Sorry, I do not get this year's crop at all. All the hype about David A..... Nice voice.... But to me that is about it. Syesha is alright.... But she can go a little shouty.

I do like David Cook though, but then I adored Chris Doughtry... So I would. Plus I prefer my men to be...err ... men, not boys.

It's sooo obvious David A is going to win this, and good luck to him.

But not a lot of them have that certain something.... the lack of "X Factor" dare I say!

I'm sorry, but this year just isn't gelling with me. It looks like its gonna be another year where popularity will play a bigger part than talent.

They are all so dull, can sing ok, but no one can perform on this show, I dont get why everyone goes on about AI being so much better than X factor I think our show is far better, no one stands out at all, the only person they had to try and be "different" was that strange shouty rocker girl who was boring because she did the same thing everyweek, our show shows more range.
AI boring!

Im still gonna watch it though...

people may think archuleta is a given but last year everyone assumed the same about doolittle and we know what happened there!i wont be mad if he wins btw and maybe thats the prob no one is that passionate about any one contestant.the fact we cant vote takes a lot of that away tbh.

It's certainly a different perspective we have on the competition not being able to influence it; to quote Simon it is somewhat "musical wallpaper" to us - just entertainment for entertainment's sake. But I disagree about people not being passionate about one contestant over the others; from what I've read several contestants this year each have rabid fanbases, which brings us back to the age-old cynic's suspicion: do the votes actually count or do the producers sew it up week-by-week? Usually with these types of shows you can tell early on who is likely to win, judging from the amount of airtime they get, the amount of press coverage, the volume of audience cheers (which I'm sure is tweaked in post-production to favour the "chosen ones") and the judges comments, and I certainly had Archuleta pegged as favourite from at least Hollywood week, but with a lot of predictable/awkward performances recently, if votes do actually count, I think that could change...but really who knows, and from our unbiased position who really cares? "On with the show" I say, and lets just enjoy the madness

Me too... the minute danny noriega was eliminated.
he could have brought so much fun!
so unfortunate that i dont live in america, i would have busted my mobile for her err... him.

I felt it took too long to get to the final 12...I was bored to tears and havn't watched for a few weeks now. Definitely not floating my boat this year*


* though I have never been a SUPER fan, so I am not great loss.

The reason I prefer AI is that it has a simpler format, seems generally faster paced and the judges are likeable.

I don't like the X-factor format where each group of artists has a 'mentor'. It's so tedious and focuses far too much on rivalry between the judges. The live shows seem a bit "down market" and raucous and I can't bear that vulgar old hag and the vacuous smug tart (I'm not referring to Simon or Louie ).

LOL agreed, but I am referring to Simon and Louis...lol I like the vulgar old hag

The thing that irritates me about the X-Factor is the ceaseless manipulation they use to get votes with contestant's sob stories...they've all got sob stories, and the amount of attention they give to these makes me think we should be judging based on the harshness of their situations rather than their singing talent, (especially when even the judges are starting their critique with "I know you've been thru a lot...") it's ridiculous! Do the producers really feel the only way to sell records in Britain anymore is to make us 'care' about the artists?!? The way to sell records is to stop looking for the quick fix and instead actually take the time to make good ones that you can stand to, nay want to, hear more than once...

It's a true curse of reality TV, especially when I (and I'm sure possibly the majority of others) only watch these shows for light entertainment and would never dream of buying any of their contrived records anyway... everyone knows these are "famous for 15 mins" shows rather than "serious musical artist" shows... which brings me to why I prefer AI; I think the level of talent is higher and they do sort of take it more seriously, the snappy format is better (and thankfully they don't mess with it too much - the X-Factor changes last year were a huge mistake), and the sob-stories are minimal - they like to focus on the good! "I'm going to Hollywood, baby!!!!" And every year someone stands out as being unique (if only to the competition e.g. Blake Lewis, ok he's not the only beat-boxer in the world but refreshing to have one on the show), Bo Bice, Chris Daughtry, Elliott Yamin (who knew a voice like that would come from him?!) dare I say it David Cook, I think it's by now well-established I like DC...

So yeah, AI is deserving of a place in our TV schedules in my opinion...

I agree with everything, cbgsnarf.
As far as I am concerned, AI is packed with talent. Even the worse finalist can sing and has personality.
Also the AI contestants have more freedom as they can chose/make their own version of the songs, and they don't have to perform ridiculous dance routines LOL.

...Except for the group songs in the results shows which are quite hilarious

They need to move away from the Beatles and fast.

I'd like a disco week

I think this is the weakest season yet (out of the ones I've seen) but Ryan keeps saying it's the most talented!

It's better than the previous X Factor so far though.

Yup I'm not feeling this season either, nobody stands out to me. Simon has said he thought last season was the weakest but I think it was a lot better than this season. At least there were a few amazing singers last year like Jordin and Melinda. I wouldn't describe any of the current contestants as amazing singers, they're all good but that's about it.

David A is probably the best out of the lot but he's not brilliant either IMO.

I miss the Fantasia year.
Bring back the Huff.

SO much better than chav-factor it's unreal.

More of a laid back, 'real' feel to it. No sob stories. They all get asked a specific question in their VT's. Get the choose their own songs. Far superior talent wise. Lyon would get laughed off the stage.

I just haven't got into it this year at all.

Hehe aww yeah George Huff was great

I just can't get interested in it at all this year. I think the lengthy lead up to it and long eliminations to get to the final group just killed it for me. There was just too much dross.

There seems to be some talented singers in the final group but I just couldn't care less about any of them. Maybe the formula has had its day?

My thoughts too, he would have done so much better in a UK version, America seems to like bland, bland, bland.

It all has to be M.O.R. soft rock or country ballads (even if it is a Beatles song!!!) and I find it all rather dull.

Throw in the odd "pop" song and everybody panics.

Really enjoyed last season. This season is the complete opposite. There aren't really any stand-out contestants you could see as being a good artist.

This is a reason why I like it so much

Great post I agree with everything you said.

I'm with you on that , sassy contestant with vocal chops to match , a rarity in these type of contests !

What was so great about him exactly the fact that he took joy in expressing his gayness to america? there are more gays on american tv than here ppl like him are nothing special. Thats why he was dismissed accordingly

The reason I prefer it is that it's much more professional - the people can actually sing & they look good as well.

This year there are 4 people who could win it.

On PI there aren't even 4 people who can sing in tune...