So far we've had:

- The stupid twist of each judge getting rid of one act in the first live show
- Judges being unprofessional and accusing an act of being a bully
- Two judges not speaking anymore
- An act being accused of racism
- An act being accused of benefit fraud
- A judge not turning up and calling in sick
- A girl band having to change their name because the producers didn't do their homework
- A double elimination tomorrow due to falling ratings
- Rumours that the judges might swap categories

What next? I'm thinking that each act may have to sleep with their judge and then each judge has to vote off the act from their category who doesn't perform well in bed. Oh no, hang on...that would mean no public vote so ITV wouldn't make any money. Maybe we'll be shown the best bits of each sex session and then we're asked to vote? Seriously...nothing would surprise me anymore with this show...total disaster .

Eww... Nobody wants to see the best bits of Louis & Johnny!

Back on main topic, I don't think the judges will swap categories. It seems just unlikely to me.

All of these things have happened before, and the double elimination was to be expected at some point regardless of ratings.

See, none of those things are actually an issue. In the past, judges being unprofessional has been the making of the show!

The biggest issue is that the judges and contestants don't seem to have connected with the public this year. And that's pretty much the worst thing that can happen because even if there is controversy (manufactued or real), people aren't so engaged by it. Nobody's starting up a Facebook campaign to vote for Johnny to spite Gary Barlow!

At this stage, it's dificult to see a way in which they can turn the tide. The momentum isn't just lost, it's now going against the show and any good ideas put into this series seem like they'd just be getting thrown into a black hole.

Have they? I dont ever remember an act changing their name during the lives, somebody being called a racist or a contestant being accused of bullying.which judge called in sick? Didnt know they were planning a double elimination either.

I suppose the closest would be Escala on Britain's Got Talent who originally performed as Scala. But tbh, it's such a tedious story. I doubt anyone cares.

We've had loads of behind the scenes stuff in the past about how contestants behave behind the scenes. Wasn't there something about Wagner harrassing a female staff member? And Cher and Katie had all kinds of rumours around them.

I doubt anyone really missed Kelly while she was gone. But Louis Walsh missed 2 results and one performance show a couple of years back because of the Stephen Gately death. And Alexandra Burke was an improvement anyway.

They never announce that they're planning a double elimination until the week that they're doing it. But we've had several in the past as well.

just read about the swapping of acts, what a stupid idea that is.

I don't like (Or like the idea of) the ones in bold, or the accusations made against Johnny or Kitty, but the rest aren't too big a deal for me. Either because they're happened before (Judges being unprofessional/accusations), they're unproven tabloid fodder (Two judges not speaking) or they're just unimportant (Rhythmix -> Little Mix)

Yes engineered (proof - has anybody offical at the X Factor made statements to clarify and slap down these unproven allegations?) and the victims have this following them for years to come. With Misha they made Louis make a public applogy, will they do something similar for Johnny and particularly Kitty which is the worst.

Yeah there was FYD who had a name change too, but not many people even noticed as it was before the Live shows. It's just leaving this to the middle of the shows was just stupid, they should have just done it originally when they found out but it doesnt make much difference people will soon forget what the original name was ..I think.
Apart from last year, I think there's only been one double elimination in the past -maybe series 3 - but I dont know what happened with that, have a feeling they did just announce it that weekend.

I didn't say during the live shows, and nor did the OP. JLS had to change their name from UFO, because there's already a heavy metal band with that name. And The Estrelles were originally Estrella, but had to change it because there's a beer called Estrella Damm.

I didn't include that in the quote for my previous post.

Sharon Osbourne accused Steve Brookstein of being a bully, and Louis Walsh did the same with Danyl Johnson.

Yes, that one I did mistakenly leave in the quote. The nearest we've had to that was Cowell skipping Xtra because he had flu, if memory serves me correctly.

Yeah, it can get MUCH worse.. Frankie, Janet or Kitty could (and one probably will) win lol

Don't forget an act losing a member and being replaced by someone who failed to get through his solo audition and eliminated in week 1 with his own group.

Have we ever had a groups category where all 3 where manufactured by the judge?

Was JLS's name change during the live shows though? I never knew that.

When Sharon launched her tirade at Steve - wasn't it more a personal vendetta she had against him? All i know is that I never wanted him to win until she came up will all that bile and it made me pick up the phone for the first time ever for The X factor or any reality show and vote for him. Mischa was being accused of something live on air, when the other parties where left anonymous and she is only 19. Sharon is a diva, Tulisa was just bullying a youngster herself.

i hope the judge swap thing isn't true. its a twist too far in my opinion. had they done that at the beginning of the live shows, it might have worked. it would have been dramatic and funny from the point of view. the judges may not have picked the acts that were put through at the judges houses.

if they swap now it just reeks of desperation to increase the ratings. they should leave the format alone, then look into the issues behind the ratings decline and make the appropriate changes for the next series.

Tulisa didn't form Little Mix or Nu Vibe alone. And she started out with four acts, just like the other three mentors - including 2 Shoes who auditioned as and remained a duo.


She gave an interview shortly after the final, claiming there was an issue with a production assistant or some other girl who worked for her behind the scenes.

Oh well. We all make mistakes.

So she's an adult, then.

Tulisa didn't accuse her of bullying anyone. That was Louis.

All the "dramas" are purely for "entertainment" value only.

It's all set up. Not real. And VERY boring.

I now record it so I can fastforward thru all the crap and just see the singing. Which actually takes all of 10 minutes. The rest is adverts, adverts, er.... adverts, bitch fight, Dermot spinning round the stage like a possessed spinning top and oooooh more adverts.

Thank god for Freeview+

that made me laugh... !

But Nu Vibe and Little Mix where put together during the process of auditions or not? I only watched seriously from the live shows and a bit of the judges houses.

Tulisa did alot of insinuating that made it obvious and started the ball rolling.

The double elimination is not to boost ratings, it's to make sure there is 3 in the final.
Plus they did it last year.

They actually cancelled the double-eliminations last year and changed the scheduled format of the show because the main characters were at risk.

Then brought it back for the week they wanted to dump Wagner. The week they use double-eliminations is always very telling.

This is very early to use it, linked to the ongoing controversy/PR stunts.

Re the name changes. Strange because there is already a band called One Direction. When you do a search for 1D on Amazon their album called the light comes up

This will go on and on..
The tabloids and gossip mags have a rampant need for "scoops", particularly as weekend nears, so you can timetable several more "controversys" to arise over coming weeks.

It was a serious rant lol you weren't meant to laugh