People are just fed up with Cowell and his entire franchise.

They're sick of spending money voting for acts that even if they win will never be heard from again because he imposes such strict contracts on them.

Doesn't allow them to make the most of a work opportunities and when he gets bored of them he quietly terminates the contract 2-3 years later.

The momentum and public backing are now gone, the poor artist is seen as a failure (even though they've not been given any opportunity to shine because of his handcuff contracts) and he's moved on to his next money maker.

He's not interested in talent he's interested in revenue. He's ruined countless careers! And people are just sick of his blatant disregard for them

If people are fed up of Cowell, explain why BGT continually beasts in the ratings.

I just ended the argument.

I hope next series it comes back as a stripped-down version of itself. I think what has alienated people isn't the basic concept: unsigned singers battle for a record deal - I still think that's a good concept. It's pretty much everything else. The fake drama, the sob stories, the obvious manipulation, the begging, etc.

Tony I agree with you to an extent in that the actual idea still has something but from my own personal POV I just think after so long its time for something different on Saturday Nights

I think that to truly enjoy the experience of the XF I'd have to forget everything I've read about it and go back to when I didn't realize the whole thing from start to finish was rehearsed!

That is the problem with it now. People have grown so distrustful of it, and so cynical, that as far as I can tell, how do we know that even the judges comments are not rehearsed, and Simon tells them what to say, how to say, who to vote for who etc.

I cringed when I watched Judges Houses. I mean, as if, Simon Cowell really was deliberating with himself as to who to take through, acting like he'd suddenly "changed his mind" yeah right.....the decisions probably have all been made long, long ago.

I didn't watch any of the lead up to it, but when I saw Louisa sing, I went on to YouTube to see what she was like in the auditions, and I saw Simon Cowells head pop up immediately after she started singing, and I thought god, does he really think people are going to buy all that crap now!
I probably am way too tetchy and impatient to genuinely enjoy the XF now. I don't mind a bit of rehearsing, it's only expected, but all this boot camp stuff and the six chairs, and the judges saying it's the hardest thing I've ever done....etc.etc.

If I could, I'd simply just change to watching the Voice, although that's even worse!

I agree with you re the basic concept. They should stick to that, get a really good presenter, and stop all the other crap and drivel!

Still one shining light remains......James Arthur won't be on the XF anytime soon

It's like Liverpudlians who have boycotted the Murdoch owned newspaper The Sun since Hillsborough but still subscribe to Murdoch owned SkySports.

People have realised how fixed TXF is and have turned off but still watch BGT because "Ant & Dec are soooo funnnah".

At some point parents will even connect that buying Syco music such as One Direction, Little Mix, Olly etc for their kids, funds Cowell so he can put up bail for his friends such as the convicted paedophile Jonathon King, or pay his convicted sex offender Max Clifford, or fund the Israel Defence Force so they can bomb schools in Gaza.

Oh do sod off with all that. We've all known people who weren't what they seem and have had to distance ourselves from them, and this will happen more frequently when you're at the dizzying career heights that Simon is at.
And everyone is entitled to their political beliefs, Simon or Lauren has Jewish roots, at least Jews don't come and behead us westerners like what followers of their opposing religion do.

There really is no point in you being on this forum if you loathe Simon as much as you obviously do

Yes, I even wondered what it would be like to go back and watch the very first series of X Factor from 2004 with all the knowledge we have now about the manipulating.

I'm pretty sure we would all be watching the show with a different viewpoint of the show compared to how we viewed things at the time.

Agree.

No you haven't , two different formats, BGT is good, in spite of SC,

There just ended the arguments

Now that's not forum friendly, did you read the so each Simon gave this week? After that even the few who didn't loathe him, now do. Everyone is entitled to their view.

The Sun had two pages this week on XF until the title EXHAUSTED and Simon said his recent shows were SHAMBOLIC, but you still support them.

Personally i think it's failings that it's the same tired genre of acts, boys tend to be boyband material . girls seem to be Whitney type screamers, groups are just aimed at a very young audience while the overs are nothing better than found in any workingmens club. it's become so boring and apart from teens up to the age of 14 and and bored middle aged housewives i can's see any other age group buying into it.

the early winners benefitted from winning at a time when the watching public was still under the impression talent was being discovered. The continuation of the show and the increased awareness of it's manipulations has thrown a different light on it and has harmed the careers of the early winners too. Leona Lewis and A Burke can't give away their albums these days and that's partly their fault and partly the fault of Sam Bailey et al.

To have a lasting career you now have to appeal to the very young who don't really care about any of the show's fraudulence but just want fun pop, the 1D and LM age group. I'm surprised Cowell hasn't twigged this and doesn't reject all the Ben's & Sam's at the audition stage

I'm quite gullible at the best of times, and for ages, I genuinely thought that when the auditionees stand in front of the judges (esp when it was just in that room) it would be the first time that the judges see the act, so I used to love all the shocked faces, and the smiles, and the judges looking at each other in joy and disbelief in their assumption they've "found a star".....

and then the Leona Lewis music came on and every one hugged....

until I became an old, cynical distrusting DS poster on here and realized I'VE BEEN LIED TO ALL THESE YEARS.