{"id":10858,"date":"2011-12-11T11:08:12","date_gmt":"2011-12-11T11:08:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/12\/x-factor-2011-lots-of-lashes-little-talent-i-blame-the-judges\/"},"modified":"2011-12-11T11:08:12","modified_gmt":"2011-12-11T11:08:12","slug":"x-factor-2011-lots-of-lashes-little-talent-i-blame-the-judges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/11\/x-factor-2011-lots-of-lashes-little-talent-i-blame-the-judges\/","title":{"rendered":"X Factor 2011: Lots of lashes, little talent… I blame the judges"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

\nBy
\nLiz Jones<\/a><\/p>\n

Last updated at 11:08 AM on 11th December 2011<\/p>\n

This season\u2019s X Factor has been plagued with problems. <\/span><\/p>\n

Kelly Rowland fell sick, probably because she insists on performing in a bikini, meaning she missed a crucial episode.<\/span><\/p>\n

The name of the girl band, the first in the show\u2019s history to make it this far, had to be hastily changed because it infringed on the copyright of a charity, which wailed it had lost thousands.<\/span><\/p>\n

One contestant, probably because he had a degree from Oxbridge (very well covered up by the show\u2019s producers), retired from the fray while another was sacked because of his excessive \u2018partying\u2019. <\/span><\/p>\n

\n\"Finalists:<\/p>\n

Finalists: But this year’s X Factor has run less smoothly than in the past<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

My guess is Frankie is actually in hospital suffering from deep vein thrombosis thanks to wearing those super-skinny jeans. <\/span><\/p>\n

It hasn\u2019t been a vintage year for contestants all round, and for that I blame the new judges. In place of Simon Cowell we have the monosyllabic Gary Barlow. <\/span><\/p>\n

Now Gary can write hits and perform them, but his choices have revealed that a Svengali he is not. Tulisa has blossomed, but she\u2019s not compulsive viewing.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

And Kelly Rowland has spat her all-American, totally insincere, sugary venom on all of us. <\/span><\/p>\n

She obviously has no taste or judgment, having eliminated the wonderfully gothic Jade at the \u2018judges\u2019 house\u2019 stage. <\/span><\/p>\n

Instead, she inflicted upon us the frankly mediocre Misha B. Misha was ejected last week not, as Colourful Times and The Voice claimed, for being too black instead of Leona Lewis beige, but for being too boring. I found her painful to watch and listen to: so many of the young contestants, including finalist Amelia Lily, think that shouting is singing, when it\u2019s not. <\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Kicked out: Frankie and Misha both had major problems as contestants<\/p>\n

\n\"Little<\/p>\n

Little Mix: The group have been let down by their mentor Tulisa<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

What has annoyed me most about this series is the homogenisation of talent.<\/span><\/p>\n

Janet, the talented folk singer from Ireland, had her virgin hair dyed bright red. All the female singers have false eyelashes stuck to them as if this will somehow make up for the absence of former judge Cheryl Cole. <\/span><\/p>\n

Finalist Marcus is sweet and desperate, with the big brown eyes of a beagle about to face its vivisectionist, but a Matt Cardle, who won last year, he is not.<\/span><\/p>\n

I spent last Saturday backstage with the semi-finalists. All the emphasis was on straightening wigs and gluing on hair extensions rather than honing their art. <\/span><\/p>\n

The biggest shock was how sequestered the judges were, locked in their star-embossed dressing rooms. They seemed to make all their decisions remotely: approval of a costume was done via BlackBerry. <\/span><\/p>\n

\n\"Mentor:<\/p>\n

Mentor: But will Gary look after Marcus when the cameras stop rolling?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Even the dress rehearsal employed stand-ins for the judges (the woman performing the Tulisa salute had a tattoo on her forearm reading, \u2018Hello, Mum\u2019), while they watched proceedings on a private telly in their rooms.<\/span><\/p>\n

I wondered if the judges could actually see their screen between the vast blooms and pineapples that decorated their space. <\/span><\/p>\n

Whoever wins tonight, when the final two battle it out to have a Christmas No\u20091 and then fall by the wayside, destined to produce the odd Christmas album or an Iceland advert, well, they have worked hard for it.<\/span><\/p>\n

Not as hard as an Olympic gymnast, granted, but hard nonetheless.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rejection is difficult, and I worry about these contestants, all teenagers or people barely in their 20s. It\u2019s one thing to enter a small talent contest and fail, or sing in pubs and bars when no one listens \u2013 but to falter on such a big stage, despite the show\u2019s falling ratings, is hard to come back from.<\/span><\/p>\n

Maybe what happened last week on the American version of the show might mean a change of tack next year. <\/span><\/p>\n

Thirteen-year-old Rachel Crow was knocked out of the competition after judge Nicole Scherzinger \u2013 who has all the talent of a hedgehog \u2013 said she couldn\u2019t choose between Crow and Marcus Canty.<\/span><\/p>\n

She deliberately sent the vote to deadlock, which meant the contestant with the least votes from the public was out.<\/span><\/p>\n

The teenage singer collapsed, hysterical, when she heard the news. Both her mother and Simon Cowell ran on to the stage to comfort her, while Scherzinger sobbed uncontrollably. These are children up on stage and screen being paraded in front of us. <\/span><\/p>\n

The music industry is the toughest there is. I had a drink with a friend who works in the business last week and he told me of the meetings where,\u00a0 if an artist has not made a certain target, they are summarily dropped. Just like that. No emotion, no crocodile tears. <\/span><\/p>\n

To cope with such a career you need music to be your art, something you do, like breathing. You need to have self-esteem, back-up, and maturity.<\/span><\/p>\n

A man like Gary Barlow, hiding even an hour or so before the show goes live behind a huge\u00a0 bodyguard, is not going to be there to help you when times get tough. He probably won\u2019t even return your calls, or remember your name.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

See original article:
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