Do you think they should have changed the voting off procedure?

It's always going to be down to the judge who hasn't got an act in the last 2. I thought Simon got it right Saturday as he based his desicion burely on performance even though I'd rather have seen the Us progress.

The system is open to tactical voting as we've seen in the past. Is it time for neutral judges or purely public vote?

I suppose controversy makes for good tele/publicity.

i agree with you over this, WoolleyBear - so long as there's this daft competition between the judges then their choices will be viewed as suspect, and the onus to keep in an act of their own who haven't performed well on any given night seems paramount.

let them have their private wagers behind closed doors, and let them do a little more realistic, honest judging - we'd respect the show more and see it as more than just a piece of Saturday night taff! i really would like to see the quality of the programme go up, and it's only going to do that if the judges perform what they're there to perform... that way more serious contenders might apply instead of the (for the most part) rabble of deluded wannabes.

I think thats part of the fun - some of the time it is tactical but Simon did vote off his own act last year because he knew that they couldn't win on the performances they were giving. So long as we dont get another Maria v Conway result it'll be ok

I think its a ridiculous system. It should be like any other show... lowest viewers votes is out. lets face it if Simons act is in the bottom 2 next week Louis will vote out whoever it is purely to get at Simon.

Louis also showed exactly how professional he is on Saturday by openly admitting he wouldnt vote off his own act. That makes a farce of the whole thing
Last edited by starlight_xx : 16-10-2006 at 23:24

Exactly, I think it should all be on the public vote.

Why else do we spend our money with phone votes.

There could be thousands of votes between the bottom two.

Again, it's not to find the better talent, it's to find the better viewing figures.

TV show tv show tv show!

Nevermind their careers.
Last edited by GoldenEye007 : 16-10-2006 at 23:43

Yeah but to be fair, he mentors them, picks their songs, builds them up etc etc, it would be implying, "i'm a crap mentor and i picked the wrong group/act". Even Louis isn't that clueless.
Last edited by GoldenEye007 : 16-10-2006 at 23:58

Simon voted one of his acts off last year! But the mere fact they mentor them and pick their songs means theyre NOT being objective and picking the best person to go through. Which is WHY it should be the public vote and that alone

Conway sisters were an exception, i think he wanted to save himself from the embarrasment for future weeks

I agree you can't blame the judges/mentors for saving their own acts. They have to back their initial judgement. My worry is the less scrupulous judges will send home a better act if they see them as a threat to their acts.

The final descision shouldn't be with someone who has a vested interest even if that interest is just the pride of having the winning act.

I appreciate it's all about ratings but the quality of contestants will go down if the competetion is seen as more about which mentor wins as opposed to which act wins.

But isn't the point of X Factor the battle between the 3 judges?

None of the actual acts are that special: they'll probably be one-hit wonders and enjoy their 15 minutes worth of fame, but Simon, Louis and Sharon are the real stars of the show.

It's always possible that one judge will have two acts in the bottom two, and then they would all have a real decision to make...

I think Louis had to do that a couple of times in series one, and at least once last year! Simon and Sharon have been lucky so far and not had to do that IIRC.

In the first series Sharon had two acts in the bottom - Tabby and Cassie which resulted in Cassie going.

Simon hasn't had it yet but Louis has had it on a couple of occasions...

2 to go vs Voices with Soul
Voices with Soul vs G4
Chenai vs Nicholas

Blimey! What a memory! Okay, I admit it does make it interesting.

Could be wrong, but I think one of the reasons it is done this way is because in the great Fuller/Cowell spat regarding copyright and the like, it had to be made different to the Pop Idol eviction process.