So X Factor was ‘fixed’… should we care?

Let's pretend for a minute X Factor is important. Not Burma election-important, or even tuition fees-important. But let's pretend, given the millions of pounds it generates in advertising revenue and the jobs it creates, that it is kind of a big deal in the media world.

Should we care therefore that show host Dermot O’Leary has reportedly admitted his producer told him to let Cheryl Cole opt out of voting and decline her insistence the vote should go to 'Deadlock' (I’m not going to explain – you either know what that means or you’ve stopped reading already)?

The Guardian quotes O’Leary:

"My producer said if Cheryl decides to opt out we go to majority vote. She did decide to opt out and then she said, 'Come back to me and we'll do deadlock'. But you can't do that because it devalues the other two judges' votes. It wouldn't have made sense."

 So it would devalue two of the judges' votes? That wouldn't make sense?

What about the thousands of 'judges' watching at home whose votes were entirely devalued by the shambles last Saturday’s show descended into. Does that make sense?

Saying those don't count – as the result would have been reversed based on the viewer vote – does not send out a great message about how ITV regards its audience.

Comments

[Steve Jackson]

To quote Bill Hicks: " You're, you're just confused, you don't get, you've forgotten how to judge correctly. Take a deep breath huuh, look at it again. "Oh it's a Piece-of-Shit!" Exactly, that's all it is.
"Piece-of-Shit! Now walk away. That's all it is, it's nothing more! Free yourself folks, if you see it, Piece-of-Shit, say it and walk away. You're right! You're right! You're fucking right"

[anthony meyer]

X Factor doesn't discover talent, it destroys it. It turns interesting young singers into plastic,same as,wannabes. We must fear for Rebecca and Matt.
The idea of keeping the apalling Katie in (Cry girls, cry it will get you anywhere...what an example.'My heart says one thing.'Louis what were you thinking? Heart?Katie? Surely some mistake.Your head perhaps... What must I do to keep my job?)is just one of many duplicitous and ignorant aspects of this charade.

[Maximumbob.wordpress.com]

I said to my wife when it happened, "There'll be complaints," and she said, "Who cares?" But it's important. Yes, the show may be trash, but apparently millions of people enjoy trash. It's earning ITV lots in ad revenue and if people turn away because of this show of bad faith then so might the advertisers.

So it could end up being a massive miscalulation. Cheryl Cole didn't make much of a fuss and it seems clear this year that Cowell is looking for "quirky" and "different" rather than "can sing", which is why Traik was out of favour.

On the other hand, it does smack of Cowell pushing something down the public's throat that they're clearly not voting for. In other words, the "audience" Cowell envisages for Katie Waissel is specifically not the X Factor audience. In this scenario, the X Factor voters are the proverbial turkeys voting for Xmas.

As you say, this indicates a contempt for the (TV viewing, voting) audience which is fundamental to an understanding of TV institutions and audiences. I think anyone who responds to stories like this with, "The X Factor is a piece of shit blah blah blah" is missing this very important point.

Cowell is already selling plenty of records to people who like good singers with soul. He wants to sell records to a whole other segment - people who don't think the likes of Katie are talentless wannabes. The industry often finds mileage in a 3rd place finisher who has an appeal beyond the Saturday night TV audience. Someone like Miranda Lambert, who finished 3rd in Nashville Star and who turned out to be a keeper: second album very good, third album even better. Talent shows do sometimes throw up these anomalies and the pesky public vote can sometimes get in the way of progress.

[normalityandme]

X-Factor wasn't fixed! They took a snap decision in an unprecedented situation. It's a shame for the contestants that there is a cloud over the whole thing, but really, do we need to worry so much about a TV show? Move on.

[E39]

Of course it's fixed. Believe me i should know