Yeah, I'm the same, I prefer the live shows over these protracted slow burning auditions

The auditions have become very painful for me, it just has the stale feeling of i have seen all this before. The live shows need to freshen up too, contestants should be allowed pick their own songs and not be forced into singing the same old songs each year. It will be vert interesting to see how Simon Cowell will approach this years winners single after Louisa completely bombed last year.

I find the song choices all very similar...you never seem to see someone taking a classic and smashing it. It's more same old, same old.

 

The winner single was awful. Reggie and Bollie couldn't even sing it! Would be interesting if the single was a feature; so if you win your winner single features Little Mix or something. Streaming has killed XF winners automatically getting #1 now, so something like that could help

Edited September 1, 20168 yr by jay727

I can't stand any of it. The live shows are almost as bad as the auditions - but at least you can have a guilty laugh at some of the auditions. I just find them all very ordinary. I can walk through my hometown any lunchtime at work (as I'm sure you all can) and hear buskers immeasurably superior to some of those X-Factor finalists. They're genuinely talented.

Indeed some of the finalists arent the most talented with many buskers miles above them. Its interesting that this year Simon Cowell knows he will have to fight for the number 1 and i am intrigued to see how much effort will go into trying to grab the number 1 spot.

I hated louisas singles,easily the worst winners single to date.

Louisa's single was a bad choice and the Reggie n Bollie rendition was nothing short of horrific. It amazed me that they did not go with 2 different songs as the artists were polar opposite, anyone with a brain would have known that song did not suit Reggie and Bollie.

 

 

The Reggie and Bollie rendition was embarrassing, i remember thinking Simon so does not want you to win.

It was even worse last night...

I find everything faker than usual.

The format is the same old same old and the panel is not very different to the 2012/3?? one - with the difference that Gary was smarter, wittier and more honest than Simon. Nicole seems as bonkers as ever, but I don't find any chemistry between Sharon and Simon and even the Louis-Simon duo isn't as funny as it used to be. I thought Gary, Sharon, Nicole and Louis had real chemistry and seemed like true friends - their laughs seemed honest, unlike now.

As for the acts...nothing new under the sun.

I preferred the arena auditions and I always prefer the crazy acts to the good ones - at least they're not boring. But this year, even the nuts seem very contrived.

Edited September 6, 20168 yr by milly

I am not a Sharon fan at all, i always found her fake and would think she would be horrible off screen. Nicole when she first joined the show i didnt like her but i do now. I do agree the seems faker than usual, everything from the episodes i have seen so far is coming accross as totally staged and it seems they are scrapping the bottom of the barrell for sob stories.

I like Sharon, but how genuine she is, its hard to call. Nicole can be very funny at times and she comes across as someone who would be a great mentor. Louis and Simon i believe would be hard to work with and always want their own way.

I personally think the panel of Gary, Kelly, Tulisa and Louis was the best. The year they found Little Mix.

I personally think the panel of Gary, Kelly, Tulisa and Louis was the best. The year they found Little Mix.

 

That panel worked really well till they got to the live shows. I still can't stand Tulisa.

I prefer Kelly to Nicole and I certainly liked the Gary+Kelly couple more than the Gary-Nicole one, but I thought Gary, Nicole, Sharon and Louis worked really well together. Sharon was and still is very fond of Gary (unlike Simon), Nicole seemed to have a crush on him, Louis and Gary and Louis and Sharon were some comedic pairs and Sharon and Nicole were and are friends, so everything seemed genuine on that panel. For some reason, I don't see Simon and Sharon going out together on Saturdays and Sundays, like Sharon and Gary and their families used to. I think she was paid a huge amount of money to come back and she may have accepted partially because of Nicole and Louis, but she made it quite clearly over the years that she doesn't like Simon too much.

 

I do have to say that, as much as I dislike Simon, I would have liked to see a panel with him and Gary and Rylan presenting the Xtra Factor. It would have been hilarious :)

If i was to answer this honestly the golden era of the judging panel was Louis, Simon, Dannii and Cheryl (this is considering i dont like Cheryl). I would have loved to swap Cheryl with Gary and that would be a great panel. I stand firm that i believe Dannii was one of the best judges ever on the show, she really came into her own on the show.

Agree with you, Pippa. I watched X Factor around that time. I haven't watched it since Gary left so I can't comment on this years show. However, it doesn't sound as though it's improved. It peaked some years ago and has been on a downward spiral ever since.

 

On a side note I clicked onto a BBC promo video for Gary's new show: Let It Shine. The comments were brutal - my, oh my people have long memories. I think Gary's setting himself up for a hammering. Even if the show's good, there'll be fallout from the critics and public alike. It will probably follow the tried and tested formula for these types of shows and they're already going out of fashion. In my view Gary should have kept a wide birth and concentrated on TT and his existing theatre commitments.

These style shows, i agree, have huge similarities and i do fear its going to the ideal opportunity for the press to turn on Gary. The problem now is, Take That are long past their peak so the tabloids wont be overly bothered about hammering them, in fact they will likely relish the opportunity and most likely Gary.

 

I would also agree i would prefer Gary to concentrate on Take That and get the material right. However, at this point i would believe the boys know they have nothing to prove. Take That will always be known as a hugely successful band so in many ways they are in a position to do whatever they want.

 

I am sure Gary is so used to negative press that he is well ready for what ever may come.

Edited September 7, 20168 yr by pippa

Whenever we talk about press and haters, I can't help but think of this fable:

"Please all and you will please none!"

Whether it's a good or bad idea, it's obviously something Gary wants to do and it's better he regrets later on something he did rather than something he didn't do. In the end, if there's a lesson he should have learnt from all his life story is that the good and the talent always succeed, even if it takes them a long time.

And since we're talking about XF, this is something I really appreciate Simon for (shocking, I know :D ): he never cares what anyone thinks about him and he's carried on with his show, despite everyone (including me) saying he should have put it to rest long ago.

Good or bad, Gary still keeps people talking,which means he's not as boring as some say. I saw threads on DS forum where no one would comment, no matter what the topic about that specific artist - THAT is when you know someone's career is finished (temporarily at least).

Edited September 8, 20168 yr by milly

I was curious as to what video comments you were referring, Dylan, and I went on yt and found the BBC one - I guess that's where you read all those comments.

On the facebook video - that has over 600.000 views by now -, the comments are mostly positive and there are lots of people defending Gary. https://www.facebook.com/BBCOne/videos/1157192570967826/

I guess you're right Milly. I don't have a very thick skin but if you're in the public eye I suppose you get use to all the abuse directed your way. Given the level of humiliation Gary experienced in the late 90's the stuff thrown at him now probably doesn't have the same impact. His personal tragedy will have put things in perspective as well.

 

Yes, that's the video I linked onto a day or so ago. To balance it out I sometimes click on the video of his medley from his last tour which now has over a million views. The comments are mostly lovely and so appreciative with a large majority of them from oversees viewers many of whom have become aware of Gary only recently.

 

I've just come back from secondary root canal surgery, dosed up to the eyeballs, swollen face and feeling sorry for myself:) On the plus side I've taken two days holiday so will watch a TT DVD, and given that I can't eat anything of any significance for two days I may also loose some weight - everything has a silver lining. :)