Not in 2008 she wouldn't have. Versatility was the key in 2008. Bigger voices were kicked out.

2008 seemed to be the only year where the public voted on performances - with the exception of Eoughan!

Alex was never a clear winner until she started performing well each week.
Diana was always high in the vote when her performances were of the weeks 1 -4 standard.
JLS voting percentage depended on their performances, too.

Alex and Beyonce was the reason Alex won.

I definitely think if Sam put in performances like she has on the show this year, in the 2008 show, she would of made the final over the likes of Eoughan and JLS. It's not even questionable I don't think.

Scott, Daniel, two girl groups, Austin, Rachel Hylton and Laura.

So one big voice was kicked out really. Arguably two.

No no no she won't even sell records in the UK Nevermind anywhere else

I think it is. If Sam could have made it to the final, then why did Laura, Ruth and Diana all crash out, girls who are younger, better and arguably more marketable than Sam Bailey ever could be?

Alexandra won because she was the most versatile as someone else said. She was always consistent, and topped the vote in Week 8, long before Beyoncé showed up. She proved she was strong enough to push out Diana and all the other girls previous.

I'm pretty sure the fact that every Sam performance sounds the same would have worked against her, especially when there were versatile acts like Alex, quirky ones like Diana, and also Ruth and Laura around. 2008 was shark infested waters, and that series would have chewed up Sam and spat her out long before the final.

You have a point with the second one now I think about it.

But I disagree with the first. I was set on Alex from the moment she sang in the final at the start. She just was in another league to JLS. It's a performance thing. If she'd sang with anyone else, I think she'd have won. JLS didn't come vocally close. And that is just it. Her talent got her to the final, nothing else. Same for Sam B. Can't say that for JLS.

Laura - Her performances weren't at all great when she got past week 1. She faded as people like Alex, JLS and Diana shone - taking her votes. The one when she was at the piano was the biggest let down performance on the whole of X Factor - well, maybe Tamera's performances are challenging that.

Ruth - As much as I hate saying this, it was because she wasn't British. If she was British, she would of got further - or would of got 5th without being bottom 2.

Diana - She got shit after week 5. Let's be honest, she is my favourite all time act, but she was ghastly after her throat thing.

THAT'S why Sam would have done better. Each week she puts on amazing performances. Showing that she isn't just a 'Stand in the spot' ballad type singer.


I do disagree about the versatility thing making her win. Yes, she was versatile. But you only have to look at the % of that series to see it really was anyone's game even going into the final. In the final she put on a great duet with Beyonce (I mean come on, she gets Beyonce and I can't even remember who the other two got). It was obvious after that she would win, and actually, what surprises me is that it was actually still close between Alex and JLS even after the Beyonce performance. It was less than 60/40. People thought it would be 80/20 after that performance, but she couldn't manage that. Also, she was never actually high up in the voting - except once when she topped before the final. Think she came 2nd one week too.

But that's not a convincing argument for Sam making that final. She would have ended up like Daniel Evans.

Versatility was a factor. The week Alexandra performed Toxic with Britney's original routine and Listen, she topped the vote.

And it's clear that the voting patterns aren't always the best indicator. Eoghan was by far the winner in terms of votes, as was Christopher Maloney in his year, but these acts are nowhere now. Sometimes it's luck and Alex peaked at the right time. It's now clear that she's the real winner of the series, Diana has flopped and been dropped, JLS have flopped and split and Eoghan is nowhere. Alexandra is still going, so it looks like she's had the last laugh as far as that series goes. I don't think Sam will be able to do the same in 5 years time.

"She would have ended up like Daniel Evans", except Daniel would of been in that place. Not sam.

Also, I really don't think it's a good idea saying "Diana has flopped and been dropped", "JLS flopped and split" and "Eoghan is nowhere" when you know all to well how Alex's last album did. Not much better than Diana's.

We'll see.

We have already seen.

If she goes on to get a number 1 in the states or not. Her second album was possibly the biggest fail of 2012 (or 2011, whenever the hell it was released). You can try to hide it under the rug all you want, but it's true.

Look at Leona. She won in 2006 and she heading for another top 3 hit this weekend. Look at Alex, won in 2008, had a flop second album and is nowhere to be seen.

I didnt know what it sales were like so just had a look

10,000 copies in three weeks?! LOL. Sam bailey could do more than that easily.

EDIT: Oh and to add the bit about leona, if her single charts in top 5 which its likely to do, looks more like a top 3 single :P isnt that a new record for a british female artist or something?

2nd EDIT: im not hating on alex either, i actually wanted her to win x factor but them sales are shocking.. what happened? :/

Exactly! But of course Alex is signed to this great label in the US now and will be the biggest selling artist in a years time.......yeah ok.

The female boss begs to differ.

I don't know why you are dragging Leona into this. I don't recall any of Alex's singles missing the top 200.

Every career has its ups and downs. All I know is, Alex has more than a few cards to play yet.

I doubt it. It's not the voice that's the problem, it's her lack of character. She's like most people - very ordinary. She's not a stand out character like Susan Boyle.

I'm bringing Leona into it because she is the only other female winner. We can't compare her to a male winner as they have complete different markets (the female obsessive type).

Well we don't actually know that. We know she plans to release a new single and album. But that means we are classing HoH as a card she played? Oh dear.

HOH got her a top 3 single and a European #1 smash in Greece which stayed in their airplay top 10 for months and was so popular that Inna, a big European act covered it, so it wasn't that bad. The sales were low in the UK because it wasn't promoted, but at least all of Alex's singles made the top 40, even with low/no promotion.

A lot can change within a year. Like I said before, we'll see.

Pity her album didn't do well. 10,000 in 3 weeks. Ohhhhh dear.

Yeah that is bad. But at least the second single actually managed to sell over 600 copies, unlike others. Because that would be bad.

Let's not forget that Let It Go was the song that launched the album - which people seem to always leave out when mentioning this - and only got top 40. Whereas this other person released a single to launch the album and it got top 10.

Would it be bad if their album got top 10 and sold double what someone else did in three weeks in ONE week?

No, probably not.

Then we could mention that the lead single from HOH got top 3 (2 in midweeks) without radio airplay or an X Factor performance, whereas others had both and failed to make the top 5. Oh well.

That's because others dont turn to generic dancey shite to get hits!

But ach well!

Let's just see how successful Alex is!

Not in a million, billion years. Sam is lovely and has a great voice, but she needs more than that. Her style and personality are not that engaging especially for the contemporary charts (and let alone, the US charts).

Hell Yeah!!!!! She is going to be Mahooosive

This.

I think Sam is the most talented Over we've seen, regardless of the quality of the rest of the line-up, and she deserves not only her place in the finale but to win.