[Red Moon]

Scientists perfect formula to win X Factor

SCIENTISTS have come up with a mathematical formula for songs X Factor finalists should perform.

Singing Norwegian Wood by the Beatles or Baby, Come On Over by Samantha Mumba would almost certainly secure the support of Simon Cowell and the other judges.

Using a complex formula based on probability theory, the experts worked out what type of songs are likely to impress Cowell, Cheryl Cole, Louis Walsh and Dannii Minogue.

They entered details of how they had each responded to hundreds of songs heard on the show and whether they liked them or not.

The computer then merged this information with a database of more than five million songs to pick the top tracks which have the best appeal across the four judges.

The secret formula is used on a music recommendation website to suggest songs which groups of people might enjoy.

Steve Ghee, a programmer at the site, said: "When we have the musical tastes of two or more individuals - we like to call this their musical DNA - we can take some songs they've recently played and put this through our recommendations algorithm, to calculate which artists and songs are similar.

"We then apply a mixture of the user's DNA signatures to the resulting list, which identifies which of the recommended items would be liked by both users - it finds the common ground."

The site's Andy Semple added: "We thought we'd play around with the X Factor judges' differing influences and see their perfect playlist.

"While we weren't surprised to see Will Young and Samantha Mumba come out in the mix, there were some interesting results."

He says that the formula and list of results could have helped recent evictees avoid getting booted off the show.

Other recommended hits were Michael Buble's You And I, Elvis Presley's Heartbreak Hotel, Mandy Moore's Only Hope, Nat King Cole's Too Young, Backstreet Boys' Quit Playing Games (With My Heart) and Will Young's Leave Right Now.

Source: Daily Record