[Red Moon]

Laura White fans demand voting figures

X Factor bosses were under mounting pressure to publish voting figures last night after 50,000 Laura White fans complained about her shock eviction.

The broadcasting watchdog Ofcom last night launched an investigation as angry viewers threatened to boycott the show if Laura wasn’t reinstated.

A petition with 50,000 signatures was presented to Ofcom and one of the organisers, Dan Kirby, said: “People just want to know what happens when they vote and we have a right to know the figures. How do we know Laura was even in the bottom two? How many votes did she get? We don’t know.

“They need to come clean. The voters pay the bosses’ wages – they have a right to know.”

Ofcom will look into Section Two of the broadcasting code: “All competitions should be conducted fairly... Rules should be clear and appropriately made known.”

There have also been allegations of a glitch in the phone system, which some viewers say prevented them from casting their vote.

The complaint states: “Many thousands of viewers are convinced that either their call was blocked or their vote misappropriated.”

Yesterday thousands of people continued to sign online petitions calling for Laura to be reinstated. One, Elaine Macgregor, added: “FARCE. Boycott the X Factor!”

Another called Emma said: “It was a total fix. Producers knew she was competition so kicked her out. Bring back Laura!”

But a spokesman for X Factor last night said: “We would never reveal the voting figures during the competition, as it could give contestants an unfair advantage and spoil the competition for viewers.

“At the end of the series, we are more than happy to reveal the voting pattern to the public which will very clearly demonstrate who the viewers have been voting for each week.”

The spokesman added: “There were no issues with the phone lines or the voting system during last week’s show.

“The viewers vote for the act they want to keep in and last Saturday Laura White and Ruth Lorenzo were in the bottom two because they had the least amount of votes.”

Source: Daily Mail

[Red Moon]

As a post script to this story ITV have posted this on the X Factor site:

Laura: the truth

It’s Friday, the sun is shining, the birds are singing, and tomorrow night we’ll be treated to Best of British night on The X Factor… pure bliss.

Or is it?

Because ladies and gentlemen, there are still murmurings of discontent, the conspiracy theorists are not yet satisfied, and as the dark, dark clouds of ‘Laura-gate’ begin to dissipate, we cannot truly look forward to tomorrow until we draw a veil under the chaos of the last week.

Since Laura White’s shock departure last week the nation has been consumed by rumours that her exit from the show was in some way underhand.

Thousands of people signed a petition calling for her to be reinstated, it’s been front page news all week; and they even found time to discuss the matter in the House of Commons!

In an official statement to the general public, The X Factor bosses would like to respond to the allegations that suggest anything dishonest occurred last week.

A show spokeswoman said:

“We would never reveal the voting figures during the competition, as it could give contestants an unfair advantage and spoil the competition for viewers.

At the end of the series, we are more than happy to reveal the voting pattern to the public which will very clearly demonstrate who the viewers have been voting for each week.

We would like to reiterate that there were absolutely no issues with the phone lines or the voting system during last week’s The X Factor, they are subject to rigorous procedures and protocols.

The viewers vote for the act they want to keep in the competition and last Saturday the simple fact is Laura White and Ruth Lorenzo were in the bottom two because they had the least amount of votes.

There are no plans to bring Laura White back to The X Factor.”

So folks, we hope that’s cleared things up for you… enjoy tomorrow night’s show!

Source: ITV

[mizzy25]

well why dont they just give viewers her small percentage of votes it mite shut them up

[Wildcat!]

what do you mean? Are they asking for refunds?

[mizzy25]

no i mean she wud have got a small percentage of the votes lol

[MarkWaldorf]

I love Laura, but she's gone. People need to accept it.

[mizzy25]

@ last someone talks sense ( marcus)

[James]

They don't seem to understand* that this type of voting system can produce 'weird' results. The voting will be highly split at this stage. When there are a number of contestants left in the competition the bottom 3 or 4 will only get a few percent of the votes each so there is probably not much between them. The top vote might only be 20%. Vote to 'evict' would be more decisive.

*or are unwilling to accept that the whole of the public might not share their opinion.

[Z]

Originally posted by James
They don't seem to understand* that this type of voting system can produce 'weird' results. The voting will be highly split at this stage. When there are a number of contestants left in the competition the bottom 3 or 4 will only get a few percent of the votes each so there is probably not much between them. The top vote might only be 20%. Vote to 'evict' would be more decisive.

*or are unwilling to accept that the whole of the public might not share their opinion.

Totally agree about the vote to 'evict' idea, and in fact, I think it'd be better if Big Brother took the X Factor voting system, and vice versa.

“At the end of the series, we are more than happy to reveal the voting pattern to the public which will very clearly demonstrate who the viewers have been voting for each week.”

I really want to know if they've ever released voting information about the previous 4 series, seeing as they've passed and no longer affect the competition.