There will be stories like this in the press:
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The Night Diana Was Robbed. The tiny singer with the flowing blond hair was in a different class than his rivals in The X Factor final. Wacky Eoghan sewed up the little girl vote as he appeared on the stage dressed as an Elf and was yanked 20 feet in the air to sprinkle stardust on the Christmas tree. While they were having their wires pulled, nice but dull belter Alexandra was tugging on the heartstrings with tearful video packages featuring his extended family in various states of distress.
But Blackburn's finest eschewed gimmicks and sob stories and let her little voice do the talking. While Amy Winehouse encased her entire body in a pair of lace nylons to deflect attention from Eoghan’s less than captivating vocals, Diana complemented Kate Bush perfectly in a classy duet. They trilled in perfect harmony, lifting the hopes Blackburn.
Her reprise of Hallelujah! gained a standing ovation from the judges. Even Dannii’s botoxed features were attempting to crease with emotion. And when given the truly abysmal ballad the show inflicted on the final contestants, her passionate interpretation made it sound like a half decent song.
Surely our Diana was home and dry – the first X Factor contestant to combine superb vocal skills with a genuine quirky charisma. But sadly the girl could not unravel one of the most depressing enigmas of British popular entertainment – why talent does not necessarily win you talent shows.
The problem with The X Factor is it’s not a talent show – it’s a soap. The back story is all. Your chances of winning are significantly increased if you can underscore your warblings with a tragic account of (delete as applicable) being bullied/raised by struggling single mum/dreaming of escape via record deal while stacking shelves in Topman.
Ultimately, Diana was penalised for having a relatively stable family background and coming from a nice house in Blackburn The production team were obviously so worried about her lack of tear-jerking potential in the beginning that they created a role for her, casting him as the shows little darling. But she soon outgrew the Marmite tag and revealed herself to be a decent, articulate and dignified young gal. Unlike many X Factor wannabees, she didn’t rely on the odd karaoke stint to hone her voice.
X Factor talent is also at the mercy of the interactive public, which, unfortunately in this case, features a disproportionately large number of 14-year-old girls. It would be a great leap forward for British television if the power of the people was removed and judging was left to those who actually know what they’re talking about. This would also cancel out the possibility of technical glitches affecting the result.
While we’re on the subject, I would like someone in ITV to tell me why on the 29 occasions I attempted to vote for Diana on Saturday night I only got through once.
But would it have made any difference anyway? Diana’s fate was sealed. The nearest the Northern Lassies got to tactical emotional blackmail was letting her fabulously feisty oAunt Mary tell her to “go and win it!”. Keep your Irish histrionics – that’s what we call the Northern Way.
And she should take heart. Today’s reality show victor can be tomorrow’s David Sneddon. Runner-up Diana has done enough to convince the industry there’s a new star twinkling over Blackburn. She may have lost The X Factor to a singer with the Zzzzzzz Factor but only time will tell who the real winner is.
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Source:
TiBB