Hassaan

It sounded like someone who isn't a professional singer to me. Not that it's always easy to spot!

I did begin to convince myself that Emperor Penguin was Bradley Walsh. Some very interesting voices that are also very difficult to place.

I thought it was only a matter of time that the other traitors would turn on Hugo but definitely wasn't expecting him to be out by episode 3.

The Amanda & Jade feud seems very petty. 😄 I knew Hugo had a target on his back after that breakfast but I didn't think they'd actually go for him. I also think the whole fingerprinting thing is difficult for them to do without the heat ending up on them.

It could have also been Relight My Fire. On who we've seen so far - I think Moth has to be someone who has done musical theatre. I like the house band addition. I hope that remains for the whole series.

They're not really judges. Within the context of the show they are "detectives".

Always look forward to this. Interested to see how the whole thing with the bands plays out.

I think the best play for anyone in a supposedly "smart" role is to play dumb. I don't know if they'll see through it though. 😆

Interested to see how the Secret Traitor thing pans out. I think the secret relationship is just part of the show now. 😄

It's 50 minutes long so yes, that points to a similar post news slot to Norton. I am interested to see what angle they take. I think a more one on one approach is better for Claudia.

Is this a good label for him to be on? Absolute Label Services signs Ma...Absolute Label Services signs Matt CardleAlso, random one - I am 99% sure I saw him walking through Birmingham City Centre last week. I heard him speaking to someone on the phone and was even more confident. Eventually I googled to find out he was doing panto at the Birmingham Hippodrome. 😅

I hope they at least get as much out of it as possible. Her last album charting at #17 suggests to me that a lot of people probably didn't even know that she released one, especially considering her huge success early doors, but with a spring release you couldn't even tie it in with X Factor. At least get her a load of promotional spots. If it still doesn't chart highly, at least you've done all that can be possibly done for an artist in her position.

Jesus is listed as a songwriter. 😄 I discovered this song for the first time last week. I couldn't be less Christian (I'm Muslim) but I just find this such a fascinating moment in time. Top 3 in 1999 being Britney Spears, Eiffel 65 and him. The whole "one song to the tune of another" idea, did he get that from I'm Sorry, I Haven't a Clue? 😄

I'd say for most of my life I've enjoyed cheesy pop music, power ballads, boybands etc. Does that reflect who I am? As not someone who cares about typically "male" things like sports, I guess you could say yes. 😅 On the flip side, I'm not good at expressing my emotions so the whole pouring your heart out singing power ballads doesn't work. 🤣

A campaign to get "Until the Time is Through" to Xmas No. 1 resulted in it charting at #23... on the sales chart. It is their highest ever showing on that chart (which I presume is 2015 onwards). It was #19 on downloads - previous best peaks were #83 for Everybody Get Up (March) and #65 for Keep on Movin' (February 2013).

Sounded like it was mainly the teams, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was the artists too. I can see why it'd be a logistical nightmare, especially when these obviously aren't people you work with very often.

Has anyone watched this? I've caught the whole thing now. I've never really watched a Netflix documentary so the presentation wasn't what I'm used to from the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 etc. Much as it was interesting to see the formation of a band I didn't really know what they were going for with it. It clearly wasn't treated as like an X Factor, perhaps closer to what Popstars was with Cowell featuring quite a bit in an ob-doc kind of way.

It's rare for a villain arc like that to last longer than a series (at least since the reboot) so it'll be interesting to see what they do.

It's a bit of a shame because I do think he's one of the most talented acts to have come out of the X Factor and he clearly had so much public support on the show. It's a shame that wasn't able to be translated into continuous support afterwards. His last album stalled a bit, charting at #28. I'm hoping he can do a bit better than that this time.

They did the Jingle Bell Ball on Saturday and are performing on Strictly on Sunday. It helps that this is their big reunion year - JLS also did both of them in 2021 while Westlife did Strictly and the Radio 2 in the Park thing in 2019 - but I'm pleasantly surprised at them getting such big platforms.

Me too, though I'd be worried about slipping and twisting my ankle. 😅

I've always gotten the sense - even during X Factor - that he's never been particularly interested in the personality side of things and is far more interested in the music. I'm not sure if he'd have enough to carry him through those other shows and in the interviews he's done since XF he seems to be one of many who aren't keen on playing the "telly game" so to speak. Which, by the way, is a completely valid stance to have. It's a shame X Factor didn't expand its definition of success to include those who went on to do West End stuff, because there's been so many of them, probably just as many individual acts that got #1 singles and albums.

It's probably the latter. With an artist like him, they just care about the big hits. He's not in the mainstream as much now. From 2010 to 2014 he was on a roll with the success he was having. He seemed to capture the mood of the nation and what they wanted from pop music as well as he could.

Correct. 25 is on 4,137,882 and 21 would be something like 5.5 million by now.

Some updated sales: 4,478,515 - Divide 4,025,007 - Multiply