I don't think many people here are in denial, what basis is there for your claim...in all honesty?

The biggest contradiction is Rowetta - regardless of whatever reasons you give about her personality, perhaps it's just Voices with Soul's fault for having no personality? It is the X-Factor after all.

Sorry, you really have no basis for such an extreme claim.

iTS not a contradiction...rowetta is light skinned..voice of soul are full black (big sized) ladies

people saw

skin colour

the size of them

the age of them

they never stood a chance

as for there voices

they were easily in the top 3 without a doubt...

if rowetta was just a normal person she wouldnt have gone through..she has got that personality that made her through

SIMPLY AMAZING, if Arettha Franklyn were in this competition I guarantee you she'd walk it.

If there is any stereotyping going on here it's that some people are giving Voices With Soul more credit than they've earned because they fit the big black female vocalist image.

They shouldn't have been bottom two but they are not as good as all that. I hope they improve, they have a lot of potential but so far they're not reaching it.

I hope that was sarcasm!

VWS - of course they should have gone through automatically, Verity and a few others not in the same league. Racism? Nah, more likely ageism.

Is she black as well?

People always say the "people thought everyonelse would vote for them" line but it has happened one too many times case in point Javine, Lamar. VWS are very good singers and they are better than most of the acts there whether it's racism is upto whoever to decide but the fact it the voting public is prejudiced, they like people with sob stories hence Michelle winning over the other big girl in last year's Pop idol and Verity whose performance was abysimal getting in ahead of VWS. VWS embody the two must discrimanted groups; ethinic minorites and fat people.

Personally I'm appalled at the Irishism displayed in this country. I demand that a white, slender contestant of English origin be dismissed and Roberta reinstated. Gotta keep the PC crowd happy.

No she's a white chick but no female has won the Booker prize before. They picked the gay guy.

thats the flaming point that i am making

im not saying that they are the BEST group..thats even too early to say at this stage to say who might be

im saying that they sound wayyy better than tabby and the guy who was ill

if they were skinny white females they would walk this competition

its just sad that ethnic people have to try twice as hard just to get a vote..and its the same every year..with big brother..with whatever competition

i can garentee that tabby will be in the top 2

another wasted show...someone whos talentless but who the ladies all love..

another pop idol flop

Brilliant.

erm yes. The show is called X Factor, not who hit the best note on the night Factor. People vote on who they feel an affinity with, who they like the personality of, who they like the look of, the style of music and the singing; on top of that, that certain something called the X factor which just makes you want to see someone succeed.

Rowetta has the X factor so people vote for her, and whilst Voices for soul are certainly talented, they simply didnt get as many votes as the other 8. It is hardly an example of racism in the UK that out of 50,000 they are still in the final 8, yet happened to be in the bottom 2.

There is a lot of racism in Britain today. I think challenging it where it really exists rather than ranting at people on this forum for not voting for who you liked best would be very welcome.

I reckon mixed race people do better than black people. Rowetta has a bigger than life personality but VWS are also lovely lively girls. Judging from some of the comments I've seen here on the board over various reality tv programmes, a complaint that comes up is that peeps don't like the warbling, or the loudness. Maybe it's the same with the general voting public. They don't relate and consequently, british black contestants are always voted off early. However, American black artists seem to do well in the charts. I voted for VWS tonight but I don't think I will bother next week.

SIMPLY AMAZING - just a thought, there's no need to shout in order to get your point across.

I think SIMPLY AMAZING has a good point. Next week I'm going to get out my Dulux colour chart put it next to my TV screen and vote for the darkest act.

Heh - Steve is my favourite contestant (not necessarily for his singing [which I like], but because he's a nice bloke).

I guess that makes me anti-black, anti-women, anti-young people, anti-shaved people then... oh despair etc... I must go kill myself etc...

Extremely good point! I wholeheartedly agree!

I'll tell you what there are some characters on here....I never venture out of the Soap forum much, perhaps I should take a day-trip more often

I think they were in the bottom two because people probably thought "Oh, they'll get through easily, I'll vote for X"

Happens all the time.

you have missed one point

they reached the final 8 BECAUSE of there talent..yet it wasnt a phone vote that made them there..it was the judges,..omg u think that if there was a phone vote at the start of the competition that they would even be there?

Tabby is not doing much for me either, so I agree with Mr.B.

I was shocked to see VWS in the bottom two, I thought that it would be Verity and Roberta. I figured that it was because of the old first on, forgotten about by the time votes are cast syndrome.

rowetta's black and she'll win
and i agree tabby was awful!

God I wish the Pedants Thread was still alive and kicking.

Hey, SIMPLY AMAZING, all FOUR people up for the judges' vote were WOMEN

It wasn't racism - it was SEXISM

I was waiting for someone to post one of the usual prejudice against colour threads.

....Because it meant that I didn't need to.

I agree with you completely.

People will mock you, but I'm with you here.
I feel that race is definitely a factor when some people pick up the phone.

Some people will scoff at you and I, but past history has definitely shown a bias against black females.
Not black people especially, but specifically black females.

Another poster pointed out that they were fat. Well that's only going to be another equation working against them on top of their skin and gender combined.

Voices in Soul were definitely superior in ability compared to some of the acts that got through. So for them to be in the bottom two there has to be a reason that goes beyond their ability.

Yes, Rowetta got through, but do we know how close she was to the bottom?
In the last Pop Idol there was a lot of crap surrounding that thing where singers were announced "safe" or not.

The order the singers in X Factor got through. Was that the order of their popularity from the vote, or were they picked at random.
If that was their order according to popularity, then Rowetta looks like she may end up struggling in the next week or two, just like Voices in Soul.

Black females on average, just do not do well on reality shows where the public vote.
They often have to do so much more than their white counterparts to be accepted.

I do think Rowetta is in a league of her own, and managed to force her way through simply because she is vastly superior in abilty to most of them.
But I do think Voices in Soul, on the night, were at least in the top three. Everyone on the show thought so....so what went wrong?

The voting on phone in shows can throw up curiously unexpected results. If we have no way to measure all the criteria of why people vote,..then you cannot dismiss the notion that race is a factor.
If there are still people who are prejudiced in Britain today, then the evidence might suggest that race has to be a factor to one extent or another.
I'm not saying Britain as a whole is aggressively racist,...I'm just saying that I believe there is a subtle prejudice going on here that can affect the result.

Sorry to be pedantic but shouldn't there be a comma after 'God'?