The X Factor 2011 (UK) - The Final 16

So today the final 16 for this year's X Factor finals (live shows) were revealed. 4/5 of my Tweeted predictions have made it through (Amelia, Janet, Sami, Misha - check my Twitter feed). For the most part they seemed to have made the right decisions but there are a few shock choices.

Gary and the boys

The big shock here was that with one space left the decision was between Frankie Cocozza (the big personality with an 'OK' voice when singing in a certain way. All seems to be about his self proclaimed player status and showing his arse on TV) and John Wilding (easily the best voice in the category, he'd been at judges houses in 2010 and had vastly improved - a real positive point for the show). 2 of the spaces had previously been taken by "virtual nobody's", but I'll come back to that later*** 

So when it is down to these two and you think about it carefully John really was the obvious choice. That said they should never have been chosen one or the other! If you want Frankie, fine but there's no justification to pick him OVER the better singer. Put them both through and axe one of the others.

Tulisa and the groups

Not too bothered about this category, I'm not sure if any of them have wowed me yet. i was happy to see Two Shoes put through though, they work well despite the fact they strangely look like 50 year old women who have had surgery to look younger. 

The only other that stood out here was Charlie from The Keys, who really should have been running in the boys category. Luckily it turned out Tulisa had the same thought and took him and teamed him up with 3 boys from another reject group to make a so called "super group". 

Louis and the overs 

Well... I had thought it was a pretty safe bet to say we won't be seeing a winner from the overs. That is when at the time, Louis had picked his final 4 as Kitty (terrible singer and possible sociopath), Jonny Robinson (sorry but it's not going to happen), Jonjo (a good singer but doesn't have winning potential) and Goldie (yes I kinda love her but she can't speak English let alone sing).

I can't decide what the biggest travesty here was. That he put through Kitty!? Or that he didn't put through Sami, who could actually be a contender. Luckily for Louis, Goldie packed it in and Sami was offered her rightful place in the finals. 

Kelly and the girls 

Amelia went through obviously. She's probably the best in the show. However, because it's clear she is, people might not support her. Stupid but that's what the public are like. Misha, another favourite went through but she might be a little too over confident. Janet also went through but can she adapt her style to the weekly themed shows...? I'm happy Jade didn't get put through. She was over-praised because of her background. Her voice was OK but it wasn't as good as everyone made it out to be and hearing her trying so hard to sound like the artists of her songs (and failing) was very annoying.



***Now the bit that is really winding me up. Who the hell are Melanie, Holly, Sarah and Sophie??? Where are their Youtube videos??? For that matter who is Carolyn and so many others (including 3/4's of the people who suddenly appeared at Boot Camp!) that aren't shown online? Even the two "nobody's" I mentioned previously have had less visibility than the others for no apparent reason. I only watch the show on Youtube and I'm new to it this year. Surely it's a huge benefit to have your performances on the official channel and website... 

How can they put people through/turn them down over other people who we've never seen sing? One of them, Sophie, has actually made it to the finals and I have no idea what her voice sounds like, it's ridiculous. I won't jump on the bandwaggon by sayin "it's a farce" but it is definitely favouritism or influencing to some degree. Frankie Cocozza, talked about more and a lot more visible online but arguably the worst singer in the final 16 now has over 100,000 followers on Twitter, compared to the others who at most have around 12,000...


The final judges are the public. If everyone isn't represented equally then how can the judges be impartial? Yes it's a business and they have to do things in a certain way to make the show watchable, successful and in the end have a winner who can make it, but doesn't this defeat the point of a show that at its heart, is a talent contest...? The more important question is why people continue to let themselves be manipulated in the first place?