Pop Buzz UK

I’ve already written quite extensively on Pop Buzz UK about this series of The X Factor, and my view that its becoming more of a pantomime than a singing talent show.

We’ve already had Louis Walsh’ supposed firing and then being welcomed back in to the fold, and then Sharon Osbourne’s dramatic announcement that she’d be quitting the show, before being back on the show the following week. The judges truly are ruining this year’s series, by making it more about them than the contestants.

And now it has got worse, with more in the same vein. On Saturday evening, we saw Alisha Bennett get eliminated from the show after all the contestants sang disco type songs. Alisha herself sang ‘Young Hearts Run Free’, a performance which caused an argument between Simon Cowell and Sharon Osbourne over the inclusion of rollerskaters in to the performance.

Basically Simon hated the skaters, and thought they were crap, and insisted Sharon should have removed them from the show. Sharon countered that it was his show, not hers, and that she is just merely a paid hand with no jurisdiction over decisions like that.

Now, in an interview with Digital Spy, Alisha has accused Cowell of a conspiracy to get rid of her:

“When I was given my routine on Tuesday, I went to the dance studio and Brian Friedman said to me: ‘Great! You got skaters!’ I didn’t want to question Brian Friedman, and I was thinking more about what I was doing, not what the dancers were doing. I don’t blame anybody, but it just didn’t work.”

“It’s true what Sharon said on Saturday - Simon does have the overall hand on everything. For him to say something like that was, you know, a bit of a conspiracy. He watched my rehearsals on Friday - he was there - so if he didn’t like it then, he should have spoken up more. But it’s neither here nor there really; it’s all done now.”

“Do you know what, she picked my songs, but all she could do was mentor me and tell me how to better my performance and how to own the stage. Overall it’s Simon’s show and people do forget that.”

She’s right in that Simon is the mastermind of the show, and he should have stepped in and said so if he thought something wasn’t going to work. But as we’ve already spoken about, The X Factor is becoming less about the singers and singing, and more about the judges and their massive egos.

As much as I love the show, there needs to be major changes, or at least more openness about the running of it, if it is going to carry on being the huge success it is at the moment.

The X Factor, Alisha Bennett, Simon Cowell, Sharon Osbourne, Conspiracy, Louis Walsh, ITV, Brian Friedman, UK, British