Interesting point Drakhen and one that i'd not even considered before!

Totally disagree. James Arthur, imo, is the only winner so far in XF who is relevant to current music and he won because people could genuinely see how talented he was and how well he could actually do in the industry.

I started off not liking James but, as the show went on, it became obvious that he had something special that made him stand out in a sea of bland. Musically, he isn't my cup of tea but I ca see that he took songs and made them work for him. His Hometown Glory was a masterpiece (and maybe it worked for me because I'd never heard the song before he sang it) and it was like watching him perform in his own gig.

Week after week, he gave stand out performances and showed himself to be an artist rather than a karaoke singer. I'd never buy any of his music but his talent is hard to deny.

The sad thing is that, over the years, there have been other talented artists who haven't been allowed the freedom James was given. With the current panel, would he have still won?

But this been happening for years, I do not get that people still think it's going to get better the following year.

It wont. You only have to look at the current top 40 to see that the show doesn't represent what is happening with todays music.

I know.

People seem to believe every year that as there is a new look panel or back to basics panel that it's going to get good again, like it was back in the Alexandra Burke days.

It's laughable that people fall for it every year.

VERY good point, I am the same as you, I don't buy the conspiracy theories, but I do see the show for what it is, I really think most normal adults should be able to also lol.

You were talking about Relley. Relley was the final straw that caused you to start this thread!

If you don't consider what happened to Relley an example of this 'shady dealing' then I don't see why Relley going would have prompted your OP

It's true I haven't read the other thread. If you'd like to link it here then I'll take a look but I have neither the time nor the motivation to go hunting for it.

It's all very well talking in general terms but surely if they have done something to sway viewer opinion into dumping Relley in the bottom two or they have some motivation for choosing to save 4OD over Relley (that isn't related to who they preferred or who they think will have the most chance to improve their popularity going forwards) then why can't you just point these things out?

There's nothing better than a concrete example.

If what happened to Relley is not an example of this 'shady dealing' then that OP was just a tad misleading. It's also indicative that there are number of good acts that aren't Matt who did get selected at judges houses that you like (Saara, Gifty, 5 after Midnight and Relley) which also rather detracts from your point, it seems to me!

Personally I thought Sam was one of the best last week and I am entirely in favour of saving Four of Diamonds over Relley. If that's because I've been brainwashed somehow then I'd love to know how they did it!

They don't have to sabotage an act to get rid of them faster than their chosen ones, they could also simply just be more biased towards their chosen acts and promote them better? Noo???? Did you not think of that???? Loooool!! You apppear to have forgotten about that OBVIOUS aspect...also the fact you think Sam was one of the best last week shows ur already being brainwashed by Cowell, Cowell gave negative remarks about Relley's performance and positive ones about Sam's sorry but when I watched them both again Relley was miles better.

Like I said. Let's have a concrete example. Did they do that with Relley? Specifically who did they promote more than Relley and in what way were they promoted better than Relley?

If not Relley then who?

Let's stop speaking in generalities and speak specifics. If you can't name specific examples of this manipulation then you have no case.

To me, it's irrelevant anyway. I vote for who gives the best performances or who entertained me the most. How much audition footage or Xtra-Factor interviews they might get has zero impact on me and apart from being disappointed with Saara and 4OD being in the bottom two I have no problem with the results of the live shows so far.

You only need to look at the staging and production of Sam's and then compare it to Relley's which one had more effort put into it? and be honest, go back and watch and you will find some of this evidence you are looking for. Also I mentioned Cowell's comments on both acts he threw 1 under the bus while praised the other.. I could probably list more if you like but you can always watch the show again from another perspective and decide rather than having people state the obvious to you.

The staging had to fit the song and they can't make a huge production out of every act. To be honest, they could both have been standing on a box in a bare room and Sam would still have been a better performance than Relley. Sam was, in my opinion, one of the best performances of the night.

Relley got plenty of praises despite the fact that she was ill (which one would have thought would have added some sympathy votes on top).

Try again.

Fair warning, though, if they were specifically trying to get Relley in the bottom three then you'd have to make a case for every other act that got saved!

lol now I know ur talkin rubbish Simon did ANYTHING BUT praise her!! Dont know why I am bothering with you as you obviously have no idea what you are talking about if your telling me Simon "praised" Relley you should probably stop now 🙂

Ok, ok, so I've got a bad memory. It occurred to me I couldn't quite remember if everyone praised her so I amended my post. Too late it seems

Doesn't really change my point. She got plenty of praises and she wasn't the only one who got criticism.

In any case, in my experience, the more an act gets criticised the more vigorous the voters are in supporting them and when the judges give mixed messages then it's up to the voters to make up their own minds. I've never changed my vote based on the judges comments.

Oki doki then lol

Thrombin, again, you clearly did NOT read any of my other posts. Relley is the reason I am done watching, not the reason I spoke out, which I did at the start of the season . She was the last contestant I was interested enough in to follow, though I do like some others enough to check Youtube and hope they do well .

You clearly just want to argue without even checking or understanding what is actually being said or going on, and I clearly just want to see artists given a way to gain a bit of promotion wihout risking misrepresentation via things like bad mixes and personality erasing edits.

A very close personal friend of mine who I mentored made it to judges houses this year. I have mentored others who made it further, a couple much further, and on more widely watched but sadly similar shows. I donot know Relley personally. It is pretty clear that I am not just upset over Relley, though yes, she was manipulated off the show earlier than she'd likely fairly have gone because she was bexoming too popular compared to others who already have a lot of promo,film time,and investing in them.

Again,for those who have better things to do than troll forums, the whats really going on thread explains a lot for anyone who is actually interested in learning some things about how the show really operates and why it is such a risk for artists and how they are lured in anyway.

The name "Thrombin" does actually sound like a troll from Lord of the rings or sum shizz like that tbf.

And what experience do you have of this exactly???? Very telling that sentence starting to think that you and your sidekick do indeed work for the show as an earlier poster suggested!

As a Samantha fan I do say that you have a point on what you're saying here.

Samantha got a massive choir in the background, foggy effects, and Guitar players and Drummers onstage, and a more interesting song choice, and then you've got Relley with a bare stage, boring song choice, and knowing that she's not the best of performers they just had her then trapped by those two important factors.

With the exception of Gifty Relley was the best performer of the live finalist IMO.

I'm not saying Relley is the only reason you believe what you believe, but she's a concrete example that was brought up in this thread who you do believe is a victim of this manipulation and the clear implication of the OP is that this is what caused her to leave. You even say as much in this very post that I'm replying to:


All I'm asking is for you to explicitly explain exactly what incidents/edits you have seen which contribute to the idea that she was "manipulated off the show" because, on the face of it, I can see no evidence, logic or motivation they could have that would justify that statement.

What better way to put your point across than with concrete examples related to a specific contestant?

For starter without the flash vote Relley would still be on the show.

Of course they will.

I know you previously stated in a post earlier in this thread that you suffer from a bad memory but did we not cover some of this yesterday?????????

You mean when Simon critiqued Relley? He was still praising her singing, I seem to recall.

I hope you're not saying that the fact the judges occasionally dare to critique the acts they're supposed to be judging that that's evidence of a conspiracy. I've often found Simon's critiques entirely justified and constructive. When taken on board in subsequent weeks, it has even served to improve the contestants' performances.

Sure, if presented as part of a body of evidence, then it could indicate a trend but, as a one-off, I don't buy it. In previous weeks they've been praising her far in excess of what I felt she deserved!

Why even go for a theme like Diva week if you're aim for the week is to target Relley for removal? That theme should, in theory, suit her down to the ground.

Besides, I'm still waiting for someone to explain exactly what they gain by having Relley voted off.

1) Dressed like a 40 year old every week even though she is 26

2) Dated song choices

3) Ill last week and still criticised harshly 'you didnt try your best' / 'that's no excuse' etc. This is the show where Kelly Rowland took a week off when she had a sore throat and wasn't even required to sing a demanding number.

4) The bottom 3 existing. If when those votes come out and Relley was third from bottom, that will show how unfair it is that she went. If she was genuinely bottom I will take all of this back.

I don't think Relley was one of the worst treated contestants. But judges and production staff didn't do much to give people a reason to vote for her and last week came across like they blamed her for being ill. Contrast Gifty, dressed in white, close up camera angles, trendy blonde hair, a choir supporting her last week.

You say not everyone can have a big production. Why not? It's literally a high budget primetime entertainment show, I don't buy that they can't afford to pull out the stops for everyone. If some people disproportionately get huge productions and others don't, isn't that showing favouritism??