[Red Moon]

Rhyd row rocks X Factor chiefs

ITV bosses were rocked last night after Ofcom demanded all their information on the disputed X Factor final voting.

Thousands of complaints were made about the phone vote system after hot favourite Rhydian Roberts was beaten by outsider Leon Jackson on Saturday.

Viewers and many Sun readers claim the phone poll was a fix. More than 2,400 angry fans complained to the TV watchdog about the vote and demanded an inquiry.

They claim that when they tried to vote for Rhydian they constantly got an engaged tone.

The Sun’s own poll showed Rhydian, 25, was the runaway winner with 14,982 votes while Leon, 18, scooped only 5,535.

Yesterday gutted Rhydian broke his silence and blamed his defeat on a technical fault.

He said: “It’s obvious there was a technical fault on the night, and it might have affected all three competitors. I was disappointed. I shed a tear.” ITV say Scot Leon won fair and square.

Ofcom’s demand for information was revealed in a letter to Culture Secretary James Purnell.

It said it had also asked ITV for the full findings of its Deloitte report into problems with participation-TV on programmes such as Saturday Night Takeaway.

Failures

The broadcaster was slammed for not publishing the full report.

Ofcom chief executive Ed Richards wrote: “The Deloitte review publicly identified seven programmes or series where failures occurred (Soapstar Superstar, Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway, Ant and Dec’s Gameshow Marathon, I’m a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!, X Factor, Dancing On Ice and The British Comedy Awards).

An ITV spokesman said: “We will co-operate fully with Ofcom but we are confident any investigation will show Leon was the rightful winner.”

Meanwhile, Rhydian has received a letter of support from PM Gordon Brown. His mum Angela Roberts said: “Rhydian said it was a very nice note wishing him well.”

Source: Daily Mail

[Red Moon]

PM ORDERS PROBE ON X FACTOR VOTE

Gordon Brown stepped into the X Factor phone vote storm last night – and gave his backing to shock loser Rhydian Roberts.

It was revealed the Prime Minister has sent a personal letter of support to the Welsh singer. And sources say he has taken a “personal interest” in allegations by fans that the top telly show could have been rigged.

Media Secretary James Purnell has also demanded to be kept informed about allegations of vote-rigging.

Rhydian’s mother Angela, 56, of Sennybridge, south Wales, said last night: “Rhydian was very surprised to get the letter from Gordon Brown.

“We had no idea he was following The X Factor but Rhydian said it was a very nice note wishing him well.”

Downing Street declined to comment on the PM’s letter to Rhydian, saying it was a “personal matter”.

But Mr Brown has admitted he enjoys watching the X Factor. He said: “I see great talent being given a chance to develop itself.”

Leon Jackson, 18, was announced the shock winner of last Saturday’s final despite Rhydian being hot favourite.

Fans claimed they were unable to vote for Rhydian, 24. Nearly 3,000 have complained to telly watchdogs Ofcom, and ITV itself has received around 1,000 calls.

ITV1 said Leon won by a 10% margin and got the most votes in five of the last eight shows.

But during the final – at the point when third act Same Difference were voted off – there was a margin of just 1%, it is claimed.

Ofcom has now ordered ITV1 to hand over all records and documents from the final, including a full breakdown of voting figures.

Ofcom chief executive Ed Richards revealed the request for information in a letter to Media Secretary Purnell.

He said it had asked ITV for an “explicit assurance” all was above board in its phone vote procedures.

In the letter he commented on “wide public concern about major failures in the operation of premium rate services by public service broadcasters”.

He said: “We have therefore asked ITV for all relevant information.” An ITV spokesman said last night it would “co-operate fully” with Ofcom.

Meanwhile, bookie William Hill has halted betting on Leon topping the chart at Christmas, and agreed to pay out on wagers already received, because of fears of a betting scam.

The firm acted after a punter tried to place £1million on the Scot reaching No 1 at odds of 1-100. A spokesman said: “As far as we can tell, even if Leon failed to sell another record he would still be the No 1, so we have decided to pay out early. The final straw was the £1m inquiry from a customer who we believe works for a private equity firm in London.

“Anyone prepared to risk £1m to win just £10,000 must be in the know.”

Source: Daily Mail

[Tom4784]

Shouldn't he be concerning himself with other things, like the tiny matter of getting our troops out of Iraq, or stopping teens getting killed on the streets, or the tiny matter that he sold us out to Europe but oh but no, Rhydian doesn't win a competition and the WHOLE WORLD stops!

I'm sick of this now, It's turned me right off Rhydian this has now, I'm a fan no more.

[Tom4784]

I'm starting to think the Rhydian we saw at the start of the competition to really be him and not just creative editing. He blames his defeat on a technical vote? No mate you lost pure and simple. There was no fix, no evil plan in motion NOTHING!!! The lines were packed for everyone including Leon and he happened to win no fixing involved. Rhydian has totally lost my respect upon reading this, consider me a Rhydian hater, blaming his loss on a technical fault puh-lease, how big headed can you get?

[Jackie]

Rydians a winner anyway why don't he just moe on and concentrate on his career.

[Arneldo]

Some people are going to look stupid when Ofcom announce the results of there investigation. I predict most of all - Rhydian.

[andybigbro]

I know its rediculous that so many have complained

[Harry!]

http://ukpress.google.com/article/AL...kD9ZreWaF_nb6Q

Broadcasting watchdog Ofcom has asked ITV to hand over information relating to the final of the X Factor.

The show was plunged into controversy after hundreds of viewers claimed that they could not get through to vote for Welsh runner-up Rhydian Roberts on Saturday evening.

Despite being the favourite to win he lost to Scottish singer Leon Jackson, who is now expected to land the Christmas Number One.

The regulator confirmed earlier this week that it was investigating the final of the X Factor following complaints from viewers.

The fact that Ofcom has asked ITV for the information was revealed in a letter to Culture Secretary James Purnell. It said it had also asked ITV for the full findings of its Deloitte report into problems with participation-TV on programmes such as Saturday Night Takeaway.

The broadcaster was criticised for not publishing the full report in October.

Ofcom chief executive Ed Richards wrote: "The Deloitte review publicly identified seven programmes or series where failures occurred (Soapstar Superstar, Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway, Ant and Dec's Gameshow Marathon, I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!, X Factor, Dancing On Ice and The British Comedy Awards).

"We have therefore asked ITV for the full findings by Deloitte on each of these programmes and for all other relevant information on all of these programmes (including of course information necessary for us to be able to assess the most recent set of complaints received over the past few days)."

He added: "This should assist us to complete our thorough investigation into these programmes."