The X Factor 2010

[tammyy2j]

SIMON Cowell last night hit back at claims Sunday's X Factor result was a fix, dismissing fans' fears of a conspiracy as "nonsense".
Viewers expected the public vote to decide which acts got to next week's final as in other years, but instead judges picked from the bottom two after a sing-off.
Angry fans suspected the change was brought in at the last minute to ensure headline-grabbing Cher Lloyd, 17, got into the final rather than mumsy Mary Byrne, 51.
But speaking exclusively to The Sun, show boss Simon said: "We haven't done anything wrong."
He added: "All the artists knew there was going to be a sing-off.
"Mary and Cher were told last Monday to prepare a song for a sing-off if necessary."
And the producer said the format could not have been changed due to Cher coming bottom of the public vote - because he has no idea of the rankings.
He explained: "I genuinely do not know the exact placings of the artists - who is top and who is bottom. I never know those details until the series is finished."
And he said the confusion is due to next week's final having four acts instead of the three always featured in previous series.
He said: "There has always been a sing-off when there are five people left in the competition. This is a lot of nonsense about nothing."
More than 200 fans have already made official complaints to telly watchdog Ofcom and a further 50 lodged complaints with ITV.
Meanwhile, websites were flooded with criticism. On Twitter the term "hate Cher" became one of the most-tweeted phrases in entire WORLD.
But Simon said he had only made the changes because fans LIKE surprises in the format.
He said: "I'm always looking for ways to keep the show fresh.
"We knew we wanted four people in the final this year and I don't want to be accused of doing the same thing.
"It's more exciting and gives more people a chance to win it. That decision was made long ago - five or six weeks ago.
"It adds to the mystery and audience love the surprise element.
"We are doing our best to change the format. It's more exciting to have a sing off."
Simon and fellow judges Dannii Minogue, 39, and Cheryl Cole, 27 - who dazzled yesterday in fuchsia heels - all voted for Cher to go through on Sunday.
They made their rulings despite the teen rapper - spotted yesterday entering a recording studio - SOBBING during her sing-off.
She had also given wobbly performances on Saturday night - as well as alienating viewers by talking back and rolling her eyes during judges' criticism.
But last night former Tesco worker Mary had found reason to celebrate - after landing a record deal with Sony.
She told The Sun: "When I was leaving the show, Simon came over and said, 'I'm really sorry that you've got to go but you've got your album'.
"I can't wait to sit down and start working on it. I'm like a two-year-old, I'm so excited."
The Dubliner said she was given her sing-off track, or "save me" song, at the weekend.
Mary said: "I was told on Saturday, because we were given our "save me" songs.
"I got a bit stunned at first because I did think it was just public votes. I do feel sorry for my fans because they voted in their thousands, God bless them."
She added: "I knew then my days were numbered. I hope I would have stayed in.
"The public have supported me right the way through, and if they had done it that way, it would have been great - but that didn't happen."
But her supporters were still seething over the muddle - saying they had paid for their phone votes in the belief they were voting their favourites into the finals.
They noted that days before Sunday, Simon said on ITV2's Xtra Factor: "Finally, we can put this back in the hands of the public." And on Saturday night during the main show, host Dermot O'Leary said: "Now it's all in your hands. It's your votes and your votes alone that can get your act safely through to the final."
Even X Factor's website was declaring Sunday's show would be determined by the public, stating: "The act with the fewest votes will leave the competition."
Yesterday furious Sophie666 claimed on The Sun's online forum: "The only reason the rules changed is because Simon panicked thinking that Cher would be kicked out. It was very unfair and just plain wrong."
Ofcom last night ordered an investigation as the number of claims about the show - watched by around 17 million at the weekend - continued to grow.
A spokesman said: "We have received a number of complaints and are currently looking through them to see if there has been any breach."
Telly rules forbid broadcasters "misleading" viewers. Clause 2.14 of the Broadcasting Code states: "Broadcasters must ensure that viewers and listeners are not materially misled about any broadcast competition or voting."
Meanwhile, ITV says ONLY the public vote will decide the final results of the series this weekend.
Cher is up against Rebecca Ferguson, 24, Matt Cardle, 27, and boyband One Direction.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage...ix-claims.html

[tammyy2j]

She was easily the most controversial contestant on this year's X Factor, so much so that she started getting angry letters and even death threats from some viewers.
But Katie Waissel has now revealed that she has been left terrified by the threats, to the extent that she is too scared to take public transport, or even do something as simple as shopping.
The 24-year-old singer, who was voted off The X Factor two weeks ago, admits she is too nervous to go out on her own at any time.
Referring to receiving death threats, Katie told Grazia magazine: 'That was totally terrifying.
'I still won’t do anything on my own like go on the Tube or go shopping, I mean that’s how crazy this got.
'People might not like me but I don’t think I deserve that.'
And Katie also said she didn't know how to cope when she quickly become 'the most hated woman in Britain'.
She said: 'To be honest it’s been horrendous. I wasn’t prepared for it, I just didn’t know what to do. I’m not a celebrity, I’m just someone who wants to sing.
'From the moment I got through to the live finals I knew all hell had broken out, but I had absolutely no idea what to do about it.
'I can’t say how hard it was going out week after week with people booing. I didn’t know what to do or say. I felt that whatever I said would be wrong. So I just put barriers up, tried to convince myself to shut down.'
Katie added that she tried to turn to mentor Cheryl Cole for help, but felt the judge was too wrapped up in her own problems, so she instead asked Louis Walsh for help.
She said: 'Cheryl told me not to read the papers and she was nice but she had her own problems. This show has been tough for her.
'Cheryl and I didn’t have long chats - she would just advise me not to read the papers and say she had had a hard time too. She’s very focused, which you have to be. I don’t have her mobile number so I don’t know if we will keep in touch. I admire her.
'But Louis was my absolute favourite. He gave me his mobile number and I’ll definitely keep in touch. He understood how awful it was for me to be painted in a way I could do nothing about.'
And Katie also said she struggled to make friends with her fellow X Factor contestants during her time on the show.
She explained: 'With people from the house slagging me off, there was nowhere I could drop my guard. Matt Cardle thought I had sold a story about him. I couldn’t convince him otherwise. After that, he lashed out at me in the press, which really hurt.
Aiden was his best friend and laid into me too. I was an easy target. There were two people who I liked and trusted: Mary and Rebecca. They are the loveliest people. Apart from that I was on my own and it was terrifying.'
And it was consistently coming in the bottom two in the show which Katie found the most difficult to cope with.
She said: 'Towards the end, I’d just crawl into a blanket and cry. I wanted to bury myself in a hole. But I’d think about all those sacrifices my dad made for me and how much it would have meant to my granddad and I forced myself to try and switch my emotions off and get on with it.
'Every week I was so anxious. I was worried about fainting on Sunday nights - I’d grip Cheryl’s arm so much I probably marked her. I’d jiggle my feet to force myself to focus.'
Now she has been voted off the show, Katie is hoping to continue her singing but says she isn't sure whether she will become a recording artist.
She said: 'I want to sing but there’s no record contract. Nothing. I just want to do gigs, to carry on writing and to try and turn a negative into a positive.'


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz...#ixzz17QwjJH6R

[tammyy2j]

Axed 'X Factor' contestant Mary Byrne has reportedly claimed her departure from the show was rigged.

Today's Daily Mirror reports that Mary said: “The show’s a fix, of course it is. It’s not the show the public think it is. I knew the public had voted for me to stay on, and I actually thought the result would be based just on their vote.

“It was only on Saturday I discovered that there would be a sing-off where the judges decided. It’s obvious Simon didn’t want me in the final and I get that. I’m not as marketable to him as Cher so he was never going to put me through. They fixed it for me to lose. It didn’t matter what the public think."

Her comments came as TV watchdog Ofcom revealed it is investigating complaints from viewers who feel they were misled during the weekend's shows. At the semi-final stage in previous years, there has been no sing-off and the decision was based purely on the public vote.

Viewers have protested that this appeared to be the case again this year as host Dermot O'Leary said at the start of Saturday's programme: "Now it's all in your hands. It's your votes and your votes alone that can get your act safely through to the final."

However, Simon Cowell has denied any plans to fix the show, saying: "We haven't done anything wrong. All the artists knew there was going to be a sing-off. Mary and Cher were told last Monday to prepare a song for a sing-off if necessary."

Meanwhile, controversial former finalist Katie Waissel has told a magazine she is struggling to cope after getting death threats while appearing on the show.

She told Grazia: "That was totally terrifying. I still won’t do anything on my own like go on the Tube or go shopping, I mean that’s how crazy this got.

"People might not like me but I don’t think I deserve that."

[megan999]

SIMON Cowell last night hit back at claims Sunday's X Factor result was a fix, dismissing fans' fears of a conspiracy as "nonsense".

I used to like Cowell, now I think he's is stupid, big headed and risks X Factor becoming a big joke. He forgets that its actually the fans of the show that make the show. They are the ones who spend their money every week voting for the acts. To be honest, I can't wait for X Factor to finish now. He doesn't care who wins it anyway, as long as they make him loads of money. This year's X Factor has seriously opened my eyes.

[Perdita]

The X Factor finalists have had their likenesses replicated in specially-designed pizzas.

Matt Cardle, Cher Lloyd, One Direction and Rebecca Ferguson have been honoured by food website Just-Eat and food artist Prudence Staite, The Mirror reports.

The creations, deemed Matt Feast, One-Dough-rection, Mozz-Cher-rella Lloyd and Rebecca Fergus-supreme have been made to commemorate this weekend's final of the competition.

In addition, the makers have added the bonus Wagner-ita to the range, a nod to the controversial Brazilian singer.

A survey carried out by Just Eat claims that 88 per cent of the UK will be watching the final on Saturday, with 39 per cent supporting Cardle for the title.

[Perdita]

Rihanna, Robbie Williams, will.i.am and Christina Aguilera have all been lined up for duet performances on the X Factor final.

The four special guests will be partnered up with the finalists on the Saturday night showpiece. Yesterday it was reported that Matt Cardle would team up with Christina Aguilera, but that remains unconfirmed.

Black Eyed Peas star Will.i.am is expected to team up with Cher Lloyd, who he helped mentor at the Boot Camp stage of the competition.

The X Factor final kicks off on Saturday at 7pm on ITV1.

[tammyy2j]

I thought at some stage Prince was mentioned for the final him teaming with Matt or Rebecca would be awesome

[Siobhan]

I thought at some stage Prince was mentioned for the final him teaming with Matt or Rebecca would be awesome

Prince and Matt would be so fantastic!!!

[tammyy2j]

Rebecca gets Robbie and One Direction gets Rihanna that my guesses

Matt to win with Rebecca second hopefully

[tammyy2j]

From Xfactor-updates

Duets

Matt Cardle and Rihanna
Cher Lloyd and Avril Lavigne
Rebecca Ferguson and Christina Aguilera
One Direction and Justin Bieber