[Z]

How would it be run? What kinds of contestants would there be? Would you change the judging panel? Categories? Themes? Voting system?

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My ideal X Factor would be as follows:

Simon Cowell - Boys
Dannii Minogue - Girls
Cheryl Cole - Groups
Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber - Over 25s


Four judges who have relevant experience to the areas they are managing (not so much Simon - but he runs the whole show, so he kind of gets lumped with the boys haha) Cheryl getting groups obviously, Dannii getting girls, and Andrew getting Overs because a fair few of the over 25s in recent years have been told they are suited to the stage. Bingo!


There would be no sob stories. There would be no lame ducks who are blatantly going to fail in the competition. Visits to families would remain private and not be exploited to garner attention/sympathy. The contestants won't attend movie premieres. I would not ask celebrities who their favourite contestant is, it produces massive egos.

I would scrap "Artist A" Themes. A genre theme is OK, but not a specific artist, it means everyone has to conform to a single style, which is guaranteed to flatter certain contestants and destroy others - I want a high standard of performances based on the contestants singing in a genre, and not in the style of a "special guest."

I would not allow quirky acts through to the main shows. I'm speaking about the likes of Rhydian or Chico, why were they on a show like the X Factor? Singing contest, that's what my X Factor is, not a marketing session.

At the end of the series, I would release the full voting data to the public - how many votes each act received each week. I would scrap the judges vote in the bottom two, because it's really political and is unfair. I would remove the bottom two as a distinct entity and just incorporate it into the show (Act A, B, C and F are through, leaving D and E, I then announce D is safe so E is going home. No bottom two performances. We have no idea if D was the second least popular, or if it was just a random placing)

All comments about an act's appearance are irrelevant, unless it's "you look nice" which is a pleasantry. "Your image isn't right" is a really negative, undermining type of comment, and is totally unnecessary. If people are voting for someone on my X Factor, I want it to be for their voice, not for their appearance, which leads me to my next point...

No "cute" boys. I don't mean I want a group of fuglies for Simon Cowell, but seriously, someone with an average voice is not getting through because they have deep brown eyes and a cheeky glint in their eyes. It led to Leon Jackson winning, and at time of writing I have no idea how Eoghan Quigg gets on, but I'll bet he finishes high up. It's the most infuriating thing to see someone get through because they're "hot" at the expense of someone who has a fantastic voice.

I would also change the voting system of the X Factor, completely. It would be a strict public vote. The judges would probably want something to do in the mean time, so they, after all the performances are done, can list the performances in their rank order of preference, maybe like the Strictly Come Dancing system or something like that. It would have no relevance to the voting procedure - but they shouldn't be relevant anyway.

Finally, I would ensure the judges adhere to the following rule:

I must not use the phrase "All of ____ will be behind you" in reference to votes. This is a sweeping statement which is really not true at all, and is very patronising to all males and to every female over the age of 15. Not everyone is ruled by their genitalia.

[Locke.]

How long did that take you? lol

[rayheartbliss]

lol

[Z]

Originally posted by David
How long did that take you? lol

Long enough to no longer feel cheated by the past two series of the X Factor (for now)

[Tom]

- Keep the judges the same
- Sack Dermot and get a woman to host the show again (but not Holly as much as I like her)
- Get rid of sob stories
- Raise the age limit to 18
- Have a loose upper age limit (ie anyone can still enter, just not recommended over a certain age)
- The public vote 1 act out of the rejected 12 (judges homes) into the competition as the viewers choice.

[Red Moon]

Personally I think that the current format of the X-factor is seriously flawed and changes needed to be made before next years show if it isn't going to become a subject of public ridicule and a vehicle for constant complaints to Ofcom.

Clearly the biggest flaw that that the Judges are the Mentors. How can anyone be considered a fair Judge when they have a vested interest in the acts they are judging. It just ridiculous that even consider themselves to be Judges at all. And some of them are too busy even to mentor. So I propose that job of mentoring and judging be separated. So we have a panel of Judges and a separate group of Mentors. We still retain the competition within a competition while having Judges who can judge things fairly, especially in the sing off, which I would keep in the show.

I wouldn't have the over 25 group separate from the girls and the boys, I would include them the girls and the boys. It just makes the show agist. So I would have 3 groups of 4, 4 girls, 4 boys and 4 bands. I feel the over 25 never do well just because they are over 25 and are labeled as such.

The sob stories need to go. People shouldn't be picked at the auditions by the researchers just because they are going to make interesting television. Yes, I did say researchers, the Judges only ever see acts the researchers consider are right for the show. The best singer in the world could walk into the auditions and never be seen by the judges just because they don't have a good story. The X-Factor is a talent contest and if it wants to be taken seriously then the acts need to be picked on talent alone.

I would also raise the age limit to 18, a lot of the younger people that appear on the show aren't ready for the big time and the pressure the show brings. If they are really good what would be the harming in them waiting a few years and not interrupting their education for a dream that might not come true.


Change the voting system to vote out the worse acts rather voting to stay. No more of this "voting to keep in your favorite act", it's a talent show, not a popularity contest. Lets simply vote the talentless out and so keep the talented in.

Finally I would make the show a strictly a popular music talent contest. Contestants would be required to sing in a styles that are suited to modern music.

[Spike]

Host - Davina, she was good on Popstars the Rivals, i'm surprised she never got the X Factor job

4 Categories
Boys - Simon Cowell
Girls - Chris Moyles
Groups - Louis Walsh
Over 25's - Dannii Minogue

- No sob Stories
- Age limit 16 - 40
- Have a voting system like Strictly where the judges scores and the public votes are added together but no bottom 2
- No themes unless they are really open
- Contestants have a bigger say in their routine and song choice so we know the type of music they want to release if they win
- Scrap the one big boot camp, a boot camp for each category used to work well
- Results show live on a Sunday

[Z]

I like bits of all of the ideas posted so far!