I know Amanda Holden is performing one night, doing a song from the Shrek musical.

I actually had to Google that. No idea who she is, and I think most of the audience would agree with me.

I read that Spellbound are a guest tonight. Not sure about the other nights. I've also completely forgotten who the guests were last year apart from James Corden - clearly not the best bunch last year, then! They'll need a big guest (maybe Lady Gaga) on Wednesday to minimise the no. of people switching over to The Apprentice, otherwise that Wednesday results show looks set to be a relatively low-rated one. The weather is on the show's side this year though, raining down here at the moment whereas last year it was hot IIRC.

I touched on this in an earlier post, but normally at this stage there is a stand out contestant, that the press has inisited I know about, this has yet to happen this year.

Ratings are actually good, even with the lack of press attention the show is diong just fine.

at Scott & Bailey. 8.2m (inc. +1) is a massive rating coming of the back of a 10m+ BGT figure. I expected 6.0-6.5m. BGT did well in the Sunday slot and bodes well for the rest of the week now and the return of Simon should boost it further tonight. I think something like 11m (inc. +1) for tonights show.

A bit like when ITV premiered a Bond movie in the seventies with 23 million viewers and the BBC responded by showing education programmes and black and white films.
Actually I was checking a ratings top 20 from 1972 that I wanted to copy across, but for some reason it wouldn't let me, and noted how gloriously un PC it was with Love Thy Neighbour, Benny Hill, Till Death Us Do Part and Steptoe and Son in the top ten.

I know Amanda Holden's performing on Tuesday night with the cast of Shrek...maybe Michael McIntyre'll do a stand up routine one night?

I wouldn't be surprised to see Cheryl Cole perform sometime...possibly on Saturday's show as relations 'thaw'.

Please say she's playing Shrek?

I think she is playing Mrs Shrek, not sure where in the movie timeline the musical is set, so if Fiona apperas in her human form or not I dont know.

does she have a knife throwing act that we havent heard about?

You look at the calibre of guests they had for the American Idol finale - Lady GaGa, Beyonce, Tom Jones, Bono & The Edge, and more, all in the one show - and the guests you get on the ITV equivalents pale in comparison.

I guess former BGT/X Factor stars will take up the bulk of the guests spots, with maybe with one big name or two to add some gravitas where needed.

She's never been over here, AFAIK. But her album is getting a UK release sometime soon so I'd expect she'll show up this week.


Usher did the final as well. Badly.

Pixie Lott, Diversity, Miley Cyrus, Alicia Keys and JLS were the weeknight guests. Alicia Keys, Miley Cyrus & Usher are all a far bigger deal in the US than they are here.

With the final only being 30 minutes this year I think they could have stuck with Spellbound for that and Jackie Evancho. Neither of them are big names but they'll deliver good performances and the big names are more needed for the weeknight shows.

According to Wiki, Avril Lavigne is on Wednesday... so that'll not hold up so well against The Apprentice! In fact, given the ratings it has been getting and the lower end of the BGT Results last year, I wonder if TA could edge it in that half hour? It won't be much of a gap anyway.

It's almost like the guests on BGT are some kind of afterthought whereas they seem to make an effort on XF every week. The Amanda Holden thing is a good idea, to be fair. But Wiki also mentions the Sugababes - who I thought had given up years ago! Although maybe that suggests Wiki isn't the most reliable source!

The weather won't be "on side" for long. Look out for a big improvement to the UK weather towards the end of the week as high pressure builds in from the south-west.

To be fair The X Factor have had Usher, Katy Perry, Black Eyed Peas, Michael Buble, Bon Jovi, Jamiroquai, Rihanna, Kylie Minogue, Westlife, Take That, The Wanted, Justin Bieber, Christina Aguilera, Robbie Williams, Whitney Houston, Shakira, Queen (well Brian May and Roger Taylor anyway!), Mariah Carey, Brtiney Spears, Alicia Keys, Janet Jackson, Lady Gaga, George Michael, Paul McCartney and Beyonce.

So not that much difference really.

I think it'll all depend on how well Coronation Street holds up. The week doesn't seem to be grabbing attention as much as last year's did...but ITV will be hoping that some lunatic doesn't turn up reporting that they've been holding people prisoner in a cellar.

My point was they had at least 4 massive acts in the one show - I don't think ITV has ever matched that kind of a lineup yet or come even close to it for a single programme or even one series, although you're right that they have attracted some big names on occasion - spread thinly amongst multiple appearances from JLS, etc. Also some of the names you list above I would not put in the same category as the guests the AI finale attracted - like The Wanted for example, who are hardly A-listers!

I bet the BBC are dreading this week as they will be effectively crippled between 7 and 9.30 and then on Saturday an England qualifier and the BGT Final to compete against. Even people who don't like BGT might not flock to the BBC as their alternatives aren't much kop this week and will probably go to digital channels instead.

Very true.

What I will say, though, is due to time constraints the US version and the UK version have different approaches to result shows which means that the UK show can concentrate more on the contestants; the US show needs a lot of names to keep a result show going until the result show itself.

I fully understand what you're saying, but the two shows have different approaches.

Can I put in a recommendation for part 1 of The Mentalist's explosive finale on Channel 5 on Friday at 9pm? Also E4 have a night of The Big Bang Theory reruns starting tonight at 7:30pm.

There's other options certainly if half-hearted BBC/ITV's Cowell-athon don't appeal.

Brilliant start for Scott & Bailey. Obviously helped by some great scheduling, but from that level it can afford to fall sharply next week and still qualify as a significant hit. Comparisons with Downton Abbey are probably a bit moot as that show continued to enjoy 12-15m lead-ins from XF throughout its run.

No carnage on BBC One as we might have expected. We're used to seeing Antiques Roadshow stand up fine against Cowell juggernauts and Pirates did pretty well considering the slot.


I don't know about "dreading" it - I suspect they're just resigned to a tough week. Every now and again, this sort of thing comes along - you just set up your alternatives as best you can, and take whatever comes. It's only the same as ITV do on certain days of the year, or will do, for instance, during next years Olympics.

The latest X Factor final had Christina Aguilera, Rihanna, Robbie Williams/Take That and Will.I.Am.


The BBC will just be resigned to the fact that they will lose no matter what. BGT will get roughly 10m viewers and 50% of the audience, meaning the same number will be split amongst all of the other channels. Most will go to BBC1, so the small number remaining will be spread amongst the rest of the channels.

Fair enough mate, good point well made.

What was the ratings for Coronation Street?

Confirmed:

itvpresscentre
Official: @TheXFactor (UK) judges will be: Gary Barlow, Tulisa Contostavlos, Kelly Rowland & Louis Walsh #itvpresscentre
34 seconds ago

Two thrilling matches on Sky Sports today - Reading v Swansea in the Championship Play Offs and the final day of England v Sri Lanka. I'll be interested to see how they rate tomorrow considering the relative dearth of opposition on the terrestrial channels.

EDIT: And how the two matches benefit BBC1 and Channel 5 later today.