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How manipulative is the show? |
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#1 |
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Join Date: Aug 2006
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How manipulative is the show?
I guess I'm not alone in thinking the XFactor is the supreme example of audience manipulation - particularly in the 4th series - so you'll have to let me know if you agree.
There's the obvious stuff, like the pitiful VT's and sob stories which dominate the earlier audition rounds, but they must work and must mean more phone votes and viewers because otherwise they wouldn't happen. You hardly ever meet anyone prepared to admit they felt sorry for someone due to a VT, but the fact that XF goes so large on it says something. But there are other forms of manipulation too. How many extra votes did SD get last night because of the tears? How many extra votes does Leon get when he gets bashed by Simon? I've even wondered whether he gets more votes on his bad weeks than on his good weeks - which would explain some of the songs he's been given purely in terms of the phone votes they crave so much. How many extra votes has Rhydian received because he went from being portrayed as an arrogant clown to a very humble guy who could sing very well? Rhydian's story is the most interesting because it's the one that seems most manipulated. It is almost impossible to believe now, that he acted like such a fool during the audition rounds (and yes I know you can do a lot with editing.). Veering into conspiracy theory time, what we seem to have is a nice decent, fairly privileged lad, with a good voice, but no real story. He's a christian, a virgin, teetotal - it's not exactly rock and roll is it? I mean no disrespect to anyone who is teetotal, still a virgin in their mid-twenties and who has faith but it's a far cry from the persona that was presented earlier on. Rhydian has been made infinitely more interesting by his story - the panto baddie who turned it all round. It seems beyond belief that the producers didn't plan for this - to make him far more interesting and relevant than he actually is. This isn't intended as a Rhydian bash, I've really enjoyed some of his performances but feel I've seen the best of him. If he wins, and he is rightly the favourite, he would be a deserving winner - there's no bones about that. The winner is the most popular act in the final, simple as. I'd have no complaints if Leon or Same Difference won either. I'm wondering how much the acts are allowed to join in with the manipulation - how much are they told what to do or what to say? It's only a tv show, so maybe it doesn't matter at all, but it is kind of fascinating to watch the manipulation. |
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#2 |
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Join Date: Jun 2003
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It didn't work one single iota last year or really the year before so I don't think it really matters. There is always a dark horse and this year I think it's Leon. As for Same Difference I think they've been popular from the start which is more than I can say for Niki so I don't think Sarah crying had anything to do with the vote.
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#3 |
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agree 100% with youre post.
and yep for me the sob stories have totally ruined this year,and theres no doubt in my mind without the tears last night SD would have been going home. X factor is in very shaky ground this series its clear rhyds is the only proper singer in there ive never known a year with so many people singing really bad notes. the entire choice they picked this year was a disaster apart from rhydian and i bet simon is thanking his lucky stars they at least have one winner in this bunch. |
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#4 |
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Quote:
How many extra votes has Rhydian received because he went from being portrayed as an arrogant clown to a very humble guy who could sing very well?
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#5 |
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Quote:
agree 100% with youre post.
and yep for me the sob stories have totally ruined this year,and theres no doubt in my mind without the tears last night SD would have been going home. X factor is in very shaky ground this series its clear rhyds is the only proper singer in there ive never known a year with so many people singing really bad notes. the entire choice they picked this year was a disaster apart from rhydian and i bet simon is thanking his lucky stars they at least have one winner in this bunch. I always thought the vote would be down to Niki and Leon as I've always thought SD and Rhydian were the most popular. |
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#6 |
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Join Date: Jun 2003
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But did you not witness the level of hatred Rhydian experienced in the early weeks? He was one of the faves to be booted out in Week 1 and it really is a testament to his performance that he wasn't even in the Bottom 2 that night. If they were grooming him as the potential winner from the start, it was a very strange way to go about it. I can certainly think of less risky ways to get the public interested in someone.
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#7 |
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Join Date: Jul 2007
Posts: 1,390
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Rhydian will win because he's by far the most talented - For manipulation just look at Big Brother or Biggins winning IAC
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#8 |
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Join Date: Aug 2006
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Quote:
But did you not witness the level of hatred Rhydian experienced in the early weeks? He was one of the faves to be booted out in Week 1 and it really is a testament to his performance that he wasn't even in the Bottom 2 that night. If they were grooming him as the potential winner from the start, it was a very strange way to go about it. I can certainly think of less risky ways to get the public interested in someone.
I'd be interested to hear what your less risky ways of getting the public interested in him would be, genuinely! I guess I formed the opinion that the public seeing him as a worthy lad, christian, virgin, teetotal and a bit intense, which probably is what he is, wouldn't have given him the publicity and angle he got. Then again Cameron won big brother.... |
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#9 |
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I don't agree - like trinity2002 I think the panto baddie publicity gave him an angle none of the other acts had. The campaign to turn things round started in advance of the first week of live shows - I saw several interviews with him that week in which he came across as a decent guy. The baddie who came good gave him a whole angle of stories to get publicity from - how I was made to look a fool, I'm nothing like the monster they've shown, they set me up, I'm thinking of quitting etc etc.
I'd be interested to hear what your less risky ways of getting the public interested in him would be, genuinely! I guess I formed the opinion that the public seeing him as a worthy lad, christian, virgin, teetotal and a bit intense, which probably is what he is, wouldn't have given him the publicity and angle he got. Then again Cameron won big brother.... I think if it was all set up it was an potentially crazy way to build a star. Rhydian was receiving death threats before the live shows started, that is how nonsensical the reaction was. Even now, some gutter rags like The Star and The Sun love having little digs about everything from his appearance, his sexuality, his nationality, his 'weirdness', and now lately, the whole virginity issue. Would they really have been able to get away with this sort of behaviour if he was portrayed as good, clean-cut Christian boy from the start? No, I think not. Watch the judges comments from Week 1 back: they were pretty vicious to him. http://youtube.com/watch?v=wPqCJvGNvxs Well, from the old crows on the panel anyway. Not about his performance, but about his personality. I can't imagine that would have made a host of new people rush for their phones. They didn't think he'd be around for long so it didn't matter. They way they styled his hair, and dressed him in the early weeks with a bit of a joke. They were trying to create a novelty until Your Raise Me Up came along and they saw that a lot of people just liked hearing this guy sing.
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#10 |
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Join Date: Jun 2006
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I always thought the vote would be down to Niki and Leon as I've always thought SD and Rhydian were the most popular. We have no idea who got the second lowest number of votes - for all we know Leon might have come top in the voting! |
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#11 |
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Join Date: Jun 2005
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I can't imagine that would have made a host of new people rush for their phones. They didn't think he'd be around for long so it didn't matter. They way they styled his hair, and dressed him in the early weeks with a bit of a joke. They were trying to create a novelty until Your Raise Me Up came along and they saw that a lot of people just liked hearing this guy sing.
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#12 |
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Quote:
Watch the judges comments from Week 1 back: they were pretty vicious to him.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=wPqCJvGNvxs Well, from the old crows on the panel anyway. ![]() Part of it is certainly down to the editing, but I think that there's definitely a swagger there that he's lost recently. I wouldn't be surprised if he had watched himself back and, as well as thinking "oh, they've edited me badly" he thought "oh, I don't come across as a particularly nice person when I act like that", and so toned himself down. I'm not saying that what he's like now is an act, but sometimes we do have to see ourselves from the outside to realise what we're like. |
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#13 |
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I'm a firm believer that there is a very fine line between confidence and arrogance.
Rhydian seemed a very self confident person early on and with a little tweek of the edit, Bang we have him coming across arrogant. It was so obvious from the way he conducted himself from week 1 of the live shows that he had been edited to look like he was big headed. I agree that the show tries to manipulate people, I bet there are hundreds if not thoudands voting for SD just to annoy Louis Walsh. |
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#14 |
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Join Date: Nov 2007
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Rhydian definitely gets preferential treatment on this show. Simon wants him to win so badly. He gets the choirs and backing track singers to make him sound better than he is. Why would Sharon say that she had never met anyone as egotistical as him? He has been told that he must show a humble side or viewers will not want to vote for him.
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#15 |
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Quote:
But did you not witness the level of hatred Rhydian experienced in the early weeks? He was one of the faves to be booted out in Week 1 and it really is a testament to his performance that he wasn't even in the Bottom 2 that night. If they were grooming him as the potential winner from the start, it was a very strange way to go about it. I can certainly think of less risky ways to get the public interested in someone.
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#16 |
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Join Date: Apr 2006
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HOW MANY MORE TIMES - THERE IS NO BOTTOM TWO AND THE VOTES ARE ANNOUNCED IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER.
We have no idea who got the second lowest number of votes - for all we know Leon might have come top in the voting! I wonder how they choose which of the six possible combinations of giving that result to use... |
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#17 |
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Quote:
HOW MANY MORE TIMES - THERE IS NO BOTTOM TWO AND THE VOTES ARE ANNOUNCED IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER.
We have no idea who got the second lowest number of votes - for all we know Leon might have come top in the voting! I agree with what the poster said, I believe SD & Rhyd were safe and it was between Leon & Niki to go. |
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#18 |
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Join Date: May 2005
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I don't think you read the person's post properly and your shouting is just rude.
I agree with what the poster said, I believe SD & Rhyd were safe and it was between Leon & Niki to go. I don't understand the "Leon is the dark horse" thing at all. Bottom line is that he has the personality of a corpse, and an only average singing voice. Quite cute looking, but I won't be caring about that if I buy his records. He will not have a great recording career, I confidently predict that if he does win, his recording label will drop him within the year. |
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#19 |
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Join Date: Nov 2006
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Quote:
Rhydian definitely gets preferential treatment on this show. Simon wants him to win so badly. He gets the choirs and backing track singers to make him sound better than he is..
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#20 |
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It was so obvious from the way he conducted himself from week 1 of the live shows that he had been edited to look like he was big headed. He did say and do all of those things, yes reality shows exagerate but they have to have the raw material in the first place! The simple truth is that if the producers hadn't chosen the angle they did he would not have got through boot camp. |
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#21 |
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Join Date: Nov 2005
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I'm not saying that what he's like now is an act, but sometimes we do have to see ourselves from the outside to realise what we're like.
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#22 |
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Join Date: May 2006
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The sob stories have increased since Strictly Come Dancing has been getting larger audiences - ITV need to get viewers in....
I am not suggesting that this is the only reason for this manipulation .... The X Factor seems to like emphasising peoples misfortunes.... I will not note for anyone invovled in one of these sob stories - its not that I dont believe them, its just that they have nothing to do with talent |
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#23 |
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If he was really that bad, surely Simon could have said "He has a really bad attitude/I think he's a ******" etc, and not put him through bootcamp? I agree however, maybe he WAS a bit up himself at the start, you have to have the material there in the first place, ie he must have really be acting bigheaded in some cases to give the producers material to make him appear bigheaded.
All the contestants get choirs/backing singers etc - but Rhydian has outsung them all. |
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#24 |
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I think what's more interesting is watching his audition. The only person who didn't vote him through was Dannii. But it's remarkable how different he appears there.
Part of it is certainly down to the editing, but I think that there's definitely a swagger there that he's lost recently. I wouldn't be surprised if he had watched himself back and, as well as thinking "oh, they've edited me badly" he thought "oh, I don't come across as a particularly nice person when I act like that", and so toned himself down. I'm not saying that what he's like now is an act, but sometimes we do have to see ourselves from the outside to realise what we're like. Mind you, even if he'd walked in looking like a condemned man, the judges couldn't fail to have been impressed by that voice. But then I think the person with the least confidence in Rhydian's talent is Rhydian. |
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#25 |
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The simple truth is that if the producers hadn't chosen the angle they did he would not have got through boot camp.
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Not about his performance, but about his personality. I can't imagine that would have made a host of new people rush for their phones. They didn't think he'd be around for long so it didn't matter. They way they styled his hair, and dressed him in the early weeks with a bit of a joke. They were trying to create a novelty until Your Raise Me Up came along and they saw that a lot of people just liked hearing this guy sing.