[Kazanne]

X Factor is quickly becoming known as Fix Factor, and this is making one Mr Simon Cowell a very angry man. Last night the X Factor boss and judge hit back at claims Sunday's X Factor result was a fix.

He dismissed the public's fears of a conspiracy as "nonsense", despite viewer's complaints that the public vote was expected to decide which acts got booted off.

Instead judges picked from the bottom two after a sing-off, and few were surprised when Simon stuck by pal Cheryl's act Cher.

Angry fans suspected the change was brought in at the last minute to ensure Cher Lloyd, 17, got into the final rather than Mary Byrne, 51.

However, Simon told The Sun: "We haven't done anything wrong."

He added: "All the artists knew there was going to be a sing-off.

"Mary and Cher were told last Monday to prepare a song for a sing-off if necessary."

Simon claimed he did not change the system due to Cher coming bottom of the public vote - because he has no idea about the votes.

However, even the X Factor's website was declaring Sunday's show would be determined by the public, stating: "The act with the fewest votes will leave the competition."

He explained: "I genuinely do not know the exact placings of the artists - who is top and who is bottom. I never know those details until the series is finished."

But whilst Simon is claiming: "This is a lot of nonsense about nothing," more than 200 fans have made official complaints to telly watchdog Ofcom and a further 50 lodged complaints with ITV.

Mary who was voted off the show by Simon has already landed a record deal with Sony.

She is now fighting back and last night accused X Factor bosses of rigging the show to get rid of her.

She claims show chiefs knew before the sing-off the public had voted for her but wanted "more marketable" Cher Lloyd to stay in.

Mary told The Mirror: "It's a fix. It's obvious Simon Cowell didn't want me."

The Tesco worker added: "The show's a fix, of course it is. It's not the show the public think it is. I knew the public had voted for me to stay on, and I actually thought the result would be based just on their vote.

"It was only on Saturday I discovered that there would be a sing-off where the judges decided.

"It's obvious Simon didn't want me in the final and I get that. I'm not as marketable to him as Cher so he was never going to put me through.

"They fixed it for me to lose. It didn't matter what the public think.

"Simon apologised to me afterwards and I joked: 'You could have warned me, you b*****d.' He told me I was going to be a multi-millionaire within a year though so I'm happy with that. That's why I gave it everything on stage, because I knew the result, and I knew it would be my last song. On Saturday I was given the 'save me' songs. I knew then my days were numbered."

Mary claimed she was told she had beaten Cher in the public vote.

But a member of the show's production crew hit said: "Simon and the entire team are -flabbergasted by Mary's claims. She loves a conspiracy theory. The judges claim they never know the result of the public vote before the sing-off."

If you are worrying about your votes going to waste this weekend, we have confirmation that this weekend's shows will see acts eliminated as a result of the viewers vote alone. There will be no sing-off during the final weekend.

[Smithy]

Do you mean last week?

It's the final this week :L

[Smithy]

never mind I read the bottom but its not a surprise, it's not like the judges have ever put anyone through at this stage in the competition

[Kazanne]

Originally Posted by Smithy

Do you mean last week?

It's the final this week :L

It just says acts will be eliminated so i suspect the one with the least votes goes first and so on,I think that what it means anyway,lol.

[Smithy]

I think they'll get rid of one on Sunday then possibly top 3 perform their winner song?

I'd like that the most

[Niamh.]

lmao, I should hope the public will be deciding in the final!!

As if Simon Cowell doesn't know the results of the voting beforehand!!

[Angus]

GOOD! Cher will definitely go this week - can't see her beating any of the other acts left, even One Dimension/Direction/Deduction/Erection whatever

[Pyramid*]

Originally Posted by kazanne

X Factor is quickly becoming known as Fix Factor, and this is making one Mr Simon Cowell a very angry man. Last night the X Factor boss and judge hit back at claims Sunday's X Factor result was a fix.

He dismissed the public's fears of a conspiracy as "nonsense", despite viewer's complaints that the public vote was expected to decide which acts got booted off.

Instead judges picked from the bottom two after a sing-off, and few were surprised when Simon stuck by pal Cheryl's act Cher.

Angry fans suspected the change was brought in at the last minute to ensure Cher Lloyd, 17, got into the final rather than Mary Byrne, 51.

However, Simon told The Sun: "We haven't done anything wrong."

He added: "All the artists knew there was going to be a sing-off.

"Mary and Cher were told last Monday to prepare a song for a sing-off if necessary."

Simon claimed he did not change the system due to Cher coming bottom of the public vote - because he has no idea about the votes.

However, even the X Factor's website was declaring Sunday's show would be determined by the public, stating: "The act with the fewest votes will leave the competition."

He explained: "I genuinely do not know the exact placings of the artists - who is top and who is bottom. I never know those details until the series is finished."

But whilst Simon is claiming: "This is a lot of nonsense about nothing," more than 200 fans have made official complaints to telly watchdog Ofcom and a further 50 lodged complaints with ITV.

Mary who was voted off the show by Simon has already landed a record deal with Sony.

She is now fighting back and last night accused X Factor bosses of rigging the show to get rid of her.

She claims show chiefs knew before the sing-off the public had voted for her but wanted "more marketable" Cher Lloyd to stay in.

Mary told The Mirror: "It's a fix. It's obvious Simon Cowell didn't want me."

The Tesco worker added: "The show's a fix, of course it is. It's not the show the public think it is. I knew the public had voted for me to stay on, and I actually thought the result would be based just on their vote.

"It was only on Saturday I discovered that there would be a sing-off where the judges decided.

"It's obvious Simon didn't want me in the final and I get that. I'm not as marketable to him as Cher so he was never going to put me through.

"They fixed it for me to lose. It didn't matter what the public think.

"Simon apologised to me afterwards and I joked: 'You could have warned me, you b*****d.' He told me I was going to be a multi-millionaire within a year though so I'm happy with that. That's why I gave it everything on stage, because I knew the result, and I knew it would be my last song. On Saturday I was given the 'save me' songs. I knew then my days were numbered."

Mary claimed she was told she had beaten Cher in the public vote.

But a member of the show's production crew hit said: "Simon and the entire team are -flabbergasted by Mary's claims. She loves a conspiracy theory. The judges claim they never know the result of the public vote before the sing-off."

If you are worrying about your votes going to waste this weekend, we have confirmation that this weekend's shows will see acts eliminated as a result of the viewers vote alone. There will be no sing-off during the final weekend.

So Simon decided to change it at the last minute....... having most likely, realised that Cher was not popular and would be in the bottom.... he couldn't take the chance, so he changed the rules.

Fix Factor remaind.

[Pyramid*]

Originally Posted by kazanne

It just says acts will be eliminated so i suspect the one with the least votes goes first and so on,I think that what it means anyway,lol.

*Cough* Subject to change by Cowell *Cough*

[Tom4784]

I'd laugh if after all this fuss it was Mary who came bottom, people would soon drop the fix accusations if it meant vindicating Cher.

[Niamh.]

Originally Posted by Prezzie

I'd laugh if after all this fuss it was Mary who came bottom, people would soon drop the fix accusations if it meant vindicating Cher.

It's only that it's a bit strange to have a sing of for semi finals though, as well as that Louis specifically said in an interview earlier in the week that there would be no sing of.

[Kazanne]

Originally Posted by Prezzie

I'd laugh if after all this fuss it was Mary who came bottom, people would soon drop the fix accusations if it meant vindicating Cher.

Mary reckons she has been told Cher got the least votes!!so who knows?

[Pyramid*]

Originally Posted by kazanne

Mary reckons she has been told Cher got the least votes!!so who knows?

it was being dicussed on either Radio Clyde or Real Radio yesterday and word out there is that Cher did have the least votes.

No smoke without fire....

[Tom4784]

I just think it's stupid to get jumped up about something on nothing but hearsay and rumours. Especially since if it was anyone else people would have just been glad to see the back of Mary.

Wait until the voting details are released before you light the torches and waste all that energy raging.

[Pyramid*]

Originally Posted by Prezzie

I just think it's stupid to get jumped up about something on nothing but hearsay and rumours. Especially since if it was anyone else people would have just been glad to see the back of Mary.

Wait until the voting details are released before you light the torches and waste all that energy raging.

I don't see anyone getting jumped up.....

May as well kill off half the forum subject then , since a lot of subjects discuss hearsay and rumors

[Kazanne]

Originally Posted by Prezzie

I just think it's stupid to get jumped up about something on nothing but hearsay and rumours. Especially since if it was anyone else people would have just been glad to see the back of Mary.

Wait until the voting details are released before you light the torches and waste all that energy raging.

To whom are you reffering to?

[Tom4784]

Originally Posted by kazanne

To whom are you reffering to?

Originally Posted by Snowball

I don't see anyone getting jumped up.....

May as well kill off half the forum subject then , since a lot of subjects discuss hearsay and rumors

To the general population obviously. It's all hypocritical really since there wouldn't be a fuss if Matt or Rebecca was in the bottom 2 and they survived against Mary. People don't mind fixes as long as they get their way with it. In truth they're only using the fix claims to complain that they didn't get what they wanted not that they disagree with how it was done.

[Angus]

Originally Posted by Snowball

it was being dicussed on either Radio Clyde or Real Radio yesterday and word out there is that Cher did have the least votes.

No smoke without fire....

Well the public should have been told unequivocally about the sing off BEFORE the voting opened. People who voted for Mary should demand their money back if it's true that Cher had the least votes, otherwise it's obtaining money by deception.

[ElProximo]

Simon can mention the judges 'don't know the votes' all he wants but it doesn't change the actual problem in this:

The voters (the ones paying money and participating) understand that 'The act with the fewest votes is eliminated'.
This is not true.
It should be clear to the customer: The TWO acts with the least votes will be subject to elimination and 1 will go as determined by judges.

Keep in mind, this could mean 1 has a massive margin of votes ahead of the other. It doesn't matter if Mary had 30 times the votes or Cher-L had only 25 people voting for her and Mary 7000.

If this went to court I suppose 'technically' somehow the clever X-Factor people could interpret wording, show fine-print and maybe they could 'technically' get away innocent,
however,
for the sake of good relations and good business they ought to make it clear to the customers:
The TWO with the least votes are subject to judges elimination.

In all seriousness, this really does make a person lose interest in voting.

[joeysteele]

Originally Posted by NingleBells

It's only that it's a bit strange to have a sing of for semi finals though, as well as that Louis specifically said in an interview earlier in the week that there would be no sing of.

So did the X Factor website say only the public vote decided the semi final for the final, but at least this fuss seems to have brought about the information we should have been given week by week anyway,that definately in the final it will be all down to only the public votes as to who goes.

Simon is wrong anyway, we,the public, always voted before the semi finals too as to who went out, certainly usually the last 3 weeks of the comnpetition.

It is rediculous of Simon to state that just one more act in the final meant all this secrecy and seemingly underhand tactics had to be done,with no information given clearly to the viewers.
2 programmes of at leat an hour long in time, on both Saturday and Sunday gave plenty opportunity to inform the viewers of any format changes anyway and had they had 4 double eliminations straight off in the first 4 weeks the format would have never needed to be tampered with anyway.

Never have I read more nonsense from Simon and its sad how low he has had to go to please Cheryl Cole for her massive errors on X Factor this series.

[Pyramid*]

Originally Posted by Prezzie

To the general population obviously. It's all hypocritical really since there wouldn't be a fuss if Matt or Rebecca was in the bottom 2 and they survived against Mary. People don't mind fixes as long as they get their way with it. In truth they're only using the fix claims to complain that they didn't get what they wanted not that they disagree with how it was done.

I'm part of the general public, and I'm not kicking up a fuss, I'm simply putting forward my opinion that it appears to be very much a con. If Matt or Rebecca had been in the bottom two and had survived against Mary, if that was the majority public vote: I'd accept that. If Matt or Rebecca lost out to Mary, I might not like it, but I'd accept it.

As it is: Cher has no where near the singing talent - it's a singing contest, that any 3 of these people have. She (and Katie for that matter) should never have been put through as finalists at all, imo. Add to that that Cher simply doesn't have the likeablilty factor either, she's not the 'full package'. That's my view anyway, I appreciate others will not agree, and so be it. That's perfectly acceptable!

Originally Posted by King Herod

Well the public should have been told unequivocally about the sing off BEFORE the voting opened. People who voted for Mary should demand their money back if it's true that Cher had the least votes, otherwise it's obtaining money by deception.

I'm not disagreeing, I agree - the public should have been told and very clearly about there being a sing off before voting opened.

It all goes back to a few weeks ago when Wagner was booted off and Simon uttering the immortal line, "It puts the competition back into the hands of the public". It's not in the hands of the public if the judges thereafter, have a final decision on the bottom two. The final say is therefore, in fact, in the hands of the judges (or rather, Simon, since they are all working for him)

I do agree that there has been very clever and devious 'presentation' of the whole voting process, and I am pretty sure there will be some 'get out clause' in the small print in the voting rules etc, somewhere, to cover their backsides.

[Pyramid*]

From today's Daily Mail:

Viewers were clearly told that the contestant receiving the lowest number of public votes would automatically leave the show, with host Dermot O'Leary saying: 'Now it's all in your hands. 'It's your votes and your votes alone that can get your act safely through to the final.'

But a last-minute change in format meant Cher and Mary - who were in the bottom two - had to battle it out in a sing-off, before the judges voted to put Cher through.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz...#ixzz17W0Rqu9i

And they say the show isn't rigged. Pah.

[ElProximo]

This has to hurt their future vote tallies?

Probably not because they do this over and over again and don't seem bothered. They ought to be.

Big Brother was another one playing games with the rules and in a sense 'mitigating' votes or playing with the numbers.
May be 'legal' but its annoying and takes a lot of motivation away for the would-be phone-in.

[joeysteele]

Originally Posted by King Herod

Well the public should have been told unequivocally about the sing off BEFORE the voting opened. People who voted for Mary should demand their money back if it's true that Cher had the least votes, otherwise it's obtaining money by deception.

Exactly, also with 2 at least 1 hour long programmes on a Saturday and a Sunday every week on ITV and also ITV2,they had plenty opportunity to just say in any of them, this year due to extra contestants a few changes will have to be made to the usual format of the competition,which are likely to be .........(and then outline them).

They made no announcements to that effect, they started with double eliminations then stopped, of course Katie would have gone much sooner had they not stopped them early on.

It is the uncertainty and seemingly underhand tactics used this year that has fuelled all sorts of suspicions and I have no hesitation in saying if a programme and a Channel wants the viewers to watch, and take the time to vote and pay to vote too then every little bit of information as to how all that will work should as a right be given to the viewers, otherwise, anything else is as King Herod(Angus58)says,obtaining funding by deception.

That is what a great many and growing number of people are furious about regardless of whoever was the bottom 2.

I extra act in the final in no way justifies all the secrecy and last minute changes there has been this year to the format on X Factor.