The amount of publicity X Factor brings to the act is worth millions and in essence Simon is getting that for a fraction of the real cost. Once an act is found, putting them on X factor is a fast track to success. Whether or not they can sustain that success is up to the artist/management.

Of course there is a risk they won't win, but that's down reading the mood of the public and adjusting their PR accordingly.

Danni insulted Danyl and many people, I think Louis has said some comments out of place, and Cheryl well she fills a space on the panel.

It's Cowell's Toy! his company produce the show and get a big fee from ITV to do that, he is also on a Golden TV contract, the winner signs for his label, and other contestants as well if he can make money!! then you have his share of the phone calls, add to that the tour and the merchandise rights! - so it is his Baby and Toy! and who will dare tell him what to do, his skin is thick in fact he gets off on attacks.

Yes IF John and Edward win he will release a Christmas single, but he will still sign Danyl if he can make money, and he will in the USA if not here in the UK. bit I have no concerns he will sell in this country.

Duplicated Post

…………… and meanwhile, back in the real world ………………

Simon Cowell is first and foremost a business man and a very good one at that. He will say and do whatever he has to to get the desired end result. There have been some contestants in the history of him doing these shows who he has genuinely cared and genuinely cares about because he recognises that they are outstanding talents that have not had the breaks after years of trying (some from a very early age) or they have decided to take the quick and easy option but that doesn’t make them any the less talented. He will also recognise and give credit to a genuinely nice person. He does have a heart.

Most of the contestants, however, winners or not, are disposable business commodities. Some disposed of sooner rather than later. That’s not a problem because, in reality, this many years down the line, only the most naïve go into it not knowing how things could turn out.

Simon knows full well that sometimes things look and sound better in the studio than they do on television and vice versa. He also knows that what happens in the studio means very little as that audience is minute compared to the audience at home and, ultimately, it is what you hear of someone on record that is the first thing and what keeps you interested before you even go to watch them live, so what goes down in the studio in the live shows means zilch, particularly as it so often comes down to who has the most friends and family in the audience or who happens to have struck it lucky by a large number of their supporters getting tickets that week.

That said, the most noticeable reactions from the studio audience in each of the past three weeks have been for Joe and Jamie, with Stacey added to it the first week and Lucie this week …………… and, whether you like it or not, J&E.. The reaction to Danyl has never been any greater than to most of the other contestants and whoever has told you otherwise has to be a Danyl supporter watching and listening through a cloud of bias.

Simon will not back down on his support of Danyl just yet. He has invested too much in it with his comments and gestures. Do you honestly think that Danyl’s bootcamp performances were worthy of being put through to the judges’ house or his judges’ house performances worthy of a place in the live shows? But how was Simon going to explain how “wrong” he got it with the first audition? How was he going to do in his quest to promote XF in America without the contestant that a TV show in America had said they would follow throughout the competition? He wasn’t to know at the time that the hugely negative reaction to Danyl’s appearance would mean that the show would have to be paid the presenters’ bodyweight in bullion before they would touch Danyl with a bargepole again.

AND VERY IMPORTANT …… Simon is a big name in America. They actually have a lot more respect for his opinions than a large number of the UK public has. A show in America picked up on the comment he made about Danyl’s audition and the standing ovation he gave him (which is rarer than snow in the Sahara in American Idol) so thought it was something special. They were originally only going to report on it but an appearance on the show via satellite was wangled by “management”. For Simon, that was job done – the show had publicity in America, as he wanted, to help him in his push for an American version. They planned for Danyl to be interviewed via satellite link on other shows including Oprah but the reaction to Danyl on the Today Show was so negative that all other planned appearances were cancelled by the shows themselves who didn’t want the flood of negative phone calls, texts, e-mails, posts and tweets that the Today Show had got.

Did you seriously buy the line that Simon had said no to any more appearances by Danyl on American television because it would be unfair to the other contestants? What advantage could a contestant gain from appearing on American television? The American public can’t vote.

However, as far as insulting the public goes, it was heat of the moment stuff.

If Danyl wins he will become the next Steve B..LOL

Boo effing hoo. He insulted us all, let's cry.

For crying out loud, it's his opinion. He thinks the result is a joke. Many people are saying the same, so he can't hold the opinion? I prefer it when he tells it like it is.

If you're so insulted by him, don't watch the show.

Oooooooooooh another baby spits the dummy out LOL

I must say though that Danyl being in the bottom 2 has added a hilarious angle to this year's show ; "The best first audition I've ever seen" and "You're in a completely different league to everyone else".

Cowell has nearly staked his reputation on the guy and he finishes in the bottom 2 on Week 3

The Xfactor, first & foremost a TV programme on commercial TV. To keep it at the forefront, they need publicity every week, be it good bad or indifferent, to keep people tuning in by the millions & getting advertising revenue . The old maxim no such thing as bad publicity comes to mind. They then bull some of the contestants up, make others to be rubbish, to get a positve & negative reactions & select some little kids & grannies will like. By doing this it maximises more redspot, phone & text votes.
Then a few contestants get, 12 weeks of maximum publicity, again good & bad, which means the watching public talk about nothing else & then a more or less guaranteed Xmas No 1 & A No 1 Album a little later.
So all & all this programme about one thing, not finding talent, if it does that's just a bonus, but all about making money.
I don't think Cowell bothered who wins because he knows he's the only real winner

Excellent!

Some great points and very true points. Danyl's performances after the 'best first audition ever' were terrible, especially his performance at Simon's house. How he got through ahead of the younger black woman (sorry, I forget her name now) is beyond me. When I was watching those auditions I was certain in my mind that Simon would drop Danyl in favour of her, but he didn't and my heart sank. Could he finally be going tone-deaf? I thought to myself.

Honestly, Danyl has improved since then and his live performances are better, but he is still nowhere near the level of talent that you would imagine if you had heard Simon praising him the way he has done.

With Danyl I think Simon has found himself in a dilemma; he loved Danyl's first performance but the rest of the world didn't find it so special. The next few auditions were terrible, but still Simon was convinced he was the winner of the show already. Now, after a few weeks of live shows, Simon's 'Chosen One' finds himself in the bottom two, and Simon must be seriously racking his brains as to why.

Personally, out of the three of Simon's acts, I find Danyl to be the least entertaining and the least talented. I'm not suggesting that the other two are anything special, but in my opinion they are, up to now, outperforming Danyl every week.

You see, I don't think he genuinely thought it was so special. It was a means to an end. They had changed the audition format to be like that of BGT, Simon wanted to try to create a SuBo effect just for publicity and Danyl was the first one who fitted in with the format change. It could have been anyone who sang vaguely in tune and ran around the stage a bit. Simon knew that with an exaggerated comment and overblown gesture (the kind of which they have only seen once ............... maybe twice ............ in American Idol) he would get the American media's attention.

When you consider some of the talent that Simon has seen over the years, do you really think he thinks Danyl is that special?

The "best first audition I have ever heard" comment was ill thought out on more than one count. It is impossible to compare it when the only other show with the same format that Simon auditions for is BGT. Can you imagine if the previous contestants on XF or those on AI or PI had run around the room? Instead they stood there and, some of them, gave great vocals, unaccompanied and unembellished. How can he use the word "heard" and not expect a backlash? Is he seriously trying to say that Danyl's hit and miss vocal was better than (insert name of a number of previous XF, PI, AI and BGT contestants)?

I'm sorry but what the flip has being bisexual got to do with being banned from an interview in America... Sometimes the press really hacks me off!!!!

GRRRR!!!

Im sure he has always done this when anyone wins he doesn't like they get no backing at all just the minimum contract as required then told to beat it when it runs out.

this isn't new and if danyl or afroman don't win expect the same this year as happened to leon, steve and shayne in fact anyone simon cant peddle to the Americans

I don't agree with this. With the exception of Steve, who I believe bought a lot of what happened to him on himself, Simon has been nothing but supportive towards all the winners.

A lot of money was spent on marketing Leon, and unfortunately it didn't pay off. The record buying public didn't take to him so it was pointless to continue. And Shayne does still have a record contract btw.

Yes, you may be right. He was attempting another Susan Boyle hit act, and it's very true that Simon has heard many, many, many better singers than Danyl.

I don't think he used the word 'heard', though. I thought he said 'best first audition I've ever seen'. I don't know about others, but I take that to mean that overall he enjoyed the performance better than any other one he has seen. As you have said, most previous auditionees just stand and sing. Danyl, on the other hand, ran around and did his 'hand-to-hand' microphone trick that I'm sure I've seen five year old children do on stage. If he was judging him based just on his performance and not his vocals, then that just makes his comments even sillier.

I really do think that Simon put his foot in his mouth with his 'best first audition ever' comment, and the way he praises Danyl every single week is almost sickening. If I was Jamie or Olly I'd pack my bags and tell Simon that if he is so impressed with Danyl what the hell does he need me for?

But the GB viewing public have nearly almost been a joke in reality voting and deserve to be insulted surely

you are well within your rights to disagree of course but i think that leon got no where near the same backing as leona or Alexandra

although i doubt any member of the public will know just how much money was spent publicizing either acts i can only go with how much more i noticed the other acts be it in magazine's TV or any where else

The most publicity i seen Leon get was when Sony dumped him ( im not a leon fan in fact ive never bought any x factor singers music ) but i i think if they win they should all get the same backing whether simon likes them or not

i couldnt say anything for shayne i dont follow any of the x factor winners

it could simply be leona and alexandra are just better but in my opinion leona and alexandra seem to have had much more support

and they are to be honest, an embarrassing British joke, they are shaping the form of British Music and they are taking it down a peg or two,

The problem is that the voting audience doesn't represent anything usefu to anyone trying to sell musicl. It does more the more people vote but even then its disproportionately made up of people who happen not to go out in prime time. Its not the same as the audience that buys records or goes on line and downloads there or goes to live shows. The fan sites like this one turn in completely different results as do the online polls or youtube view counts. Its a problem with all of these shows - a lot of voters vote on anything but what the show is about and then never buy anything or go to the follow up shows. its got worse since a lot of people were put off by the voting scams. Look at who wins these things - from David Sneddon to Michelle to Leon to Tom Chambers , who does well performing poorly (just look at the last series of SCD or DOI) ,and who goes on to success after or wins easily when they perform on tour (like Rachel on SCD)

I agree with this, but also, the material they gave him totally missed his target audience. They're doing the same with Kris Allen in American Idol.

Cowell really needs to sort it out now, because he might "win" financially whichever way you look at it, but he is losing the respect of the public.

I agree. Then again, 'bisexual' is at least an accurate description (as far as we know), unlike 'crooner'.

Speak for yourself.

In all honesty the circumstances of Kris' win were the same as those of Leon's (and of Michelle's).

I actually thought Leon's album was very good and I'm no fan. Kris is being given the material he wanted and the opportunity to write/co-write a lot of his album. The problem is if there isn't the interest, there isn't the interest and the record company is not going to throw good money after bad. If there was the interest, the pre-orders would be high (pre-ordered albums are sold more often than not without the buyer having heard a note), the album would be being discussed in anticipation, and so on and that would encourage the record company but there is none of that. The record company is not a registered charity.

Cowell never wanted Leon to win, hence the lack of promotion

The funnt thing is, next week, as a result of Simon slagging off the voting public, more people will vote to spite him. When in actual fact they are just giving him more money.

The best way to annoy Simon would be not to vote at all.