I agree with Popidolveteran - the one who came the nearest to having the X factor was probably Rowetta, then Tabby. However, the sad fact remains that in my view none of them had that extra little bit that made them great - namely the X factor.

However, we have to face it that this is a prime time reality TV singing contest. Its key demographics are the housewives and the teenage girls. These people will much prefer a 'crooner,' who sings middle-of-the-road pop, and these are the people who vote. So whilst it's very nice that we have contestants who suit different tastes in there eg G4, Rowetta, Tabby, at the end of the day their support is very much restricted.

The future for Steve? Not wishing to write the guy off entirely, but methinks he'll have a Michelle Macmanus/David Sneddon career - good charting for his first single, then plummets like a stone. Although whether he'll get a number 1 over Band Aid remains to be seen - what if he can't do that? Will his career be even more limited?

Yes!! It's called 'Pop Idol: A Star Is Born' - it has other performances on there but I just fast forward through them (especially Gareth's :yawn: ) but always stop to have a laugh at Rose Ribbons crucifying 'The Winner Takes It All'

I would say that it doesn't have much of the judges comments on there - it's a bit crappily put together to be honest (clearly a rush job as they thought Gareth would win) as it has Will winning at the beginning (??) and doesn't feature his performance of Night Fever or his final 50 performance of 'Light My Fire' - BUT it does feature the legendary fight between Simon Cowell & Pete Waterman over Darius & Ant & Dec's classic take on that ('Swear at me would you Cowell?' lol) so it's worth it for that alone!

And because I'm nice, here's the link to it on Play.com - but it's out of stock at the moment

http://www.play.com/play247.asp?sear...Go.x=20&Go.y=4

I've also noticed it says the DVD has Will's audtion on it - I have it on VHS - well, it was three years ago! - and it doesn't so I may be reordering it too

For the record, my favs are 'Until You Come Back To Me' & 'Ain't No Sunshine' - I'm going tingly just thinking about them - oo-er
Last edited by ShowbizGosQueen : 12-12-2004 at 15:03

Dishcloth, most definitely.

The one who got the most votes doesn't have to be the best!

huh??? Well lets just say in the majority of the GBP's eyes

It pains me to see Steve even having 1 hit, but with the single being released at the quietest part of the year it will surely goto number 1.

I agree that Rowetta has the X Factor but Simon went for the safer bet, Rowetta could quite easy go off on one at an interview and say the wrong thing and that would be the end of the road.

With Steve you will get him smiling and his smarmy comments.

As for a £1 million deal on whos part?

IMO the X Factor now does not have a leg to stand on if the creators were taken to court (against Pop Idol). The show was billed as finding a non run of the mill tallent that would normally get passed over by these sort of competitions.



-------------------------------

As for my comments about Will from Pop Idol i still think he is a very safe singer but it shows what can happen if you have the right team around you. I have a great respect for the guy for sticking to his guns and everything he stands for and to me it shows that while he thinks a lot of his career he will not change the type of person he is to get it.

Well they would say that these sort of competitions don't normally include over 25s.

I think you can tell, from the songs he releases to the videos for his singles, that Mr Young has a huge amount of influence on what goes on - and that's what gets Simon Cowell because he didn't get another puppet he could manipulate (Gareth anyone?) and that's why they don't have any kind of relationship even to this day

Those people who are saying there wasn't really an "X Factor" talent in the competition this year... I'd be interested to know what you thought of Roxanne last year. Personally I think she had more talent than every finalist in all the competitions put together. Am I alone in thinking this?

I personally didn't rate her - too much like Zoe Birkett and that's not a good thing in my book

Sorry but I do the opposite to you and fast forward Will especially singing soul. I have only got to appreciate Will with Leave Right Now, he has found his style and is great at it but soul no way. Gareth Gates is the only person in these shows who won my heart from even before the auditions (singing Beauty and The Beast outside). Despite it being against popular opinion he is an extemely talented guy, playing guitar, piano and having won a place at the Northern Opera College, he is also a very good looking and nice young man, something that is forgotten on these boards. Now you may not appreicate him, that is the fashionable thing to do when you like Will but I will not let you get away with dissing him ever on these boards and just ask you to listen to his albums (Go Your Own Way) and then comment

No I thought so too

Well said, singingmuppet. Why is it that so many Will Young fans can't seem to grasp the fact that not everyone loves Will like they do. Gareth has a large solid fanbase and I feel they (WY fans) are threatened by Gareth's return early next year. Lots of them have wanted Gareth to fail, but he hasn't and they don't like it!

Thank you but seriously I wish they would stop bringing the Gareth Will thing into every forum. It really pxsses me off. SC liked Gareth best but Will has been more successful, I know it Gareth knows it so why the hell do they have to beat us up about it. I admit I now think Will is great after Leave Right Now but you don;t have to hate Gareth because you love him, just give Gareth a chance, he really does have the X factor and yes more than one person on a show like this can have it

[quote=ShowbizGosQueen]Yes!! It's called 'Pop Idol: A Star Is Born' - it has other performances on there but I just fast forward through them (especially Gareth's :yawn: ) but always stop to have a laugh at Rose Ribbons crucifying 'The Winner Takes It All'

YAY!!!! Thanks so much........... After I saw your note, I did a search and sure enough found A Star is Born on Amazon for a bargain £5. (I double checked I'd ordered Will, and not Barbara Streisand LOL) I decided I couldn't even wait until Christmas! So the tape is winging it's way to me. Ah, so it won't have the audition, and I did read a review by someone saying there seemed to be more time devoted to Gareth than Will.

I'm going to find myself some quiet time in the next few days when it arrives and drown in Pop Idol nostalgia. Ah well - easily pleased. Anyway, I'd better hand this thread back to X Factor! Didn't mean to ambush it! Thanks again.

The one person I definitely thought had that 'x' factor was poor Andy!



Edit: I typed Steve instead of Andy, Doh..

That is the conceit of the show. Yu could have called it the "Something a Bit Different Factor" or "Quite Vague Description About What We Are Looking For IN this Talent Show Factor".
It is tenuous so Steve did have the X Factor because he won a show called the X Factor. It is the same as the BBC Sports Personality of the Year. You may have no personality but be liked in sport and win it. Or conversely you could have a good personality but be awful at sport and still win it. All ground covered. If it was called the Most Unique and freshest Talent This Year show, not a single applicant could have won it under those terms. These kind of people or usually grown organically through years of learning their craft and become "overnight successes" after many years through hard work.
Hope that helps.

Hmmmmm...you're obviously not familar with my posts because if you considered what I'd said earlier on this thread to be 'dissing' Gareth, let me tell you I hadn't even warmed up.

To save repeating myself, I would refer you to my comments on this thread

http://forum.digitalspy.co.uk/board/...d.php?t=163142

which I think prove that I don't dislike Gareth because it's, in your words, 'fasionable' to do so. By the way, to be fasionable, I would say that it has to relate to someone that's still actually in the public eye - which Gareth is not

And as for listening to one of his albums, I'd rather stick pins in my eyes thanks all the same.

Hahahahahahahaahhahahaahhaha! Stop it now!

Threatened by Gareth's return? If he hasn't failed, as you say, then why on earth does he need a 'return' after being in the music industry less than three years!?

I only brought Will into the discussion as we were talking about X factor - he's the only person that's really made me go 'wow' - although I did really like Sam & Susanne on PI2, it just wasn't the same & I would dig out my tape & watch Will's performances each week after PI2 had finished

[quote=LindyLupin]
A sky diver? You got yourself a right bargain there! And yes, unfortunately, GG does occupy much of the tape - no doubt, this was Simon Cowell's doing - but like I said, the fast forward button comes in very handy - just make sure you watch Rosie Ribbons if you want a laugh!

Enjoy it

I do not agree.

A lot of people on the show had the X Factor IMO, remember the chicken guy? There is nobody in the charts like him. Granted he was not tallented but it is about the X Factor not your singing ability and people forgot that.

Both Tabby and Rowetta for me had the X Factor as they were diffrent and unique.

Steve has no originality. He wants to be Al Green. Infact, the X Factor was the wrong competition - he should have gone on Stars In Their Eyes.

Well to be honest Robert Unwin the chicken guy did not miss the start of his song, forget words or giggle like a schoolgirl, he was the true star!!!!

One thing that disappointed me throughout the series was that no-one, at any stage sung any original material. Whether that was a conscious decision on the part of the producers &/or Simon I don't know. What they could've done is that on each team, have a songwriter as well as the Stylists & voice coaches.

We've heard cover songs from all of them, now Steve has a chance at a career in the music industry, & that's all it is at this stage, we might be surprised once he's done some original stuff, or we might not be...time will tell. This applies to anyone of the others, had they won.

I think it's important for the public to know if they have the ability to produce something original to help us decide.

In essence, Steve won on the basis of singing covers of other people's songs, that's not a criticism, that's fact, it was the format of the show, we don't yet know what he's truly capable of, so let's wait & see.