My thoughts entirely

Have to say that to some extent I agree with BB8

If you look back you'll see I posted something similar at the beginning of the series.

Here's the wrap.

I'm going to put on a new show .
I have my "star" but want to raise awareness prior to launch in a few months time
So...I advertise to all comers to have a go .Truth is , they'll never make it as the decision is already made , but it'll create a tremendous amount of publicity.....and the public will "think" they are going to have a say...which of course , they wont.

Get rid of any real competition in the final stages and arrange a couple of shock results... pitch the final to include someone with a good voice , but totally unlikeable....and a bit of eye candy for the kids.

Oh....and donate all call charges to charity....that makes it all above board.

Great formula and its worked twice so far!

Its time that the full voting figures were declared by the beeb so that they can be tied up to the final amount donated to charity ( how can you collect for chrarity when the voting is not independantly adjudicated ? )

NOTHING in TV is real.....simple as that.....and NO ONE takes risks.

The Josephs who were knocked out wont complain...they got TV coverage and introductions to agents....something they would never have got without the show.

The charities wont complain because they get a shed load of money.


The show organisers took no risks and got the result they planned

So , who is the loser ?

Those silly enough to have votied thinking they were actually having a say in what went on. )

Here's some advice.....

Make enquiries of those who were in the Joseph house...talk to former TV producers about what goes on ...... find out who actually collated the results.

You might be surprised what you find out !

All this won't make any difference.....similar shows will continue.....as I say , the real draw is that the public like to think they are making the decisions....
gives 'em some sort of kick !

Yeah but that means one of two things...

1. You are relying on the public to like who you like - what if they don't? What if they choose someone else?That's a pretty big gamble to take with fickle public opinion. With the tendency of the GBP to vote for the underdog it is hardly a certainty.

2. You let the public vote and ignore the results, eliminating who you want instead. Which is of course illegal and OFCOM would do their nut. Too big a risk especially since all the 'scandals' about these phone votes have come out.

I think this is possible, but as you say no fix. It was a win-win situation for everybody really. For ALW, either he gets the competent professional that is Lee, or some newcomer shines so much that he outstrips Lee, in which case ALW I'm sure would have been happy to have him. For the other contestants time is on their side (mostly) and in the meantime they get valuable exposure. Even the faces of those knocked out in the early rounds remain in our minds, and those that deserve to will definitely go far. And the viewing public - well they get a show that's been a lot of fun. So nothing for anyone to complain about.

Yes..but how do you prove nothing underhand is going on?
When they come out with this 'your calls have been verified'
by whom, what and where is what I would like to know.
The whole reality tv thing is a big money spinner!

OFCOM have to look into these things if there possible issues or allegations when money is changing hands. It's really not worth the potential hassle and legal problems for the BBC to fix it.

Are you implying that the voting figures were rigged to remove Lee's main rivals?

It's really not worth the potential hassle and legal problems for the BBC to fix it.

Hmmmmmmmmm

well said!

I believe it was a fix for Lee to win and has been for the start. As an understudy he had an advantage over the other boys and it's obvious from the ALW decisions to get rid of people (e.g Daniel) and the song choices chosen for the other Josephs (e.g Keith last night) that everything was done in Lee's favour. How many times has he performed last?

Having said all of that - the answer to your question is NO. It doesn't kill the show. It didn't stop me watching or voting and i have really enjoyed this series. The same applied for HDYSAPLM? where it was steered for Connie to win - but it didn't ruin the excitement of the show.

Lee and Connie did both deserve to win and the idea that the show was fixed for them to win, just shows how talented they are and that they deserve the roles.

I think you have hit the nail on the head there. In this country, people seem to dislike talent and want to knock it. It is never celebrated, just critised. I agree with everyone, Lee stood head and shoulders above everyone else in his whole attitude to the show, and his ability. He looks like a lovely bloke with a professional attitude and it is obvious to all that he is hugely talented . I'm sure there were another one or two of the guys (in particular Seamus and Ben in my opinion) who also could have carried it off and done a great job of Joseph, bu it is Lee that the public took to and wanted to pay to see on the stage. All of this shouting of a "fix" is ridiculous and a bad case of sour grapes I'm afraid. It was the right result.....end of!!![/quote]

I agree that the british public ususal vote for the underdog - but what good would it have done to vote for someone who simply wasn't good enough to play the part! Lee won becuase he was the most talented, simple as that. i agree with you and think its brill that the british public voted for talent! it was the right result

The word 'fix' is simply being used too liberally without any consideration of what it implies. If Lee's victory is a fix, then it implies that on at least one occasion the voting public put him in the bottom two, but the show chose to ignore that decision and put someone else in the bottom two instead.

As has been pointed out several times, it would be sheer madness in the current climate for the BBC to do such a thing. I think we can safely believe that, even on his less good weeks, Lee was safely clear of the abyss.

The result of the competition are firmly endorsed by so many other facts

1. On almost any forum you cared to visit, Lee's thread was always the longest, and all the polls I saw put him clearly in the lead from about the third week onwards. Or have the BBC and ALW somehow fixed this as well?

2. The reception to Lee in the studio last night was overwhelming. The cynics shout 'Rentacrowd' I suppose.

3. There is no need to fix a show when it contains several candidates who are clearly well up to the required standard. Lee and Daniel were obviously ready for the job. The public seem to have liked Lee more, and with justification in my opinion.

4. I don't understand the claims that Lee seemed cocky and sure of the result. Quite the reverse. Unless you think the panel were lying about his insecurities. I doubt it. His own demeanour off-stage spoke volumes about his self-doubt, unless he is really a far better actor than even I believe him to be.

5. It was not a matter of fixing it for 'the only professional' although the BBC was sometimes guilty of making it look this way by downplaying everyone else's experience. How on earth could Daniel understudy for Russell Watson and yet still be 'a humble filing clerk'? It makes no sense!!

A great new talent has been unearthed, and I do wish others could be as happy about this fact as I am.

yes - the whole world of tv is a conspiracy! no fix - get over it.

But he couldn't vote Daniel into the bottom two - He isn't really the Lord

Haha. I know but he got rid of him over - i think it was Lewis

Ah yes the audition stages, the one where Lee was hardly shown, not even his reaction to getting through and a shot of Keith looking upset was shown every five minutes, I can see how that was a fix for Lee to win.


Considering ALW backing of Lewis last night, did no one ever think that maybe ALW saved Lewis over Daniel because he wanted Lewis to win.

Sorry , all this talk about OFCOM is simply demonstrating how naive people can be.
OFCOM is a toothless organisation.....it doesnt have the resources or indeed the inclination to check out these things.

Its only when insiders blow the story that the truth comes out.....and OFCOM is forced to get involved.

Cite the fixing of some of the X Factor results by the telcomms company....the Blue Peter competition....the numerous Big Brother voting " problems" , Richard and Judy , GMTV etc etc....

Once you press the send button on your phone to vote you have no idea where or what happens to that text.

As I said , nothing is left to chance..... !

ALWs decsions had no impact on what would be the final result , all the producers needed to know was that Lee would win.....the rest was down to playing with the lives of the other unfortunate contestants.

I don't know what you do for a living - but I reckon you're wasting your talents; MI6 needs you

Like how Mr "Nice Guy" Kenwright had to get it in about his first backing for Lee in Theatre - to a lot of the general public it looks like a total waste of how many weeks free TV exposure for ALW.

" I don't know what you do for a living - but I reckon you're wasting your talents; MI6 needs you "

) You got the wrong department

Blimey - don't tell me that spies infiltrated ADWD and that they sabotaged the whole thing. Do you know who there were.


I am impressed
Last edited by The Divination : 10-06-2007 at 13:41

Bottom line is....wait and see , I dont think it will be too long before inside info starts seeping out.

This will result in all caller based TV being scrutinised and independant adjudicators being appointed to all such shows , with results made available to the public....just like company accounts..... as it should be.

The problem will then be that results will be too predictable.....and this genre of show will disappear.

Very well said, and eruditely explained.

If you think it is fixed you have to ignore Lee's enormous thread on this very site and all of the poles that have been done here. From the cross section of people on the site it's completely obvious who has been the front runner in the public's eyes from the very beginning.

And whether OFCOM have teeth or not the BBC are obviously highly sensitive to the recent phone scandals because after every performance we had GN telling us NOT to vote yet becuase the line weren't open and we would still get charged for the call.

I thought from the start that Lee was the most talented and most people could've watched 50 auditionees and picked Lee as the star. It didn't have to be a TV series.

However, most of us have enjoyed it immensely; we've raised money for Charity and promoted MT.

A few points I would like to remind people of though...

Lee was not the only professional to enter - Daniel and Lee were the only ones to get throught to final 12, so good for them!

People didn't vote for Daniel therefore giving ALW the opportunity to get rid of him. Maybe bad songs didn't help Daniel, but others made the best of bad songs.

There were some subtle hints too: Putting the last 3 in James Bond outfits was always going to help Lee more than the other 'boys'.

In summary, imo an enjoyable roller coaster of a fix!