I am so MAD!
Mo and I have been following the X Factor (UK) this year again, as there are a few brilliant singers in the ‘over twenties’. This week was Mariah Carey week, and she was present, and worked with all the singers.
There is just no understanding the way the public vote. There is a chap who, although a very nice man, is a bit like the old Tom Jones, if you know what I mean. In no way is he, or could he be, a pop singer or a recording star. He is getting a lot of sympathy votes, while good singers are getting knocked out.
We are now into the serious stuff, with the cream of the singers left to battle it out. He should now be gone, and we were fairly confident he would go yesterday. Did he? Noooo! Two really great female singers, Laura White and Ruth Lorenzo were in the sing off. That in itself was a shock, but what followed has really infuriated me!
Mariah Carey said of Laura’s rehearsal “No notes”, which apparently is the best compliment she could give, and basically means ‘Perfect’.
You need to watch this video. Listen to the remarks at the end.
This lady is world class, as the judges continually said. Then why, tell me, did they vote her off?
I’ll tell you why. Ruth Lorenzo is a good singer, but not to the standards of Laura. She is Spanish, which Simon finds sexy. She knows how to play her body while performing, and Simon Cowell makes no secret of the fact that he fancies her rotten. He says it every week! The deciding votes were with the two men. Need I say more?
They spent weeks building this poor girl up and telling her she was “special” and “a world class singer”. When it came time for them to ‘put their money where their mouth is’, as the saying goes, they totally crushed her, and voted from their trousers (Pants)!
If I sound a tad upset, it’s because I AM, and more than a tad! What would have been nicer, is for them to have gone to a split vote, which would revert back to the public vote. That would have been a more fair way to do it, and something they have done twice before. But no, crush the girl, why don’t you? It wields more power!
The decision, not surprisingly, brought a lot of booing from the audience. No consolation for Laura though.
Oh, I expect she’ll get a recording contract, but this experience will have totally knocked her confidence.
Stumble it!
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granny grimble
| 11 November 2008 at 1:22
There is really nothing I can add to this Babs except to say that I second every single word you have said. What a terrible disappointing night it was. I too was hopping mad. I almost feel that it isn’t worth watching if they aren’t going to play fairly. I also think that they ought to stop all this sympathy voting. It isn’t fair that because someone’s mother/father/wife has died, they should be jusged for this rather than talent.
granny grimble´s last blog post..THE BEST IS YET TO COME
DrowseyMonkey
| 11 November 2008 at 2:20
yeah, it’s like American Idol, they’re mostly popularity contests. I like that you 2 get all feisty about it tho! LOL
beetle
| 11 November 2008 at 3:24
granny grimble: It was bad enough that they were in the sing off, but it was what Simon and Louis did they really annoyed me.
Drowsey: Hello Drowsey. Oh yes, We can get a tad feisty
chat blanc
| 11 November 2008 at 3:53
Oh I hate when they do that. I’d much rather see the talent rewarded not the looks or hype or something ridiculous! I can’t watch shows that end up like that, it makes me crazy.
Comedy Plus
| 11 November 2008 at 4:50
She is indeed very talented. Perhaps it’s a personality contest rather than how well you sing. The judges were right on the money and if you can get Simon to like anyone that’s quite something too. I haven’t a clue how this turns out the way it does. We gave up television a long time ago. Have a great day.
Comedy Plus´s last blog post..Blog Change
beetle
| 11 November 2008 at 4:57
Chat Blanc: There are a few other great singers in this year so we’ll wait and see what happens.
Comedy Plus: You are probably right. She is a very sweet, shy girl, who lacked confidence at the start.
Ivanhoe
| 11 November 2008 at 14:59
Unfortunately, similar stuff is going on with American Idol. I used to enjoy watching it. Then America calls in the sympathy votes for worse singers and good ones are being voted off. *sigh*
Ivanhoe´s last blog post..Happy Veteran’s Day
beetle
| 11 November 2008 at 16:35
Ivanhoe: Yes the public are fickle. I was more angry at Louie Walsh. He voted her off because she was a threat to his group!
Liudmila
| 11 November 2008 at 20:32
I don’t like this musik but the girl has a very good “worked” voice and on her face is written so great hope… But she -and everybody of us- has to understand that that men do what they were paid for. Somebody paid whom they have to vote and they do it. Business.
Liudmila´s last blog post..What Is This Attraction?
Polly
| 12 November 2008 at 3:31
Well I hate to be the fly in the ointment Babs … but I really, really dislike the style of Laura White. For one thing her diction is dreadful and I have struggled week after week to try and understand what she is singing about but either she has a short tongue or a stud in her tongue or a lisp as I cannot understand every word. Also I am a little suspicious - was she not the contestant that had already had a crack at show business and a stab at a CD?
On the other hand, Ruth may be Spanish but I can understand every single word that she sings her diction is perfect.
There are no fabulous singers this time around no Leona Lewis so we are left with a child, a would-be crooner, four lads who with Louis aid will be yet another West Life, a soul singer, a Rachael (who at first in the trials sounded remarkably like Amy Winehouse - where did that sound disappear to), a school girl with an unusual voice - but can she only sing sitting down? and Ruth.
That’s the long and the short of it and for those who enjoy a little more - it makes quite interesting reading the odds on Paddy Power … who this week showed that the betting predicted that Daniel would walk … hay-ho - that’s why bookmakers make so much money when the rest of us get it oh so wrong!!
beetle
| 12 November 2008 at 4:06
Liudmila: You are right. It’s all done for money, and that’s what counts in the end. How much money they can make from a singer.
Polly: I welcome a fly in the ointment!
This is where personal taste comes in. It’s what makes us all unique :O) I personally love unusual singers, that have unique voices. I think that all of the female singers this year have very unique voices, with the possible exception of Ruth, if you take away her Spanish accent.
Although I know that Leona Lewis is a great singer, and I was hoping she would win last year, I would not buy her music, no more than I would buy Mariah Carey’s music. They are not the sort of singer that I would want to listen to, for more than one track. It’s just my personal taste.
Rachael is the one I feel for. As you say she had a great raw sound, which seems to have been smothered as they attempt to mold her into somebody she isn’t!
Polly, you are welcome back any time for a good debate
Swubird
| 12 November 2008 at 4:19
Babs:
I don’t understand the judging in those shoes. That’s why I don’t watch them. My wife and daughter got hooked on that American Idol show one time, so I watched a little of it. I didn’t agree with any of the judges choices. And the people from home voted for all sorts of weird reasons.
I understand your frustration.
Happy trails
Swubird´s last blog post..CAUGHT WITH OUR PANTS DOWN!
Jay
| 12 November 2008 at 12:27
This is exactly why I no longer watch these shows. It’s just so inequitable. Sympathy voting, partisan voting, inexplicable voting. I began to wonder who was getting backhanders from who…
Yes, she’ll get a contract. And she’ll have to be tough to survive in the entertainment industry anyway. But … you’re not wrong, Babsie. You’re not wrong.
*Shakes head*
beetle
| 12 November 2008 at 14:39
Swubird: Yes, the X Factor is no longer voted fairly. I think the problem is that there is too much money to be made by the judge that has the winning singer!
Jay: You’re right Jay. The singers are just pawns in the judges game! If I was a star, I’d be like Barbara Streisand - call the shots and treat ‘em mean ;O)
Jenn Thorson
| 12 November 2008 at 17:30
It sounds like one of those cases of choosing style over substance. What they think is cookie-cutter marketable versus actual unique talent. It seems to be becoming more and more common, really. Quite sad.
beetle
| 12 November 2008 at 19:29
Jenn Thorson: You are so right! So much really good talent gets lost because they don’t look right. Yes, it is sad.
Max Coutinho
| 12 November 2008 at 20:40
Hi Babs,
I’m Max, we may have bumped into each other at SlogBite or Swubird’s!
You are so right to be MAD! Laura has an outstanding voice: as I listened to her I had the gooseskin! Wow!!
So, she was voted off…I hated when trousers speak louder than the voice, don’t you?
I wish she gets a label contract; she is quite an asset!!
Cheers
Max Coutinho´s last blog post..Soul Homicide
beetle
| 12 November 2008 at 21:43
Max: Welcome! I’m sure she will have a singing career, at least she should! She does have a lovely voice :O)
granny grimble
| 12 November 2008 at 22:38
All these reality programmes start off by crossing all the t’s and dotting all the I’s and being sooo interesting and gratifying. But all of them, in my eyes any way, end up pandering to sensationalism or receiving strange votes that don’t make sense. I stopped watching Big Brother after the first three for this reason, and I fear that ‘I’m a Celebrity’ will go the same way. I don’t think I will watch the next X Factor - if there is one!
granny grimble´s last blog post..I GOT AN AWARD !
Paunchiness
| 12 November 2008 at 22:47
I really hate all of these shows. It seems like every season there is some new variation of last years vote for me/reality shows. Make it stop and give us some real TV
Paunchiness´s last blog post..Fish Oil - Weight Loss & Depression Benefits
beetle
| 13 November 2008 at 0:00
granny grimble: I think you’re right. I never did watch BB, only celebrity BB. They stopped making that one because I guess they couldn’t get too many willing celebrities. X Factor is one of the very few I watch. Now that is becoming a farce!
Paunchiness: I imagine there are far more of these programmes in the US. As I don’t watch much TV, I don’t know of many others here in the UK. What started off as a brilliant way to discover new talent has turned into a programme of broken dreams and nasty remarks.
Polly
| 13 November 2008 at 3:21
Well Babs the debate goes on …. they are now saying that Dianna (I think that is the way her name is spelt - young blonde one) was now whooping and screaming at a fireworks party just three days before the competition on Saturday. As she was waived through without having to fight for her place it’s getting a little ‘peg on the nose’ state of affairs. So what is going on this year? I know one thing I think that they should perhaps dump Cheryl Cole and bring in Pete Waterman … he talks it like it is and he was one of the brains behind the launch of Kyle Manogue. The sickly syrup of Cheryl with the same cliches is getting tiresome.
Not long before we all begin moaning at the choices once more.
It’s a tad sickening to think that Jonathan Ross will be appearing on CIN on Friday though - I thought he might well have done a Simon Dee …
beetle
| 13 November 2008 at 14:03
Polly: I have to admit that I am beginning to see a whole different side to this programme, that I don’t like. There are a couple of petitions online, one of which is to get rid of Louis Walsh, and the other is to re-instate Laura. I doubt either will happen though.
Regarding Johnathan Ross. I suppose his 3 month ban only covers the BBC. I think he should have done a Simon Dee ;O)
JD at I Do Things
| 13 November 2008 at 16:48
Oh, I get like this with American Idol. Does anyone remember Sanjaya? He was a no-talent idiot who was kept around just because he was desperate and stupid and would try anything for attention.
Laura is really good. I’m sure she’ll come out ahead. I think some of these young people are more hurt than helped by these shows.
JD at I Do Things´s last blog post..I’m TRYING to Sleep Late so you don’t have to
beetle
| 13 November 2008 at 17:31
JD: When X Factor in the UK first started you could, at least, rely on the judges to make sensible decisions, but now everything they say and do is yet another devious maneuver! They now don’t think twice about crushing a great singer, just to win their personal, and childish battles!
I’m sure Laura will get a contract soon. I suppose, the best these shows do is actually make the industry aware of possibly great singers. I expect talent scouts tune in.