Of all the 12 finalists, Simon picking Scott seemed one of the most unexpected (unless you'd read the spoilers!).

I wonder if Simon had assessed his 6 boys, realised that he had one (Austin), maybe two (Eoghan) who could last a while in the finals, but the rest were not upto it... therefore, he picked Scott knowing he would be out very early, so that he can then concentrate on his golden ticket (Austin) and to a lesser extent, Eoghan?

In previous series' Simon has at times appeared to not spend enough time with his acts, so just having two early on would mean he can out all of his energies into what he thinks is the winner?

You could argue Dannii did the same by picking Daniel, I suppose...

Simon Cowell would never do that, he does everything he can to push his acts as far into the competition as possible

I like Scott more than the other two boys, by far. (And all the girls.)

Who knows, maybe he'll pull through.

I don't know. Hes got a better image anyway since he shaved his head and ditched that suit. At the moment he seems nothing really special and would have been more suited to some kind of boyband much like Eoghan. I think Scott will leave early. I think the judges always put some people through on purpose who they know will be out quick, as you say, giving them time to focus on their other acts.

If Daniel was replaced with Suzie. Girlband with ummmm 4 Instinct. Scott with Mali. It would have been quite hard to tell who would be out the first few weeks. I think the X Factor know and are expecting Girl Band, Daniel and Scott to be the first 3 out.

I think Scott could be a dark horse. He has a FAR better image that all the other boys (including Danny from the over 25s) - and he did have even before they turned Austin into an emo too. I think he is also a lot more endearing to the public than Austin too.

Oh agreed. I think Austin put a lot of people off with his whole deperateness (if that's actually a word!) and crying. Scott seems like a likeable young man, I hoep he does well.

He reminds me a bit of Leon at this stage last year, who would have thought back then that he could win?

People said that same about Same Difference at this stage last year- that they were just fodder to keep Hope and Futureproof in.

Perhaps Simon has plans for Scott too?

The favourites/under-dogs changed completely after the first two shows last year. A lot of early predictions are going to be totally wrong.

But when he thinks he has a very likely winner in his category, he will choose another two that won't split the chosen one's vote and be a threat.

He might not think he has a winner at all, but he is hardly going to say that is he? He is going to big up his category regardless.

There has to be at least one cannon fodder act in Simon's category IMO and I don't see Austin or Eoghan as that.

Having said that , I think Austin could suffer a shock exit as he has put a lot of people off him. Even though I prefer Scott , he isn't terribly exciting.

I also think Austin might be out early - possibly even trying to help that along the way with his new look.

I find Scott the most likeable out of Simon's group. None of them excite me vocally, Austin seems to be straining far too much and Eoghan is incredibly weak, very average little voice and just don't "get" it at all.

Scott could be a dark horse. I don't think Simon is realistically expecting one of the boys to win this year but at least the ex Bluecoat has something of a back story to get some column inches - and more positive ones than the "did he or didn't he lie about his absentee father" story he could have had with Alan (who I would not have put through for the simple reason that he was not a good singer).