The X-Factor 2011 - The race to get to Wembley

By Jason Wright (Entertainment Expert)

ONLY two performances stood between the remaining four acts and place in X-Factor’s biggest final yet at Wembley Arena.  With only the public getting the say last week, it was going to be a tense weekend for the semi-finalists, as they sang their hearts out to convince that they should be on the big stage infront of thousands of people.

In this year’s semi-final, each act performed a Motown classic and a song that they believed would be enough to see them get to the final.

Misha B – A true survivor

On the public vote alone, Misha has been very lucky to still be in the competition.  No act has ever reached the semi-final through three Final Showdown wins during their time.  What can’t be mistaken though is that Misha is the real deal, the voice, the personality, you name it.  Her motown song ‘Dancing In The Street’ had everything about her talent crammed into it and her second performance, ‘Perfect,’ showed off why many have rated her as having the best voice in the competition.  Having had to sing for survival three times, the chances of her winning the competition, as mentioned by Gary Barlow, were slim to nil.  However, she has been a true survivor and in these shows, anything is possible.

Amelia Lily – The real comeback girl

COMEBACK: Amelia has become a serious threat in the latter stages

Three weeks ago, Amelia Lily was at home in Middlesbrough, perhaps reflecting on her shattered dreams of being a superstar.  Then when a certain karaoke act from Brighton got kicked off for breaking a ‘golden rule,’ the public seized their opportunity and gave her a second chance.  She has taken that lifeline and changed the course of the competition.  Her performances of ‘Ain’t No Mountain High Enough’ and ‘I’m With You’ once again showcased Amelia at the highest level possible.  The chances of Amelia being here on this night were never imagined early on, let alone the final and her return to the competition have resulted in the others having to work harder and prove that they should be ahead of her.

Little Mix – Truly living their dream

When the live shows began, Little Mix were the odds-on favourites for the chop.  Now, having broken the girl group jinx, they are the first girl group to reach the semi-finals.  A sudden surge of popularity has put them as bookmaker’s favourites to win outright so for the girls, it was a case of no pressure on the night.  Unfortunately, the pressure did get to them and their first song, ‘You Keep Me Hanging On’ was uninspiring and then they failed to better it with ‘If I Were a Boy.’  Both Louis Walsh and Gary Barlow were unimpressed with the group’s performances and it, of course, led to Tulisa to making a passionate plea for everyone to vote for them.  She was lucky to escape receiving a bill for damaging the judge’s desk.  Certainly, on a night like this, Little Mix needed all of their supporters now.

Marcus Collins – Impressing with all his abilities

There has been no other act that can handle the pressure of performing an upbeat classic than Marcus.  The order for him was the same as pretty much every single week in this competition; another two songs with an up-tempo theme to prove that he is, as Gary Barlow has been marketing him, the most versatile act in the show.  In his first performance, ‘My Girl,’ certainly worked out for him, as did ‘Can You Feel It.’  Louis believed it was the wrong song choice for him, but this is what Marcus is all about and if that was the song that both he and Gary felt was enough get him to the final, then they certainly were both doing the job right.

Meet the finalists…

This time, unlike last year, ITV kept their promise.  No surprise unannounced involvements from the judges, the three finalists were decided purely on the public vote.  After an agonising 24 hour wait, the acts were now about to hear the verdict from the nation.

FAREWELL: Despite her talent, Misha struggled to win support

Screams and tears of delight were heard when Little Mix, after a disastrous semi-final round, made to the final.  Their faithful had responded just when it was needed the most.  Marcus was perhaps the only one of the acts that believed he could go through, so both he and Gary were ecstatic when he did.  That left Kelly Rowland’s two girls in the firing line Amelia Lily and Misha B.  One would be given a ticket for the Wembley final and the other would be crashing out at the worst possible stage.

Finally, the girls were put out of their misery and it was, as widely predicted, a visibly stunned Amelia was the last act to get to the final.  So after three fights for survival, sadly this time there was no comeback for Misha.  She certainly didn’t go out quietly, closing Sunday’s show with an amazing rendition of ‘Who You Are’ as the judges gave her a standing ovation.  Misha will surely bag herself a recording deal from here on in and if anyone doesn’t feel that way then they don’t know what being a popstar really is.

CHOSEN: It is Amelia v Little Mix v Marcus this weekend

So having beaten off thousands of competitors, just three acts are now standing.  Teeside student Amelia Lily, Liverpool hairdresser Marcus Collins and girl group Little Mix.  Next week, one will win The X-Factor 2011 and a “life-changing” recording contract in front of a 10,000 strong audience.  This series might have not proven as popular for well-documented reasons but surely next weekend’s finale has to be a ratings winner.  If it isn’t then something is seriously wrong!

Classic Premiership Matches 1-20

In the past 18 seasons, football fans across the globe have been treated to some cracking Premiership matches.  On the eve of the 19th season having begun yesterday, here is a look-back at some classics down the years.

1.             Liverpool                                4-3           Newcastle United                                    Wednesday 3^rd April 1996

The greatest game of the Premiership’s entire history as two attacking sides did battle to keep them in the title race.  A classic header from Robbie Fowler handed Liverpool a dream start, but Newcastle retaliated with goals from Les Ferdinand & David Ginola.  Fowler restored parity early in the second half with a low drilled shot, before Faustino Asprilla curled an attempt around the onrushing David James to put Kevin Keegan’s men back infront.  Stan Collymore tied the game again at 3-3, converting Jason McAteer’s wicked cross and then Stan the Man hit a dramatic stoppage time winner for Liverpool, which funnily enough pushed the title into the hands of their greatest enemies, Manchester United.

2.             Tottenham Hotspur                                3-5           Manchester United                  Saturday 29^th September 2001

This was the greatest turnaround in Premiership history.  Glenn Hoddle’s outfit were in dreamland at half-time, 3-0 to the good against the reigning champions thanks to efforts from new boy Dean Richards, Les Ferdinand & Christian Ziege.  Sir Alex Ferguson rallied his troops at half-time and fought back in the style of champions.  Andy Cole, Laurent Blanc, Ruud Van Nistlerooy, Juan Sebastian Veron and David Beckham all found the net in a breathless second half that left the North London fans stunned into silence.

3.             Blackburn Rovers                   3-4           Chelsea                                    Monday 21^st September 1998

Gianluca Vialli’s foreign superstars found their form in a genuine classic at Ewood Park.  Gianfranco Zola’s magnificent free-kick opened the scoring, but Blackburn got back on terms through Chris Sutton.  A debatable penalty led to Chelsea’s 2^nd, converted by the reliable Franck Lebouef.  Sebastian Perez hooked in Rovers 2^nd equaliser, before being controversially dismissed in a brutal clash with Lancashire old boy Graeme Le Saux.  With both sides at 10 men, Blackburn responded better, Sutton putting them infront after Michael Duberry pushed Martin Dahlin in the box.  Back came Chelsea again, with super sub Tore Andre Flo powering in a header, then coolly converting a long ball from Brian Laudrup to turn a probable defeat into a definite victory.

4.             Leeds United                           4-3           Liverpool                                                Saturday 4^th November 2000

Leeds made an appalling start to this match, failing to deal with two set-pieces from Gary McAllister.  Sami Hyypia & Christian Ziege reaped the rewards.  Step up Marc Viduka with a vintage display, bringing the Yorkshire club level with a cute finish after a dreadful error from Ziege, then a bullet header.  Vladimir Smicer regained Liverpool’s lead after being set-up by fellow Czech, Patrik Berger, before Viduka really took centre stage, twisting and turning his way through the defence for his hat-trick, then chipping an advancing Sander Westerveld when put in the clear by Olivier Dacourt.  The Australian had made his mark in the Premier League and how…

5.             Southampton                          6-3           Manchester United                  Saturday 26^th October 1996

Inspired by the messiah, Matt Le Tissier, Southampton inflicted further pain on Manchester United at the Dell, just six days after United’s 5-0 reverse at Newcastle.  A hat-trick from the unknown Egil Ostenstad plus a majestic chip from Le Tissier and a double by Eyal Berkovic did the damage to give Graeme Souness his finest hour in management.

6.             Tottenham Hotspur                                4-5           Arsenal                                    Saturday 13^th November 2004

It was quite a baptism for new Tottenham boss Martin Jol who witnessed a nine-goal thriller in his first North London Derby.  In a score line more associated to hockey, there were nine different scorers, with common men like Thierry Henry & Robert Pires and more unfamiliar names in the form of Noureddine Naybet & Lauren finding the net.  The pick of the goals was a solo effort from Jermain Defoe.

7.             Portsmouth                             7-4           Reading                                   Saturday 29^th September 2007

The highest aggregated score in Premiership history and a day for Marcus Hahnemann to forget with three goalkeeping blunders.  Benjani took full advantage by striking a hat-trick for Pompey.

8.             West Ham United                   5-4           Bradford City                         Saturday 12^th February 2000

Despite leading 2-0 & 3-1 in this match, Bradford threw it away in this nine goal thriller.  The winner was struck in the closing stages by Joe Cole.

9.             Manchester United                  2-1           Sheffield Wednesday                               Saturday 10^th April 1993

This was a game that ended up changing the history of football.  It looked like Manchester United had thrown the title away again, this time to Aston Villa.  They were 1-0 down to Manchester fanatic John Sheridan, who converted a penalty for the Owls.  Struggling, Alex Ferguson pulled off a tactical masterstroke and threw centre back Steve Bruce forward.  Thanks to a long injury-time stoppage due to an earlier referee issue, Bruce scored twice, the second 7 minutes into injury time.  The celebrations from Ferguson and assistant Brian Kidd said it all, United went on to win the league and start their English dominance.

10.           Chelsea                                    2-3           Arsenal                                    Saturday 23^rd October 1999

Chelsea had been unbeaten at Stamford Bridge since February and hadn’t even conceded a goal at home in the campaign.  They were cruising away with this one, thanks to goals from Gus Poyet & Dan Petrescu.  Inconsistent Arsenal looked dead and buried, but Kanu had other ideas.  The Nigerian hit an 18-minute hat-trick to give the Gunners an improbable victory.  The Blues season never really recovered.

11.           Liverpool                                                3-3           Manchester United                  Tuesday 4^th January 1994

With only 22 minutes gone, Manchester United looked like they were cantering towards another victory at Anfield.  A header from Steve Bruce, stunning lob from Ryan Giggs and a thunderous free-kick from Denis Irwin left Liverpool shell-shocked.  However, the Kop roared their team on, despite their lack of previous form.  Nigel Clough thumped two goals home before half-time and then a bullet header from Neil Ruddock rescued an unlikely point in this masterpiece of a match.

12.           Blackburn Rovers                   7-2           Sheffield Wednesday                               Monday 25^th August 1997

With Englishman Roy Hodgson in charge, Blackburn had been banging in goals, left right and centre.  Infront of the Sky cameras, they gave Sheffield Wednesday a footballing lesson.  Doubles from potent strike force Kevin Gallacher & Chris Sutton, plus further efforts from Jason Wilcox, Lars Bohinen and an own goal left Rovers in seven heaven.  Benito Carbone had a dramatic night, scoring twice and then got sent off for using an elbow on Patrick Valery.

13.           Liverpool                                                4-4           Arsenal                                    Tuesday 21^st April 2009

Liverpool needed to attack, as they attempted to keep up with the red hot pace set by Manchester United, but their moves backfired against Arsenal.  In a belter of a game, Russian newboy Andrei Arshavin profited from shocking defending to score four goals.  Only a stoppage time leveller from Yossi Benayoun salvaged a point for Rafa Benitez, but it ultimately cost them in the final reckoning.

14.           West Ham United                   3-4           Tottenham Hotspur                                Sunday 4^th March 2007

An all-time classic of a London derby gripped fans on a chilly Sunday afternoon.  West Ham had been coasting at half-time, courtesy of Mark Noble and an emotional first strike for the Hammers by popular Argentine ace, Carlos Tevez.  Instead of pushing on, Alan Curbishley saw his side press self-destruct in the 2^nd half.  They were pegged back by a Jermain Defoe penalty and Teemu Tainio.  With five minutes to go, Bobby Zamora headed in to put the East London side back infront, only for a specialised Dimitar Berbatov free-kick to level it up again.  Desperate for the winner, West Ham were caught on the break, with Paul Stalteri snatching a last-gasp winner.  Curbishley’s outfit were now bottom of the table and looked doomed, or were they….

15.           Wolves                                    4-3           Leicester City                          Saturday 25^th October 2003

Between two rivals, this defeat highlighted the problems Leicester had in their battle to avoid the drop.  Coasting at the interval with a 3-0 lead, Micky Adams watched a horror show in the second half, as Wolves battled back to claim a sensational win.  Senegal international Henri Camara poked home the deciding goal four minutes from time.

16.           Oldham Athletic                     4-3           Southampton                          Saturday 8^th May 1993

Despite late wins against Aston Villa and Liverpool, Oldham came into the last day of the season needing to beat Southampton and hope that Crystal Palace were beaten at Arsenal.  Oldham romped into a 4-1 lead at Boundary Park, but faced a nervy ending as Matt Le Tissier scored another hat-trick and the Saints started upping the pressure.  But, the Lactics held on and with an Ian Wright hat-trick at Highbury, Palace went down and awesome Athletic stayed in the Premiership.

17.           Arsenal                                    4-2           Wigan Athletic                        Sunday 7^th May 2006

An emotional farewell to Highbury saw Arsenal achieve their aim of securing Champions League football thanks to their hero and a dodgy food chef.  North London rivals, Tottenham saw their squad decimated by food poisoning on the eve of their trip to West Ham and eventually lost 2-1.  Party poopers Wigan did take a brief 2-1 lead to cause shudders for the home supporters, before Thierry Henry settled the nerves with a sublime hat-trick.  The King of Highbury had signed off in style.

18.           Liverpool                                                4-3           Newcastle United                    Monday 10^th March 1997

Just over a year on from their thrilling first encounter, Liverpool & Newcastle repeated the trick on a pulsating night at Anfield.  Liverpool played some mastering football in the first half, earning a 3-0 half-time lead, due to strikes from Steve McManaman, Patrik Berger & Robbie Fowler.  A pathetic piece of goalkeeping from David James gave Newcastle a way back into the game, allowing Keith Gillespie a consolation.  Suddenly, Liverpool got cocky and conceded soft goals to Faustino Asprilla and Warren Barton in the last five minutes.  It looked like they had thrown it away, until a brave header from Robbie Fowler in injury time won the game.  For the second year running, Geordie hearts had been cruelly broken in Merseyside.

19.           Middlesbrough                        4-3           Bolton Wanderers                   Sunday 26^th March 2006

With a draining UEFA Cup campaign in progress, Middlesbrough were struggling in their battle against the Premiership drop, but turned their domestic season around with a last-gasp triumph over European contenders, Bolton.  3-1 up with an hour gone, Steve McLaren’s side got complacent and goals from Jay-Jay Okocha and Ivan Campo placed the game back in the balance.  An 89^th minute winner from defender Stuart Parnaby earned Boro a crucial three points.

20.           Manchester United                  4-3           Manchester City                     Sunday 20^th September 2009

No doubt that this was the greatest Manchester derby of all time.  Rich Manchester City turned up at Old Trafford, expecting to win, rather than hope to win.  They fell behind inside 3 minutes to a Wayne Rooney goal, but were level by half-time, after Gareth Barry capitalised on some poor goalkeeping.  Darren Fletcher and Craig Bellamy exchanged four goals between each other in the second half, Bellamy’s first was a stunner, the second in the 90^th minute looked to have rescued a point for Mark Hughes men.  However, with almost the last kick of the match, Ryan Giggs fed Michael Owen in, who coolly slotted home past Shay Given and send the home supporters into raptures.  This was an absolute belter.

Steve McLaren - A Dutch Master

Do we all remember England’s shambolic failure to qualify for Euro 2008 in Austria/Switzerland?  The ‘Wally in a Brolly,’ headlines and the failure that was Steve McLaren.  Well, things have changed since that soggy, miserable Wembley night in November 2007, for both parties.

Whilst under the guidance of Fabio Capello, England have breezed into the World Cup finals in South Africa this summer, making the world sit up and take notice whilst doing so.  Meanwhile, McLaren has been attempting to rebuild his destroyed coaching reputation at the unheralded Dutch side, FC Twente.  This he has managed to do rather impressively and he will have bound to have raised a few eyebrows across Europe with the success over the weekend.

FC Twente became Dutch champions on Sunday, McLaren leading them to their first Eredevisie success in their 45-year history.  Facing Europa League hopefuls NAC Breda on Sunday, FC Twente stayed cool under the pressure and overcame the 10-men 2-0, with goals from Chelsea loanee Miroslav Stoch and their club-record signing, Bryan Ruiz.  It meant that Twente held on to win the league, one point clear of Martin Jol’s Ajax side.

Ajax may have won their last 14 games, including a 2-0 win over their title rivals a fortnight ago and amassed a staggering goal difference of +86, but Twente held on for a historic triumph, in an incredibly consistent season, which saw them lose just two games.  With the likes of AZ Alkmaar and former European Cup winners PSV Eindhoven beaten comprehensively into submission, this is a very impressive statistic.

McLaren, who turned 49 today, may not have the best Dutch accent around, but he has been able to master the Dutch game for sure.  Last season, his first season in charge, he took the club to 2^nd in the table and a Dutch Cup final appearance.  To have gone one better is very impressive, for a man, who when he took over in June 2008, it looked like a desperate move for a manager on the verge on liquidation.  He also steered FC Twente to Round three of the UEFA Europa League this season, eventually going down in a bruising encounter with German neighbours, Werder Bremen.

Despite successful spells as No.2 at Derby, and as Sir Alex Ferguson’s right-hand man at Manchester United, plus a five-year reign at Middlesbrough, which saw the Teesiders win the 2004 Carling Cup and reach a UEFA Cup final, it’s his England reign that will haunt his career.  His failure to get through a seemingly easy group on paper was galling, especially some of his questionable selections throughout the Euro 2008 campaign, including dropping David Beckham altogether and playing the has-been likes of David Nugent upfront.  However, his spell at FC Twente has been nothing short of a success and I wish them all the best in the group stages of the UEFA Champions League next season.

Congratulations to FC Twente and Steve McLaren, he truly is a Dutch Master!