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Watchdog looks into X Factor vote


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Old 17-12-2007, 16:38
rhysm101
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Media watchdog Ofcom is looking into complaints from X Factor viewers who claim they could not phone through to vote for runner-up Rhydian Roberts.
The Welsh singer was hot favourite to win, but narrowly lost to Leon Jackson on Saturday night's ITV1 show.

Ofcom has had 80 viewers' complaints, and some told the BBC they tried and failed to vote up to 10 times.

But both the programme and ITV said they had no reports of problems with phone lines.

An Ofcom spokesman said viewers had "expressed concerns about the operation of the voting and many said they were struggling to get through".

Some radio stations in Rhydian's native Wales said they would boycott the winner's single and demanded a recount.

Scotland's Leon won the ITV1 show and a £1m recording contract, beating Rhydian, who had been the 1/3 favourite.


If the 'network' was busy then surely the amount of votes could not accurately be counted

Andrew Powell, X Factor viewer on the victory of Leon, pictured

But viewers who had tried to vote for Rhydian, 24, from Sennybridge, Powys, insisted the phone lines were constantly busy during Saturday night's live final.

Gwyneth Greenslade, from Llandrindod Wells, Powys, told the BBC News website she had phoned 10 times and could not get through.


Her two friends also tried seven and 10 times respectively - and they too failed to register a vote.

"If you ring 10 times you expect to get through - I was very cross," said Mrs Greenslade.

"A lot of other people in this area said they couldn't get through. It seems to be very unfair."

Andrew Powell, from Abergavenny, e-mailed BBC Wales to say he and his family tried ringing to vote for Rhydian for an hour-and-a-half, only to be told the network was busy.

'Altered the outcome'

He wrote: "If the 'network' was busy then surely the amount of votes could not accurately be counted as the possibility of thousands of other voters that could not get through may have altered the outcome."

Fans on website message boards also complained about being unable to get through to vote for Rhydian.

A group of radio stations in Wales - including Bridgend's Bridge FM, Swansea Bay Radio, Radio Carmarthenshire and Radio Pembrokeshire - said they would ban Leon's Christmas single over the voting.

The stations, which are part of the Town and Country Broadcasting group, said they wanted a recount after being inundated with calls from their listeners about the busy phone lines.

A spokeswoman for The X Factor said there were no reports of problems on the phone lines and denied any voting irregularities.

She said if people could not get through, it would be because of the high volume of calls - an issue that is dealt with by its phone provider.

An ITV spokeswoman also said there had been "no problems" with the voting lines.
hmmmm
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Old 17-12-2007, 16:41
Steady40
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Surely this is just people who are angry that Rhydian didn't win

There's just no way ITV would risk jeopardising themselves again.
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Old 17-12-2007, 16:41
yohinnchild
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I remember in Pop Idol 1 ringing practically all night to get a vote registered... Its just sour grapes
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Old 17-12-2007, 16:42
ArtyAttack
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Sour grapes. Leon fans especially in Scotland also couldnt get through.
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Old 17-12-2007, 16:43
SteveOwen
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Wow, they are taking the complaints seriously at least.
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Old 17-12-2007, 16:44
May Blossom
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Same every year for the losing act but this time it has the nationality aspect which is X-Factor own fault
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Old 17-12-2007, 16:44
ZipGypsy
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Good....I'm glad. And while they're at it....they can look into why I had trouble getting through to vote for Leon.
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Old 17-12-2007, 16:45
trinity2002
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They can look, but I seriously doubt they'd find anything wrong. If someone can't get through then it is generally because the phone lines are too busy. Even going back to the days when Stars in Their Eyes was probably the biggest phone vote it usually took me a few goes to register a vote and in those days the sheer volume of calls was much lower than they are in X-Factor.
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Old 17-12-2007, 16:46
ZipGypsy
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Same every year for the losing act but this time it has the nationality aspect which is X-Factor own fault
Totally agree. Bliddy fools with that.
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Old 17-12-2007, 16:47
ArtyAttack
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Good....I'm glad. And while they're at it....they can look into why I had trouble getting through to vote for Leon.
Leon fans arent allowed to complain Zip.
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Old 17-12-2007, 16:47
C14E
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This problem is as old as phone votes. I was having my ear bent last night from a woman saying she couldn't register her 3rd vote for Alesha on Saturday. (she intended to vote 5 times!).

It's happened on X Factor for years and every other show I can think of. That's why they usually say "we know the lines are busy ... just keep trying".
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Old 17-12-2007, 16:47
Muttley76
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All they will find is that everyone had trouble getting through due to call volume.

Of course when this is what the conclude, it will still not satisfy some posters here...
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Old 17-12-2007, 16:48
L-K-F
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Good....I'm glad. And while they're at it....they can look into why I had trouble getting through to vote for Leon.
Exactly! Took me a full 45 minutes on the phone to register 1 vote for Leon, the lines were very busy, that's what happens!

This whole thing has become a fiasco with frenzied fans of Rhydian going way over the top not to mention how stupid the local welsh radio stations are making the welsh look. And NO I am not Scottish I am English.
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Old 17-12-2007, 16:49
square_eyes
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Absurd, there are claims such as this with every big phone voting TV event. And good to see the Rhydian camp totally distancing themselves from it.

I don't doubt for a moment that Rhydian and Leon had the same voting capacity enabled to them.

However, the congestion problem is likely to be at the service provider end and the number of people dialing in your local area.

TV voting such as this is never going to be an exact science, what's the alternative, leaving the lines open for a week ? Only that doesn't make great telly, and the immediacy of the moment is lost.
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Old 17-12-2007, 16:50
ZipGypsy
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I think this issue has a couple of aspects here.

1. 80 complaints - not that many.

2. We had the very same thing when it was Will and Gareth.

3. People cannot accept that Rhydian didn't win.

4. A seasoned PI and XF fan, I have experienced this stuff every year.....time and time again. I wonder if some of the complainers are people who don't usually vote???
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Old 17-12-2007, 16:50
x0x-gg4l-x0x
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So Rhyd was getting so many votes that for hours nobody could get through at all becuase he was being all voted up, wouldnt that of meant he would have won if the voting was so much you couldnt get through becuase there are already so many people voting?
That didnt make sense loads of people couldnt get through and it wasnt fair.
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Old 17-12-2007, 16:51
GoodMikey
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I don't think I've been charged for my votes :S
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Old 17-12-2007, 16:52
pink sparkle
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This is just nonsense, i spent the whole 2 hours on the landline phone trying to get through to vote for LEON and didn't, not once. Why can't people accept, Leon won, he had more votes than Rhydian and that's that.
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Old 17-12-2007, 16:52
CaptainPlaneto
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It doesn't get much better than this.
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Old 17-12-2007, 16:53
Muttley76
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So Rhyd was getting so many votes that for hours nobody could get through at all becuase he was being all voted up, wouldnt that of meant he would have won if the voting was so much you couldnt get through becuase there are already so many people voting?
That didnt make sense loads of people couldnt get through and it wasnt fair.
What you fail to understand is that Leon fans were expereincing the exact some problems. It has happened in each and every single final of Pop Idol and X Factor and American Idol too.

It was no more unfair to Rhydian than it was to Leon.
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Old 17-12-2007, 16:53
ZipGypsy
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So Rhyd was getting so many votes that for hours nobody could get through at all becuase he was being all voted up, wouldnt that of meant he would have won if the voting was so much you couldnt get through becuase there are already so many people voting?
That didnt make sense loads of people couldnt get through and it wasnt fair.
We had the SAME THING as you when voting for Leon! It was a nightmare trying to get through. It happens every year....especially at the finals.


*Exasperated*
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Old 17-12-2007, 16:55
hippykitty
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I think this issue has a couple of aspects here.

1. 80 complaints - not that many.
Of the people who are aggrieved, I doubt many will actually bother to contact Watchdog (and the like).
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Old 17-12-2007, 16:55
Chisato Geeste
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Took me ages to get through for SD but I'm guessing SD don't matter despite only being a few percent behind the other 2.
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Old 17-12-2007, 16:56
beast1982
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Leon won and thats that. Yes THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE SERIES people couldnt get thru to vote and perhaps the wrong person got thru as a result, but work it out, there are going to be more callers than phone lines - they cant have 8 million phone lines! So of course people arent going to get thru.

I dont believe that Andy got the lowest votes as so many people complained that they cudnt get thru. and he was eliminated?and was it correct?probably not, but its not gonna change things, so as gutting as it may be. just accept it and move on
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Old 17-12-2007, 16:57
ZipGypsy
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Of the people who are aggrieved, I doubt many will actually bother to contact Watchdog (and the like).
That's true....but even then, had it been 100s.....I would take it more seriously.
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