I was wondering why and if Misha has been in the bottom 2 a few times some people think she wasn't liked.
Despite (IMO) some great performances on stage and a great voice, and very positive comments usually she didnt go through every week.
Maybe its partly because of those glowing comments - think of Gary's "It's like a record company has already signed you at the age of 9" - maybe some viewers think she doesnt need the votes because she's already good. On stage she seems confident and brash but off it (to me) she seems quiet and sweet.
I reckon also some people could have thought she was safe.
Sadly I think the bullying allegations/revelations have had an effect even if they turned out to be lies, the mud has stuck I'm not condoning what she did, I just find it sad her truthfulness may have let her down.
Of course, some people won't like her. We all like different contestants. And the character of the person DOES turn out to be important (like it or not).
But I think to blame being in the bottom 2 on not liking a person, even if they perform well is simplistic.

It's difficult to say, really. The glowing praise could have made her fans blase if she hadn't been in the bottom two so often so I don't think that can be the case anymore. It also makes me think of, for example, the year of Eoghann Quigg where I thought the ridiculously positive praise he was getting every week was an attempt to hoodwink the public into thinking he was better than he was - which certainly seemed to work! So that's the other side of that coin.

Personally, I'm not a fan of Misha's voice but that's just personal taste and there's no denying she's a sassy and confident performer. I certainly can see why many people would like her. The bad press has probably had a lot to do with her unpopularity, sadly.

The same thing happened with Kitty, I gather. She was my favourite but the media's party line seemed to be that she was arrogant/mad as a box of frogs so I think she went out earlier than perhaps she would have done if this hadn't been constantly highlighted and referred to. Even the judges seemed to be constantly reminding us at home that we apparently didn't like Kitty which I don't think helped her cause either.

I really warmed to Kitty as well OK in the auditions I thought she was a bit mad/up herself but she was a great and confident performer She could really sing as well. I liked that she had lots of ideas about her performances and didnt let people do things for her.
Her final sing off (Over the Rainbow) was very moving actually and very good

Agree about Misha being confident and sassy on stage
Good point about Eoghan Quigg!

Yeah I was exactly the same re Kitty. I didn't dislike her as such but I was a bit dubious about her after her first audition. After that, I really warmed to her. I thought most of her sing-offs were very emotional and heartfelt. Absolutely LOVED the Oh so Quiet performance and that mental Alice-in-Wonderland-on-crack staging (and that's my least fave Bjork song).

I do kind of wish they'd go back to the old X Factor days and the papers would leave the contestants alone a bit. I'd prefer to make up my mind about the performers based on their performances rather than various sob stories and muck-raking by tabloid rags.

You have to bear in mind that people are voting FOR people and not against them. If the criteria people are using to choose who they like are more about people having a nice warm personality or being relatable then that explains why Misha gets fewer votes. She doesn't have a very good personality no matter what her singing is like - so when Tulisa tried to help her see that she needed to work on that aspect Misha has interpreted that as a witch hunt against her. Both she and Janet don't have a very friendly persona. Janet came across as cold and aloof and Misha comes over as thinking she's superior to others. She seems to look down her nose at people - now whether that's true or not is irrelevant - it's what the public are seeing.

If it was a one off I could agree with your position on people thinking she was safe. Perhaps that was why JLS were in the bottom 2 once. However after the first time in the bottom 2 then her fans, however many of them there are, would realise this was not the case.