James Arthur who won last year’s X Factor has apologised to the gay community after an argument on Twitter in which he used the homophobic slur ‘You F**king Queer’ in a rap.
Tag: X Factor
Read the latest news and analysis of X Factor. Browse THEGAYUK’s entire archive on news about X Factor contestants and shows.
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Can Twitter predict the X Factor 2013 winner?
Last year we ran a piece where we predicted the winners of X Factor 2012 by the number of Twitter followers they had, we call it the T.W.A.T.S system.
It’s not an exact science, but by using the number of Twitter fans each contestant had as a barometer (science word) of potential success we managed to get quite an actuate picture of who was going to win.
So going via the same formula we predict that this is how the X Factor Finals 2013 might look:
1st Sam Callahan 175,185
2nd Nicholas McDonald 138, 629
3rd Kingsland Road 119,352
4th Tamera Foster 114,081
5th Luke Friend 113, 314
6th Rough Copy 107,509
7th Sam Bailey 89,811
8th Abi Alton 66,422
9th Hannah Barrett 58,239
10th Miss Dynamix 37,001
11th Shelley Smith 30,023
12th Lorna Simpson 9,592Now as we said earlier we’re not scientists, and this barely constitutes as news, but if we were Hannah or Abi, we’d be shaping up our act – or at least faking some Twitter numbers!
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COMMENT: The X-Factory
This weekend’s shock departure of Ella Henderson from the X-Factor competition has created outrage only a few weeks before the final show.
The bottom two acts had to perform again for the judges to decide who would leave the competition. Ella blasted out ‘If You’re Not The One’ by Daniel Beddingfield, followed by James Arthur’s powerful rendition of Alicia Keys’ ‘Falling’. With the final result going to deadlock, it was Ella who received the least amounts of votes and left the competition.
This year there is a clear star, James Arthur, who is a ready-made artist. In some respects, it would have done him a favour to have left the competition this weekend – so that he is able to release a worthy album without the X Factor tagline.
X Factor is in its ninth year, and is in desperate need of a revamp. However, my real complaint is about the longevity of the acts. There have been a handful of successful acts, Leona Lewis, JLS, One Direction, but what about real music apart from this repetitive commercial factory? Not to mention the irrelevance of Louis Walsh; what is he still doing there?
There are two acts in my eyes this year who have the ability to really make a difference in the music industry on a global scale. Jahmene and James, with James leading the way. He is a true artist, refreshingly original and it is a relief to see how much credit he is receiving. The real success is how he has been able to retain his integrity without selling out in this X Factor factory.
Let’s get away from being caught up in someone’s sob story, and focus on true talent.
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Twitter Predicts X Factor Winner 2012
The writing is on the walls it seems for the remaining contestants on this year’s X Factor as we delve in to the fully accredited and scientifically backed up ‘Twitter Winning And Theoretical Service’ (TWATS)… (it doesn’t exist).
It was almost a certainty that Melanie Masson was going to be the casualty of Sunday night’s X Factor results show – and the TWATS numbers back it up.
Taking a look at her Twitter stats, we discover that she was by far the most unpopular contestant of this, the tenth series of the UK’s biggest singing competition with a mere 30,500 followers, and Carolynne Poole who was voted off the previous week only had under 60,000 Twitter lovers at the time of her booting.
Using this science we predict that if MK1, Christopher Maloney or Jade Ellis should find themselves in deadlock (which seems to be the way the judges are taking it at the moment) they may well face the chop with just 42,556, 51,459 and 80,955 followers respectively.
Betting giant William Hill put that Jade Ellis’s odds of winning at 10/1. However her ‘On The Ground’ support, her fans, just don’t seem to reflect the bookies mood.
If the number of followers on Twitter is any reflection on the proportion of real life fans then it should be easy to predict the outcome. Unsurprisingly the bookies’ favourites to win are in the top 3, with Union J topping the list with Lucy and Ella trailing a close 2nd and 3rd.
So based on Twitter here’s our prediction for the over all winner of the 2012 X FactorUnion J 288,626
Lucy Spraggan 268 276
Ella Henderson 221 799
James MacArthur 220, 679
Rylan Clark 174 363
Jahmene Douglas 124,490
District 3 123, 503
Kye Sones 114,165
Jade Ellis 80,995
Christopher Maloney 51,456
MK1 42, 556
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Already Eliminated.
Carolynne Poole 104,716 (her numbers at the time were around the 60,000 mark)
Melanie Masson 30,500
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Rylan Stays For Another Week
With the first weekend of Live shows completed the X Factor has had its first causality in the form of Carolynne Poole.
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TV REVIEW | X Factor The Live Shows 2012
Same old same old, but with makeup so thick, I’m surprised the contestants could bat their collective eyelids as the harsh light of showbiz hit them, like karaoke Bambis standing in the open meadow for the first time.
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X Factor Homophobia Towards Rylan Clark Continues
Sunday night’s episode saw Lucy Spraggan, Jade Ellis and Rylan Clark make history on ITV’s flagship show X FACTOR.
The openly gay singers battled 10,000s of hopefuls to be one of the twelve contestants to make it through to the live show.
Lucy Spraggan and Jade Ellis are the first openly gay women to appear on the show. Lucy, 21 from Canterbury took to Twitter last night to say:
‘That was intense… It begins here.”
However there was a dark cloud over Rylan’s camp as an outpouring of homophobic messages flooded social networks, after his trademark larger than life reaction to the news that Nicole Scherzinger was taking him through to the live shows.
‘Is this a wind-up? Are you having me on?’ he questioned.
Rylan later added:
‘We’re going to have a right laugh.’
Despite his outrageous reaction to the news Rylan insisted that he isn’t the joke finalist of this year’s competition.
He said:
‘I think at the beginning of this process everyone looked at me as a bit of a joker and then people couldn’t be more wrong. I had to go in there and show that I can be serious and be a singer.
‘I haven’t really got that much back home, I want to turn that around I want to be achieving something rather than keep being a let-down. I have got nothing to go back to now. I’ve got too much riding on this.’
Last week we reported that some users had issued death threats to the Essex singer and reality star.
Rylan hit back on twitter saying:
‘I’ve ben [sic] told not to react to all the shit on here but I’m sorry, I’m a mouthy bastard so I’m gonna… I’ve EARNED my place at judges houses just like every other person in this comp, not everyone is going to like me, I know that, but don’t … Judge me for doing something I’ve always wanted to do, for those who are supportive thank you so much, it means the world…..’
He continued:
‘I understand I’m going to be the one you either love or hate and that’s fine, you can’t please everyone. I have a thick skin and have had to deal with things in the past. But it’s horrible when you have 250,000 people giving you abuse.
‘I’ve had death threats and I’ve been told I’m going to get bottled when I go to clubs. I’ve been told I’m going to have my face sliced open. I’m getting a lot of homophobic gay-bashing abuse which, I’m sad to say, is expected.
‘Some people are tweeting me like I’m a murderer. It’s absolutely disgusting.’
An alarming number of Twitter followers took to the micro social network to call for the death of the singer.
User @annabelphelan tweeted:
Rylan Clarke needs to die in a fire.
@elliscarr
I’m gonna kill Rylan Clarke [sic] !! Anyone fancy joining me?
Whilst other users were openly homophobic:
@Niall_Breen98
that rylan fella needs a kick in the stones… queer.
@Mariyah1993
I really dislike gay people. especially this rylan person. His gayness makes me want to stab him. Imagine that was your son? #Astagfirullah.
So far the police have not been involved and no official complaints have been lodged.
A spokesperson for XFACTOR said:
‘The welfare of our contestants is always our key priority and we work with them to provide what support is needed.’
All contestants are given briefings on social media and are encouraged to block abusive messages – or to engaged in any negative comments. Any abuse on social networks is reported to platform – and to the police if ‘deemed to be serious’
A Spokesperson for Twitter said:
‘We can’t comment on individual accounts, however we have a clear policy on our site and a process for users who want to report abuse.’
The live shows start next Saturday night at 8.10PM.
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All Change For Louis’ Groups
All change for Louis’s Groups at Judges Houses!
Triple J and Times Red added to Louis’s category while Rough Copy leave the competition. George Shelley added to Triple J and new name for band.
On last week’s show (23 September), the acts going through to Judges Houses were revealed and the Judges were told which category they’ll be mentoring in a phone call from Simon Cowell.
Gary Barlow is looking after the Over 28s, Nicole Scherzinger the Boys, Tulisa the Girls and Louis Walsh the Groups.
Since Bootcamp was filmed in Liverpool, group of three, Rough Copy have left the competition and Louis Walsh has added two groups to the category – so he takes seven acts to Judges Houses while the other Judges have six!
Louis Walsh says:
“When Rough Copy left, I found it difficult to choose between two groups to fill their place. In the end I invited boyband Triple J to come to Judges Houses, but still felt that as I’d lost such a strong group in Rough Copy that I wanted to make sure the category was the best it could possibly be.
“I asked Gary, Nicole and Tulisa if they minded if I took a seventh act. They were happy as they felt they’d got the right six acts for their Judges Houses trips so I asked Times Red to come along and they said yes.”
Louis also felt that Triple J would benefit by having a fourth member and he asked George Shelley (who left the competition at Bootcamp) if he’d like to join JJ, Josh and Jaymi in the band.
On George joining the group, Louis adds:
“George loved the idea and as the boys knew him from Bootcamp they were really happy for him to join them. The group then came up with a new name and they are now called Union J.”
Union J say:
“We couldn’t believe it when we got the call about going to Judges Houses and of course we jumped at the chance. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity. We’re so happy to be a four piece too. The group feels so right together, it feels like we’ve been together for years!”
Times Red say:
“We are beyond excited about having a second chance. We have nothing to lose so we’re going all out to impress in Vegas.”
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Rylan Faces Homophobic Tweets
The judges of the X Factor caused controversy and a social media meltdown yesterday when they announced that contestant Rylan Clark would be going through to the next round – the all important judges’ houses; causing the Essex wannabe’s name to trend worldwide last night.
Many users took to micro-social media site Twitter to vent their outrage.
Reality Starlet Mille Mackintosh from Made In Chelsea wrote:‘just had to turn the tv down #xfactor #rylan’
User @jaymeatsix said:
‘Absolutely dreadful decision to put that Rylan Clark through!!’
And @hannthewanted Tweeted:
‘Yeah but Rylan is a novelty act compared to everybody else talent.’
Rylan who appeared in last night’s show in ‘Spikes and Sparkles’ sang his own club version of Pussycat Dolls’ song ‘Don’t Cha’.
Gary Barlow who is an outspoken critic of Rylan was not moved by the blonde turned brunette, when the openly gay hunk said:“This is my only chance to show you guys what I’m all about… I’m not a Whitney wannabe’
A fair amount of homophobic abuse was hurled at him via the site, with user @KyleHankins tweeting:
‘That f**king rylan only got through because he’s gay and louis fancies him #queerc**ts’
And @DaleRawlings7
‘People wonder why were sometimes harsh to gay ppl [sic] then idiots like rylan clarke [sic] come on TV’
Whilst @craigmaiden22
XFactor is Corrupt I’m hearing Rylan (fake made up gay homo name) got through, who wants to find him and kill him ?!
Rylan has tweeted in the past that he had be dealing with death threats since appearing on ITV’s flagship show – but said:
‘It’s all part of the fun.’
An X Factor spokesperson said:
‘We are looking into the matter.’
X Factor continues next Saturday at 8.10PM
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Rylan And Lucy Through To The Next Round
Last night’s episode of X Factor saw over a third of hopefuls axed from the show – even before they had the chance to sing in front of the judges.
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Pep Talk From JLS For Hopeful X Factor Contestants
They may have made it through to the X FACTOR’s infamous bootcamp, but a third of the 211 wannabe X Factor winners who impressed the judges from the first round of auditions will be sent home in this evening’s episode, even before they get to perform again.