User reviews

I remember when X Factor started there were some actually decent contestants (Leona Lewis, for example). Go forward 14 years and it's full of desperate wannabes with mediocre talent.

I don't watch this show much & haven't seen it in years, I don't know if the judges are bullies for that reason but I think it's messed up how the upset & anger from bad singers is broadcasted to the world so they can get laughed at while famous artists get death threats online or wherever, it's pretty obvious it's no joke, I've heard the excuse of "oh but one of the is enjoying his fame even though he was laughed at publicly by the x factor", it doesn't mean it isn't dangerous & that comment was from a stranger so may not be true, I don't wanna blame the judges because bad singers like that are in serious need of honest criticism & in many cases therapy, their mental health seems bad I think, this show seems to not care about them, their wellbeing or their mental health so it makes a sick joke out of their trauma & people laugh, another thing that makes me sick is bad singers coming back to the show & getting disappointed again, in my opinion the music industry despite probably often being a huge buzz for great artists is one of the sickest most cut throat industries in the world & it's not funny but some people are literally sadistic & cruel despite acting nice & unfortunately lower themselves down to the level of laughing at these bad singers & calling them nasty names, I think they're often people who just couldn't care any less about total strangers such as people who are cold, hungry & homeless, I reckon they just think if someone they don't know did anything silly to mugged & beaten or something like walking through the wrong street alone at midnight or whatever it's their own fault & they deserve no sympathy, I personally think that's mean because some people are just careless.

I used to quite enjoy the X Factor when it first started, however I have been increasingly fed up with the way everybody takes to too seriously and the way the judges act like little spoilt kids especially when someone criticises "their" act.

The auditions are good though and by far the best part of the series. I always find them very funny.

If the judges weren't also mentors, maybe it would improve the show and stop the stupid jibs at other judges acts. Its just so childish.

I think for the next series, I'll watch the auditions and forget the rest.

Turn the clock back to the 90's and bring some decent Saturday shows back to life!

This series (2015) has shown that the X Factor has run its course, that the death knell has rung for Mr Cowell and co. and that it's time to end this misery. The nose dive in viewing figures has shown that people feel the same, it's been done to death and enough's enough.

I'm not saying that there aren't great singers on the show, but it's not about them, it's about the egos of Mr Cowell and co. What gives Cheryl the right to comment on people's singing abilities when she's mimed more times then Marcel Marceau.

The crying, grizzling, sob stories, 'it's my dream' thing ruins the show, they didn't have it on the U.S. series, what is the point, is it a singing competition?

Plaudits for giving us Leona Lewis, the one saving grace of the show, but otherwise I'm one of the millions that have switched off.

Please end it and give us a good drama on a Saturday night!! 1/10

The X-Factor (and I wouldn't be surprised if it was all similar shows) is a overglorified scam focused on creating drama and embarrassing vulnerable people (some of these people also include the disabled).

A lot of it (if not every single part) is faked. One big example is the case of Zoe Alexander (the girl they said looked like Pink - her story can be heard on YouTube).

There are no real winners on these shows. Only pawns. Only victims.

Professional Scammers: Not Contest. It's a Reality Show.

I simply don't understand how anyone could possibly find this show in any way successful. How can people stand for the auditionees being abused by the judges? I may be no expert but I don't believe that someone should be allowed come onto the show with some false hope or dream in their head and then be punished for it. Aren't they human beings too? Is it right that the judges can laugh at their performance and then criticise them for making some effort? Quite simply if people like Simon Cowell are going to be allowed to insult other people like this, then I don't know what the world's coming to. Just because a person is idle or boastful about 'having the X Factor' is it right for judges to display a similar type of behaviour? Is this a way of saying that other people don't have feelings the same as anyone else? In any case not all the auditionees behave like that and I don't believe that they should be hurt in such a cruel way.

Yeah another Brit invention.

They show us the "terrible singers" wether they be drop dead gorgeous or let's say not.

Then they show us people who are different in many different ways so we can point, laugh, make memes etc. They have extra clips to show.

But they never show the ones where the 17yr old girl who's a size 22 with acne and mixed dress sense sings like an angle.

Or the boy band who's voices are like the beach boys the lead singers teeth are brownish because his parents didn't teach hygiene and two of them are only 5" 0' with one over weight.

No this is a body shaming contest.

Incidentally, people like I mentioned don't get to go on stage that would give the game away.

At least pop idol played it straight down the line.

Bad Auditions are hilarious, I love watching this show for that alone.

The X Factor I do find very addictive, and while it is very entertaining at times, there are things I don't like about it. There have been some talented singers, I especially loved Alexandra Burke and Leona Lewis, but other wannabes in the auditions have been laughable, and there have been others who were fine in auditions, but were dreadful on the live shows. I do like Simon Cowell, though his criticisms can be very hurtful and unfair, reminds me of Jason Gardiner on Dancing on Ice. When the contestants sing, I do like most of the song choices, as long as the arrangement, choreography and singing is good, and their outfits too, and I have mostly liked them. Louis Walsh sometimes gets on my nerves, he heavily criticised Daniel Evans, and compared him to Ricky Gervais in a nightclub or something like that, and that is the sort of thing people would take to heart in a bad way. As I said The X Factor is very addictive, but I do have a nag that applies to other entertainment shows as well. The actual decision to replace Sharon Osborne with Cheryl Cole was okay, though Sharon was very encouraging and friendly, and is missed. But now Strictly Come Dancing have replaced Arlene Phillips with Alesha Dixon, which is ludicrous. Dixon is a beautiful woman, and has a talent for dancing, but I wish that people would stop being so prejudiced, and stop replacing more experienced people with younger ones. Honestly, it has been too long that people keep judging others by their appearances and ages instead of their talents which is actually more important. In conclusion, I like The X Factor, but I would never participate in it. I want to be a singer being 17, but I prefer to start small, instead of rushing what I want to do, and not be subject to negative press. Speaking of that, the X Factor is very manipulative, thanks to all the lies the media put in the papers. 6/10 for entertainment. Bethany Cox

The X-Factor is like so much pig-slop reality television, except it's so much more insidious with its contrivances and preplanned auditions being set up or just outright fabricated. It makes a circus out of people's genuine attempts to make others happy, and it makes fools out of the people put on full display. It's like exploitation of deeply insecure people.

So yeah: The X-Factor isn't really a good show at all, BUT Simon Cowell was genuinely an entertaining a$$hole to see on-screen, even if you never wanted to be on the receiving end of his ruthlessness. And besides some of the more notable viral clips on YouTube, the show had painfully little else to offer.

Why is it that better television shows have died and never seen the light of day whilst stuff like this is allowed to fester like some kind of creative cancer?

Honestly, having pre-scripted or set-up outcomes for the auditions just completely kills the purpose of reality to being... REALITY! It's an intellectual insult of the worst kind.

I only started watching Xfactor last year, and then mostly only the auditions. This year (2010 Xfactor) was different.

I was like all the other haters out there, believing it to be some stupid money-making scheme by Simon Cowell which shames terrible singers then praises slightly better singers.

This year I found myself mistaken. The auditions are still the same, it's just the audience laughing at bad performances (don't get me wrong I'm not saying it's bad to laugh at some freaky old lady screaming down the microphone) but this time, when it came to the live shows, I actually liked the contenders. Not only could they sing well like I believed no-one really could on the Xfactor, most seemed to have nice personalities, only shown further on back-stage shows like Xtra factor. You can choose your favourites which would for me be the good singers with good personalities, and then choose your most hated. (Some one you just don't like the look of or a bad singer, it's your choice) and then from then it's listening to them sing and hoping your favourite stays in.

It can get tedious and boring at times, I often left half-way through once my favourite act had performed, but it's much better than I expected.

It may just be this year, maybe next year it'll be packed-full with boring generic singers. Either way I know I'll have to check it out at least.

Recently "Nasty" Nigel and Simon Cowell were in court because the former (nothing to do with this show) was claiming damages off the latter for stealing the idea from Pop Idol etc to make this show. Of course to the majority of us this just seemed like an easy claim because, aside from legal technicalities over whether or not you can copyright a concept, the X Factor is clearly just Pop Idol etc in slightly different clothes (but not even that different). The court case was settled behind closed doors and everything went on as normal but we the viewers were still left with a show that continues to flog a formula that seems like it will never die.

The X Factor is supposedly different from Pop Stars/Idol because it is about the people as well as the music; you know – that x factor that makes stars stars. Well, at least on paper that is what it is about but taking a look at it, it looks awfully like Pop Idol crossed with Popstars (groups and solo artists), with different judges, a new presenter and a slightly different approach (we see a lot more of the training as each artist is taken under the wing of one of the judges). It has nothing really original in it and, although the artists are supposedly got individuality (x factor) they still belt out cover versions; in fact series 1 winner Brookstein (praised by Cowell for his individual sound) was very quickly dropped from the 6 album deal he won because he refused to do an album of cover versions. Anyway, so much for that idea, so for the most part this is just another clone of the same formula. The music is nice, big, professional karaoke of hits that everyone can sing along at home to but it is all very dull and depressing if you are looking for more.

The training camp may allow those of us that were adolescent boys in the 1980's a chance to rekindle our lust for Sinitta but mainly the way that the groups are split up across the judges is less about training and more about allowing conflict between them. The producers have realised that it is the judges that get the headlines and inject the character into these shows so here we have it pushed and endlessly stage-managed. They do this to extremes, this year having Osbourne throw water on Walsh, with the latter saying he has quit the show, only to return after a week of free headlines in the tabloids, stirring up the viewers and upping ratings (something they can't do with the bland acts themselves). Presenter Kate Thornton can't help us because she is just as caught up in the whole thing and comes across as there is nothing more important happening in the world than the results of the public vote – and maybe for her there isn't. Even after the vote though, the judges still get their say (which made me doubt their independence since both "losers" will belong to at least one of them), cue more pantomime booing, hissing and jeering in line with the whole idea of manufactured drama.

Overall this is a popular show because the formula works for a lot of people. I won't demean them on this decision but I will say that it doesn't work for me. The judges stir it up the best they can and try to get headlines for the show and conceal how bland the artists themselves are but really this is just what it has always been – a big, obvious karaoke show that gives the masses something easy and hollow to watch on a Saturday night. Hopefully it will all come to an end soon but I suspect we'll continue to get the same formula with minor twists for as long as the viewers will watch it. My only hope is that one of those twists will be the inclusion of live, hungry bears, freely roaming the backstage area.

I must confess, I love well written, informative shows, that you watch, look back on and the show manages to get your mind thinking. Sadly, I struggle with thr first part of the equation. Not for me, thanks!

Ive seen alot of videos exposing them like for example this girl had a friend who had a mic attached under his shirt without her knowing which she found out and was upset. Same women(wont say her name) also was asked who she wanted to duet in music industry she said who and then left the judges asked someone else same question but who would they want to take out from the music industry as that person said the exact person the woman (whom i talking about) said and splice what the two said and made it out that the person that the woman wanted to duet said she wanted to take that person out of the.

Welcome to the world of karaoke, If you are a 14 years old female you will like and believe that what you see is entertaining, for the rest of us its the same old tripe that we have got used to for the last five years. No I don't watch it (it's just hard to avoid all the hype in the media).

In my opinion the voting can be rigged and then the shows screaming host pretends that the "public have .............(long pause)........decided" when the "winner" has already been chosen. But keep on voting as many times as you like (hummm isn't that illegal....vote rigging anyone) the production company really needs your votes err money.

Forgive me if I am wrong but I always assumed that judges have to be independent with no attachments to the contestants. Enough said.

What were you thinking kicking out so many good singers like Gift, Sam, Ryan and leaving that stupid, BAD sorry excuse of a performer "Honey G" in the show?

You people make a joke out of this show and all the good singers who try for it. Huge huge huge huge disappointment.

OK, first of all, I was NOT gonna watch this show, not after the disaster of Pop Idol and Michelle McManus (yes I got caught up in the hype!) This time, I got hooked! With talent like Tabby, Cassie, VWS, and others, well you had to watch it! I was surprised at one of the Finalists being there, but voted like mad for Steve (cos the ones I wanted had gone!) It was nail-biting TV, and at least with Sharon Osbourne, you got honesty! One of the highlights was her emptying a glass of water over Simon Cowell... or was it two glasses? I'm pleased for Steve, after working the clubs and pubs (been there, seen it, got the T-shirt) he deserves a go at "fame"! No-one really has lost, because Sharon has Tabby and Cassie under her wing, Louis has G4.. no doubt VWS will get a record, Rowetta I think should too!

One last comment about the judges... Love em or loathe em, they do know the business!! Let's hope also that Steve will be more of a success than Michelle McManus, and please, please..... no mention of Hear'Say.

Sharon Osbourne has a lot of experience of the music industry, just because she's famous for being Ozzy's manager doesn't mean that's all she's done, her father was a manager and she has been involved in the industry for all of her life. In my opinion she is the best judge, she has compassion and does not get off on insulting people just for the hell of it, she cares. Sharon is a fair judge and does not insult someone unless the person deserves it, for being arrogant or rude.

If you didn't like Pop Idol then why would you watch The X Factor?

It is a classic TV talent show, and does not discriminate against the older performers or groups, anyone over 16 can enter and they only discriminate on the grounds of talent.

If you liked any of the previous 'Popstar's' or 'Pop Idol' shows then you'll love this.

This show is fabulous! Sharon Osbourne is fabulous, Simon Cowell is fabulous and Louis Walsh is...well not fabulous, he's just...there. We are only three episodes into the series and already it has proved itself to be miles better than Pop Idol and other such previous shows, and that is because of Sharon Osbourne. What a brilliant judge, honest compassionate and so very funny. I could happily sit and watch her yell "fabulous" for the whole hour.

As brilliant as the audition shows are, the "boot camp" shows should be even better, with the judges eventually taking home 5 acts each from whichever category they are given. The show just hooks you in and you can't help but watch, and it is getting more and more popular each week, with over 500 000 more viewers tuning in each new week. Kate Thornton is doing a great job as the presenter, although i would have preferred to see Ant and Dec.

The live shows should also prove excellent, and we will see how Kate does with presenting those. As it is, we have about 3 or 4 more weeks worth of audition shows and i am looking forward to every single one. Brilliant Saturday night TV is finally back!