I'm not comparing her...I'm just picking on people's comments...p....I just don't find his comments fair compared to some of the others...who does ballads way more...so, I'm comparing Louisa to the others in the competition in relation to his comments...

Well said

Most of us on here probably already have a job all week, we don't switch on the telly on a Saturday night to work for free, pretending to be record producers.
We like who we like and some of us vote (I haven't this year as my stupid phone won't update the android and I won't pay) for who entertained us, not for who we think might be an International superstar.

I knew this would come up, but honestly the difference is Sam Smith puts in lots more emotion in his songs ...Che is just boring...

They aren't similar, they're unique and write their own songs.

Sam Smith etc sell because their material is good.

Che isn't going to get good material on Cowell's novelty record label, which mainly focuses on peddling trashy music and is all about image.

We're talking about the type of singer, not the quality. That person said 'acts like' Che don't sell. Well, they demonstrably do.

It's always been the case that good pop music sells and an artist doesn't have to be a great singer to perform pop music. It really doesn't matter how good a singer like Leona or Sam Bailey is, success depends on having good material and all the better if you can write it yourself.

I don't think he and Sam Smith are very similar...

You only haveto listen to a lot of the artists in the top 40, and a lot are not really good singers, but people still lap them up.

Are we going to have this pointless argument again?

I don't vote on who I think is the most marketable within the extremely narrow parameters of the pop charts or who will make Cowell the most money in the short term. Why should I? I vote on who I'm most likely to buy an album from [in the event that they actually get good material to release]. So, I vote on whose performances impress me or move me the most, as should everyone (even if it's Reggie & Bollie).

I do find that pop music is probably the most shallow of all the genres though, I think that's why fans of other genres can look down on it somewhat, which I understand would be annoying to people who just genuinely like the music. It's also a pretty cutthroat industry in that many artists really go for the jugular when it comes to marketing themselves to the lowest common denominator, and a lot of it seems very production line- like.

Of course, I understand all musicians want to earn money for what they do, it just seems like some of them are more willing to distort basically everything they are as a person to make it. Make sure they look right, sing the type of songs the highest number of people will like, sing the type of lyrics that appeal to the right set of people, it all seems very soulless and corporate, and even after all that, they only have a very small chance of having a lasting career out of it.

I think most of the bands I listen to probably realised a long time ago they'd never make it big,, maybe they never wanted to. Most of them tour a lot and probably make decent money. It's a lifestyle for them. They're on the road, singing music they wrote and believe in. They might not be multi-millionaires, but they do well enough. I'd rather have decent money and perform songs me and my band wrote and love than be a millionaire, touring songs I hated, fashioning an image created by a team of marketing experts. That's probably how they feel about it too.

Understated, average-looking, smartly-dressed, smooth falsetto-voiced soul/ballad singers who put vocals at the fore ahead of staging and extraneous performance? Sorry if your claim to seeing the similarities strikes me as disingenuous.

Say what you want....they don't sound the same....and I think Sam Smith has more presence....he seems similar to Paul Akister...who is also someone who I also didn't think have much presence last year...someone also used the Sam Smith argument against me...they don't put as much emotion in their performances as he does ..they really aren't similar....

I must admit, I thought he was the type that would appeal to the Sam Smith crowd too.

He'll probably do a similar song at some point where he has to pretend he's doing it for the 'love' and not the money. Yeah, that was really believable Sam About as believable as Jessie J and her similar lyric.

Both corporate machines that probably had to sell their souls a dozen times over to get to where they are today!

Pop music isn't a well defined genre. The Beatles and ABBA did pop music and they are both as credible as any other artists I can think of. It's a tough market because good pop music is actually hard to write.

XF is very old fashioned as it is about production line pop music, I think we can blame Stock, Aitken and Watertman for bringing back the idea of the hit makers in the late 80s and it has damaged the development of pop music in the UK ever since.

I suppose it's most basic definition would just be 'popular', but most stuff that tends to be popular these days is the sort of stuff that is fed through this carefully orchestrated machine. Don't fall in line? You're quickly binned. We've even seen it on the x-factor- many acts that start with some quirk or originality tend to get it hammered out of them. When it comes to their single, it's a totally safe dirge-fest that sometimes takes off and makes the big bods in charge loads of money, other times not, but all in all, it's a pretty successful production line. I mean, even if 20 acts fail, if 1 makes you 10 million, you've done well.

Sam Smith has no presence whatsoever, at least not in terms of stage presence or charisma, He's all about the voice and the vocal performance. You might think that he puts more emotion into his performances, and I wouldn't necessarily disagree with you, but he's also got a few more year's experience under his belt so that's really not particularly shocking.

As for whether Ché can sell records or not - he's currently the highest selling act from this weeks show on iTunes at number 28 (number 29 if you look at Kworb, but still green so due to overtake Macklemore and Ryan Lewis shortly). That suggests that given the right song and opportunity he can indeed sell records regardless of whether you personally find him boring or not.

OP is correct. Look at all the disparagement towards Mason. The guy was objectively excellent this week. His vocals were immaculate, he actually stuck in the spirit of the theme and totally flipped the song around. He has a large online following and I think has the second highest youtube views of the contestants behind 4th Impact. He's extremely popular in his actual target demo. Former on here have no clue.

That's not really the point.

Sam Smith is established now and is very recognisable. Che on the other hand is of the same genre but doesn't offer anything unique that puts him apart. Success is won by those who can bring a fresh sound, not a close copy of another artist in the same genre. I can see this, and I'm not even a Sam Smith fan!

Maybe that's your mistake, presuming you're the only objective one, or that anyone who doesn't like his performances can't be objective?

I thought he was objectively shite and boring Couldn't give a toss about his backstage antics either. Opinions eh?

Vocal performance isn't a matter of opinion though. Objectively Mason was one of the most in tune, on the beat, non straining singers this week.

Clearly it is or I wouldn't have a different opinion to you

The OP means the turgid Soylent Green that the teenies and tweenies have been brain-washed in to thinking is great music.

This is why the show is failing, its being taken too seriously. I don't give a damn about record sales or charts, I just want to hear good singers and be entertained. The show isn't fun anymore.

The show has produced 1D, Leona Lewis, JLS, Olly Murs and Little Mix selling nearly 100m. That's the return. There's a few classic pop singles in that and radio stations will probably still be playing 'Bleeding Love' and 'What Makes you Beautiful' 10 years from now. In the end that's not bad as an impact on pop music.