED: Dermot O'Leary embraces a shocked Aiden

It was a battle between Dannii and Cheryl’s acts in the sing-off this week.  Aiden’s rather inconsistency finally caught up with him and he was forced to perform again along with Katie for the FOURTH time.  Another strange voting order was used in which Simon went first instead of any the mentors with acts in this situation.  He voted to save Katie again and when both Dannii and Cheryl unanimously stood by their acts, it was all down to Louis again.  He saved Aiden, which was the right call, so it went back the public vote and the whole studio was left stunned when Aiden came bottom of the vote and was ousted. Aiden was left rightfully disappointed at the result and when he revealed a possible leak on Twitter that he was in the bottom three, and the public and press went insane again.

The battle to be the best may be closer than ever, but this year’s series seems to be overshadowed by controversy, judges bickering and confusion.  The question is has the shambles of the last two weeks marked something…could it be the beginning of the end for The X Factor?

We’ll have to wait and see, I’ll return at the end of week eight for a detailed report on the next two weeks to come.  Let’s hope we’ll be speaking more about praise for singing and less of the outrage.