Talking Telly: A Surprising Beginning to ‘The X Factor’

This is only the second series of “The X Factor” I’ve even attempted to watch. To be honest, last year’s competition was a lot like “American Idol” has become – lots of manufactured drama with the singers and the judges and not so much real talent. And Simon Cowell looked as bored as I was. Seriously, any show where the focus is on what the two female judges wear to any given show gets more press than the acts themselves should be worried.

But at least for the audition stage, new life was breathed into the show this year because Cowell learned a big lesson from “Britain’s Got Talent” – a live audience for the tryouts is much more entertaining than just four judges and the talent. And also surprisingly, the audience actually gave a lot of support to the bad acts. While Cowell rolled his eyes, Louis Walsh winced and Danni Minogue and Cheryl Cole tried their hardest to show some sort of facial expression, the audience would sing along, wave their arms and cheer the act off the stage after they got their two minutes.

“The X Factor” has not touched BGT in some ways. For one thing, Ant and Dec have a far more positive impact on that show than Dermot O’Leary does. It’s not surprising that O’Leary is aiming for an American show, because he’s an awful lot like Ryan Seacrest. Some people think that Ant and Dec try to take the show over on BGT, but I would compare them to the HG sauce that you might put on your beans and toast. You don’t know why, but the sauce adds some extra zip to a bland meal. Dermot, on the other hand, is a bit like mayonnaise – you know it’s there but it doesn’t add much to the dish.

I’m a little concerned that all the fun of the auditions is going to end next week as the finalists face Boot Camp. After that, the main structural difference of “The X Factor” compared to “American Idol” is that each judge is given a different “category” full of contestants to mentor – the boys, the girls, the groups and the over-25′s. That judge takes their contestants “home” with them, which left one group with Cowell in Barbados while another got sent to Ireland with Walsh. Each judge brings a “friend” to help them pick out which acts will go to the final 12 as they go back to live studio audiences and viewer voting.

At that point the show becomes much more like AI, except that the judge/mentors pick out the songs for their acts and subsequently fight with each other over that. Each week has a different music act as its theme, just like AI. Last season had Take That with their new album, and this season Robbie Williams will be on the show with his. And if this year’s show winds up with finalists as boring as last year’s, Rob’s week will be the last one I’m interested .

The ultimate winner of the show usually gets the Christmas No. 1 single afterwards, which is kinda unfair to other acts, and culminates in the winner slagging off their mentor as they ultimately don’t have a big singing career. The only XF contestant to ever “break America” was Leona Lewis.