What a load of bollocks

[Vicky.]

Judges vote in the semi final...so basically, the judges get to pick the finalists? What a joke.

[Vicky.]

I'm guessing cher must have been bottom in the voting...instead of mary who was expected...

[Supermum]

It should definately go to deadlock, but we all know it wont

[Vicky.]

It should definately go to deadlock, but we all know it wont

I cant see it being deadlock...not with cher in the bottom.

If it does and cher was not actually bottom of the voting after all...then I will stop thinking this show is fixed. But its all so convenient :/

[Patrick]

I'm guessing cher must have been bottom in the voting...instead of mary who was expected...

Yeah this is why actually.

[Pyramid*]

Judges vote in the semi final...so basically, the judges get to pick the finalists? What a joke.

Yep, welcome to the joke that is the XFactor.

So much for the public being in charge Simon eh.... so much for putting the competiton back into the public's hands.

Her fans were so few that Cher is in the bottom two.....

[Pyramid*]

I cant see it being deadlock...not with cher in the bottom.

If it does and cher was not actually bottom of the voting after all...then I will stop thinking this show is fixed. But its all so convenient :/

This. it's the only thing that will convince me too.

[Stevep]

it will go deadlock i feel. Very much doubt Dannii will vote cher and of course louis will vote mary.

[Callum]

The show was always meant to be an hour though so it would have gone to a final showdown regardless?

[Mystic Mock]

cher was bottom of the votes and simon wants her in the final.

[Supermum]

Its a fix now for sure

[30stone]

The show was always meant to be an hour though so it would have gone to a final showdown regardless?

This lol..

[Mystic Mock]

and simon got dannii to save cher i see.

[KG.]

They even changed it from who you want to send home to who they want to save just so Cher wouldn't get sent home by any of them :laugh2: pathetic.

This show is such a ****ing fix it's unreal, Simon, Dannii and Cheryl need to go asap.

[bbfan1991]

Imagine the scenario if Matt, Rebecca or One Direction ended up in the bottom 3 and had a chance to save themselves and you were a fan of them.. of course you would be in favour of this:p.

[Pyramid*]

They even changed it from who you want to send home to who they want to save just so Cher wouldn't get sent home by any of them :laugh2: pathetic.

This show is such a ****ing fix it's unreal, Simon, Dannii and Cheryl need to go asap.

Simon's show. Simon's payroll. Simon's rules.

It's not altogether a surprise.

It's Simon's twist on 'giving the competion back to the public'.....

[Jords]

fiX-Factor.

[Vicky.]

Imagine the scenario if Matt, Rebecca or One Direction ended up in the bottom 3 and had a chance to save themselves and you were a fan of them.. of course you would be in favour of this:p.

Actually no I wouldnt.

I'm a Matt fan, and even if he had been in the bottom I would still think it was **** that yet again they have took the power away from the public.

The public have not had a say at all this year.

it would not surprise me at this point if they decided to have a singoff in the final.

[Marc]

They kinda said it would be a 'final sing off' before they did it. And there was time to do it, so I don't think they were just doing it because Cher was in the bottom two. She really isn't going to win, if I have to put up with OneDirection for one more week then you have to put up with Cher for one more! Lol :D

[bbfan1991]

fiX-Factor.

Controversy, Ratings and Cash!!! All these 4 acts are marketable and all the producers care about is making lots of money from them as possible...

[Stevep]

and simon got dannii to save cher i see.

Yep, pretty much this. Quite clear to anyone that Dannii aint too keen on Cher and did seem pretty keen on Mary so her vote does seem dodgy.

Although gotto admit, Cher did perform well in the sing off, and i actually preferred her performance. Did Danni perhaps have a change of heart after the sing off? Possibly, although i admit unlikely.

[30stone]

Cher sounds so kareoke nowadays.

[MTVN]

They never said it was all down to the public vote, everyone just presumed :shrug:

[Barbie]

So stupid, public was supposed to be in control now, just shows how much we aren't. Should have gone straight to the public vote. I still think Mary would have gone but it shouldn't be the judges decision now.

Simon kept Katie in all that time and now it's Cher, and he had the cheek to say people were trying to derail the show by keeping Wagner in

[Adamw92]

I didn't even vote yet I do feel a little cheated, its supposed to be down to the public to select who we want in the final, not the judges, I did want Mary to go based on last night but there's no way she should have went based on that sing-off

[Mystic Mock]

They never said it was all down to the public vote, everyone just presumed :shrug:

actually i heard it was all down to the public vote off jordan on here who is a cher fan,and i heard a few say it on digital spy.

[MTVN]

actually i heard it was all down to the public vote off jordan on here who is a cher fan,and i heard a few say it on digital spy.

...and they were just presuming

[Mystic Mock]

...and they were just presuming

no it was confirmed,plus dermot didnt say it was a bottom two.

[MTVN]

no it was confirmed,plus dermot didnt say it was a bottom two.

No it wasnt, have any proof of that?

[Mystic Mock]

No it wasnt, have any proof of that?

that dermot didnt say it was a bottom two is one.

[MTVN]

that dermot didnt say it was a bottom two is one.

Oh fgs, that's only proof that noone knew for sure what it was going to be, he also didnt say it was going to be all down to the public did he

People were only going on presumptions; that is a fact. They were rational presumptions, but they were presumptions nontheless.

[joeysteele]

Actually no I wouldnt.

I'm a Matt fan, and even if he had been in the bottom I would still think it was **** that yet again they have took the power away from the public.

The public have not had a say at all this year.

it would not surprise me at this point if they decided to have a singoff in the final.

I totally agree with you Vicky, and also it wouldn't now surprise me at all if some contingency plan is not put in place to at least engineer things so that Cher doesn't become the first to leave next week, but really clearly she is up against people now who likely have consistently had better votes than her every week anyway. That will the be harder to put in place.

It stinks, really rotten too.

[joeysteele]

that dermot didnt say it was a bottom two is one.

Everyone I know who was voting believed that they were voting for to save their favourites and whoever was last this week automatically went home, that is how it has always been on X Factor and no one, Dermot, Simon or any other said anything to point out that wouldn't be the case this week until he announced the sing off before he gave the results..

You are right jc/jf, there was no expectation of a sing off tonight, I never read a thread where anyone even on here expected a sing off, all the talk was of who would be last and go out.

Everyone I was watching it with tonight were amazed there was a sing off but most of them immediately said 'Chers in the bottom 2 and must have come last in the voting'.

It stinks and it stinks really rotten.3 of my Friends rang to query it on the phone ins, but surprise,(I think not) none of their calls were selected.

[bettiepage]

it's quite disgusting.

[nanaimo]

I didn't even vote yet I do feel a little cheated, its supposed to be down to the public to select who we want in the final, not the judges, I did want Mary to go based on last night but there's no way she should have went based on that sing-off

so very true

[red]

It's a ****in joke! They might as well bring Katie back so Simon gets the final 'he' really wants....:S

[Z]

It's unprecedented to have a sing off in the semi final. I'm with everyone who reckons Cher was bottom of the voting. They've been vague and played around the rules a lot this year, to the point where they've continued to mess around with them to save face. I'd compare it to dancing around like a maniac alone in your room, someone walking in and you carrying on dancing despite your embarrassment at being caught red handed. This series has been dodgy.

[joeysteele]

It's unprecedented to have a sing off in the semi final. I'm with everyone who reckons Cher was bottom of the voting. They've been vague and played around the rules a lot this year, to the point where they've continued to mess around with them to save face. I'd compare it to dancing around like a maniac alone in your room, someone walking in and you carrying on dancing despite your embarrassment at being caught red handed. This series has been dodgy.

Dodgy to say the least and never have the viewers been so badly advised as to what was going to happen week by week, almost as if they were just making their minds up what to do on the night as the final plan.

I absolutely agree with all you say and especially to the vagueness you point out from them too. With 4 judges, 2 presenters, and two 1 hour+ programmes on a Saturday and Sunday there can be no other reason for the lack of information or vagueness than that there is some sort of at least 'engineering' of the results process going on.

It really has an unsavoury taste to it this year does X Factor.

[Barbie]

If Cher was bottom then why try and keep her? If she has the fewest public votes then clearly not that many people were viewing to watch her so losing her wouldnt have affected ratings. She isn't a massive media hype like Katie was but is getting publicity for the show but not as much as the "fix" is getting so surely keeping her longer is more damaging to the show. Besides she will only be out first next week if she was in the bottom 2 this week surely.

[joeysteele]

If Cher was bottom then why try and keep her? If she has the fewest public votes then clearly not that many people were viewing to watch her so losing her wouldnt have affected ratings. She isn't a massive media hype like Katie was but is getting publicity for the show but not as much as the "fix" is getting so surely keeping her longer is more damaging to the show. Besides she will only be out first next week if she was in the bottom 2 this week surely.

The same reason they kept Katie despite 4 times in the bottom 2 against anyone up against her, to please Cheryl Cole,the main and only reason, for some reason this year the whole X Factor has been altered to accomodate the errors of her and save her acts week by week.
Katie was at the very least guaranteed a place on the tour and Cher was Cheryls great choice, somehow they had to do all they could to get one or both to the final.

Its actually obvious to most people now something is dodgy here now, no one I have spoken to this morning believes that Cher wasn't last in the voting now and are stunned at a sing off in the semi final with no detailing that would happen the previous week or indeed when the phone lines opened on Staurday.

If you don't inform people then you are likely hiding something. The viewers knew all that was happening on previous X Factors, but not this series,no way.

[Strictly Jake]

just been watching this morning with mary on it. She said she didnt know about the sing off until sunday morning. But quickly changed it to saturday morning. And then said she didnt know. Which she would know. So yeah makes it even more dodgy. I do think it shouldnt be a sing off in the semi final. Think it is wrong. And this is coming from a cher fan. I knew mary and cher would get the fewest votes. Im glad mary has gone and that cher is in the final because I love her but if anything it makes it seem cher doesnt deserve her place in the final which isnt fair. But if she doesnt win she has a 2million pound record deal waiting for her and loads of people wanting to work with her. So she doesnt really need it. Neither do one direction. But I think matt or rebecca need this the most

[Niamh.]

Yeah, was listening to the radio this morning and apparently Louis was interviewed on an Irish radio station during the week and he said we no longer have a vote now, it's all down to the public so Simon and Cheryl must have hatched the sneaky plan very close to the show

[joeysteele]

Yeah, was listening to the radio this morning and apparently Louis was interviewed on an Irish radio station during the week and he said we no longer have a vote now, it's all down to the public so Simon and Cheryl must have hatched the sneaky plan very close to the show

I do a lot anyway but I totally agree with your take on this too. Its very sneaky and needs a full explanation,will we ever get one, NO, but that means the suspicions and distrust just gain more and more momentum.

[MTVN]

They both had a sing-off song prepared though, how would they have that if it hadnt been planned in advance?

[Z]

I assume the reason for having a sing off was because they knew Cher would be struggling for votes but they were hoping she would beat Mary, in the likely event that she didn't, they added the bottom two because they've clearly got a big name signed up to do a duet with Cher in the final. That's the only reason that makes sense to me. I hesitate to call it a fix, because to be honest, I think Mary had run her course and Cher had more to offer as a contestant, but I think it's a shame for Mary because she's a lovely woman who deserved it more than Cher (by virtue of being older and Cher having a whole future ahead of her to make it in the music business) :/

[Fetch The Bolt Cutters]

idk why they wanna get her in the final so badly. she aint gonna win :l

[lime]

Mary has just been interviewed on radio here in Ireland (Derek Mooney show)
she says they were told on Sunday morning about the sing off and the reason they were given was that there was 5 in the semi-final when there is usually 4?????
How would that make the need for a sing off ,the outcome would still be one contestant leaving??

[lime]

Yeah, was listening to the radio this morning and apparently Louis was interviewed on an Irish radio station during the week and he said we no longer have a vote now, it's all down to the public so Simon and Cheryl must have hatched the sneaky plan very close to the show

Yes Niamh that was also on the Derek Mooney show and Louis did say that this week it was all down to the public .

[Vicky.]

Mary has just been interviewed on radio here in Ireland (Derek Mooney show)
she says they were told on Sunday morning about the sing off and the reason they were given was that there was 5 in the semi-final when there is usually 4?????
How would that make the need for a sing off ,the outcome would still be one contestant leaving??

Yeah thats a bit of as stupid reason.

I do think the singoff was planned now though, once the rage has gone. However I think it was planned as a safety net for cher, so that they could make sure she was in the final. Since she had been bottom before and obviously wasnt as popular as they originally thought.

[Niamh.]

Mary has just been interviewed on radio here in Ireland (Derek Mooney show)
she says they were told on Sunday morning about the sing off and the reason they were given was that there was 5 in the semi-final when there is usually 4?????
How would that make the need for a sing off ,the outcome would still be one contestant leaving??

yeah that reason makes no sense, it would if it was a double not for a single though

[Zippy]

Yeah thats a bit of as stupid reason.

I do think the singoff was planned now though, once the rage has gone. However I think it was planned as a safety net for cher, so that they could make sure she was in the final. Since she had been bottom before and obviously wasnt as popular as they originally thought.

I agree they wanted a get out clause in case certain contestants came bottom. But until we know for sure that Cher got least votes then nobody can say it was an unfair outcome.

and they did both get least votes so the public did have a large say up to a point. Both have been bottom two recently so they were equally un/deserving really.

[Vicky.]

I agree they wanted a get out clause in case certain contestants came bottom. But until we know for sure that Cher got least votes then nobody can say it was an unfair outcome.

and they did both get least votes so the public did have a large say up to a point. Both have been bottom two recently so they were equally un/deserving really.

IK but I disagree with the judges putting one handpicked contestant in the final...no matter who it is. This years fixing has been so blatant.

Yeah, in a way the public are getting a say by being able to pick the bottom two...however, at this stage its ridiculous for the judges still to be able to overrule the public. I would imagine more people vote in the semi final than in the earlier shows...and it just makes it all kinda pointless.

Mary could have got say 1m votes.
Cher got 500k.
Rebecca Matt and OD 1.01m each.

IK this is very unlikely but its an example...why should cher go through on her 500k votes just because the judges lick her ass? When Mary was so close to the other finalists?

[Niamh.]

I agree they wanted a get out clause in case certain contestants came bottom. But until we know for sure that Cher got least votes then nobody can say it was an unfair outcome.

and they did both get least votes so the public did have a large say up to a point. Both have been bottom two recently so they were equally un/deserving really.

well it is taking the piss out of all the Mary fans who voted though, she may not have won the show but she would have been in the final (assuming she had more votes that is)

[Mystic Mock]

The same reason they kept Katie despite 4 times in the bottom 2 against anyone up against her, to please Cheryl Cole,the main and only reason, for some reason this year the whole X Factor has been altered to accomodate the errors of her and save her acts week by week.
Katie was at the very least guaranteed a place on the tour and Cher was Cheryls great choice, somehow they had to do all they could to get one or both to the final.

Its actually obvious to most people now something is dodgy here now, no one I have spoken to this morning believes that Cher wasn't last in the voting now and are stunned at a sing off in the semi final with no detailing that would happen the previous week or indeed when the phone lines opened on Staurday.

If you don't inform people then you are likely hiding something. The viewers knew all that was happening on previous X Factors, but not this series,no way.

i 100% agree with this,i also think simon licks cheryl coles ass cowell should give everybody that voted a refund just for the simple fact that he never said it was a bottom two this week.

and when have we known a bottom two in the final 5 apart from x factor 3 which had a double elimination early on in the series?

[Jack_]

I fully understand the unfairness of having a sing-off in the Semi-Final, of course, and, generally speaking, I'd have rather they not had one. However there's no way it wasn't 'clear' what was happening, as some people seem to be suggesting. Okay, so there wasn't enough clarity as to whether there would be a sing-off or not, but as Dermot never said there wouldn't be one, you cannot assume that there won't be one. Not until he has said it. And vice versa, too. You just cannot make assumptions until something has been clearly stated. That's how they've covered their tracks here, at least from what I can see. It's all been very cleverly worded so that they can cover their backs - so fair play to them.

I'm glad they had a sing-off in the end, as like others I do believe Cher received the least votes. That may sound biased or unfair, but hey, I'm not exactly going to complain when someone I feel deserves a place in the Final more than another contestant gets a place in the Final.

[Mystic Mock]

I fully understand the unfairness of having a sing-off in the Semi-Final, of course, and, generally speaking, I'd have rather they not had one. However there's no way it wasn't 'clear' what was happening, as some people seem to be suggesting. Okay, so there wasn't enough clarity as to whether there would be a sing-off or not, but as Dermot never said there wouldn't be one, you cannot assume that there won't be one. Not until he has said it. And vice versa, too. You just cannot make assumptions until something has been clearly stated. That's how they've covered their tracks here, at least from what I can see. It's all been very cleverly worded so that they can cover their backs - so fair play to them.

I'm glad they had a sing-off in the end, as like others I do believe Cher received the least votes. That may sound biased or unfair, but hey, I'm not exactly going to complain when someone I feel deserves a place in the Final more than another contestant gets a place in the Final.

fair enough on you liking cher but when have we had a bottom two in week 9?

[Niamh.]

I fully understand the unfairness of having a sing-off in the Semi-Final, of course, and, generally speaking, I'd have rather they not had one. However there's no way it wasn't 'clear' what was happening, as some people seem to be suggesting. Okay, so there wasn't enough clarity as to whether there would be a sing-off or not, but as Dermot never said there wouldn't be one, you cannot assume that there won't be one. Not until he has said it. And vice versa, too. You just cannot make assumptions until something has been clearly stated. That's how they've covered their tracks here, at least from what I can see. It's all been very cleverly worded so that they can cover their backs - so fair play to them.

I'm glad they had a sing-off in the end, as like others I do believe Cher received the least votes. That may sound biased or unfair, but hey, I'm not exactly going to complain when someone I feel deserves a place in the Final more than another contestant gets a place in the Final.

Well, Louis did say on a radio show in Ireland that the viewers would be deciding this week and they no longer had a say.

But anyway, I think for alot of people it's not just this one thing though, it's yet another rule twist and manipulation to get what they want. In my eyes this show is supposed to be about what the public want but it seems the judges are happy to take the publics money but then basically say ****** you we'll do what we want anyway.

[Angus]

Thankfully Cher will NOT win, so in some ways it's more satisfying to snatch the prize from her greedy, undeserving hands at the very last minute:joker: I bet Simon's already got his minions ready to dial non stop for his crappy boy band, the rest of the contestants are just window dressing as far as he's concerned.

[Vicky.]

Well, Louis did say on a radio show in Ireland that the viewers would be deciding this week and they no longer had a say.

But anyway, I think for alot of people it's not just this one thing though, it's yet another rule twist and manipulation to get what they want. In my eyes this show is supposed to be about what the public want but it seems the judges are happy to take the publics money but then basically say ****** you we'll do what we want anyway.
Yup, this is my problem.

I really dont give a stuff who wins tbh...I havent been into it as such ever since Aiden went...no outright faves for me. But it has just been a total pisstake this year. As I said yesterday, there has always been an element of manipulation to the show, but this year it is much worse, and it also seems like they arent even trying to hide it anymore...and why should they? They can get away with it while more gullible fools spend their money thinking that it will actually make a difference to the chosen outcome. I have given up voting totally now, there is no point.

[Z]

I don't even think I'm annoyed about the outcome of the sing off, just the fact it was there in the first place. The final should be consisting of the top three (or four in the case of this year) contestants by virtue of how many votes they received. Adding a sing off in the semi final means that the least popular contestant can still go through, even if it turns out that Cher was more popular than Mary this weekend, it's still unfair to give Mary false hope like that/put Cher through that worry and vice versa. Not very happy with the X Factor but I'm still going to watch the final and I'm still not going to have a favourite, I just think this series has been a bit of a farce all round - bad presenting (mostly from Konnie Huq but Dermot's been pretty bad too), bad judging (Dannii Minogue's the only one whose opinions I'd say are valid criticisms more than half the time - the other three either snipe at each other or don't actually give any kind of criticism of the performance) and awful last minute changes. It's been controversial for the wrong reasons this year, I hope next year's show is a bit better.

[Mystic Mock]

I don't even think I'm annoyed about the outcome of the sing off, just the fact it was there in the first place. The final should be consisting of the top three (or four in the case of this year) contestants by virtue of how many votes they received. Adding a sing off in the semi final means that the least popular contestant can still go through, even if it turns out that Cher was more popular than Mary this weekend, it's still unfair to give Mary false hope like that/put Cher through that worry and vice versa. Not very happy with the X Factor but I'm still going to watch the final and I'm still not going to have a favourite, I just think this series has been a bit of a farce all round - bad presenting (mostly from Konnie Huq but Dermot's been pretty bad too), bad judging (Dannii Minogue's the only one whose opinions I'd say are valid criticisms more than half the time - the other three either snipe at each other or don't actually give any kind of criticism of the performance) and awful last minute changes. It's been controversial for the wrong reasons this year, I hope next year's show is a bit better.

next year will be worse because simon will save cheryls unpopular act 8 times in the bottom two.:joker:

[Jack_]

Well, Louis did say on a radio show in Ireland that the viewers would be deciding this week and they no longer had a say.

Louis is Louis, let's not take anything he says as gospel now... :p

But anyway, I think for alot of people it's not just this one thing though, it's yet another rule twist and manipulation to get what they want. In my eyes this show is supposed to be about what the public want but it seems the judges are happy to take the publics money but then basically say ****** you we'll do what we want anyway.

Well, technically the public will get what they want in the end - they're going to pick the eventual winner. So it's not all doom and gloom.

All TV shows similar to this are all manipulated to some extent anyway, in order to engineer results and certain scenarios which will benefit the show in various ways - be it profit, media attention or viewer satisfaction, etc etc. Some of it is subtle, other bits are quite obvious. But it's generally always there, whether it's editing contestants in a good or bad light, structuring a certain performance order, even more subliminal things such as referring to certain contestants more, praising them more or even the other way round. It happens on most TV shows - Big Brother, X Factor, IAC. A large majority of it will all be done for viewer satisfaction, some of it will be done to ensure more profit, whilst other bits will be to attract media attention. If people fall for all of this, it's their problem...but then again, that is sort of the point. At the end of the day - if people don't like this sort of manipulation which occurs on most TV shows, be it minor or major - then they shouldn't watch, or shouldn't vote.

I have to say though, thinking about it, I don't think this could've been a last minute decision, as there are only a couple of people who know the voting percentages each week. And none of these people are part of the production team, and none of these people are any of the Judges or presenters [yes, that inclues Simon]. They're independent adjudicators. So it's not at all possible, really, that anyone would've known that Cher would be bottom. So I imagine the only realistic scenario would've been that the sing-off was acting as a safety net, incase the outcome occured, which it did.

[Mystic Mock]

Louis is Louis, let's not take anything he says as gospel now... :p



Well, technically the public will get what they want in the end - they're going to pick the eventual winner. So it's not all doom and gloom.

All TV shows similar to this are all manipulated to some extent anyway, in order to engineer results and certain scenarios which will benefit the show in various ways - be it profit, media attention or viewer satisfaction, etc etc. Some of it is subtle, other bits are quite obvious. But it's generally always there, whether it's editing contestants in a good or bad light, structuring a certain performance order, even more subliminal things such as referring to certain contestants more, praising them more or even the other way round. It happens on most TV shows - Big Brother, X Factor, IAC. A large majority of it will all be done for viewer satisfaction, some of it will be done to ensure more profit, whilst other bits will be to attract media attention. If people fall for all of this, it's their problem...but then again, that is sort of the point. At the end of the day - if people don't like this sort of manipulation which occurs on most TV shows, be it minor or major - then they shouldn't watch, or shouldn't vote.

I have to say though, thinking about it, I don't think this could've been a last minute decision, as there are only a couple of people who know the voting percentages each week. And none of these people are part of the production team, and none of these people are any of the Judges or presenters [yes, that inclues Simon]. They're independent adjudicators. So it's not at all possible, really, that anyone would've known that Cher would be bottom. So I imagine the only realistic scenario would've been that the sing-off was acting as a safety net, incase the outcome occured, which it did.

you have got to be joking if you think simon and louis dont know how the votes are going.

[Jack_]

you have got to be joking if you think simon and louis dont know how the votes are going.

...nope, neither does the executive producer. Well...actually, he does, but he only finds out the names of the acts in the Bottom Two when lines close. No one else knows. And if they did and if anyone ever found out [quite possible] there'd be uproar. There's a reason why only a few people know, in order to protect the results as much as possible.