Eminem’s top spot as the biggest selling album of 2009 may soon be in jeopardy. His Relapse album debuted at #1 selling over 600,000 copies and easily beating out competition across the board. Now as he prepares to re-release the successful project as Relapse:Refill, Em’s top spot may soon be up for grabs. According to Billboard, newcomer and British talent show star Susan Boyle is set to knock Em out the top honor. Boyle’s I Dreamed A Dream was released November 23 and is expected to outsell his latest product by a small margin. Along with beating out Eminem, Boyle’s debut will more than likely smash Rihanna’s Rated R which is projected to move 180,000 units.

As Em sees his top debut spot being given up to a British talent show sensation, Em is looking to travel across the pond to import America’s next rap star. Em recently declared that he would be interested in being a judge for England’s talent show, “The X Factor. “ The MC told the Britain Sun that he’d love the opportunity to bring his Hip-Hop knowledge to the program.

“No disrespect to the current judges but you need people who are global, platinum-selling stars. You need to prepare contestants for what it’s really like out there, and what sort of pressure you are going to be under…..A hip-hop star will never win a show like The X Factor without somebody like me on the panel. There are a lot of very talented hip-hop stars who would kill for a break in Britain but the judges aren’t qualified in hip-hop…I keep my eye on the urban scene in Britain and there is a lot of talent out there. It needs somebody in power to open a door for them.”

He also made sure to add that while he may not be available to judge the show full time he would gladly accept a guest judge position.

“I am not sure I would have the time to do it full-time, but I would come and be a guest judge…Simon tells it like it is and I am down with that. If somebody ain’t good enough they ain’t good enough.”

Very exciting news for next weeks X Factor Results show!

Crazy outfit-wearing Lady GaGa will be performing her new single Bad Romance for the first time on UK tv.

The American songstress who will no doubt pick something ludicrous to wear on the show, rocketed to fame with Just Dance and has followed it up with a string of hits, controversial outfits and slightly odd festival performances.

GaGa ohlala

Also joining her on the show will be Janet Jackson! This will be her only UK tv appearance in 2009 so we are very lucky that she will be gracing the stage.

Like Lady GaGa, she is no stranger to a controversial performance after her accidental and infamous ‘wardrobe malfunction’ in 2004 when her boob popped out in front of millions of Super Bowl viewers in the USA.

Janet Jackson

She has sold 100 million records since she began back in 1982, and is the only US artist to have had seven top five hits from one album. Not only that she has won five Grammy awards and countless MTV awards.

They will be performing on Sunday 6 December, in the semi-final of The X Factor.

The X Factor is on Saturdays and Sundays at 8pm on ITV1.

]]> http://killuminati2012.wordpress.com/2009/11/27/lo-mejor-de-el-factor-x-or-the-x-factor-pt-2/ Fri, 27 Nov 2009 22:40:58 +0000 killuminati2012 http://killuminati2012.wordpress.com/2009/11/27/lo-mejor-de-el-factor-x-or-the-x-factor-pt-2/

The X Factor: Kyle enters The X Factor to follow his passion of singing and love of Girls Aloud. Will his idol Cheryl put him through to the next round?

El Peor Cantante del Mundo

La Mas Agresiva Del Factor X

This is probably the angriest contestant we’ve ever had on The X Factor. Rachel thinks she’s got what it takes to win – but her reaction turns nasty when the judges don’t agree.

The X Factor 2009: 40-year-old Daryl from East Sussex is a cabinet maker by day, but is following his passion in his brother’s memory. Will he make it through?

Eighteen-year-old, Leon, shop assistant wants to sing, but his mum’s not too sure. Has he got what it takes?

John & Edward The X Factor: Twins John and Edward from Ireland bound onto the stage with incredible confidence – but have they got the voices?

X Factor – Crazy girl, she is angry. Enjoy!!

The X Factor 2009: Olly Murs is an ‘ordinary geezer’ but dreams of making it big. Does he have The X Factor?

These girls certainly make an entrance! They give Dermot quite a surprise too!  They call themselves Fallen Angels

Lloyd Daniels The X Factor 2009: 16-year-old Lloyd has only ever performed in school plays, and is nervous about his audition. Will the judges be impressed?

The X Factor 2009: With a member of the group who has failed The X Factor before, have Miss Fitz got that spark the judges are looking for?   MISSFITZ

18 year old shop worker Matthew thinks he can be the next Robbie Williams… but he starts with some impressions of previous winners…

My not-so-secret sources have revealed another exclusive X Factor story from this week’s upcoming News of the World:

FORMER X Factor star Rhydian Roberts reckons Olly Murs will win the show this year because he is the most popular.

The opera ace - who came second to Leon Jackson in the 2007 series - said:  “Maybe Olly will be this year’s late bloomer; he’s looking the most likely.
“Danyl Johnson has to be my favourite at the moment though because he is the best singer, Joe McElderry second and Stacey Solomon third.
“The only problem with Danyl is that the public don’t seem to like him and I think Olly is probably the most popular.”

This is a bit of a strange story as the ice-haired Welshman backs Olly to win because he’s the most popular – yet he was in the bottom two last week.  Then, he actually doesn’t think he should win – at best he’s ranking him as fourth out of the last five.  Are we supposed to read between the lines here or something? I feel like there’s a hidden message in this article that I can’t quite work out.

The video for Cheryl Cole’s new track 3 Words, featuring Black Eyed Peas’ will.i.am has just surfaced online and well, it’s quite a mindfuck after the relative normality of the Fight for this Love video.

This video features all sorts of visual split-screen tricks, weird costumes that are going to draw inevitable Lady Gaga comparisons (in the video Cole appears as a platinum blonde who looks ready for a funeral, some sort of Cleopatra-esque character, and that sort of malarkey). There are also a load of people dancing or lying on the floor with some sort of combination mask/bandage on. Sure why not.

It looks like it cost a pretty penny to make and it’s probably going to be a huge hit (as are all things that The X Factor touches), but it’s a big change from the more upbeat and dancefloor worthy Fight for this Love. I imagine the song will be remixed to within an inch of its life.

The song itself is actually quite good, not really ‘kicking in’ until the final minute, but still remaining interesting enough up to that point. It does annoy me however that Cole features will.i.am on so many of her album tracks. I mean, Heartbreaker was good, but it wasn’t that good.

And finally we have something to replace the seventy mentions of the word ‘fight’ in Fight for this Love. That’s got to count for something.

Watch below.

[video via The Sound]

O programa começa a entrar em sua reta final e o sinal disso é a dificuldade que venho tendo em estabelecer o melhor e o pior da noite. E o poder dos jurados acabou nessa semana, sendo a partir da próxima semana a decisão do público diretamente a que vale.

Na semana Wham/George Michael, a maioria dos candidatos foi bem e felizmente os três para quem torço continuam na competição, mas confesso que o bottom 2 formado por John & Edward e principalmente por Olly Murs me surpreendeu.  Sem mais polêmicas, os jurados eliminaram os gêmeos e Louis já sem candidatos na competição.

Antes da eliminação ainda houveram os shows de Susan Boyle e Mariah Carey lançando suas novas músicas.

Melhor da Noite – Joe McElderry – Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me

Pior da Noite – John & Edward – I’m Your Man

This is not the official single artwork but it’s not released yet so I’ll update it when it’s officially released.

After the huge success of her debut single; ‘Bad Boys’…

(I’m sure this is the official Artwork)

… the ‘X Factor’ 2008 winner is set to storm the charts with her second hit, ‘Broken Heels’.  It seems there is a pattern as both singles begin with the letter “b”.

The song starts off with her saying “Red One…” (The producer of the song who has also worked with Lady Gaga and the Sugababes) “I can do whatever you can do and I can do it even better in broken heels” and instead of the ‘Oooh Ways” and the “Oooh Wahs” of ‘Bad Boys, Alex decides to use some “He-e-eey’s” and “All the ladies, all the fellas, we can do it even better, we can do it even better in broken heels”. Then the beat really kicks in and she seems like she is getting ready to fight with lyrics like: “Pull my sleeves up, gab my hair up!” We shall see what she is really talking about in the music video that she has officially confirmed that the video for the song is complete via her twitter page.

It is an extremely ear-catching tune and will have you charmed from the first verse and I wish it all the best.

"El Factor X"

El Factor X: 27 años de edad, profesor Danyl tiene una pasión por el canto y se roba el escenario por completo en una increible primera audicion!

The X Factor: 27-year-old teacher Danyl has a passion for singing and manages to completely own the stage in an incredible first audition!

Connie Talbot singing Ben and winning her Britains Got Talent semi final

Andrew Johnston

The X Factor: It’s difficult to surprise Simon Cowell, but Stacey Soloman manages to do just that… Does she have The X Factor?

Jamie Archer AKA Jamie Afro has never had his chance to break into music, despite it being a lifelong dream. Will he get that chance today?

Joseph McElderry The X Factor: Joe from South Shields immediately got a yes from Cheryl before he started singing! But will he be able to perform well enough to impress the other judges?

Susan Boyle – Memory from Cats – Made Amanda Cry – Piers said brilliant!

You voted him, out of thousands of entrants, your X Factor winner 2007! Watch Leon Jackson perform his brand new single When You Believe!

Lucie Jones,The X Factor 2009: Nervous Lucie takes to the stage, but her choice of song is questioned by Simon. Has she got The X Factor?

The X Factor: 24-year-old Duane returns to The X Factor after failure at last year’s Boot Camp. Has he got what it takes for this year’s competition?

Shaheen Jafargholi Britains Got Talent Wins Semi Final,UNBELIEVABLE 12 YEAR OLD BOY SINGS!!!

Nicky Evans, who recently lost her father, tries her luck at the auditions – and manages to amaze even Simon!

Well I know it’s a bit late and virtually everyone in the entire world knows what happened on last Sunday’s The X Factor so just for those people who have been living under a rock for the last few days, this is a mid-week X Factor update.

On last Saturday’s show it was Wham! week, and all of the finalists sang their socks off to try and avoid the dreaded ‘bottom two’ in the results show.

Unfortunately for John and Edward they found themselves there once again, with probably the biggest surprise of Sunday night’s show, Olly who was also in the bottom two.

Now if I know The X Factor, and I think I do, this will simply been the result of everyone thinking that they don’t need to vole for Olly because he is safe and everyone else will vote for him. When this happens, the ’safe’ act finds themselves in the bottom two and singing for survival.

Olly and John & Edward find out who will be sent packing

John and Edward were voted off by Simon, Cheryl and Dannii, and thank goodness! There were cheers of joy in my house as Dannii said she would be sending them home!

So now let’s look to the future and talk about this coming weekend’s show. There will be two major differences from now in on The X Factor. The first is that each of the remaining acts will have to sing TWO songs from now on, which means twice the pressure. It also means less time to practice your song so anyone who can still deliver polished performances is obviously putting in a lot of hard work. This week the final five acts will be singing songs by Elton John and Take That.

Alicia Keys

The second difference is  that the judges can no longer decide who goes and who stays from the bottom two – that’s right, it’s all down to the public vote now which means that if you like someone, you really have got to vote for them.

This week’s theme is Elton John & Take That! Whoohooo! When I found this out a very big part of me hoped that Take That would be performing on the results show but alas it is not meant to be, and instead Rihanna and Alicia Keys will be singing!

Rihanna

So that’s all for now folks, don’t forget that The X Factor is on Saturdays and Sundays at 8pm on ITV1.

OFCOM today published its report into complaints made against Britain’s Got Talent and The X Factor. The complaints concerned the treatment of Hollie Steel and Susan Boyle on BGT, and Danyl Johnson on The X Factor, and to cut a long story short, the regulator said that there was no case to answer in any of the complaints. In particular, Dannii Minogue’s comments on Danyl Johnson’s sexuality were not malicious, and were reasonable since Johnson himself had brought it up in the press. Johnson had already said he wasn’t offended by Minogue’s comments. So everybody’s friends again. Aaaawwww.

‘Coz I gotta have faith.

George Michael, Faith

On other music news, Taylor Swift wins five AMA’s (and she was absent from the ceremonies) and Adam Lambert goes crazy on stage [more on this on another entry]. Lady GaGa and Beyonce will have a video showdown: Beyonce feat Lady GaGa in Video Phone vs Lady GaGa feat Beyonce in Telephone.

As “more entries” go, I have a one more coming, related to what crazy things today’s music teaches us.

DISCLAIMER: In this entry, when I say “Jedward,” it is not an allusion to Bella Swan’s two lovers in The Twilight Saga; so if that is what you think, then go to another blog post.

——————————————

Video Diaries and the Live Show

This week, the finalists cover songs from the combined catalogue of Wham! and George Michael. Before those shows happen, the finalists have a video diary at the aftermath of the last eliminations. Out of curiosity, I watched everyone’s video diary this week, instead of my usual ritual-of-sorts where I watch just Jedward’s. Needless to say, I missed nothing if I did not watch them.

Performance time.

1. Lloyd Daniels sings George Michael’s Faith.

Noticing that there were six acts left, I wonder why he’s still there. With this performance, I don’t mind.

8.3/10

2. Stacey Solomon sings George Michael’s I Can’t Make You Love Me (originally by Bonnie Raitt).

(she sounds like a crack addict in her video diary, and her look is similar to Amy Winehouse)

This was great; nothing more, though.

7.7/10

3. John and Edward sing Wham!’s I’m Your Man mixed with Wham! Rap (also by Wham!)

With respect to the idea of singing properly, these guys have gotten more diplomatic immunity from me than a diplomat would in a foreign land after his country was taken over by some tyrannical extremist who wants to kill him [WHAT?!?!?!?]. As much as I love them, I don’t adore their singing; and this is the most singing I’ve seen them do in ages. Still epic, but a step down from last week. They were in the bottom two.

8.0/10

4. Danyl Johnson sings George Michael’s Careless Whisper.

(he supposedly created a scene to get this song this week)

His vocal abilities are impeccable, but there were parts where it was easier to listen to John and Edward than to him. He should chill.

7.3/10

5. Olly Murs sings George Michael’s Fast Love.

His choreography was awkward, his dancing compromised his vocals, his “Thank you” at the end of his performance is cheesy at best, but it’s hard to hate this performance. It doesn’t mean, however, that I like this performance very much. He was in the bottom two.

7.8/10

6. Joe McElderry sings George Michael and Elton John’s Don’t Let the Sun Go Down On Me.

I have been raving about this performance since hearing it yesterday.

9.2/10

—————————————

The Results Show

The finalists sang Wham!’s Wake Me Up Before You Go Go.

Wow! I actually like this performance.

This week’s bottom two included two of the most upbeat performers left in the competition. When they sang for their lives, both sang slower songs. Both fared poorly.

After the pair of mediocre performances, the judges vote. Simon votes first, and despite voting his own acts off before, he votes Jedward off. 1-0. Cheryl comes next, and without any sort of explanation, she votes Jedward off. 2-0. Louis proceeds to question why Olly was in the bottom two… and votes him off. 2-1. The last to vote is Dannii. Despite her vote being predicted already, she delays her choice, and eventually turns a 360 and votes for Jedward (anyway).

After that, everybody’s favorite act was eliminated. Colon, open parenthesis, open parenthesis.

P.S. You did not have to read this part, here is how they voted.

—————————————

The Judges

Since the judges’ table will be calmer from now on (more so I think), let me discuss the judges. After seven weeks of controversy, which included homophobic rants and two forced deadlocks, it is evident that the judges/mentors of The X-Factor, and their endless banter, are amusing to watch.

What makes them funny? Their personalities? Probably, but it’s more because of their agenda.

Since Louis, mentor of John & Edward, was reduced to having one contestant on the show, he has been attempting to take down Cheryl’s acts (who then had two acts), as seen with his endless condescending of Lloyd and his snappy words during the vote this week. On another note, he has a “rulebook” (last used on Joe) on what acts not under him can or cannot do. Since Jedward is out now, he will continue pushing Lloyd out and Olly in… or he will just shut up.

Cheryl, mentor of Joe and Lloyd, in turn, pays him back by voting Jedward off [whether it be out of spite is another topic]. She’s the Paula Abdul of this series, and she still has two acts left [take that, Louis].

Dannii, mentor of Stacey,hates John and Edward because they can’t sing. She’s one angry woman since she lost two acts in two weeks (thanks to judge Simon), and it shows.

That leaves us with everybody’s favorite mentor, Simon, mentor of Olly and Danyl. He turned a 180 and now loves Jedward (more so we think), but still continues to push his two acts despite a mediocre performance and/or a lot of drama. He loves having crazy arguments with the judge with a sharper tongue than him (at least on the show), Louis, and will stand up at the end of his acts’ performances (now copied by Dannii).

——————————————

Aftermath

I will be spotted saying and/or writing “America got it wrong” when American Idol eliminates the wrong contestant. Well, the Brits got this wrong. Not just Jedward, but the bottom two as a whole. What I have learned watching The X-Factor is this: these contests need more artists like Jedward (not their voices, but their presence) because they make all but the really good performances seem boring. Imagine sending a boring winner (which I hope won’t happen) to the real world: if they seem boring in a pool of n<13, how much more in a pool of thousands?

Besides, it’s American Singers Week next week; imagine Jedward singing an American Idol winner’s song, because it won’t happen. How sad.

There’s no reason to cry over spilled milk, and since there is little to separate what I want to happen in this show and what I feel will happen, here is my predicted standings.

1 Joe

2 Stacey

3 Olly

4 Danyl

5 Lloyd

here's to checking the chart

]]> http://poursomegravyonme.co.uk/2009/11/23/the-x-factor-finals-week-7/ Mon, 23 Nov 2009 13:51:35 +0000 sherby57 http://poursomegravyonme.co.uk/2009/11/23/the-x-factor-finals-week-7/

This week’s theme was George Michael.  Meh.

Saturday

Running Time (including the Xtra Factor): 140 minutes

Time I watched it in: 59 minutes

X Factor Ratio: 42.1%

Lloyd – Faith – The exciting news is that Lloyd has had a bit of a haircut.  The unexciting news is that his singing is as ropey as ever.   It’s not that he’s got a bad voice, as such, he’s just really patchy.  I suppose that you have to remember that he’s only 16.  There’s no George Michael masterclass, so the theme seems a bit OTT.

Louis is wearing a ridiculous bow-tie, and so it really suited him.  The crowd went wild because Simon described the performance as ‘not bad’.  Is this the level that we’ve sunk to?

Stacey – Don’t know – They had her sat down to start the performance whilst wearing a very short dress – quite brave.  The song was really boring, whatever it was.   It would have been quite a good performance but there were one or two dodgy bits in it.  She’s still a lovable gonk though.

The crowd seemed to be suffering from mass hysteria; I wonder what they feed to them before it starts.  Stacey looks really bashful when she gets praise, which is quite endearing.  People will probably think that she was putting it on, though.

John and Edward – I’m Your Man – This was a relatively subdued performance from the twins as they cavorted around on a 20-foot high scaffold.  They were definitely back in the absolutely rubbish category, but at least they aren’t boring.  Simon described them as an “unstoppable machine” – a truly frightening thought.

Danyl – Careless Whisper – I don’t really know what I thought about it.  He’s on a different level to the other acts and so it’s difficult to really judge him.  Cheryl said that parts of it were really flat – she gets in her weekly Danyl dig – good girl.

Olly – Fast Love – Another one of the acts with dodgy bits.  I think I’m going to have to accept that I just don’t like him, even if it’s really unfair.  His stupid dancing was quite subdued, which was a shame.  Overall, I thought it was pretty bad, he seems to be getting worse if anything.  Danni said that there were tuning problems in the first half of the song.  I’m glad it wasn’t just me that thought so.

Joe – Don’t Let the Sun Go Down On Me – Simon did a great appreciative nod towards the beginning of the song.  Joe’s not really my cup of tea but he’s certainly consistent each week, and that’s more than you can say for the others.

We’ve got to the stage in the competition where Louis loves everybody.  He did manage to to open his rule book and have a go about it being an Elton John song and not a George Michael one.  Simon managed to take credit for the performance, as he always does.

The main show seemed to fly by tonight, so my comments seem to be a lot shorter than usual.  Could The Xtra Factor help me pad it out any?  Well, Joan Collins was in the audience looking like a leopard-skin scarecrow.  It was quite scary so I just focused on Holly and I felt instantly soothed.

Up in the studio with the judges and Cheryl was wearing a ridiculously short dress to be sat on a stool.  The stylists appeared to be going for the upskirt factor.

Someone asked Louis why he has to be childish whenever he’s being criticised, he said ‘because that’s what I’m like.’  Which was a good answer, to be fair.  Someone else slagged off Simon’s song choices for Danyl.  Another guy suggested that Louis has had a face-lift.  Gina phoned up and nastily accused Cheryl of favouring Joe over Lloyd.  God, I love Britain.

Predictions:

Should be in bottom 2: Lloyd + Olly

Will be in bottom 2: Lloyd + Danyl

Sunday

Running Time: 120 minutes

Time I watched it in: 35 minutes

X Factor Ratio: 29.2%

The group song was Wake Me Up Before You Go Go.  Like always, it was hideous.

Skipping through a lot of rubbish (Susan Boyle and Mariah Carey), it boiled down to John & Edward and Olly in the final two.

Jedward sang Boyzone’s No Matter What, the first time in the competition that they’ve actually ’sung’.  It really showed just how bad they are.

Olly sang a song (I knew what it was but I’ve already forgotten what it was) and was distinctly average.  Sadly, ‘distinctly average’ is too much for Jedward to contend with.

It was pretty obvious who was going to go, but I found myself praying that the twins would survive.  Sadly they didn’t.

In conclusion

It’s quite incredible that Lloyd wasn’t in the bottom two, maybe people are voting because they feel sorry for him.  Jedward are finally gone – they were absolutely rubbish singers, but the show is going to be a lot more boring without them.  There’s no one left that I’m really rooting for – a sorry state of affairs.

My favourite acts:

1. Stacey – Meh.

2. Danyl – Meh.

3. Joe – Meh.

Total Duration: 260 minutes

Total time I spent watching it: 94 minutes

Overall X Factor Ratio: 36.2 %

Finally, it happened ‘Jedward’ were kicked off The X Factor. Which means now all the other mildly talented people will get some attention for a while. I think this means there’s only one show left now of the current series, so that’s good news. Apart from ITV who (after I’m a Celebrity… finishes) will go back to having absolutely no programs anyone wants to watch.

Talking of I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Some Media Spotlight, I have no idea what is going on in there. Though if memory serves me, I think they are going to start voting people off soon. So that’s interesting…right? RIGHT?! [Additional Content!] I woke up this morning to see that Katie Price, or Jordon, has quit the show. Apparently the viewers had been continuously voting her to do the ‘bushtucker trails’ which is hilarious. Katie said she doesn’t know if the public “love me or hate me, I don’t know”. Let me give you a clue, we don’t love you.

Children in Need was a success as usual this year, raising £20,309,747 for charity. It’s actually less than last years raised which puts a stop to it beating previous years records like it has been for so long now. I didn’t watch any of the show, mainly because it looked so awful I decided to go to the pub instead. Which I think we can all agree was a better use of my time.

Have you heard about the Tottenham – Wigan match from yesterday? Spurs beat Wigan 9-1, with Jermain Defoe scoring 5! I’m changing my mind about Defoe with his recent performances. Ask me a few years ago if he should be in the England squad and I’d laugh myself to death at the suggestion. Now, I’ve completely changed my mind. Not only should he be in the squad, he probably should be starting as well.

With six singers left in the competition the bar keeps on rising. This week the contestants sung a collection of songs by George Michael and Wham!. I think it was a pretty good theme choice; I was kinda more excited for Queen week, but you win some and you lose some folks just thank god it wasn’t country week … wait. It wouldn’t make sense to a country week in the UK would it? I apologize, I’m still stuck on an American Idol format. Last night I was wowed by most of the singers, with the exception of Jedward of course. Lets go ahead and get down to business, yeah?

• Starting the show off was mister Lloyd Daniels, I’m really excited to see that he is improving week after week now. This definitely one of his more comfortable performances and also one of his most well executed vocally. I loved his new haircut and I’m, yet again, falling more and more in love with this guy. I’m anxious to see who goes home tonight, please not my boy Lloydsters.
• Next was the lovely Stacey Solomon with yet another great performance. I’d have to say that I’m more in love with her personality though and I’m not really hoping she makes it to the top 3.
• Jedward’s performance this week, and pretty much every week, was horrible. I’m really annoyed they have made it this far. If anyone deserves to go home it is them. The vocals are always off if you can even hear them as they are being drowned out by the rest of the sideshow going on. British people, please send them home.
• Danyl did yet another ballad all big and facially over exaggerated… surprise! I’m am yet again bored by him and I think he’d make a boring X Factor winner. Though on a somewhat good note for him, I think Cheryl was a bit off when she said he was flat. Girl don’t pull a Paula and go crazy on us! Your better than that.
• My absolute favorite and top choice to be crowned this years champ is Olly Murs. This week he was given a great song (‘Fastlove’) that really helped him show a bit more of a contemporary side while being completely sexy. Week after week he delivers the best and i’m always looking forward to seeing him. Louis was actually spot on for a change! Olly can be a great popstar. Ok let’s just get this out of the way now…. I LOVE YOU OLLY! WOO! Well now that’s better… let’s continue, shall we?
• Finishing up the night is the very very attractive, cute, and talented Joseph McElderry. I’m still not a huge fan of his voice, just a matter of preference I guess, but I think he has been doing well.  I would like to see him make the top 3 and also do more upbeat tracks because he’s starting to get  little boring to me.

Well I’m waiting for the results! Sadly I’ll get them behind everyone else, but oh well. JEDWARD MUST LEAVE. LET US NOT FORGET LUCIE! I miss her.

To check out the performances of this week and previous weeks click here to visit the shows YouTube channel.

The ‘X Factor’ in recent years has been strongly criticized for damaging and ruining the current music scene, by providing a quick way of finding fame and preventing critically praised or talented unsigned artists from achieving higher levels of commercial recognition. Sting, for example, has recently criticized the show for being ‘television karaoke’ and not attempting to find true musical talent. Damon Albarn has also slammed the show, saying that it serves no other purpose than being a golden ticket to fame.

Whilst this may be true, this article attempts to look at ‘The X Factor’ from an alternative perspective, in that it is no more damaging to the music industry then previous generations and that it shares many similarities to other musical eras. It may provide music of a highly questionable quality, but it could be considered that ‘The X Factor’ is not ruining the music industry at the moment.

Firstly, The X Factor is simply a continuation of other televised talent contests such as ‘New Faces’ and ‘Opportunity Knocks’. These shows served the purpose of finding previously unrecognised and unsigned talent, and catapulted the likes of Peters & Lee and Showaddwaddy to immediate fame. Even when these shows ended in the 1980’s, the concept of musical talent shows on television shows continued.

Saturday Morning shows such as ‘Saturday Superstore’, ‘Going Live’ and ‘Live and Kicking’, amongst others, all held Battle of the Bands contests, albeit to a much lower scale to the ones found on the likes of ‘New Faces’ or ‘Pop Idol’. The bands 911 and Scooch were also formed on GMTV and Live and Kicking respectively. The art of giving musicians a platform through reality shows is not a new concept and is not something that has emerged after years from the wilderness.

Furthermore, whilst ‘The X Factor’ may produce music that could be seen as poor, bad manufacturing music aimed at teenagers has always existed. The Stock Aitken Waterman era of the late 1980’s and early-to-mid 1990’s is a prime example of this. Endless artists were produced from a studio that seemed akin to a dog food production factory. For every Jason Donovan, 2 Unlimited and Sonia, there was a Kakko, Boy Krazy and Michaela Strachan. This however did not seem to ‘ruin’ the music industry at the time, considering that the Madchester, rave and shoegazing scenes achieved relative popularity during this era, along with the Britpop and trip-hop genres starting to develop. ‘The X Factor’ produces very similar artists to the SAW and boyband stable, albeit on a far smaller scale; it is just the way in which its done that is different.

In the past, manufactured artists such as Kakko and Boy Krazy were generally formed by holding open auditions and were gradually promoted through school tours, radio roadshows and Saturday morning children’s programming. Due to the high financial risks of launching a new act, new ways of promoting music have been developed through the use of Myspace and YouTube.

The traditional ways, as mentioned above, of promoting a new manufactured act have also dated due to the decline in teenage music magazine publications, music programming on terrestrial television and Saturday morning television programmes for children. In order to carry on developing these artists, a new way of promoting these artists had to be found.

‘The X Factor’ offers a cheaper and more viable option. It develops ‘raw talent’ in the same way of traditional methods through open auditions and mentoring. Those who would normally audition for a band like Take That, probably would audition for ‘The X Factor’ and vice-versa. The promotion is also televised on a much greater scale however, through a Saturday night entertainment show produced at a profit. Rather than assembling groups and solo artists such as EYC and Optimystic at a high cost and level of failure (which ultimately happened), ‘The X Factor’ offers a high probable chance of success in the short-run without the financial risk. It is producing artists that are similar, but its promotional methods could be seen as a way of getting around the declining traditional forms of music promotion.

The criticism that ‘The X Factor’ is dominating the music industry is one that seems unfair. Compared to the SAW era, ‘The X Factor’ produces a relatively small roster of two or three recording artists per year. This hardly suggests that artists from ‘The X Factor’ are dominating the music industry, especially when artists like Same Difference were given little promotion. Also, many of these artists are signed to Syco, a subsidiary of Sony Records. Many other labels such as Warner Bros Records and Universal Records have little or no association with ‘The X Factor’, so Syco cannot be held solely responsible if it is felt that certain genres or artists are underrepresented. Such is the decline in the number of manufactured artists, it could be considered that this once saturated genre could be considered as a niche, yet highly popular, genre.

It seems also seems ludicrous to suggest that ‘The X Factor’ is manipulating the charts by inviting various contemporary artists on its show. Although a cynical side may suggest that it is correct when the likes of Susan Boyle and JLS appear on the show, but it is logical that sales would go up after appearing on a major television show. The reason why it is only these artists whose sales go up and not others is because music on any television show is such a rarity, rather than the ‘The X Factor’ itself ‘manipulating’ buyer behaviour. In this day and age, the fact that it is offering live music to a family audience is something that should be applauded rather than criticised.

The cutthroat nature of Syco has also been highly criticised, with claims of offering little musical development and artists being quickly dropped if they do not meet expectations. There are few exceptions, with Leona Lewis and Alexandra Burke being handed a high amount of loyalty and time to develop musically.

This mirrors Creation Records, headed by Alan McGee, in some ways. Like Syco, certain artists such as Oasis and Primal Scream were allowed high levels of creative freedom and promotion. This is in contrast to other artists on Creation Records like Adorable, Swervedriver and Slowdive who were given little promotion, and were often threatened with being dropped if they did not change their musical sound to a more mainstream one. In February 1995 things came to head, when Slowdive released their experimental classic ‘Pygmalion’ after they were ordered to record a pop album. A week later Slowdive were dropped.

This nature has always existed, mainly because record labels are operating as a business. If they feel that certain artists will be success then they will invest a high amount of time and money in them, and this time and money will reduce or increase in relation to the confidence they have in an artist.

Another suggestion is that the ‘X Factor’ has ruined the Christmas number one. This is due to the high likelihood that the winner will get the Christmas number one and that it should be a more traditional alternative (i.e. an actual Christmas song). Criticisms of this seem to be missing the point. Very few Christmas songs have actually been the Christmas number one. Most Christmas number one’s have been long-runners that have held the number one spot since November (‘Earth Song’ by Michael Jackson; ‘Don’t You Want Me by The Human League; ‘Two Little Boys’ by Rolf Harris and ‘Always on My Mind’ by The Pet Shop Boys, amongst many others) or have been non-Christmas songs by in-demand artists (Westlife; The Spice Girls; The Beatles).

The main excitement with the Christmas number one is not the result itself, but it is the build-up. The excitement comes from the anticipation of a possible upset (even if it unlikely at the minute) and guessing where the new releases will chart. Last year’s chart battle between Alexandra Burke and Jeff Buckley still created a great deal of excitement in the press and a strong feeling on anticipation. The result is ultimately an anti-climax where the most obvious candidate reaches number one. The only time when the actual result has been exciting is when an upset has been caused, such as when Mr Blobby and Bob the Builder beating Take That and Westlife respectively. This will no doubt happen in the future whether its due to the decline of ‘The X Factor’, a winner that fails to have a connection with the buying public’, a consistent anti-X Factor campaign or a charity/novelty record.

Whilst the ‘X Factor’ may personally produce consistently poor music, it cannot be seen as a scapegoat for ‘destroying’ the current music scene. If you judge music by its sales, music is as popular as ever and there is a healthier amount of diversity in the charts then that was seen at the beginning of this decade. Bad music has also existed and will always exist, and it has not ruined the music scene before and nor will it now. It is no more damaging to the music industry then The Osmonds or Steps were.

It’s another preview X Factor story from this week’s News of the World:

X FACTOR evictee Jamie Afro reckons he would do it his way if he entered the competition again – and not take advice from Simon Cowell or the show’s producers.

It was “incorrect” song choices made by his mentor Simon, 50, and producers that left a sour taste in his mouth.

The Londoner reckons they regularly picked the wrong tune for him to sing as they struggled to come to terms with what he was – and tried to turn him into something he was not.

Jamie, 34, from London, tells the News of the World: “You saw how well Sex On Fire by the Kings of Leon went down in my audition.

“A lot of people who watch the show might not have known the song, because it’s quite edgy, and modern – but it went down brilliantly.

“THAT was what I am all about, and I performed with a huge smile on my face.

“But they wouldn’t let me do a similar song again.

“I wanted to do Mr Brightside by the Killers in the rock week but they vetoed it, saying nobody would have heard it, in place of Primal Scream’s Get Your Rocks Off.

“But that was the point – I wanted to try something that not everyone would have heard of, rather than going for the safe option.

“I just don’t think they knew what to do with me because there had never been a rock singer on the show before.

“But I wanted to go with Simon’s choice, because let’s face it, he’s the expert.

“And I feared if I hadn’t have gone with what they suggested then I would have got their backs up and been out of the competition earlier on.

“In the end I wasn’t miserable, but I had lost confidence up there.”

It’s almost a cliché for an ex-contestant to blame the song choices, probably because it’s so easy for them to do it.  We really need some kind of alternate-reality predicting computer that can see how he would have done if he had picked his own songs.

2008 ‘X Factor’ winner has confirmed her latest single release via twitter. It will be her second single released from her debut album called ‘Overcome’.

She said:

‘So, if you don’t know guys, BROKEN HEELS is the new SINGLE !! So excited! Tweet when I’m on the other side. Be safe guys. Muah!! X 2:56 PM Nov 19th from UberTwitter’

Here is her new single, it is not the music video but I will update this entry when I get it. When it is officially released I will review it.

Chris Ds

By Gemma Haigh and Narelle McGowan

Susan Boyle on Britain's Got Talent

Scottish Singing Sensation Susan Boyle has broken a world record with the most pre-ordered album in Amazon history.

The Britain’s Got Talent runner up’s first album I Dreamed a Dream is due to be released on Monday 23rd November and is predicted to top the album charts.

‘Su-bo’ will also be appearing on the X-Factor this Sunday to sing a track from her new album.

Julian Monagham, head of music buying at Amazon.co.uk told the Telegraph: “Just eight months ago, no one was aware of the talents of Susan Boyle. Now, she has generated more Amazon pre-order CD sales than any other artist.

“That is an incredible achievement and is testament to the fact that she has captured the hearts of people all over Britain, America and the rest of the world.”

Edinburgh Napier News caught up with one of Susan’s oldest friends, Suzanne Clifford, from her hometown Blackburn.

Suzanne says she remembers Susan’s singing: “I didn’t know that she could sing until she got up and sang in the pub one night and it was just absolutely amazing.”

Suzanne worked in the local pub where Susan would wow the punters singing songs from her favourite musicals every week on the karaoke.

Susan also toured with the pub band and entered competitions, so it was of no surprise to the people of Blackburn when Susan finally got her big break on Britain’s Got Talent.

Suzanne recalls the whole town getting behind Susan when she was on the talent show: “It was amazing because all the pubs and houses had banners and posters up everywhere saying ‘Go Susan’ and ‘Vote for Susan’.”

Watch the interview in full below:

LOVIN’ LAS VEGAS: Don’t know why I thought that Lily Tomlin and Sin City were not a natural fit. Turns out they are. La Tomlin premiered her new

TOMLIN & WAGNER: Viva Las Vegas

one-woman show, Not Playing With A Full Deck, at the MGM Grand, and reportedly loves Las Vegas! Lily’s partner and personal muse, the unabashedly brilliant humourist Jane Wagner, is the mighty pen behind her new show as well as such previous Tomlin megahits as The Search For Signs Of Intelligent Life In The Universe and Appearing Nitely. Lily’s new show is a mix of Greatest Hits – the characters her fans still can’t get enough of, like Ernestine and Edith Ann – and new characters, and

SHORT: Damages control

new technology. Tomlin’s new show ‘try-out’ played in MGM’s Hollywood Theater, which seats about 2,000 people at each performance. And when Tomlin isn’t hanging out with her Big Business co-star and Caesars Palace headliner Bette Midler (The Showgirl Must Go On) or trying to coax Jane (“it’s come down to begging, really,”) into writing a new Broadway show for her, she’s commuting to New York to shoot her scenes in the new season of Damages with Glenn Close. In it she plays the matriarch of a powerful family determined to destroy shady legal eagle Close. Assisting Lily in this mission are Martin Short as her high-powered attorney and Campbell Scott as her son. And yes, she confesses, she and Marty did misbehave one day on the set, when

MIDLER: The show must go ... off

she read her lines as Ernestine and he did his as Ed Grimley. “But never when the cameras are rolling!”

THE SHOWGIRL MUST GO OFF: P.S. for Vegas-bound Bette Midler fans: Your heroine ends her two-year residency at The Colloseum – aka The House That Céline Built – on January 31. Says Bette: “These legs have had such a great run in the desert, it may be time to haul them to places with more humidity and fewer slot machines.”

GET OUT YOUR HANDKERCHIEFS: Yes, it’s true, the latest YouTube sensation is a recent audition for Simon Cowell’s British talent show The X Factor. The singer is a 40-year-old cabinet-maker named Daryl Markham. Markham has his own website now, and is now a household

MARKHAM: YouTube sensation

name for millions of people all over the world. But can he sing? You be the judge. To see his now-historic audition, just click here.

NO BIZ LKE SHOW BIZ: Leave it to Reg Hartt to find a copy of the sumptuous MGM musical Kiss Me Kate, with Kathryn Grayson, Howard Keel and young hoofers Bob Fosse & Tommy Rall competing for Ann Miller’s machine-gun taps., in — wait for it — 3D, its screen original format. Cineaste extraordinare Hartt unspools the classic Cole Porter musical this Sunday and next at 5 pm at his Cineforum HQ at Bathurst & College. Adds Reg: “Bring your own popcorn and we will zap it for you.”

WILLIAMS: ReelWorld decade

Hmmmm, wonder if Stratford’s Kiss Me Kate star Juan Chiorian, now on stage at the Factory Theatre in The Madonna Painter, has ever seen this version? … fan faves Colin Mochrie & Deb McGrath guest with Ron James tonight at 8 pm on CBC Television …  the Kate Rogers Band performs live tomorrow morning on CBC Radio One’s GO! Show. “Tickets are free and everyone is welcome!” sez Ms Rogers … speaking of tickets, you can still snag some for this weekend’s performances of the National Ballet’s spectacular Sleeping Beauty revival before it closes Sunday .. and can you believe that Tonya Lee Williams’ ReelWorld Film Festival, the little movie marathon that grew, celebrates its 10th anniversary next spring? Ms Williams, of course, is currently stationed in Washington, D.C. — on screen, at least — in The Border. And BTW, the ReelWorld call for submissions has already started. So if you have a feature, documentary, short, music video or animation from the Aboriginal, Asian, Black, Latino, Middle Eastern, South Asian or other multi-racial community, click here and fill out the submissions form.

Happy weekend!

-/-

http://reelworld.ca/

Após a polêmica semana do top 8, voltamos com mais uma rodada de shows e como tema tivemos músicas do Queen, ou seja, grandes sucessos que poderiam afundar ou não alguns cantores e foi isso mais ou menos o que aconteceu.

Melhor da Noite – Stacey Solomon – Who Wants To Live Forever

Pior da Noite – Jamie Archer – Radio Gaga

Na noite de resultados tivemos um ótimo show da Shakira com seu novo single “Did It Again”, além da apresentação dos 12 finalistas cantando “You Are Not Alone” do Michael Jackson, como forma de arrecadar dinheiro para um hospital.

No bottom two, se encontraram Lloy Daniels e Jamie Archer, segunda vez do loiro e a primeira vez de Archer. Como de costume a disputa foi para o Deadlock, não sei, mas parece que os juízes não estão querendo eliminar niguém. Conclusão, Jamie acabou eliminado, o que não achei de todo ruim, ainda mais por causa da arrogância do Simon.

Brown wishes Jedward the best wishes

John and Edward Grimes and Gordon Brown

The twins have many fans but Mr Brown is not among them

Gordon Brown has admitted he got into trouble for saying twins John and Edward Grimes – contestants on the X Factor show – were “not very good”.

The prime minister told ITV’s This Morning he had “burnt my bridges with Jedward” but hoped the twins would “do well”.

However he said his sons favourite was Essex teenager Stacey Solomon who he said was “very good”.

Mr Brown says he watches the ITV 1 singing contest with his sons.

The show sees an act voted off each week – six currently remain battling it out for the chance to win a recording contract. But Mr Brown told the show he hoped all the contestants would do well.

The twins talents have divided opinion – the show’s judge Simon Cowell has said they “can’t sing” and they regularly get booed on the show but they are popular with many fans.

A fortnight ago Mr Brown told a radio station he did not rate the twins, who have been dubbed “Jedward” by the media.

Asked about show on Thursday he said: “I got into a bit of a problem because I said I didn’t think they were very good at singing – but they are good at other things.”

It is rather bizarre that more people are interested in the future of John and Edward from X Factor than about somebody who can have an impact … on the way that we’re governed in this country

via BBC News – Brown wishes ‘Jedward’ the best.

It’s film review Thursday yeah! And I don’t have a film to review, yeah! I was going to talk about the new Michael Caine film Harry Brown but it was sold out before we all got tickets. So after a long process of getting our money refunded (which the good people at Cineworld really didn’t have to do, so thank you!) we ended up seeing The Men That Stare At Goats, which I’d already seen. Watching it a second time really confirmed everything I had to say about it after the first viewing (if you want to read that review you can by clicking here). However, I am going to see 2012 with a different group of friends tomorrow, so I’ll post that review on Friday or Monday, you know whenever.

This does however leave me a problem of what to talk about today now that I don’t have a film to talk about. I suppose I could tell you my foolproof plan for world peace, but you wouldn’t be interested in that would you? Alright, I guess I’ll talk about all the things I’ve seen reported on the Yahoo! homepage that I don’t really care about. ‘Strictly come dancing’ will be split into two shows for its final three weeks, returning to the original format the show had. Producers have denied it has anything to do with The X Factor beating them in the ratings every week.

Somebody quit ‘I’m a celebrity…get me out of here’ after four days on the show. The use of the word somebody was intentional as I doubt they are really a celebrity in the true sense of the word.

In F1 Jenson Button moved to McLaren, am I the only one who doesn’t like this idea? The thought of having two of the best drivers in the ’sport’ on the same team takes away some of the edge in my opinion. I liked it last year when Button and Hamilton were rivals. Oh well, I don’t really watch it anyway.

And that’s all I’ve got for today…

Oh and by the way, I saw my first Christmas lights of the year yesterday, it really does get earlier every year. Gotta love the stupidity of some people, it’s not even December yet for ‘Christ’ sake! I know the shops run by their own calendar in which we start to celebrate Christmas in July, but as a normal person. One that isn’t mental, you should know better.

Seems that these days that everybody is a singing judge. The South African rugger board has received an official apology from the French for this slightly wonky rendition of their national anthem by reggae artist Ras Dumisani.

Firstly, get over it. It’s just a song. Secondly Dumisani is South African so really you should be demanding an apology from yourselves. And finally, listen to your own team. They’re hardly Ladysmith Black Mambazo. I don’t remember Schalk Burger featuring on Paul Simon’s Graceland.

Dumisani is gaining the usual cultish following on Youtube. Word is that for his next trick he’ll be laying down a two-step beat and bodypopping his way through the Haka.

Jedward are at the centre of another X Factor row after reports that sound technicians were told to turn down their microphones.

A newspaper claims the technical tweak meant the twins&apos; voices were drowned out by the backing track.

But X Factor bosses said all contestants had an “equal amount” of technical help for their performances.

Some people have criticised John and Edward&apos;s vocals but on Saturday they received loads of praise from judges.

via CBBC Newsround | Showbiz | Jedward accused of ‘vocals fix’.