This ^^^^

Fleur may have appealed to a mass audience and those that are young but Ben had a appeal to all ages - and he was a nice guy - Fleur had confidence a good figure and she didn't really sing heartfelt songs even though she was capable she was given the popstar treatment - she wasn't there to win she was there to make final 2 gives Simon an easy decision to sign her Aswell - he said he wanted to give the prize to both and he did!

Men will always have it easier on the show that's just way it is

I agree that Ben was the chosen one that year and Fleur wasn't on the radar until a few weeks in. Andrea was the original back up plan imo and got sidelined when Fleur stepped up. Maybe Stereo Kicks were a plan but it was soon realised they were sh*t
Ben auditioned as a blues/soul singer with a rocky edge and then get the XF treatment to water him down into a radio 2 friendly. loved by housewives, MOR lite rocker.
The songs he was given were so tame and meh, he was molded to appeal to the masses. I remember reading some of the song choice spoilers and groaning. Movie week for example he did Aerosmith ZZZZZZZ. My suggestion was Across 110th Street which would suit his voice perfectly and be a bit more edgy and different for XF. But, oh no, tame and lame it was

I want The X Factor to do some Blues Music to be honest as it can blend into a few interesting genres such as Rock and Soul.

That would be brilliant, however unfortunately Rock & Soul doesn't cause idiotic teenage girls to wet themselves every time a new poster / calender comes out, not to mention release of singles, gigs, signings etc.

While a decent Blues / Soul / Rock Artist - Band or Artist would generate enough in music sales & Gigs, (Download sales each year is evidence that rock is far from dead), they wouldn't sell much merchandise with exception of t-shirts, hoodies etc.

It is a shame really that the idiotic producers are only interested in talentless boy bands, or females that want to become the next Mariah Carey / Dion / Beyonce etc etc, where as in reality one of them in the world is enough.

I would love for a Symphonic Metal act to enter & win the X Factor, but sadly they would only be given the usual crappy material.

On a fun note, I would love for a Metal Core group or Thrash metal group do their own take on overrated bollox like clown / halo that gets forced down our throats. Just to see the look on peoples faces , which would probably be like what Amanda gave on BGT when the contestant done a metal version of "Let it go".

Most of the sabotage of Saara in the first few weeks came from the judges comments and her pre performance VT's