Last night the public chose both John and Edward, known to most as 'Jedward', and 'voice-of-an-angel' Lucie Jones as their least favourite contestents, putting them both slap bang in the bottom two.
As both contestents came onto the stage 'singing for possibly the last time in the competition' the entire country were awaiting the moment where we would be forced to say goodbye to those imfamous twins. Some may have felt sad about this- never again would we see those two baby-faced 18 year olds with gel in their hair giving them at least another point onto their BMI, crawling through the legs of two bikini-clad women, or singing and dancing out of time in a way that only Jedward can.
I, for one, felt a great sense of loss.
Their performance was, admittedly, mediocre (but then we expected nothing less). Lucie came out and belted a rendition of 'One Moment in Time' awarding her a standing ovation from mentor Dannii Minogue.
When the moment came for the judges to vote, most of the country were sitting at home waiting for the inevitable to happen. A large number probably thinking 'at last, the time has come to banish those dreadful twins from our TV screens.'
They were wrong, however. Louis told Lucie she should not have been in the bottom two but chose to save his own act just as expected. Dannii did not feel the need to drag the moment out and merely named her own act to save. Cheryl told the twins she always enjoyed watching them but chose Lucie to stay in the competition.
Then it was Simons turn. After weeks and weeks of slating John and Edward, repeatedly telling them they 'cant sing' and referring to them as 'horrors', the public would have expected him to stand by this previous judgement and take his chance to send them out of the competition. Simon has been quoted as saying it would be a disaster if they won and he would 'leave the country'. Surely after his much displayed dislike of the boys this was the moment they would be sent home.
But no, Simon said he did not think either act could win and if he had to pick one act he would rather see again he 'would have to pick the boys'. He then decided he would vote to send Lucie home and take the vote to deadlock.
Lucie put her head in her hands as Dermot was given that dreaded silver envelope holding the much anticipated result. 'The person leaving the competition is........ (long pause for dramtic effect) Lucie.'
She began to cry and John and Edward looked shocked and upset as the audience booed.
The question is, was Simon's voting tactical or was he genuine when he said he did not believe either act to be possible winners so he put through the act he would rather see in next weeks show?
On the Xtra Factor later on, Simon said, 'You make a decision right in that moment. If you think it is someone who can win, you do the right thing'.
A record 16.6 millions viewers watched as Lucie crashed out of the competition on Simons command and a staggering number of complaints were written in. The X Factor website has experienced technical difficulties due to the sheer multitude of comments coming in regarding Simon's decision.
I believe Simon to be a very clever man, and there are reasons and thoughts behind every one of his actions. This year the X Factor has thrived off of the controversy surrounding it. It just so happens that John and Edward were the main recipricants of this controversy, so to see them leave the competition would be to see a huge mass of media attention fall away with them. Simon said 'I got a lot of stick for taking it to deadlock last week, and I'm going to do it again.' This suggests that Simon knows what keeps the viewers glued to their television screens; its the 'shock results' and uncertainty of the programme. By making a choice in that moment that he knows is going to have the majority of the countries press lapping it up, Simon can sit back and reap the benefits. For next week yet more viewers will be tuning in, and yet more votes will be cast due to the fear that now the X Factor is 'no longer a singing contest' their talented favourites will not make it to where they deserve to be.
Ingenious, I think you will agree. Whether or not you agree with the decision he made (I am sure if you are going by talent, every single human being in the country will not, in fact, agree with it), you cannot deny that you are talking about it. Simon Cowell does not care if the public like him or not, if he did he would hardly have created himself the persona of 'Mr Nasty'. He cares about making money. He is a money-making machine, and he is damn good at it.
I leave you with one question. Lucie could not have won the competition, just as John and Edward will not. So why does it matter? Lucie is out of the competition now, rather than in one or two weeks, does it really make that much of a difference?
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