Every year X-Factor has millions of wannabe starlets queueing around Britain wanting to be Simon Cowell’s ‘next big thing’. But occasionally Simon does or says something which reminds the public that he is the centre of attention in HIS show and that is exactly how he likes it.
By voting for the twins to stay in this Saturday Cowell put the decision of whether they or Lucy should leave X-Factor to the public vote. Lucy went and public uproar has followed. Well at least in the pages of the tabloid papers and sites like facebook and twitter and any media associated with Wales.
It goes without saying to anyone who has ever seen, or even heard of the show that Lucy was a far stronger competitor than the twins and it was pretty much a given that Simon would choose her to stay.
Or was it?
We were reminded by Simon’s callous reasoning for his decision, when he told Lucy that she would never be able to win the competition and that he would rather see the twins again than her, that talent and justice are not always the first things at the front of Mr Cowell’s mind.
In one foul swoop he has put X-Factor at the top of many a monday morning conversation as well as at the top of the twitteratti tweet list.
Simon has certainly been clever and he will probably pull in even more X-Factor viewers next week and encourage more people to vote. However I can’t help but feel that some of the X-Factor’s charm is being lost in the process.
The show has always worked on the promise of fulfilling dreams. Despite the fact this often crosses the line far beyond cheesy and even pathetic, think countless snotty shots of unattractive criers, I can’t help but hold my naive head up and say this has always appealled to me.
The big corporate machine that runs X-Factor is becoming too apparent this year – and not in the good ‘churn out a christmas number one’ way. Simon Cowell is playing the game and that’s fine, but to be honest I tune in every week to see the contestants playing the game and I’m tired of him taking up all the air time.
