The Gravy Boat is proud to present an exclusive interview with “Gary Barlow” by Vic McGlynn, that originally broadcast on BBC Radio Leeds. Gazza discusses The X Factor, Simon Cowell, the other judges and the future of Take That. It’s a not to be missed chat with one of the true giants of the entertainment industry.  Good old GB.

You can listen to it on iTunes, here:

http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=340803894

Or, if you prefer, you can just listen to it here:

http://thegravyboat.podbean.com/2011/09/03/the-gravy-boat-27-gary-barlow-interview/

Or, if like me, you have got rid of your iPhone and have realised how great Google Reader\Listen is, the RSS feed is:

http://thegravyboat.podbean.com/feed/

Related articles

• Gig 10a: Gary Barlow on BBC Radio Leeds – 1st September 2011 (poursomegravyonme.co.uk)
• Take That Adele & GaGa! Gary Barlow Is “Sick” Of You Both! (lukewilliamss.wordpress.com)
• Gary Barlow on the X Factor? (heatworld.com)

Last year I wrote ridiculously long posts about the live shows. It was quite a bind, to be honest, but they did get quite a few hits. I’m a whore for those hits. I’ve not decided yet whether to do the same this year; at the moment I’m really not feeling it.

Oh god, why don’t they just get on with it!

For someone who claims that they like The X Factor, I spend an awful lot of time moaning about it. It’s quite weird and I don’t have any satisfactory reason for why.

Louis had a little cry; Simon chewed his pen. Overly dramatic music. Contestants bawling. This means everything to me. Some things never change.

So. They’re about to make the earth shattering announcements. I’m off to watch it.

I wish I could say it was nail biting. It isn’t.

Anyway, I thought that after writing so much about the bloody programme I should take time to look back over the series as a whole.  Like last year, however, I can’t be bothered doing it properly.  For conciseness, I’ll use bullet points.

• I’m completely finished with the auditions process and wish they could do away with it.   Bullying is not funny.
• The format changes sucked (auditions in front of a live audience and the live shows split over two nights), but the viewing figures were stronger than ever.
• This year’s finalists weren’t even close to being as good as last year’s.  If I hadn’t committed myself to blogging about it then I think I would have given up.

Perhaps the most interesting thing about this year’s competition is what has happened after it finished – the Rage Against The Machine V.  Joe  chart battle.  The campaign itself seemed like a harmless bit of fun, but I was still pretty ambivalent about the whole thing.  I didn’t hate the campaign, like I did last year’s ‘our cover version is better than your cover version’ debacle,  but lurking somewhere beneath the surface is a deep misunderstanding of what the X Factor is.

It’s no coincidence that the song was chosen for the lyrics: ‘Fuck you, I won’t do what you tell me’, and a whole bunch of people believe that the mainstream single buying audience literally do whatever Simon Cowell tells them.

Guess what?  They don’t.

Sure, he manipulates and promotes his own artists.  That’s his job.  But, other than the Christmas number one, which, until this year, was sewn up by the X Factor winner, what impact does it all really have on the music industry?  If you look back at how many people have gone on to have successful careers post-X Factor, then you’ll clearly see how little difference it actually makes.  Those that have had a modicum of success, like Will Young, Girls Aloud, Leona Lewis and Alexandra Burke, would clearly have had successful careers regardless of their origins, whether you like them or not.

This missing link seems to be this: The X Factor really hasn’t got a great deal to do with the music industry.  It’s a talent show mixed with a soap opera\pantomime that’s designed to be big, family friendly, Saturday night entertainment.  I watch it so that I can have a moan about who is good, who is bad and who is indifferent.  I wanted Joe to win the final, but I’d never buy one of his records in a million years and I don’t think he’ll make a good pop star.  It’s all about the competition.  If they sell a few records on the back of it, then that’s a bonus (for them).

Yes, it was nice to break the monopoly and see something different get to number one – but don’t celebrate because you think you’ve saved something sacred from being tarnished.  This is the pop singles chart!  Stop and think about it for a minute.  The concept of ‘Christmas number one’ is itself is an A&R man’s trick to flog more records.  And have you actually looked at some of the songs that have been Christmas number one in the last 20 years?  They include The Spice Girls (three times), Westlife and Bob the Builder?  They’re not exactly striking a hammer blow for the cause of ‘real’ music.

You don’t have to like the X Factor, but at least don’t like it because you don’t like it, and not for some spurious ‘moral’ reasons.

Anyway, rant over.  Time is ticking on and I want to go and watch telly.  I should really tidy this up a bit more and try and make my arguments a little more cogent, but I can’t be arsed.

Saturday

Running Time (including the Xtra Factor): 180 minutes

Time I watched it in: 77 minutes

X Factor Ratio: 42.8%

Before I started writing this\watching the show, I remembered that someone was going to be leaving, so I thought I better make a prediction.  I thought that Olly would (and should) be the first to be eliminated.  Look how that turned out.

Unlike previous series, I don’t really care which of the acts win this series.  I would have slightly preferred to have Stacey win, but I have to admit that Joe deserves it.

Each of the contestants performed three songs, the opener was the song that they sang at their first audition.

Stacey – What a Wonderful World – Stacey looked really nice here, although they had her precariously perched on a stool in a very short dress.  Again.  My upskirt conspiracy theory rumbled on to the very end.  The song really suited her voice and it was a pleasant, if slightly boring, performance.  The nerves showed a little in her vocals, but that’s hardly surprising under the circumstances.

The judges comments were predictably bland.

Olly – Superstition – I didn’t really mind the singing too much (apart from the fact that he couldn’t say ‘suffer’), but the dancing was as irritating as ever.  I’m fully aware of how my dislike for Olly is completely irrational.

Nothing worthy of comment from the judges, again.

Joe – Dance with my Father – I didn’t know the song and guessed the title from the lyrics.  It was another good performance from Joe, but it was very musical theatre.

I’ve given up on the judges – they’ve got no incentive to say anything nasty when it’s the final.  How boring.

The next set of songs were the not-so-secret duets.  I don’t know why the judges were being so coy about who was performing as it had been announced everywhere – including the info button on Sky.

Stacey – Feeling Good (with Michael Buble) – Mickey Bubbles singing was really weird and, as a result, it was like they weren’t performing together.  Does he usually sing like that and is this why he is so popular?  I found it baffling.  Anyway, Stacey looked pretty sexy in her shiny dress.  She also sang really well, maybe her best yet.  Mickey didn’t seem convinced that Stacey could win, he could have at least have pretended.

Olly – Angels (with Robbie) – I hate this song and if there was any lingering doubt on who might be the ‘mystery’ guest, then it didn’t last long.  Olly was pretty awful and Robbie actually cocked up his own song by coming in before he should.  Robbie looked like he was going to start crying and the whole thing felt incredibly awkward.

Joe – Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me (with George Michael) – Joe was excellent.  Although they looked like father and son, it was definitely the best duet, both vocally and in terms of performance.  At the end, George had that big star ‘I don’t quite know what’s going on’ vibe.  He also said that it must be nerve wracking to meet ‘people like him’.

The last round was the contestants ‘best song’ from the series.

Stacey – Who Wants to Live Forever – Whatever you think of Stacey, you have to admit that they’ve certainly made the most out of her legs over the series.  Although I like her voice, her performances are just too tentative for her to be a pop star.

How can Simon make the phrase “you smashed it” sound so unenthusiastic?

Olly – Fool in Love – I’m not even sure that I can remember him singing this before and I don’t have a clue what it is.  He’s not awful but I didn’t really like it.  I don’t know what he could actually do to impress me.

Joe – Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word – Well, I have to admit it, Joe deserves to win the competition.  He was excellent, again.

So that was it, all that was left was to announce who’d be going home.  Tragedy struck as Olly was announced safe.  I felt a little bit angry and sad inside.  It was down to Joe and Stacey, and clearly Joe wasn’t going home.  Poor Stacey.  Oh well, it actually makes tomorrow interesting for me, as I’m now desperate that Joe wins.  Stacey was incredibly gracious in defeat, which makes me wish she stayed in even more.

The only thing worth mentioning on The Xtra Factor was when Simon asked a pensioner caller what she was wearing and what she had on under her dressing gown.  It was quite revolting., but very funny.

Sunday

Running Time: 180 minutes

Time I watched it in:  54 minutes

X Factor Ratio: 30%

I really couldn’t be bothered watching this, but it would be a strange time to quit.  Despite saying yesterday that I really wanted Joe to beat Olly, I couldn’t actually be bothered.

There was some god-awful group song from all the finalists.   I fast forwarded through it.

Olly – Twist & Shout – Annoying.  That’s all I have.

Joe – Don’t Stop Believin’ – Yeah, it was alright.

I think I shocked even myself with just how uninterested I was.  You’ll be glad to know that I bravely soldiered on.

JLS did a duet with Alexandra Burke.  Then they wheeled out Leona Lewis.  Were they just trying to prove how bad that this year’s contestants have been in comparison to past winners?

They then performed ‘the winner’s single’.  Did I recklessly fast-forward or did Simon forget to tell us what it was called?  The chorus uses the phrase “the climb” so I googled it – apparently it’s a Miley Cyrus song.  It’s quite insipid, but what you’d expect.

Olly – Not great.  He’s not actually that bad, vocally, I just don’t ‘get it’.

Joe – I preferred this to Olly’s version, mainly because Joe is a more natural singer.  It really felt effortless compared to Olly.

How many times have we had to listen to Cheryl saying how much she’s glad to have met Joe?

I fast forwarded through George Michael, but thought I’d listen to a bit of Paul ‘Macca’ McCartney.  Then all the finalists joined him on stage to sing ‘Drive my Car’.  Deary me.  I didn’t want to watch but I couldn’t look away.  Macca saved it by doing ‘Live and Let Die’ – a mentalist classic.

I can’t believe how long they dragged out revealing the winner.  I fast forwarded for ages and it still didn’t come.  Eventually the right decision was made and Joe won.  I can’t quite believe that I think it was the right decision.

Over on The Xtra Factor Holly reveals the predictions that the judges and presenters made at boot camp, about who the final winner would be.

Dermot – Olly

Holly – Olly

Louis – Olly

Dannii – Nicole (didn’t even get through the the live shows)

Cheryl – Olly + Miss Frank (Louis demanded his rule book because she picked two acts)

Simon – Olly

They also revealed who got the most votes in each of the live shows – it makes for quite interesting reading:

Week 1 – Danyl

Week 2 – Stacey

Week 3 – Rachel

Week 4 – Danyl

Week 5 – Danyl

Week 6 – Stacey

Week 7 – Joe

Week 8 – Joe

Week 9 – Joe

Week 10 – Joe

Joe clearly had it sewn up by the last few weeks, but it’s interesting to see that Stacey and Danyl won so many weeks.

In Conclusion

You can probably tell, by how rushed Sunday’s write up is, just how fed up with it I’d become by the end.  I can’t even be bothered making any final conclusions.  See you all next year for some more X Factor fun.

Total Duration: 360 minutes

Total time I spent watching it: 131 minutes

Overall X Factor Ratio: 36.4%

Saturday

Running Time (including the Xtra Factor): 150 minutes

Time I watched it in: 70 minutes

X Factor Ratio: 46.7%

It’s Michael Jackson night, so at least there might be some good songs.  Of course, he did plenty of bad ones too.  Fingers crossed that no one does ‘Earth Song’ (you can read more about my fear of Earth Song here).

Olly – Can You Feel It? – No, Olly, I can’t.  I’ve never been a huge fan of Olly, but this was probably his worst vocal yet.  He’s also an atrocious dancer.  This week, he seemed to have been inspired by a fish.  Simon looked ecstatically happy – he’s got a great poker face.

Dannii said that they could all feel it in the room.  Bully for them.  All the judges gave him absolutely glowing praise, so maybe it’s just me.

Joe – She’s Out of my Life – I’ve slowly warmed to Joe, very much in a case of substance over style.  He’s still not my cup of tea but at least he can sing.  It’s just a shame that they gave him such a depressing song.  I can’t believe that he’s now one of my favourites – it just shows how bad some of the others have been this year.

Louis gave sickeningly gushing praise, Dannii and Simon quickly followed suit.  I started to for someone to get an absolute slating, just to liven it up.  Cheryl, of course, loved it – he is from Newcastle, after all.

Stacey – The Way You Make Me Feel – Gosh.  Dannii is either really brave or really stupid to pick the penultimate week to give Stacey an up-tempo song and a routine that involved more than just standing still.  It didn’t quite work, but it was nice to see her doing something different.  It was a bit of a weak song really, and really did nothing for her voice.

Simon: ‘It was fine, but it wasn’t you.’  There’s a reason why he’s the best judge and his comments here were really spot on.

Danyl – The Man in the Mirror – Simon covered his mouth early on in the song as if to say: ‘Dear god, what have I done?’  As always, Danyl was much stronger in the second half of the song.  Was he terrible or was he actually pretty good?  Yet again, I had no idea.   He got a standing ovation from Simon AND Cheryl.  I didn’t think it was worthy of that.

Simon said it was incredible and then got even more carried away.  I take back what I said about him being the best judge.

The second set of songs are ‘judges’ choice’.  Joy.

Olly – We Can Work It Out – This was the straw that broke the camel’s back – Olly is crap.  This was bloody awful.   And his dancing is neither big nor clever.  Towards the end, I did start to wonder if he’d actually suffered a nervous breakdown and nobody had noticed.

Louis said he was impressed that he picked a song that wasn’t well known.  Yeah, because the Beatles are just an obscure indie band.

Joe – Open Arms – Cheryl did a really awful overhead clap at the start of the song.  It made me feel a bit embarrassed.  I don’t know what the song was (I looked up the title), but it was absolutely awful.  We were right back in the realms of musical theatre with this performance.  He was also stood on a table.

The judges were getting on my nerves by this point.  Cheryl thinks she is actually Joe’s mum.

Stacey – Somewhere – The cheese factor was really cranked up with this song choice, but it did suit her voice.  I’m no fashion expert but her dress wasn’t very flattering; I kept thinking that it was going to inflate.

Simon came out with one of his classic lines: ‘You are back in the game, sweetheart.’  I hope that Stacey wins, simply because she’s so bashful when she gets compliments.  It’s not a very good reason for wanting someone to win, but its all I’ve got.  Thank god that she did this song last or she may have been in trouble.

Danyl – I Have Nothing – God, Simon can’t half pick some melodramatic rubbish.  I’ve reached this weird point with Danyl where I simultaneously think that he’s a cracking singer and that he’s absolutely garbage.  I don’t really know how to comment.

Louis now officially thinks that everyone should be in the final.  Cheryl managed to give him positive comments without actually giving him a compliment.  She clearly doesn’t like him.

With the main show finished, I thought I’d managed to escape its evil clutch, but the Xtra Factor played a snippet from Earth Song.  A snippet is more than I can handle.  Holly appeared to be wearing one of Bet Lynch’s old dresses, but, dear god, was she ever working it.

We get to the best bit of the week – the public interrogation of the judges, who seem to be genuinely dreading what the callers are going to ask them.  You can’t have better proof for what a good feature it is.  Jenny phoned in for the third week running and completely lost the plot.  I’ve never heard anything quite like it and Holly said that she was a bit scared.  Jenny is either a great actress or a complete nutcase.  Louise then phoned in and attacked Dannii in a Paxman-esqe way over what Stacey wears on stage.  Simon just sat and grinned.

My predictions:

Should go home: Olly

Will go home: Danyl

Sunday

Running Time: 120 minutes

Time I watched it in: 43 minutes

X Factor Ratio: 35.8%

I was at my brother’s when the show was on live and I had the misfortune of watching the first 40 minutes.  I couldn’t believe just how boring it was in real-time.  This kind of robbed my final bit of enthusiasm for blogging about it.

Danyl went home.

In Conclusion

My prediction was right and the early favourite, Danyl, went home.  I wish it had been Olly.  Here are my current favourites, for what it’s worth.

1. Stacey

2. Joe

3. No… I’m not going to say Olly.

Total Duration: 270 minutes

Total time I spent watching it: 113 minutes

Overall X Factor Ratio: 41.9 %

Saturday

Running Time (including the Xtra Factor): 165 minutes

Time I watched it in: 66 minutes

X Factor Ratio: 40%

Danyl – Relight my Fire – In the VT, Cheryl looked like she was dressed to go to a court appearance, and it was the first time she’s looked like a real person in about 2 years.  Danyl was strangely not very good, it sounded like his voice was constricted somehow.   He also appeared to be wearing a woman’s t-shirt.  After weeks of saying how much better he is than the others, I’m beginning to wonder if that’s true.

Louis was in his ultra-positive mode already; he’s boring when he has no acts left.

Lloyd – A Million Love Songs – Lloyd would be OK if he could actually project his voice.  He can’t.  He also looks distinctly uncomfortable on stage.  A bit boring.

Olly – Love Ain’t Here Anymore – The best bit of the performance was when he was sat on the stage at the beginning and sang to a member of the audience.  It was the best bit because it was incredibly cringey and so was quite funny.  The rest of it was pretty dull.

Joe – Could it be Magic – I don’t want to repeat myself, as I say the same thing about Joe every week, so I’ll summarise: very talented cruise ship entertainer.  That actually sounds a lot cattier than I intended to be; at the end of the day, who am I to have a go at anybody’s singing talent?  Anyway, he is an excellent singer and is the only one to give consistent performances, week after week.

Simon is being a bit boring so far.

Stacey – Rule the World –  I’m back to liking Stacey’s voice again, as I did early on in the competition.  It was very pleasant (although she needs to sort out her breathing).  I feel a bit mean that I’ve called her a gonk, because it’s clearly down to nerves. I do like her gonkiness though.

It was half-time and the judges said who they think had ‘delivered’ so far:

Simon – Danyl & Olly (shock)

Cheryl – Lloyd & Joe (shock)

Dannii – Stacey & Joe

Louis – Joe

And, with that, the second half kicked off.

Lloyd – I’m Still Standing – My gut feeling was that this was much better than his first song, although I don’t exactly know why.  It must be bloody hard to stay focused when you have Cheryl beaming at you.  Louis hates Lloyd – Cheryl stuck up for him, which was good to see.  Simon said that it was like an amateur dramatics performance – it was good to see him back on form.  Cheryl was livid, I love it when she’s feisty.

Danyl – Your Song – I thought the first half was a bit ropey but he had a real return to form in the second half of the song.  It was a bit weird how a load of kids came on to the stage like the children of the corn.  Simon came out with one of his classic lines: ‘it wasn’t good, it was sensational.’  I’m not convinced that it’s good enough to always start the song poorly, as Danyl often does, even if the second half is very good.

Olly – Saturday Night’s Alright (For Fighting) – Was Olly really sweaty or did he have a rubber shirt on?  I just find him really lame.  Louis said: ‘I like your funny dancing.’

Joe – Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word – The song actually really suited him and it was probably the least ‘musical theatre’ that he’s been all series.  I’m slowly warming to Joe; I didn’t think it would ever happen.

Stacey – Something About the Way You Look Tonight – The judges didn’t seem to like it, but I thought it was pretty good.

Over on The Xtra Factor, what was the deal with Holly’s make-up?  I don’t like to say anything that could remotely be considered a criticism of Holly, but it had to be said.

There’s no sing off this week, so it’s a straight prediction on who will go.

Should go home: Lloyd

Will go home: Danyl

Sunday

Running Time: 120 minutes

Time I watched it in: 41 minutes

X Factor Ratio: 34.2%

The group song was ‘I Don’t Feel Like Dancing’ by the Scissor Sisters.  Strangely, Stacey’s voice was the lowest in the whole song.  They also made her sit on a step again in a very short dress – they seem determined to get some upskirt action from her.  It was the best group song of the series, but please don’t read this as meaning that it was any good.

With no sing-off, I was able to whizz through the results show in 8 minutes.  The only thing worth noting is that Lloyd went home.  I did say in my predictions that he should go home, but I found myself wishing that some of the others had gone home instead (Olly & Danyl).  I think that’s just me being contrary, though.

Over on The Xtra Factor, I’m pleased to say that Holly’s make-up was looking much better, and she was back to her usual lovely self.

In Conclusion

It’s quite boring now that the twins have gone, so I’ll just tell you my favourite acts:

1. Stacey

2. Joe

3. Danyl

Total Duration: 285 minutes

Total time I spent watching it: 107 minutes

Overall X Factor Ratio: 37.5 %

Saturday

Running Time (including the Xtra Factor): 140 minutes

Time I watched it in: 59 minutes

X Factor Ratio: 42.1%

Lloyd – Faith – The exciting news is that Lloyd has had a bit of a haircut.  The unexciting news is that his singing is as ropey as ever.   It’s not that he’s got a bad voice, as such, he’s just really patchy.  I suppose that you have to remember that he’s only 16.  There’s no George Michael masterclass, so the theme seems a bit OTT.

Louis is wearing a ridiculous bow-tie, and so it really suited him.  The crowd went wild because Simon described the performance as ‘not bad’.  Is this the level that we’ve sunk to?

Stacey – Don’t know – They had her sat down to start the performance whilst wearing a very short dress – quite brave.  The song was really boring, whatever it was.   It would have been quite a good performance but there were one or two dodgy bits in it.  She’s still a lovable gonk though.

The crowd seemed to be suffering from mass hysteria; I wonder what they feed to them before it starts.  Stacey looks really bashful when she gets praise, which is quite endearing.  People will probably think that she was putting it on, though.

John and Edward – I’m Your Man – This was a relatively subdued performance from the twins as they cavorted around on a 20-foot high scaffold.  They were definitely back in the absolutely rubbish category, but at least they aren’t boring.  Simon described them as an “unstoppable machine” – a truly frightening thought.

Danyl – Careless Whisper – I don’t really know what I thought about it.  He’s on a different level to the other acts and so it’s difficult to really judge him.  Cheryl said that parts of it were really flat – she gets in her weekly Danyl dig – good girl.

Olly – Fast Love – Another one of the acts with dodgy bits.  I think I’m going to have to accept that I just don’t like him, even if it’s really unfair.  His stupid dancing was quite subdued, which was a shame.  Overall, I thought it was pretty bad, he seems to be getting worse if anything.  Danni said that there were tuning problems in the first half of the song.  I’m glad it wasn’t just me that thought so.

Joe – Don’t Let the Sun Go Down On Me – Simon did a great appreciative nod towards the beginning of the song.  Joe’s not really my cup of tea but he’s certainly consistent each week, and that’s more than you can say for the others.

We’ve got to the stage in the competition where Louis loves everybody.  He did manage to to open his rule book and have a go about it being an Elton John song and not a George Michael one.  Simon managed to take credit for the performance, as he always does.

The main show seemed to fly by tonight, so my comments seem to be a lot shorter than usual.  Could The Xtra Factor help me pad it out any?  Well, Joan Collins was in the audience looking like a leopard-skin scarecrow.  It was quite scary so I just focused on Holly and I felt instantly soothed.

Up in the studio with the judges and Cheryl was wearing a ridiculously short dress to be sat on a stool.  The stylists appeared to be going for the upskirt factor.

Someone asked Louis why he has to be childish whenever he’s being criticised, he said ‘because that’s what I’m like.’  Which was a good answer, to be fair.  Someone else slagged off Simon’s song choices for Danyl.  Another guy suggested that Louis has had a face-lift.  Gina phoned up and nastily accused Cheryl of favouring Joe over Lloyd.  God, I love Britain.

Predictions:

Should be in bottom 2: Lloyd + Olly

Will be in bottom 2: Lloyd + Danyl

Sunday

Running Time: 120 minutes

Time I watched it in: 35 minutes

X Factor Ratio: 29.2%

The group song was Wake Me Up Before You Go Go.  Like always, it was hideous.

Skipping through a lot of rubbish (Susan Boyle and Mariah Carey), it boiled down to John & Edward and Olly in the final two.

Jedward sang Boyzone’s No Matter What, the first time in the competition that they’ve actually ‘sung’.  It really showed just how bad they are.

Olly sang a song (I knew what it was but I’ve already forgotten what it was) and was distinctly average.  Sadly, ‘distinctly average’ is too much for Jedward to contend with.

It was pretty obvious who was going to go, but I found myself praying that the twins would survive.  Sadly they didn’t.

In conclusion

It’s quite incredible that Lloyd wasn’t in the bottom two, maybe people are voting because they feel sorry for him.  Jedward are finally gone – they were absolutely rubbish singers, but the show is going to be a lot more boring without them.  There’s no one left that I’m really rooting for – a sorry state of affairs.

My favourite acts:

1. Stacey – Meh.

2. Danyl – Meh.

3. Joe – Meh.

Total Duration: 260 minutes

Total time I spent watching it: 94 minutes

Overall X Factor Ratio: 36.2 %

X FACTOR evictee Jamie Afro reckons he would do it his way if he entered the competition again – and not take advice from Simon Cowell or the show’s producers.

It was “incorrect” song choices made by his mentor Simon, 50, and producers that left a sour taste in his mouth.

The Londoner reckons they regularly picked the wrong tune for him to sing as they struggled to come to terms with what he was – and tried to turn him into something he was not.

Jamie, 34, from London, tells the News of the World: “You saw how well Sex On Fire by the Kings of Leon went down in my audition.

“A lot of people who watch the show might not have known the song, because it’s quite edgy, and modern – but it went down brilliantly.

“THAT was what I am all about, and I performed with a huge smile on my face.

“But they wouldn’t let me do a similar song again.

“I wanted to do Mr Brightside by the Killers in the rock week but they vetoed it, saying nobody would have heard it, in place of Primal Scream’s Get Your Rocks Off.

“But that was the point – I wanted to try something that not everyone would have heard of, rather than going for the safe option.

“I just don’t think they knew what to do with me because there had never been a rock singer on the show before.

“But I wanted to go with Simon’s choice, because let’s face it, he’s the expert.

“And I feared if I hadn’t have gone with what they suggested then I would have got their backs up and been out of the competition earlier on.

“In the end I wasn’t miserable, but I had lost confidence up there.”

It’s almost a cliché for an ex-contestant to blame the song choices, probably because it’s so easy for them to do it.  We really need some kind of alternate-reality predicting computer that can see how he would have done if he had picked his own songs.

P.s.

I inexplicably can’t put breaks between paragraphs in Sunday’s bit.

Saturday

Running Time (including the Xtra Factor): 150 minutes.
Time I watched it in: 70 minutes
X Factor Ratio: 46.7%

The show started with a strange serious bit.  After some disparaging comments about the show, Simon challenged Sting to come on to the programme as a mentor.  Well done, Simon, you can’t beat a good celebrity feud for a bit of drama.  He then went on to insist that last week’s decision, not to save Lucie, was definitely not tactics and that he’d never do that.  He also restated the trust that has in the public to decide.  The public, coincidentally, buy records.

Jamie – ‘Radio Ga Ga’ – I think it’s a bit of a weak song but he proved that he’s actually a good singer, and didn’t do too much shouting.  I still thought he was awful though.  Cheryl sat po-faced while she was watching him and then looked bemused after he had finished.  Dannii said that the song didn’t show off his vocal range and Louis said that he’s out of his depth.  Cheryl and Simon were both complimentary about him without really saying anything.  The phrase ‘damning with faint praise’ sprang to mind.

Lloyd – ‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love’ –  It was apparent before he even started singing that this song was too much of a stretch for Lloyd.  I felt like I had been transported to a 1980s Butlins and the Red Coats were putting on a show.  He was better than he has been in the last few weeks, though.   By that, I mean that he looked a bit less like a zombie when he was performing.

Simon described him as: ‘Like a puppy taking part in the Grand National.’  This made no sense whatsoever, but it was pretty funny.  Although, it was only funny because it didn’t really make sense.

Olly – ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’ – Olly seems to be a lot of people’s favourite but I’ve never been impressed, so I tried to take a fresh look at him this week.  My instant reaction was ‘Meh?’  I suppose he’s quite good but I can’t help but feel like there’s something wrong with him – and I don’t just mean his epileptic dancing.  Dannii said to him: ‘Your dance moves are incredible.’   I came away with the feeling that maybe this means that I’m an incredible dancer too, because I can writhe around like an idiot just as well as the next man.

Joe – ‘Somebody to Love’ – I’ll just make the same point as I do every week; he’s got a good voice for musicals but he’d make the least convincing pop star since Susan Boyle.  Sadly, he’s probably one of the best singers left on the show.

Louis’ rule book reared its ugly head again, this week he claimed that having a choir was cheating. Cheryl told him to shut up.

John and Edward – ‘Under Pressure\Ice Ice Baby’ – I thought it was inevitable that they were going to speak ‘We Will Rock You’, this week.  So, if the song choice was a surprise, I don’t know how you’d describe the fact that they actually sounded OK on the singing bits (relatively speaking).  Fortunately, the ‘rapping’ (speaking) bits were terrible and so normality was restored.  At one stage a man jumped around on stage with a pineapple on his head.  It was impossible to tell if this was supposed to be part of the act or not.

I suddenly became overcome with a startling vision – Jedward are going to sell millions of records.  It was a sobering thought.

In all fairness, they were actually pretty good this week and not just ‘so bad that they’re good’.  You definitely couldn’t accuse them of being ‘karaoke’.  Obviously I say this with my X Factor head on;  I’m fully aware that in the real world they’re shit.

Louis’ rule book stayed suspiciously closed.

Stacey – ‘Who Wants to Live Forever’ – If I was in a sarcastic mood I would answer: ‘Not me.’  Anyway, for the girl always accused of doing no performance they pick one the most plodding songs ever and she’s required to walk about 4 steps.  On the other hand,though, she was much better vocally than she has been recently and was easily one of the best on the night.  The judges bigged her up to the Nth degree – was she really that good or are they just scared of losing the only girl left?

Danyl – ‘We Are the Champions’ – It was a tough week for Danyl as he was given maybe one of the worst songs of all time. The first part of the performance felt like he was reining himself in too much, and so it seemed a bit strange.  He picked it up for the second half and proved that he’s still the best singer in the competition, by far.  Simon made a really good point in saying that Danyl sang the song like he meant it – it’s such a cheesey song that it’s hard to take it seriously – but Danyl managed to pull it off.

And that was all the acts done and dusted and it just remained to flick over to The Xtra Factor.  Holly revealed that  it was Calvin Harris that jumped on stage with Jedward (with a pineapple on his head), and that he had been booted out of the studio.  At least we now know that it wasn’t part of the act.

I found it pretty easy to make my predictions pretty this week:

Should be in bottom 2: Lloyd + Jamie

Will be in bottom 2: Lloyd + Jamie

Saturday

Running Time (including the Xtra Factor): 155 minutes
Time I watched it in: 61 minutes

X Factor Ratio: 39.4%

Stacey – ‘Son of a Preacher Man’ from Pulp Fiction –  Stacey had a few ‘sexy’ dance moves to perform this week but it looked a bit like she’d had a stroke.  I usually quite like Stacey, but, although the vocal was technically pretty good, the performance felt really flat.  Simon got his digs in early this week with ‘it was a lazy song choice’ and ‘you could be vulnerable’.   To be fair, she could have been vulnerable as it wasn’t great.

Olly – ‘Twist and Shout’ from ???? –  I’m never really blown away by Olly and I’m starting to think it’s because he seems to give the same performance every week.  Plus, he always sings old fashioned songs.  Simon went ‘woo’ after the performance, so I guess he liked it.  Louis said:  ‘Why the silly song?’ and Dannii also had a go at him.  The judges were really on top form.  Cheryl said that he always sings retro songs; great minds think alike.

Lloyd – ‘Stand by Me’ from the film…Stand by Me? – I don’t really know what I thought of it, but if I had to guess I’d say pretty bad.  The judges are being really harsh tonight, I wonder if something was said before the show.  Lloyd, deservedly, got really bad comments so the screaming young girl vote might need to kick back in to save him.

Jamie – ‘Crying’ from ???? –  Simon pulled a funny face at the beginning of the song and it made me wonder if the rumours are true that him and Jamie don’t get along.  I thought the song was really bad, but I’m struggling to explain exactly why.  I seem to feel the same about a lot of the acts.

Apparently the song was from the film was Gummo.  Louis then claimed that Simon was cheating because he’d never heard of it.  Cheryl and Simon then had another lovers’ tiff.

Lucie – I’ve no idea what the song was, never mind the film –  While not being completely convinced, Lucie was certainly one of the better acts this week.  For the first time, I could actually imagine her being a pop star and she made the song her own, whatever it was.  She also had the best judges comments up to that point.

Danyl – ‘Purple Rain’ from Purple Rain – In a shock move, to silence his critics, Danyl had a new hair cut.  He still didn’t seem back to 100% but he was a welcome relief because he gave a good performance that left me with no mixed feelings.  Let’s hope that all the bullshit around him is done and dusted and he can just get on with him singing.  It seemed pretty obvious that Simon’s glowing praise was intended to boost his confidence.

John and Edward – ‘Ghostbusters’ from Ghostbusters – There were plenty of boos in the studio, which seemed totally unfair until they started.

Fuck.  Me.

It was perhaps the most horrific thing that I’ve ever seen as they did a panto recreation of Ghostbusters.  They even had the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man show up.   It was jaw-droppingly bad and there were plenty more boos for the twins when they had finished.  To be honest, it’s all getting a bit awkward.  Incredibly, Simon said it was ‘sort of good’ – you can take this as a sign that the end of the world is nigh.  I couldn’t decide whether he was being nice to make sure they got voted off, or if he was hedging his bets in case they win.

Joe – ‘Circle of Life’ from some Disney shite – Joe should very clearly be working in musicals, but, as much as it pains me to say so, he’s still miles better than lots of the others.

Over on The Xtra Factor I was pleased to see the judges were upstairs again.  Simon gamely picked ‘Simon’s unfair’ and the caller questioned Simon’s commitment to Jamie with Paxmanesqe determination.  Not to be outdone, Cheryl picked ‘Cheryl can’t pick songs’, which was just an excuse for someone to have a go at her.  It’s all so refreshingly honest.

I usually give my predictions for the bottom two, but I hadn’t written my notes up before the results show and so I’d feel like I was cheating if I were to do it now.

Sunday

Running Time: 120 minutes
Time I watched it in: 33 minutes

X Factor Ratio: 27.5%

Well, inexplicably, there was no sound on my recording of the results show.  Some people might consider that to be a blessing, but it does mean that I can’t give any details other than what I could guess.  Jedward were finally in the bottom two but, somewhat surprisingly, so was Lucie, who was one of the best acts this week.

I’ve no idea what the sing-off was like, or what they sang, but I’ll take a wild guess that Lucie sang better.

Bizarrely, Simon took the vote to deadlock and Lucie went home.  I can only assume that Simon must be playing some tactical game to take it to deadlock.  On the Xtra Factor everyone seemed a bit gutted.  The feeling was summed up best by Maz from Fife as she asked Simon what on earth he was playing at.

In Conclusion

Well, just as I was getting to like Lucie she went home.  I might keep my trap shut from now on.

I’ve realised that I don’t seem to like any of the acts, so I’m going to force myself to pick my top three.  These are just my personal picks and not who I think will win.  I would have included Lucie if she hadn’t gone.

1. Danyl – It doesn’t really matter if he has the ‘likeability factor’ or not, he’s easily the best singer.

2. Stacey – Incredibly, I’m really struggling to pick someone other than Danyl.  I’ve plumped for Stacey because I liked her in the early weeks.  I think she’s been pretty bad for the last two weeks.

3.  Joe – There is no rational explanation for me to pick Joe because I’ve consistently given him a slating.  In my head, I know I should pick Olly, but I just found myself picking Joe.  It’s not a good sign for the series as a whole that it was such a struggle for me to pick.

And that’s the end of this week’s rather lacklustre report.  You can tell that I wasn’t really in the mood because I’ve sworn at least 3 times during the course of the post and I’m such a good boy that I don’t usually use naughty words.  I’ll see you next week for whatever bogus theme they think up.

Total Duration:  275 minutes

Total time I spent watching it: 94  minutes

Overall X Factor Ratio: 34.2%