Well that's the end of XF for another year (well until August - it does go on for nearly 5 months! :o ). Gald they chose 3 rather than 2 acts for the final for variety. Perfromances vocally last night were much better than I expected, credit to all 3 acts :ok: although the song selections were rather safe and unvaried - we'd herad many before and Rhyd in particular came out more one dimesnional than the others - shame for me, as I was his No1 fan and love the variety and drama and wanted some pop songs in there too. :( The duets were a good idea but I was disappointed with the quality of who they chose and it was all a bit incenstuous with Kylie and Jason, linked to Danii. :rolleyes: But did all seem a bit of an anti climax to you and did we get the right winner? Congrats to Leon, a lovely younng lad and I wish him all the best for the future. :ok: But how did he win as the outsider?

My theory: he upped his game and that stood out. And using Kylie despite my thinking the song and her singing awful was clearly a clever move to show he could sing with a contemporary pop artist. And favourite Rhyd was made a bit too predictable, and as he'd already been brilliant he'd no way to improve. He may have lost fans who liked the fur coats and red carpets drama - like me. And despite Kathryn Jenkins's reputation and pedigree, Rhyd kinda got the short straw there as he needed to prove he could sing with a pop star I think and she is not as big as Kylie. And she screwed up a bit and is not to everyone's ear. I expected SD to be in the final 2 and not sure what happened there, unless parents stopped the kids voting? It was the final so you are going to get people tuning in for the first time so that adds a new dimension and it becomes about the night itself rather than past knowledge and tbh on the night I could not see a strong favourite. The Christmas song was the nail in Rhyd's coffin once the final 2 were announced, as he may have sung well but it had nothing special about it - he didn't even opera it up really. I was shocked! And Leon's version was surprisingly better than most may have thought. I am not sure who''s guided Rhyd these past few weeks to be so straight and unadventurous but they have done him a disservice. :angry:

I reckon the youth, cuteness and the mum story helped loads. Even got me going that did. :blush: They made lots of the transition from shy shaking boy into handsome confident young man :D and he did transform and love him of loathe him, that was nice to see and I felt happy for him when he won, bless. He was shocked and stunned and very gracious, and amazed his dream had come true! When they showed him his own record - ahhhh :hug: Soft old git I am!

Or was it just a dogfight between Scotalnd and Wales? Did they actually give a shit what either sang like anyway?

Oh and I like the audtionee's who can't sing's act - but it wasn't a patch on last year when Onkar Judge did Michael Jackson Earth song on wires! roflmao Speaking of which SD on those wires up Christmas trees with glitter was brilliant - I think I will go now cos the serious music fan that I am is clearly losing the plot in her old age. :D

But just have to say Somewhere by Rhydian - WOW! I love it, that was his best. :wub:

I actually thought this could happen, Leon obviously had huge support from all demographics( and i'm guessing he was a housewife's favourite too) roflmao

I thought the final wasnt as good as it should've been. I thought SD was actually the highlight with their flying etc :lol: I felt actually quite dissapointed for them when they were voted off, as they'd poured everything into that competition. I thought Louis was pathetic as well still berating them. God give them a break, it's the final after all! :rolleyes:

Rhydian's songs were to safe IMO. I would've loved him to do his phantom of the Opera song to confirm his versatility rather than the same old sombre ballads, like You Raise me up( :sicky: ). Katherine Jenkins hardly helped as well did she, that song does not lend itself to a warbling soprano :rolleyes: roflmao Overall, he still did great, but i think Leon's duet with Kylie pushed the votes in his favour.

I thought Leon winning was the safe choice for the public. Leon obviously has a more marketable image, and no doubt he will be turned into the next pop star more easily than Rhydian. However, i'm glad that's the case as i would've hated to see Rhydian being sold as a cheap recording artist like Shayne Ward etc. Let's hope he can make the west end :ok:

All in all, an average final to end an average show. A couple of standouts, but not enough spark in this year's contest. Still the past auditioners was HILLARIOUS!!! roflmao

The woman with no teeth who missed her cue and was cut off by someone else, the graveyard twins who had tried in vain to tone the hair down, and then that girl :unsure: . When i saw her i thought 'God, miss Piggy's let herself go a bit' roflmao

Sometimes coming second is better. I think Leon needed to win the X Factor to ensure success but Rhydian has worldwide potential and will go far without needing the X Factor winner label.

roflmao Yes the twins! :D I liked that Johnny Rocco who was giving death threats to Louis at the auditions for calling him a pub singer, but he'd just made up some Italina sounding crap! :lol:

I agree with your post. :ok: Mayeb Leon was the safest choice although I do worry about how he will cope with pressure and fame. Imagine what he'll be like if a foul word is said iin the press about him or his beloved mother! :o And the Michael Buble market is rather swamped these days. Buble is good but there are so many second rate swing covers.

I did not want Rhyd to get a Shayne Ward record deal either, he is better than that rubbish. I woudl like him to make soem records as well as go on stage though, but I think it's best eh finds his own way rather than gets moulded into this anodyne personalitiless crap we tend to end up with. I guess Leon will be better suited to that ! roflmao Jenkins didn't half warble - you are right! I thought it was Leon Lewis meets opera! I didn't like her at all, is that the best opera singer we have? He'd have bene better doing pop with Charlotte Church. She's a laugh :lol: I won't be buying any Kathryn Jenkins albums, not unless I want to shift my ear wax. Yep, you Raise Me up requires a sick bucket. :sicky:

My fave act in the final that I actually enjoyed most was SD - they were realyl good, in fact I think the girl actually outsang Jason Donovan. His voice sounded odd to me also. They were so entertaining, I wish they's done I Don't Feel Like Dancing or Wake ME Up for the full dancefest, but their Xmas song was better than the dire Mariah Carey one. :D I wonder what they will do next? And yes LOUIS WALSH GRRRRR!!!! there was no need to berate them, they are both good singers too and it annoyed me how he seemed to think Leon was so superior to them. :rolleyes: SD haven't really cocked up but Leoon has cocked up quite a few times! :rolleyes:

Yes, Rhy did not NEED to win, but had they handled him right he really SHOULD have won based on the whole series. I didn't think Rhyd would win before the show actually, nor once it started and then when it was over. I picked SD to be in the final and felt they would win. :shrug:

I am still absolutely astounded by lastnights result. For me Leon should never have made the final, never mind the final 2, never mind winning it! I was shocked when Same Difference went first, I had Leon as a cert for 3rd place!
I can not imagine who voted for him, I really do not rate him. I fear it could be a case of the David Sneddon (Fame Academy, also Scottish) 2 songs never to be heard of again!
His performance lastnight was ok, although I felt White Christmas was pretty poor. He did impress me with his version of the winners song though, I am not sure where that came from?!
After all the talk of Same Difference closing the gap between them and Rhydian and then they left first :o Wierd! I enjoyed their performances. The Christmas song was great although vocally a bit wobbly. I loved it when they sang with Jason :P
And so to Rhydian. I think the crux of the matter was the tears, or lack of. Leon played his trump card there, always guarantees a few extra votes. And like others have said the safe songs did him no favours. Unfortunately his uniqueness was taken away a little. And I agree about Katherine Jenkins - it sounded a bit odd! Think she may have been doing a little too much extra curricular with Gethin! ;)
I do feel let down because Rhydian has been the best without a doubt all the way through, he has been head and shoulders above the rest so the result was not the right one. I have no doubts that he will have a fabulous career but still justice was not done last night. Still just shows what can happen on the night, nothing is guaranteed!

SB I hope you were watching the Westlife special on before xfactor, it was ace :P

Hey WA :hug:

I know, I wish I'd taken that bet out cos it was less than evens on Rhyd, about 4-1 on SD and a whopping 10-1 on Leon last night, even once the comp was underway! :o

You have a point, cos didn't Sneddon hate the media and the pressure too? I wonder if Leon can cope. Leon surprised melast night actually, he was much more together vocally and sounded wonderful at times. I do feel though that the Christmas sogn is boring and doesn't make the most of his voice, adn if he's going for that market then he won't stand out. Not sure he stands out with swing either, given the competition. I think he sang U2 or somethign quite well in bootcamp, and Danii never showed that side and shoudl have cos nwo he ha sa swing fanbase and that is it. And there are so many acts in that genre. I buy it but I won't buy it by Leon.

I think the X Factor as a show and it's judges let us down - they didn't do the best with the acts really, I think they played too safe esp with Rhyd. And you are right, Leon shoudl never have made the final anyway - but he did do well - but as you say he should have gone otu sooner. I think Niki might have won cos the Xmas song woudl have suited her, had she made it.

Hey, actualy I DID! :blush: I had ti on in the background and there was this scene where a woman who is a huge fan was at some club and there was a Westlife tribute act on. Then the real ones came out and sang and gave her flowers - was her reaction hilarious or what? roflmao She was just screamign in horror and shock! :lol: Classic.

Yeah it was hilarious! I did think to myself, hmm I hope I am not in that bracket!!! I like their music but I certainly don't go screaming after them!
It was all harmless stuff though and quite a nice little warm up before Xfactor.

My mum hasn't seen xfactor results yet, she will go nuts as she loved Rhydian! Don't think she will believe it.

Yeah Sneddon couldn't handle the pressure. God knows why he entered in the 1st place. Then you have Lemar who came 3rd still going strong, just shows you don't have to win it.

I agree with you, think they let Rhydian down. He did best when he was surprising us with different songs rather than plain ballads. I still feel a little sad. Even more so as I bet on Rhyd at the beginning!

Well I hope they put that clip of Westlife and was it Sabrina? on youtube cos it is soooo funny! :lol: I bet you scream like that all the time WA ;) Do you have Westlife posters? :lol:

Yeah Lemar - he is probably one of the most successful non-winner of one fo these comps? He's the oen I thought shoudl have won anyway rather than David Sneddon so hopefully the same will happen with Rhyd. :ok: Lemar si very nice, and he's got a good voice. I don't buy his stuff bit there are a few songs I can ahppily listent to by him.

You bet on Rhyd? Tbh I thought he was the winner when he was at abootcamp so it was a sound bet IMO. Shame it never came off though :( What odds did you have and when did you place it?

I think it was a week or so in to the finals and it was 7-1. Would have been better waiting and putting it on Leon lastnight! I would never have bet on him though.

Lemar is fab, have been to see him 3 times and he is amazing live. Really nice guy too. People totally didn't vote for the voice in that comp.

Have you seen the comments on teletext? Not too many people happy about Leon winning. Makes me wonder if there was some manipulation going on. All seems very odd!

Have you watched Strictly yet?

I guess we have to congratulate Danni on having the top 2 acts. Bet Sharon was pi*sed!

Still 7-1 wasn;t bad. Shame :(

I have just looked at teletext and they all seem to think it was the wrong result. Someone said they could not get through to vote for Rhyd all night. Is that just cos it is busy or was there a fix? I don't vote in these things so :shrug: Might be worth a visit to that X factor forum to see what they say. There is a link somewhere on a thread.

You've seen Lemar! You get around :lol: Yeah he seems nice, not bad looking either.

Tbh I think Danii had the best chance of winning from the start with Rhyd and she'd have been hopeless with the over 25s if you ask me. Well maybe, she wasn't keen on them was she? But Brain siad that otu of all the mentors she worked so hard, and if you noticed she seemed to have been in rehersals with everyone's acts becuase she would comment on the shows. So good luck to her I say, at least she put the work in unlike some :rolleyes: Then again she was lucky that Rhyd needed little work. Simon was lucky that SD worked hard also and had stage experince. Louis was a bit idle with his acts, they shoudl have doen better. At least oen in the final anyway.

I haven't seen Strictly yet, so don't say anything :D

Wow! You reckon two songs WA?

;)

I think of Ray from last year, I think I've seen him on TV once since the final!

Rhyd was gracious in defeat and looked genuinely happy for Leon, although if I had Andrew Lloyd Webber texting me and offering me a Broadway lead, I guess I'd be pretty happy too

What's betting Rhyd will be singing at the 6 Nations next year?

Well personally hope he won't be singing with Kathryn Jenkins :lol:

Not usre how many hits for Leon, but he does have the credentials of previous contestants liek Shane Ward and Leona warbling Lewis. Young, desperate for fame, mouldable, marketable. I suppose the drawback is that he isn't right for that pop r&b ballad genre like the other pair, but then Micahel Buble sells, people even buy Westlife and Robbie Willaims doing swing :wacko: I stick to my old standards with my Sinatra and Nat King Cole albums personally becuase they simply CANNOT be bettered in that genre so why buy covers? :shrug: .

OH btw Ray - he released an album of swing covers around last Valentine's day and that was the last I heard. Shame Brookside stopped as he'd have had a job for life then. He played Josh and won best newcomer award for soaps when he was a mere kid. He was realyl good in Brookie actually. I miss that show.

I thought he played a character called Anthony for some reason. Wasn't he the character that was bullied and then killed the boy that bullied him?
From my memory Josh was Bev and Ron Dicko's son.
Bring back Brookie!!!!!! :bow:

Yeah he didn't look too fussed did he? It's pretty showbiz isn't it - ALW texting you!
By the way - has anyone heard about Lee from Joseph and Denise Van-Outen getting it on? ;)

I thought that's who he played - Bev and Ron's son? Loved Brookie, remeber Cas Bevron, whenRon and Bev named their house and ha da four poster bed? :lol:

No! I've always called her Denise Van Tits-Out :lol:

I saw Lee form Jospeh on Tv the other day - he has recorded an album. He was doing an horrendously lifeless and cheesy cover fo Make You a Star by David Essex :blink:

Yes I did hear that about Lee and Denise last week. Rumour has it, he was chasing her for a while, but she was reluctant because of the age difference, but she seems to have relented. :D

Know what you mean about the version of Make you a Star.... :( not good. But have you heard Lee sing Painted Black - Rolling Stones....he does it brilliantly :bow: :bow: :bow:

No, I only saw that one.

I'm going to see him in March,better start rehearsing my Joseph numbers :P
I'm sure Ray was not Josh but the little killer boy, will look it up in a mo. By the way, Ray popped up in songs of praise yesterday alongside Connie Fisher. He did a nifty rendition of 12 days of Christmas - Leon take note!

Di dhe indeed! :lol:

I must check out Brookie to find out who he played cos I'm thinking of different to you. And he had changed a lot by time he went on XF.