I've been thinking recently about how the way the contestants exit the show impacts their image with the general public.

I think the sing-off is actually very important, not for the judges decision that is more than likely made beforehand, but for the way the act is perceived.

Paul had been pretty anonymous during the live shows but his unfair exit, when he did a better sing-off than his rival and almost cried about it, gave him a level of fame and headlines that he would've never had if he stayed one or two more weeks and had gone out against a stronger act.

Ella Henderson had a shock bottom 2 along with James Arthur, with Rylan and Union J still in the competition. Everyone was talking about it. Would she really had beneffited that much from singing two more times in the competition before going?
This is also a show about controversy. Union J were pushed through until the semi-final but they still generated way less buzz than Ella.

So yeah, as an Only The Young fan, I really don't care that much if they go home right now or on Week 8/9, I just wish they have a very good Save Me Song prepared and preferably go out against Stevie Richie or Stereo Kicks, to be sure that they exit the competition having the public with them.

The last image is incredibly powerful.

How I see it is that both Ella and Rebecca Ferguson only came to light aftet the show cos both james Arthur and Matt cardle got 'shafted' in one way or another and eventually dropped from the record label!!! Both ladies were vocally powerful during their time on the show and tipped to fare well going fotward from the show....but the record bosses/producers needed to see how the winner did first!!!

Doing a singoff, in my opinion, is of no relevance within this show. ...the judges know eho they want to save regardless. .....and they seldom ever change their minds! !!....its the whole time they have spent on the show, what performances has been given over....and the publics reaction towards singer/performance, whether in the audience or watching /voting at home!!!!

I think One The Young have found themselves in an interesting position.

For all the criticism that he gets, Simon is not a stupid man - he knows precisely who makes a star and who doesn't make a star. Even in the three series that he didn't judge on he knew straight away that Little Mix, Ella and Tamera quite simply toppled absolutely other contestant in their respective series when it came to marketability.

And that exact thing is happening with Only The Young. Simon has said two interesting things in regards to them:
a) That we would steal them from Louis.
b) Something in the air is happening with them, they're 'popping'.

I think if Only The Young just manage to hold on for another two or three weeks then I think could easily be bagging themselves a record deal. Simon's eyes really light up when they appear. Same with Fleur. Simon knows full well that those are the two most interesting acts, despite the Andrea/Lauren/Ben Holy Trinity.

Increasingly, the actual winner of The X Factor is becoming less and less important. Simon and his team are totally at liberty to handpick from the finalists whoever they think will make the best popstars. Obviously, this has been something of a cliche since the Hear'Say/Liberty X days but I don't think it's even been truer than now. If you're one of the 'ready-made/potential popstars' and you manage to get on to the tour, then your chances of a Syco deal are significant.

The only unfortunate thing for Only The Young is their sing off performance a few weeks ago. Not only was it poor but it was also considered to be one of the worst of all time. Luckily, they came back one of one of the best performances of the series so far so they are definitely making good progress when it comes to shaking off that stigma.

Despite the beating that The X Factor has taken over the last few years, its ability to make stars is still absolutely undeniable.

Exactly.

That's part of what I'm saying - for a good act that doesn't have chances of winning, exiting in Week 6 or Week 8 is kind of irrelevant.

Paul got way more attention (even NaughtyBoy jumped on the train to say he was "the best") by exiting too early than he would've of if he did a normal competition for a non-winner like him.

The fact he "won" the sing-off and still went home made him likable and remembered, something he wouldn't have been otherwise.

You're right. Acts which leave in more controversial ways are remembered better than others. However, this fame tends to be short lived and doesn't really earn them much success in the end. The most controversial eliminations include Ruth vs Laura, Jedward vs Lucie and Rylan vs Carolynne and they haven't earned much success since the show especially in comparison to the act that won against them. Ruth finished tenth in Eurovision recently and Rylan is a well-known TV presenter. To be fair, their elimination really brings more attention to the X Factor than the acts themselves.

Paul's elimination wasn't really as controversial as any of these so I don't really think it will help him in the end. If he does get success, it will probably be very limited. A shame really, he had a lot of potential to be a great artist.