I have said from the beginning that Simon doesn't want Danyl to win. He has been in the business long enough to know that the GBP love to do the opposite of what they percieve him to want. By overpraising him every week, he has laid the way open for his true favourite. I believe now this is Olly.
I do tend to be a little cynical I know.

I don't think you're being cynical. I see Simon Cowell as a hard nosed multi millionaire businessman who will cynically exploit any contestants in his shows.

I suspect he's not that bothered about who wins as it will be the act that has the most public support. Sure, he'd like one of his 'overs' to win, probably Olly and he's aware that overpraising one act and putting down another is likely to sway the public in a reverse psychology way. If the twins prove so popular that they win X factor - Simon Cowell will still be a happy (and richer) man.

got to disagree with that one, i think he genuinely dislikes them

I'm just stunned the Daily Heil has attracted such a brilliant writer as Philip Norman.

Didn't know he wrote for them.

Presumably they're hoping to claw back the moral high ground and credibility since all the adverse publicity they got from the recent gay bashing and sick article about Stephen Gately.

Is Danyl the only middle-class contestant? I wouldn't have thought so, although I can't say I've given it much thought.

Very good article. And I can't stand the Daily Mail.

X Factor really has become nasty this series. I wish it could go back to the way it used to be. Perhaps it would be best if it were scrapped all together. I really do feel sorry for Danyl Johnson. He's not my cup of tea at all but he's done nothing to deserve such awful press and insulting comments.

can i just say that its really nice to have a thread where people have been on the whole constructive rather than just plain nasty, i like these forums when they are like this

me too, everyone has different opinions but there's no need to get SO passionate and crazy about it all. I have my opinions, I respect others, what I don't respect is hate and rudeness for the sake of it.

I genuinely didn't know that so thanks.

However, the Twins are currently being exposed to the media led "crazy" fame & I am not sure that is the same as the BGT winners.

I think they will struggle after the show because ultimately they need to be able to sing & even the most ardent fans are simply calling them "entertaining".

I may be wrong but I am not sure what they will have this time next year if they win the show.

Perversely I think they will be better off not winning so they can more easily side step into something else in the entertainment industry without being saddled as XF Winners who will need to produce an album etc which would see them come unstuck.

I'm torn with the article.

I don't think the show itself has ever really been some positive, life-affirming opportunity for young talent to make it. It's Simon's cash cow. That's how I see it.

I think perhaps what's made that more obvious this year (and changed the writer's mind) is the press coverage which has been pretty vicious, un-necessary and manipulative (such as the Mail's own article about the 'dark' side of Stacey: She likes a drink and once dressed up as Amy Winehouse. Quelle horreur!).

It's a good article and I agree with it.

X Factor this year, and the press coverage (or not! as they seem not to be interested in the talent aspect this year only the sensationalism - and that's manufactured.) is depressing.

Hard to think that we as a collective viewing public are capable of such spite and angst as to hurt others with impugnity in the name of entertainment - which it isn't any more, just an inevitable decline into another excuse for a rant.

Simon is undoubtedly the catalyst of the way the show goes, and its tone, so I feel he is deliberately playing a hard game of 'win the press' to get what he wants - to the detriment of contestants and viewers alike.

I'm very aware this year that we are all pawns in the Cowell ego game. He has shown that he is more than willing to sacrifice anyone or anything, including the show itself, for whatever is his goal.

Throwing in my chips on this subject.

This is the first year I have watched the X Factor so I remain blissfully unaware of what happened in previous years - save the odd show and odd news article. But from that perspective I have to say that this year is a LOT bigger than previous years. Both in terms of press coverage and general conversation.

Almost everyone I know watches the show and I have to say that most of them a pretty annoyed that John And Edward are still in the competition. That is not to say that they hate them as people or whatever, its simply to say that most people cannot understand why two people without much talent are down to the final 8.

From my point of view I really do not understand what series of events lead Miss Frank and Danyl to be in the bottom two a couple of weeks ago. I cannot see why people wouldn't be voting for Danyl because in my opinion he gives the post electrifying performances. Which isn't to say he's necessarily the best singer but more the one of the better performers (although Ollie is coming on in leaps and bounds). To be honest, if he hadn't been in the bottom two the week before I really think that Danyl would have gone this week because I will be honest and say he only got the sympathy vote (as I imagine Lloyd will this week). So it's not even being based on performances anymore.

The show has become very caught up with Danyl I think. He is the focus of a great amount of press attention and I don't think he knows how to deal with it. The hate campaign for the twins has largely been based on the fact that they can't sing (which lets be honest isn't exactly untrue) whereas the hate campaign against Danyl has been very personal in nature. And I really don't think that Simon is helping his cause by getting up and applauding him everytime he opens his mouth.

Personally, I would suggest that Simon is backing Ollie. He is giving him good songs and allowing him to show personality and whilst he appears to favour Danyl the fact that he didn't know when to stand up to applaud him for IDWMAT suggests that he had not been paying all that much attention to the guys rehearsals. Just a theory.

Going back to the article. I think the only person who has been fair with Danyl has probably been Danni. Despite her comments in the first week regarding his sexuality she has judged him largely on his musical talent and was not afraid to tell him this week how out of tune he had been but to also state that he pulled it back. Simon is too biased in his praising for him and even I (as a Danyl supporter) am beginning to find it annoying. And Cheryl has been damn right horrible to him to be honest.

Danyl was right on the VT when he said that whatever he did he couldn't overcome what the press had done to him. He could have gone out there and given the best performance of his life and no doubt there would still be something nasty said about him. So he's fighting a losing battle in my opinion. And the article is right when it says he has been painted in to be the fall guy. It must be hard feel like a whole country hates you.

Just what I thought

I was going to reply to this. Having looked at your previous posts I decided it was a waste of time as you seem to be on your own crusade.

I see that you come from Reading, so is it personal and not objective?

Really??? I don't remember Jedward being compared to HItler like Danyl was....

Poor guy, being MADE to watch X-Factor.

Oh no wait, TVs have remotes.

If a programme made me as miserable as that then I probably wouldn't watch it. Then again he is a journalist that gets payed money to criticise things. So maybe he is made to watch it.

The article was just a self-sympathising misery-fest. Life sucks, deal with it.

Ah, glad I'm not the only one who can see Simon's reverse psychology in action. I'm so fed up of reading that Danyl is Simon's chosen one - no he's not, wake up and smell the coffee!


Agreed. As a neutral exposed to all the rubbish posted about him on the forum, I decided to do my own research by watching his video diaries, performances, and anything else he happened to appear in. I decided that not only was all this stuff rubbish, but that he was actually a very decent and talented person. All this hatred turned me into a Danyl fan. I think when you have to go round defending contestants you like so much, you end up liking them even more because they are constantly in the forefront of your mind. Bet that happened with me and the twins too. I'm waiting for the day when Jamie's in the firing line again.


Well, I hope you're right but I think Simon is cleverer than that.


Doubt it. I haven't noticed any class differences tbh. Danyl sounds posh because of where he's from - Kent!

Me too Lisa, I dislike it when people get nasty and personal in their posts.

How articulate you are.... Quite ironic you have the name "slick nick" because that comment is hardly constructive....

The problem for Danyl is he now has an inbuilt disadvantage as Cheryl Cole has openly and nastily told him that he doesn't do it for her.
After such a statement how is she going to be objective in her judgements?
It's the same with Jamie, Louis is just going to repeat the 'pub rocker' jibe every week.
They have both set out their stall and made it clear they respectively don't like Danyl and Jamie.
Shouldn't the rules be that each performance is judged without malice.
And Cheryl and louis were being malicious, without doubt.

Thanks for that. Good article. Just dont agree with her analysis of Lloyd and Rachel

Dont see why it has to be all about Danyl. I think Ollie and Lucie are great too.

Also Leona, and yet the author praised her too.

i dont think the thread started as just about Danyl, it was more about the build him up, knock him down culture we have in the UK. You cant escape the fact that a lot of the bad press is for 2 acts, and a lot of the personal, spiteful press is about Danyl. we are not saying who is and who isnt great. I like Lucie and olly as well as Jamie

Well at least Danyl and the Twins are ok then so one of them is to win phew!!!
Now at least we know