by Ethel Smith

Created on: November 27, 2007   Last Updated: January 12, 2010

The X Factor 2008 and me.

As I remained glued to my television set, each Saturday night watching The X Factor, my younger friend told me I was "a saddo". She however would be glued to the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing, which to me paled by comparison and was nothing more than an updated Come Dancing, but with celebrities. Funny thing personal taste, isn't it? Still both shows, in their own ways, are typical of today's popular television viewing in that they are a bit like reality TV viewing. Now, as an older person, of sorts, I cannot abide series such as Get Me Out Of Here I'm A Celebrity and Big Brother, but The X Factor has always been a firm favourite of mine. X Factor 2007 and 2008 are now long gone and X Factor 2009 is still at the audition stage.

A Little Background for those unfamiliar with The X Factor.

The X Factor followed on from the likes of Pop Idol in the UK and is basically a singing competition. However the show's purpose is to select a final winner who has something a little extra, namely THE X FACTOR. The artist or artists will also need to be able to be popular and a successful prospect for chart stardom.

The series always begins with the auditions and for 2009 these have changed slightly. Those performers auditioning this year will audition in front of a live audience, in a similar way to Britain's Got Talent. I have only discovered recently that there are auditions to get onto the television auditions which is rather worrying. This means that the ones who go before the judges and the public on TV have already had some form of assessment. This leaves me wondering if:-

a - There are millions of appalling artists much worse than those we, the audience, get to see.
or
b - The really bad performers are just given television space to be ridiculed in order to entertain us.

If it is the latter option then really it is very cruel. Fair enough these people volunteer for this show, and you could say that they set themselves up for ridicule. However some participants obviously believe that they are talented or have had people misguidedly telling them that they are.

So, the television series starts with auditions which last year, 2008, resulted in 12 artists being selected to go through to the live final shows. These acts were divided into four groups and each group has a specific mentor. 2008 was the first year that there were four groups and that the starting age limit was lowered to 14. The auditions have performers from 14 to whatever age. 2009 looks

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>