New X Factor judging panel confirmed by ITV

May 31, 2011 By Carl Wheeler
x-factor

The new look judging panel for this year’s X Factor has been confirmed in an announcement on Twitter by ITV, and there’s no room for the one time golden girl of the hit talent show, Cheryl Cole.

Many believed the Girls Aloud singer would rejoin the judging panel after being ditched by the US version of the show last week amid fears American viewers wouldn’t understand her Geordie accent. However there was no mention of the 27-year-old on this morning’s announcement by the TV channel.

So Cheryl Cole is out, as is Dannii Minogue and Simon Cowell who has bowed out to concentrate on the American X Factor. On the flip side, Destiny’s Child singer Kelly Rowland is in, as is N Dubz star Tulisa Contostavlos and Gary Barlow who have all been confirmed as the judges on this year’s X Factor. Louis Walsh has survived the chop and is the only remaining judge from last year’s panel.

It’s been reported that Cheryl Cole was given the opportunity to return to the UK version of the X Factor, but that she failed to respond to offer before the deadline set by TV bosses. There’s been no word as to whether the Fight for this Love singer will be making an appearance on this year’s show in a non-judging capacity.

The auditions for this year’s show are due to start this Wednesday in Birmingham followed by auditions in Glasgow, Manchester, Cardiff, London and Liverpool.

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Paije loses out to Cher in X-Factor sing off

November 22, 2010 By Trudi Johnson
Paije Richardson

Paije Richardson lost out to Cher Lloyd in last night’s sing off on the X-Factor after the two acts ended up in the bottom following the public vote.

Despite the disappointment at being booted off the popular ITV talent contest, down to earth Paije admitted he wasn’t “too upset” by the judges’ decision to axe him from the show.

The singer, who turned 20 this week, appeared on Daybreak this morning for an exclusive interview and vowed to keep working hard in order to gain as much experience as possible in the music industry.

Paije and early favourite Cher found themselves in the bottom two following the public vote after Saturday’s Beatles themed show. Katie Waissel who’s hung onto her place in the competition despite being in the bottom two four times, was the first act named through to next week’s show. Controversial Brazilian born singer Wagner, also made it through to next week’s show, despite being panned by the judges.

Speaking to Daybreak presenters Christine Bleakley and Adrian Chiles, Paije tipped Liverpudlian Rebecca Ferguson to win this year’s X-Factor, saying that the mother-of-two believes in herself “100%.”

The entire panel of X-Factor judges which includes Simon Cowell and Cheryl Cole all agreed that neither Cher nor Paije deserved to be in the bottom two following their Saturday night performances.

17-year-old Cher has also spoken out in the wake of Paije’s exit to say he didn’t deserve to lose his place in the show.

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Katie Waissel saved at the expense of Aiden Grimshaw on last night’s X-Factor

November 15, 2010 By Trudi Johnson
katie-waissel-aiden-grimshaw

Katie Waissel narrowly escaped eviction from the X-Factor last night after finding herself in the bottom two for the fourth time this series.

After the judges failed to make a decision over who should leave following the sing-off between 24-year-old Katie and Aiden Grimshaw, the competition went to deadlock. 18-year-old Aiden’s rendition of Elton John’s Rocket Man failed to win over the fans, as he received the lowest number of votes, and was booted off the show.

The decision was unpopular with the studio audience, as many started to boo blonde Katie after it was announced Aiden would be leaving the talent show.

Axed Aiden seemed to be putting a brave face on last night’s exit when he appeared on Daybreak this morning. The singer admitted he’d had a bit of a sob with fellow X-Factor contestant and favourite to win, Matt Cardle, but said he was coping with the rejection adding philosophically, “you win some, you lose some.”

While previous X-Factor evictees have been vocal in their criticism of their celebrity mentors, Aiden was refreshingly complimentary of his mentor Danni Minogue saying she was “always there” to support him during his X-Factor journey.

As for plans for the future, the 18-year-old from Blackpool says he hopes to get stuck in with a few live gigs, and continue to work at his dream of becoming a recording artist.

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Elton John blasts “boring” talent shows like the X-Factor

October 19, 2010 By Trudi Johnson
elton-john

Music legend Elton John didn’t hold back when it came to revealing his true feeling about TV talent shows and modern pop music in a recent magazine interview.

The veteran singer songwriter branded talent shows like the X-Factor “boring” and admitted he’d even turned down the chance to appear on the US version of the show, American Idol. The 63-year-old singer admitted that if he had sat on the judging panel he “wouldn’t have lasted” due to his strong opinions.

However the Candle in the Wind singer does believe that the hit ITV show has unearthed some great acts, although he believes the show winners walk a very fine line between success and failure where the release of one bad record could spell the end of their career.

When it comes to carving out a successful career in show business, the key to longevity, according to Elton, is “hard graft.” The singer believes TV talent shows offer a quick-fix to stardom which can easily fizzle out.

On the subject of modern pop music, the world renowned singer is equally as opinionated as he declared, “songwriters today are pretty awful” revealing that his main issue with contemporary pop music is that in his opinion, “everything sounds the same.”

However on a more positive note, Elton revealed he’s a big fan of the work of Lady Gaga, Amy Winehouse and Lily Allen as he applauds their ability to create their own music and unique sound.

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X-Factor’s Gamu to face deportation

October 6, 2010 By Dez Rowley
Gamu-Nhengu

Just days after Gamu Nhengu missed out on a place in the final 12 on the X-Factor, the 18-year-old was dealt yet another blow after receiving news that she and her family must leave the UK after their immigration application was refused.

Gamu’s exclusion from the live finals by judge Cheryl Cole on Sunday night sparked a national outcry with 200,000 people singing up to a Facebook group to protest against the decision. Some reports suggest Cheryl Cole has even received death threats after she omitted the young singer from her final three.

It’s been reported that ITV also received 650 complaints after the singer, originally from Zimbabwe, missed out on a place in the final 12 to Cher Lloyd and Katie Waissel, despite giving weak auditions at the judges’ houses stage.

In a statement the UK Border Agency confirm that Gamu’s mother has had her application to stay in the UK refused on the grounds that she “did not meet all the conditions for approval.” Gamu and her two brothers must leave the UK along with their mother as they are her dependents.

One British tabloid has reported that the family are facing deportation as a result of benefits which were wrongly claimed by Gamu’s mother.

The family, who live in Scotland, could be deported from the country if they don’t leave of their own accord.

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Sharon Osborne set to stir up the X-Factor

August 25, 2010 By Dez Rowley
sharon-osbourne

Fiery Sharon Osborne is set to stir things up on this series of the X-Factor as it’s been revealed she’ll be joining the show temporarily.

Two years after she dramatically quit the show, later revealing she left because of fellow judge Dannii Minogue, the 57-year-old is now set to re-join the hit ITV talent search programme.

Sharon will be joining regular judge Louise Walsh to help him whittle down a shortlist of finalists to make it through to the live finals during the judges’ houses segment of the show.

Last year, Irish judge Louis enlisted the help of singer Ronan Keating while trying to decide which acts would make it onto the live shows. However, given the Boyzone singer’s recent personal problems, it was thought best if he stepped down from his role on this year’s series.

One person who won’t be happy to hear the news that the wife of Ozzy Osborne is back on the box will be X-Factor judge Dannii Minogue. The pair famously clashed on the show, with Sharon later admitting that the Aussie singer was the reason she gave up her role as a judge.

Dannii is due to return to the X-Factor next month during the judges’ houses section of the show after taking time out to have her baby boy Ethan.

The new series of the show kicked off last Saturday night and is already causing controversy after it was discovered that auto tone technology had been used to enhance the performances of singers during the audition process.

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Jedward twins triumph over Lucie Jones in controversial X-Factor showdown

November 9, 2009 By Kate Owen
Welsh singer Lucie Jones loses out against Jedward and leaves the X-Factor
Welsh singer Lucie Jones loses out against Jedward and leaves the X-Factor

Welsh singer Lucie Jones loses out against Jedward and leaves the X-Factor

In what was arguably one of the most controversial X-Factor results ever, Irish twins John and Edward survived in the sing off against teenager Lucie Jones. Despite defiantly announcing that he would leave the country if the twins, dubbed Jedward, won the competition, Simon failed to send the boys home when he had the chance to do so and instead took the decision back to the public vote.

Even the twin’s mentor, Louis Walsh admitted that 18-year-old Lucie shouldn’t have been in the bottom two. After giving a pitch perfect performance, the singer from Wales was saved by both her mentor and Cheryl Cole and a yes from Simon would have kept her from elimination. Instead the music mogul stuck the knife in and said neither acts can win, but if he had to choose he’d rather see the boys perform again.

Many fans of the show were outraged by Simon’s actions with hundreds posting angry messages on social networking sites such as Twitter and the show’s message board. Some cynics are calling the result a fix and accusing Simon of tactical voting to eliminate Lucie as he sees her as a potential threat to his acts. Another school of thought is that although Simon dislikes the twins, he recognizes their publicity pulling power and the media interest they create in the show.

Now Dannii Minogue is left with just one act in the competition, Stacey Solomon from Dagenham, whilst Simon Cowell remains smug with all 3 of his acts still intact.

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The second group bites the dust as Miss Frank leave X-Factor

October 26, 2009 By Kate Owen
Girl group Miss Frank bow out of the X-Factor
Girl group Miss Frank bow out of the X-Factor

Girl group Miss Frank bow out of the X-Factor

In a shock result on last night’s results show on the X-Factor, the bookies’ favourite Danyl Johnson and girl group Miss Frank found themselves singing for survival. The judges struggled to come to a decision and in the end, Cheryl Cole brought it back to the public vote after saying she was “confused” by the situation and thought it best to leave this one up to the public.

A glum looking Miss Frank were announced as the act with the least number of votes and made their X-Factor exit. It comes after the girls gave what was arguably their best performance on the show, with all four judges giving positive feedback. Simon Cowell was openly shocked when his act Danyl Johnson was announced as being in the bottom two saying “I think it’s a joke that you’re in the position you’re in, a total joke.”

Despite entering the competition as solo artists, the girls were urged to form a band on the judges’ recommendation after being impressed with their combined audition during boot camp where they sang as group as part of the task. Although their X-Factor journey has come to an end, Miss Frank have vowed to stay together and continue to pursue their dream of a professional singing career.

Miss Frank are the second out of three acts mentored by Louis Walsh to be evicted from the show; now the only hope Louis has of winning the competition is with the controversial Irish twins, John and Edward.

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Cheryl Cole gears up for her first solo performance on the X-factor this weekend

October 14, 2009 By Trudi Johnson
Cheryl won't sing live on the X-Factor

Cheryl won't sing live on the X-Factor

X-Factor judge Cheryl Cole will be centre stage herself this week as she makes her debut performance as a solo artist on the Sunday night results show. However the Geordie singer has come in for quite a bit of stick as show officials have admitted that she will be miming the majority of her performance.

Some fans of the show have criticised the decision for Cheryl to mime her track, Fight For This Love, as the show’s contestants are expected to sing live every week and have very little experience of performing in comparison to the Girls Aloud star. However a bad performance from Cheryl on the X-Factor could put the scuppers on her big plans for a solo career which is a risk her record company are not willing to take.

Also taking to the stage that night will be international singing sensation Whitney Houston who will be giving her first UK TV appearance in 12 years. It is not known yet whether Whitney will sing live or not.

However Cheryl is no stranger to performing on the X-Factor. Only last year, along with the rest of the Girls Aloud gang, Cheryl belted out a live rendition of their single at the time, Promise. A show insider said the performance was not as good as expected as the girls had little time to prepare beforehand. To avoid another lack-lustre performance, Cheryl will this year record her vocals in front of a live audience before the show, however she will sing selected parts of the song completely live.

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X-Factor judge Dannii Minogue sorry for jibe at contestant

October 13, 2009 By Trudi Johnson
Dannii apologises for bisexual joke

Dannii apologises for bisexual joke

X-Factor judge Dannii Minogue made a public apology to contestant Danyl Johnson during the live results show on Sunday night. She made a joke relating to the fact that many tabloids are reporting that the bookies’ favourite to win the show, is bisexual.

The remark came after Danyl delivered a belting performance of a song from the hit movie Dreamgirls. The track is originally sung by a woman talking about a man but Danyl chose to change the lyrics so he was singing about a woman, this prompted Dannii to say “If you’re to believe everything you read in the papers, then you didn’t need to change the gender references in the song.”

The Aussie singer looked as though she regretted what she’d said as soon as the words were out of her mouth. Fellow X-Factor judge and Danyl’s mentor, Simon Cowell, instantly jumped to the defense of the 27-year-old hopeful saying  “You can forget playing any of those games with him. I’m not having that. This guy sang his heart out. Give him some credit.”

But Simon Cowell wasn’t the only one to take offence at the remark. The X-Factor’s official website was bombarded with over 2,500 complaints following the incident with many people calling for her to be axed from the show as a result.

Dannii made a full explanation and apology on the follow up show then next day, she also issued a statement on her blog to this end offering her “sincere apologies.” She stated that Danyl “wasn’t offended or upset by my comments” but she said understands that audience members “do not want the judges to get personal with judging comments.

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