Week No.2, Drama No.2

Another weekend, another X Factor show. And…another X Factor show, another drama! Previously, we had the ridiculous public outcry about Dannii Minogue’s so-called ‘gay gibe’ at contestant Danyl Johnson. Quite how a gay rights supporter and ambassador of the Terrence Higgins Trust (who do a lot of work with gay HIV sufferers) can make a ‘gay gibe’ is beyond me. Talk about a storm in a teacup. Danyl wasn’t offended, so why are the public?! Now, we have more drama. Last night ended a double bill of X Factor where Simon’s ego managed to reach epic proportions. I hear they are working on a specially-constructed entrance to the studio; one where he can fit his enormous head through. To begin with, he took constant digs at Dannii and Cheryl throughout the show, complaining that the mentors’ choice of songs was letting the contestants down. Then, he praised himself by making annoyingly arrogant comments such as “this is why all the acts want to work with me” after Jamie’s performance, and looking on smugly in the results show when all his acts escaped The Bottom Two. And finally, when poor little Lloyd Daniels took to the stage to sing a Leona Lewis classic, Simon The Ego really let rip: “You’re incredibly lucky you’re cute. That song would’ve worked if it lasted 15 seconds. I am going to put the blame with the girl on my right who, right now, is not working with you properly”. Cue camera on Cheryl Cole, who is fiercely fighting back tears. Simon the Ego, a.k.a. Simon the Bully, really needs to rein in the fighting talk me thinks. Things didn’t get any better for Cheryl during the results show, when she had to do a much-anticipated performance of her debut solo single in front of an audience that included her Girls Aloud band members and her husband.

Let’s talk about that performance for a minute! It amazes me that Girls Aloud, despite being born from a reality audition-style show similar to X Factor, cannot sing live to save their lives. I recently watched their Out of Control tour on Sky1. For every 10 musical notes they sang, at least eight were out of tune. Yet, surprisingly, last night Cheryl managed to pull off a note-perfect performance! Apparently, no lip-synching was involved so I’m not really sure how she did it but she did, and it’s probably safe to say that’s a number one single in the bag. Anyway, the weekend ended as badly as it began for Cheryl, when one of her acts, Rikki Loney, left the show and she had to stand there on stage wearing THOSE trousers and a completely see-through top, comforting an emotional Rikki. A lack of clothing wasn’t what was bothering her most though; apparently it was the fact that Rikki was out at the expense of the talentless twins John and Edward. Now there’s a whole other rant that I’ll just have to leave for another time…