It's there to pad out the show a bit.

At least the sing off gives an act the chance to go out on a high (and xf above all is a platform for acts), relatively unhindered by manipulation. For my money, Paul had a real moment with Clown last night (and I think the miserable panel of judges realised that) and I hope he goes on tour soon, as I've heard he's fabulous live and I'd pay to hear him.

If there'd been a public vote on last night's sing off I think Paul would have won by miles, but then if they had done that he'd never have been allowed to sing as he did as the producers would have nobbled him again. God knows why they had it in for him, but there it is. Their work undoubtedly influenced the public and the vote, and is no reflection on Paul's ability.

And yes, Louis IS a shithouse.

He is there as the joke figure and prepared to do as Cow wants, Cow clearly decided Paul would be no use to him either for ratings now, or later so he did what it took to get rid.

Louise played his part, he will always do as he is told, that is why he gets hired year after year.

That's why I think Louis and Simon should both resign

It's Simon's gig and the other judges are the hired help. It's that simple.

No need for the crude title Imo. Paul has been shamefully thrown under the bus by the really nasty judges comments. Jay doesn't have that great a voice and it will be a travesty if he wins. The only one left that I like is Andrea

Louis has a contract which states he must do exactly what the show wants, he knows what he is doing yet he keeps signing up for it

Unless like Sinitta he doesn't know something hahaha

Well yes, why have a sing off indeed. It's clearly there for the entertainment 'tension' factor.

But people are talking like if it was the sing-off alone, Paul should have been a dead cert. As if this is fact and not your opinion. And it's not a fact. I and several others didn't prefer Paul. So it's therefore not a given that Paul should have stayed. I think he has a better singing voice technically but I don't think he has any stage charisma or performance style. And IMO Jay also sings very well, connects more with the audience, (eg me being one of them) is sexier, more likeable, more charismatic and is more marketable. Perhaps Louis also felt that each man was evenly matched in terms of their respective strengths.

The sing-off should not just be about who sang best because this show is 'The X Factor' and not 'The Voice'. It's about the whole package.


I thought it was kinda rude and patronising actually. Still, it's nice to not be mistaken for Scarlett Berry for once, so props for that.

But you are totally missing the point, all of the people who are fans of Paul probably did vote for him but it is the casual floating voter who seem to sway things one way or the other and these are the people who don't have their own strong views and are manipulated by the judges, especially Simon, who seems to have this massive influence which is why I tag those people imbeciles. maybe too strong a word but it is so obvious and so annoying.

I always look at the odds for elimination which are usually fairly accurate and before Simons assassination of Paul 2 weeks ago he had been a minimum of 16-1 more often 33-1' and 4 th favourite to win. Despite giving a solid performance his odds and also his chances dropped like a brick after those comments, so please don't tell me that Simon and co cannot sway public opinion. Paul's unhappiness with his songs was portrayed as him being ungrateful to be their and a diva, yet only the youngs dissatisfaction with Louis song choices has been portrayed in a positive light promoting the fact that they know the direction in which they want to go.

If this was a football competition there would be allegations and investigations into match fixing, but Cowell and co have the media in their pockets, just like his former PR man Max Clifford did, he came crashing down to earth and lots of truths are now coming out that were previously banned from the media.

How on earth can you possibly know that?

Pretty obvious to me that paul was thrown under the bus from producers

Simple common sense, how else do you explain the way acts suddenly plummet after very negative and unfair criticism which is nothing to do with the singing.

If you look at voting patterns published after the series then you can see this very clearly, you can also see how deadlock only happens when a favoured act is not bottom of the votes, it has happened too consistently to be a coincidence

Before Simon's comments I was already finding Paul dull and a bit of a misery, going back to last year. In the VT he then seemed sullen and difficult. I didn't need Simon Cowell to follow up with a hatchet job to make me not like Paul.

And his graceless reaction to his elimination, standing there with a face like a slapped arse then not hugging Jay just proved my initial instincts. That had nothing to do with anyone but Paul himself.

BTW, I'm interested to see any evidence at all for your assertion that casual voters not only hold sway (and actually what IS a casual voter) and why or how this huge group of strangers you don't know are easily manipulated.

Because here's my crazy theory....voters didn't go "hey, I don't like Paul after all those unflattering comments, I'm not voting for him, anyone but Paul!", they went " ooh, I loved that one by Stereokicks/Andrea/Fleur so I'll throw my 1, 2 or 3 votes that way" and they then DIDN'T vote for half a dozen other contestants who they also liked less.

Even Pete Waterman has gone on record about the manipulation on the show and how they will get rid of just about anyone they want to. It's one of the reasons he got out after Pop Idol. He was there and privy to production meetings etc.

I watch Stevi get mocked every week by the judges bar Simon but that doesn't put him in the bottom two. Are you saying it's only Simon that causes all the thousands of your 'casual voters' to change ?

I think Stevi gets the sympathy / we'll show you Cowell vote

You can't compare the 'joke' act to one of the serious acts. It's a completely different set of voters with different motivations for voting.

I blame them both...Simon for not getting rid of Louis, and Louis for not acknowledging that Paul out-sung Jay (I like him) on Saturday and Sunday. Simon says that it's Jay last chance..let's see if he gives him a contract. Respect for Paul for re-inventing himself after last year - hopefully, his determination and talent will see him through.

I liked Paul, but if anything Cowell's negativity should have acted in Paul's favour, and given him the sod off Cowell vote - but it didn't!

Just because Louis said he was sending it to deadlock, doesn`t mean he "copped out" ... He sent Paul home because he WANTED to send Paul home.... The result was that it went to deadlock, but I think Louis would have sent Paul home even if he had been the 1st judge to vote instead of the last, he doesn`t like him.

Ahh right, so these other voters, do they get influenced as well or do they have their own minds? I never realised just how complex it all is !!!!

You can play naive and be disingenuous all you like but the joke act has always been a law upon itself. It appeals to the 'vote for the worst' sensibility as opposed to the 'I would like an album from this person' one.

I'm not being naive, I just find it interesting how people go to incredible lengths to justify why their fave act gets booted off instead of accepting that maybe, just maybe, the majority prefer someone else.Incredibly simple idea I know, but there you go.

Basically Simon was always going to save his own, regardless of how good or bad Jay sang, Mel was always going to save her own – Cheryl had to save Paul based on her judgment of him the night before and previous weeks where she had praised his singing to the highest level. What it all boiled down to was Simon wanted Paul gone but without making him look like the bad guy on the night – so praise him for singing really well and then support your own act.

Although I don't know 100% I'm pretty sure that Simon already knew who had the least amount of votes and I'm also sure that Louis would not have taken it to deadlock if Jay was at the bottom, what would have been the point, With both the girls saving Paul if Louis had taken it to deadlock Jay would have gone home with or without the vote from Louis - therefore the only way to secure the vote in favour of Paul going home (as per Simon's wishes) was for Louis to deadlock the vote.

I could see how uncomfortable Louis was doing that, he was really squirming in his seat – it was obvious, to me at least, that the decision he made was not his own – Louis bottled it big time – just another example of Louis not having any balls.

I love this threads title - best of the season so far lol