The dreaded fall (or rather eagerly anticipated fail) of Jedward.

Another week hard at the grindstone for the people of Great Britain, yet one made all the more easy by this weeks' X-Factor news. Yes, bye bye Jedward. Lets get this out of the way before I commence with a good old fashioned attack of character, commercialism and general televisual tripe, I am not an X-factor fan.

 To me, X-Factor symbolises everything I stand against. Instead of searching for talent; for true, untapped potential, it provides a plinth for some really rather ordinary people. At the moment, X-factor as a format is decaying. Folks, it really does stink. Every year, like a fantastically mesmerising hollywood director; Simon Cowell stands in front of potential new 'actors' - some of whom, he will inevitably transform into stars and offers them a way out, an escape from the daily terrors and treatcherous nature of being...actually rather ordinary. For there is always to be a sob-story; an enticing, juicy sub-plot which will see the emotional burdens of an individual character tested to the limit. A lost father, a distant brother, a disconnected mother...  There must always be one family member who is at fault for this character to truly 'work', and sure enough, every year, there is always one of these. However, not this year. At least, if there was, his afflictions didn't work upon us this time. I don't pretend to know all of the cast of this year's show, but I recognise most of them. It strikes me as odd though, that I don't recognise them through my watching of the show. Where can this be from? Ah, I remember, I overheard Sarah talking about Danyl's epic fail, in the canteen a week ago... Or maybe it was Euan, my hearty amigo who happens to live in the bedroom next door to mine, talking about his eventual confession of love for the entity that is (or was...) Jedward. Well, actually, it was all of these things and more. Every time I turn on the television, open a magazine, surf the net, I still end up getting caught up in the mix. Simon Cowell says, Louis Walsh says, some X-factor reject from the first season says... It is always the same. Needless to say, it is rather overwhelming. What shocks me the most, is how the public can influence a series like this. Of course, it is all based on votes from our expensive and as Dermot O'Leary constantly reminds us 'crucial' phone calls to 'save' a contestant on this week's show (presumably from the daily terrors and treatcherous nature of being... actually rather ordinary.) Everything is so imperative in the world of X-factor. We 'must', we 'should', we 'need' and we 'save' - apparently, we, the public control the show yet the 'programme' (it does not really deserve the 'title' of programme, owing to the fact that it contains no televisual quality whatsoever) requires the use of desperation to draw us in. I know the show works on this principle, and, if it pulls in the money, why change it? I'm definitely not suggesting that - I suppose what I am really getting at is the repetition of the same format, year in year out. "Oh, it's the X-factor time of year again..." No! It is not! It is November, a month before December, the month of that less popular thing, Christmas!

Jedward alone can and has already been analysed by media critics and theorists who seek to understand why such dross can stir up the masses in such a way. It is easy really, they were never meant to be. When they started to gain popularity as the show progressed, people saw this as a vote for the underdogs - give the lads a chance. In direct opposition to this, I saw the continued voting and presence of Jedward as a message from the public directly to Simon Cowell: we've lost faith in your show, we are now mocking it by proving that any old tosh can be made into superstars, despite your search for true talent: and we will make you transform them, you promised a record deal to the winner(s), now it is time to deliver. More a threat than a promise; the British public were out in force. However, with Jedward's fall from the show, this never happened. At least now, someone semi-decent will be given a record deal to go away and cover/destroy a classic like 'Hallelujah', who knows, perhaps this year it will be something new, original and fresh. Or not. Sadly, I know that enough people will buy the single and thus make it a number one over Christmas. Why can't Slade re-enter the charts and challenge the X-factor winner? Perhaps Noddy Holder is too old this year - or perhaps he's actually just rich enough; I mean, now he's got a nut company too... What more could a man want, with the best dry roast nuts in the land and a fantastic Christmas hit? No, Im being serious - its' all about Noddy, I mean, Nobby's nuts. Alas, I'm wandering slightly off piste - combining X-factor and Noddy Holder is not a good idea. I realise that.

Anyway, I will superseed all of my dislike for the X-factor to admit my like for Susan Boyle's performance of Wild Horses. Fantastic. Now there is a real performer. No fancy auto-tuning, no theatricals or dance routines, no false noses or stretched and paralyzed foreheads and faces. Nope, this is the real deal, nothing disrupts the connection between the music and the listener, and nothing needs to. Susan Boyle has an angelic voice, and life has not been overly kind to her. Okay, so it hasn't been overbearingly harsh to her either - she isn't a crack addict or a victim of some life destroying disease. But she was actually rather ordinary, and she was happy. Someone quite rightly took her and made her a star; Simon Cowell infact. How ironic. Still, I suppose the nearest person I can think of to compare him to, Steven Spielberg, has had some major stinkers too, alongside some good films. The reason I'd compare them is that they both orchestrate, and they are both known more for who they are than what they actually are capable of making. Spielberg has made some good movies, definitely. But who is the archetypal director that the average person can think of off of the top of their head. Yep, its Spieler. Simon Cowell, the ultimate producer? Yes. The only thing is, nobody really knows why. Does Sam Mendes get the recognition he deserves as a director? No, but then at least those who do know him know why he is to be recognised as a talented director. That is the fee that a true auteur will pay. Simon Cowell will never regain the reputation that I think, he craves. So he is making much more money this way, but he won't ever be a true practitioner of his craft due to the X-factor.

Anyhow, it is here that I feel my rant becoming more of a study of professions, so at the risk of appearing abrupt in my conclusion, it is here I will stop. Thanks for reading... if you feel the same way, I'm happy there are more of us out there!