it wasn't them who put themselves through to the lives.

The fault or root cause lies entirely at the door of the Cowell and the producers.

The consequences of not putting the best singers like Nate, James, Caitlyn, Peyton through is coming back to haunt the show in spectacular fashion.

Nate wouldn't have got the support...he was clearly the best but nobody really wanted him back. Shame.
James would have been a big risk to put through.
Caitlyn is just extremely unlikeable. She loves herself way too much and apparently she was the bully, so she lied about that. She's auditioned for next year as well.

Out of the contestants left behind, only Ivy had the potential to go far.. she should have been there instead of Saara. It was always going to be between 5am and Matt Terry. I'm just glad that the choices for the lives weren't predictable, at least they shook things up a little bit. I'm surprised the line up wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

Agree OP. It could have been so different this year had the best acts not been binned off at judges houses. Peyton would have been epic last night but think he'd have been too strong for the producers to control.

With the likes of him. James, Janet, Nate, Skarl3t etc in the lives and some new song choices, it could have been so different

It's hard to tell how they would done in the live shows had they actually got through though. Everyone was raving about 4 of Diamonds when they didn't get through, but when they were brought back they were a massive damp squib and received virtually zero support.

Or like with Monica last year- they had her singing Beyonce numbers.

If Simon doesn't want an act to do well then they won't.

Indeed. Cowell calls the shots.

Can you imagine what might've happened had Ray beat Leona to win X Factor 2006.

Exactly! That's what I'm saying. You really can't tell how they would have done. Everything sounds so different when you get to the live shows.

I honestly don't think it's because of the line up. Obviously it isn't perfect, but with the right songs, each one of them (apart from the obvious) has the potential to deliver something good.

As much as Leona isn't my cup of tea, the thought of Ray winning is my worst nightmare. He is without doubt my most loathed contestant in the history of the show. I can not bear him and his stage school brat eyes teeth and jazz hands performances. His YNWA still makes me shudder to this day

Ah, but they did audition to go on it. The current contestants thought they were good enough to go through to the lives otherwise they wouldn't have applied. Once on the show, it's down to them to put on a good performance and sing well. I do see your point though.