X Factor Let Twist Slip
As popular UK reality series The X Factor gets ready for its live shows, last week saw the producers, like the year before, announce that a ’big twist’ will be coming in the opening weekend of the aspiring singers’ live performances.
Also like the year before, though, the surprise has been revealed early, and while they managed to keep hold of their week-long secret for a lot longer than before, people involved with the show may now worry that their surprise will not have the same impact with the majority of the audience now it is revealed.
With last year’s twist seeing the judging panel each bring an act back to their mentor group, this series will see an opposite effect, as Gary Barlow, Kelly Rowland, Tulisa Contostavlos, and Louis Walsh (respectively mentoring boys, girls, groups, and over-25′s) will now each need to eliminate one of their four own acts on Sunday after judging each of the 16 performances on Saturday’s show on ITV1.
This will mean that by the end of the weekend, the 16 finalists will be down to 12. As a result of the twist, the public voting element of the show will be put on hold until week 2, and will continue every weekend until the phone votes decide the winner of series 8 on 11 December.
The judges originally leaked the information to the contestants in a meeting yesterday, where Kelly addressed the singers: “We want you to put your best foot forward, make the decision hard for us and let us know why you need to stay.”
Tulisa stressed that only their next performance will be considered in the decision, adding: ”Please understand all of you that none of us have made our decision. It’s a clean slate and we are making our decision as if we have never seen you before.”
Gary summarised: “We thought rather than wait until Saturday night we’ll talk about the twist. This is the X Factor stage – it’s one thing singing by the pool but it all changes here. This is where stars are born, like Leona [Lewis, series 3 winner]. It’s all going to feel very different on Saturday.”
While the surprise element may not have been on the list of many pundit and fan’s guesses, it might be seen as a letdown to some, and especially so for four of the contestants on Sunday night. But on a marketing side of things, has the move been made to try and sacrifice a short-term voting income for a long-term ratings boost?
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