X-Factor News

[IRiSHMaFIA]

That's a great story and I'm glad they're showing the lads support that way. They deserve it as much as anyone else does.

Their genre of music and style isn't appealing to a lot of people, but it's plain for anyone to see they're talented and deserve to be a lot more than just wedding singers as Simon said.

I hope once XFactor finishes that they get some type of record deal and make a good living at this because they're worthy of it for sure.

I hope that chunky dwarf Ray is the next to go. Sharon's spot on about calling him panto-boy.

I was disappointed with Ben this week as his second performance was pretty horrid. I wasn't too mad over the first either, and if he doesn't pick up his game he won't be in the final 2.

[IRiSHMaFIA]

You've Ben a bad boy


Saved ... but X Factor fave Ben Mills faced the fury of Sharon

SHARON Osbourne says X Factor favourite Ben Mills ended up in the bottom two because he IGNORED her.

Shazza, 54, said Ben nearly got the boot over his second tune, Elton John?s Your Song. Speaking after Eton Road?s shock eviction, she told ITV2?s Xtra Factor: ?He?s not listening, I?m going to go and box his ears. You have to take advice from your mentor. What works in a club doesn?t work for you on TV.?

Kent lad Ben, 26, had gone head to head with Louis Walsh?s Eton Road despite a fantastic performance of Wings?s Live and Let Die.

Ben was saved by Simon Cowell?s deciding vote after performing Your Song again. Sharon said: ?The second time he got it right.?

Simon has been asked by EMI to sign Ben. And Westlife boss Louis pledged to get Eton Road a recording deal and put them on the Irish band?s tour.

X Factor pulled in 10.3 million viewers, beating Strictly Come Dancing on 9.8million.

[IRiSHMaFIA]

It's not the end for Eton Road



DESPITE getting the boot on Saturday night - X Factor boy band Eton Road have already secured a tour with Westlife and bagged themselves a band manager.

Although the Liverpool lads lost out on a place in the final four to Ben, it looks like Louis is set to sign them anyway - after a shock revelation on the show.

In an exclusive interview the foursome told us of their exictement and their reluctance to dwell on ?what could?ve been?.

They said: ?It?s all about looking forward now. We?re not going to dwell on the past.?

Daniel, David, James and Anthony were quick to defend their old rivals though, saying: ?We want the MacDonald brothers to win. We reckon they could go all the way. They've never once been in the bottom two.

?We think they deserve it just as much as anyone else. Each week they hold their heads high from the criticism.

?But it?s not just Simon who gives them flack. They get lots of stick from the press too.

?But surely if the public didn?t like them, would they really still be in the top four??

The boys are unanimous in their support for Ben too.

?He is so true and honest, with an excellent voice,? they chirp.

?Leona has a great voice too - but Ben?s different, edgier qualities make him stand out.?

Yesterday's guest appearance on ITV1?s This Morning, Louis surprised the quartet by announcing that Eton Road are going to support Westlife on their next tour.

Anthony said: ?It?s incredible. Louis has totally lived up to the word mentor.?

And the boys are grateful for that support so far and admit they love the attention, especially from girls!

?It?s brilliant,? said James.

?Not just the female attention, but everyone?s attention full-stop. We couldn?t have asked for more.

?It?s crazy ? We?re just four guys from Liverpool.?

Now focusing on the tour David and James - who are both trained dancers - say they are looking forward to introducing some moves to their stage shows.

James said: ?We just can?t wait to get started on the choreography. We definitely want to bring dancing into our performances.?

As for Anthony, he admits he is happy to be the butt of Simon?s continual comments that he is ?odd?.

?Looking and sounding like everyone else doesn?t separate you from the crowds,? said the 17-year-old.

?It?s called The X Factor for a reason, so being told I?m odd or different can actually be taken as a compliment as it suggests I have the X factor.

?We are more memorable as a group for having an individual style and our own look.?

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I really like their outlook on things. They're top notch the way they talk about the other acts and don't want to put anyone down.

I especially like the way they talk about the McDonald brothers. They realise how much shite those lads have had to take and respect them for it. They've more class than Cowel does and I hope their success with Louis in the future makes him regret any negatives he gave them.

Good on Louis for following through with his promise. Although his childishness has bothered me this series he's still the nicest one of the lot.

[faceless]

[paulwestside]

I loved how Simon announced the amazing discovery that he is half Scottish (rather than the quarter he had said the previous week).

Correct me if I'm wrong but don't you take half your heritage from one parent and the other half from the other. How could he not know the heritage of his four grandparents?

He knew that one was Scottish (hence the quarter remark) and only found out after the fact that another one was (bumping him up to half)

What a pratt!

[faceless]

[faceless]

X FILES SAY LEONA IS A 2-5 NO-HOPER
2 December 2006

THE history of X-Factor tells us that sexy women usually suffer the same fate as sexy women who put out in slasher movies - they are among the first to buy it. If the sexy woman is also black, well she's a goner even before the opening credits are over. Leona is the almost unbackable 2-5 favourite to win X-Factor. She's a sexy woman. She's also of mixed race. Where in God's name are her votes going to come from?

There have been some terrible favourites in betting history, but Leona at 2-5 to win X-Factor is the worst of the lot. She's easily the most talented of the four remaining acts but since when did that matter in a popularity show? She'd have to sing like Streisand - and not just match her in the hooter stakes - to overcome the massive disadvantages of race and gender. If the MacDonald Brothers or Ray go out tonight, their supporters are far more likely to gravitate towards second favourite Ben than to Leona, who is attractive and talented enough to be hated by the voting sisterhood but not quite drop-dead gorgeous enough to persuade horny young men to stay in on a Saturday night and vote.

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This article is probably right - sad as it is, talent doesn't really play the ultimate role in this show. Leona is far and away the most talented person that's been on this show in years (probably ever) but even if she doesn't win I'm sure she'll have a very successful career.

[faceless]

[faceless]

The X Men
By Peter Ross

BY THE time you read this, one of two things will have happened. In the first scenario, Craig and Brian MacDonald will have been voted off The X Factor, their eight-week campaign to offend the human ear ending with last night's extraordinary rendition of Shang-A-Lang. Or else, the brothers from Ayrshire will have made it into the next round, flying in the face of critical opinion and proving, if proof were needed, that the British people are always willing to throw a bone to an underdog, even when said mutt would be better off muzzled, neutered and locked in a burning kennel. If The MacDonald Brothers have made it through another week of the reality show then they are truly the greatest survival story to come out of Alloway since Tam o' Shanter cantered over the River Doon.

For those who don't know, these two young lads - a former bank clerk (Craig) and bed salesman (Brian) - are amiable, modest and straightforward. They live with their mum and until recently made a living singing at wedding receptions, performing classic pop hits augmented by fiddle and accordion. Yet since their involvement in The X Factor, and especially in the last few weeks, the MacDonalds have become curiously iconic, particularly in Scotland, where they were recently mobbed in the Ayr branch of Asda. They may be pish but - by Wallace's beard - they're oor pish!

The big tabloids are right behind them. The Scottish Sun has styled itself as "the official paper of The MacDonald Brothers" - a kind of Pravda meets Smash Hits arrangement. The Daily Record has also been cheerleading, albeit with reservations; showbiz editor Rick Fulton recently claimed that were they to get a record deal - The X Factor offers a ?1 million contract as a prize - their CDs would be bought by people who were looking for an act somewhere between Daniel O'Donnell and Michael Ball. Lexicographers have confirmed that this is the exact definition of faint praise.
continued...

The so-called quality press are not immune to their charms either. A recent Scotsman editorial opined that with our rugby team being so soundly beaten by Australia, "Scotland's self-respect rests heavily on the shoulders of the MacDonald brothers" and noted that MSPs get only half the votes that the singing duo have received each week.

This last comment is part of a trend among pundits to link the MacDonalds with politics. A Guardian writer has called for England to declare war on Scotland in an effort to stop Scots voting MacDonald, and in what was intended as a more serious point, Sun columnist Martel Maxwell claimed that the brothers' success is an expression of the same nationalist feeling that could lead to Scottish independence. "The MacDonalds are in the right place at the right time," she wrote. "They've unwittingly tapped into a feeling of unrest among their countrymen. A feeling that the time is ripe for change."

Blimey. How has it come to this? As with so many of the ills of modern life, Simon Cowell is to blame. He loathes The MacDonald Brothers, and has not been shy of saying so on live television. Week by week he has slated them as "totally forgettable", "totally mediocre", "utterly pointless" and "dreary". When they sang Sailing, in red T-shirts and kilts, he said: "I hope Rod Stewart was watching with the sound turned down. It was verging on insane, that performance."

To spite Cowell, the British public has been voting to keep the MacDonalds in the competition. Organisers of The X Factor do not release information on voting patterns, but it seems likely that the majority of their votes have come from Scotland. They certainly have a nucleus of support in the clubhouse of Brunston Castle golf course, an Ayrshire venue at which the MacDonalds regularly perform. The club's owners and their five grown-up children are said to have been casting over 2000 telephone votes each week.

They are not alone in their passion. The catalyst for the Scottish vote came when Cowell was accused of anti-Scottish bias after deliberately referring to the MacDonalds as "the McDougall brothers". He also sneered that their version of Abba's Fernando was "very Scottish", when it would have been less inflammatory and more accurate to have said "very rubbish".

The brothers accept that Cowell's animosity has worked in their favour, but, rather sweetly, Craig MacDonald believes that the high-waisted pop svengali may in fact have a hidden agenda; that he secretly wants them to win. "Simon Cowell has been in this business a long time, and if he was looking to get us out of the competition then he's went the wrong way about it," the lighter-haired brother tells me (a few days before last night's vote), down the line from the X Factor studio in London. "I don't know whether maybe he's seen the potential in us from the beginning and wants us to do well and keep improving. Our feeling is that maybe he is giving such negative comments because it makes us determined to work harder. We don't really know what's going on in Simon's mind. It's a funny one but it has helped us a bit."

Not that they have found Cowell's comments easy. "The first few weeks, it was absolutely terrible," says Craig. "We actually thought about walking away from the competition. We thought we were never going to win with him doing that to us. We felt we couldn't take it any more and it knocked our confidence so much."

His little brother Brian, who turned 20 last Tuesday, admits that he found it tougher than Craig. "You never saw it on TV because I managed to hold myself together until I got off camera, and then I'd go to the toilet and have a wee cry to myself," he says. "It does get to you. Everybody's trying to do their best, and when he starts ripping into you in front of 10 million viewers it's hard to get that out of your head. But I really am having a good time now after seven weeks of grief."

Craig explains that the turning point came in the fifth week of the live show. "We sang the Robbie Williams song She's The One and felt it was a really good performance. So when Simon said it was terrible we just decided we didn't care what we thought any more," he says. "We decided to stay in the competition, let the criticism go over our heads, and concentrate on our performances. The public are voting for us. They're lifting the phones and spending money to keep us in the show. It wouldn't have been fair to walk away after them giving us so much support."

In England, the media are largely against The MacDonald Brothers - the Guardian television critic Charlie Brooker called them "sinister and horrible, like a pair of haunted porcelain dolls who've suddenly come alive on the sideboard" - but the public has been increasingly on their side, and, by the end of last week, they seemed to be building momentum, particularly among teenage girls, who are a key demographic.

Writing on a hormonally charged fan-site, Donna from Wimbledon says it best: "You boys are all I can think about at the moment. Whenever I close my eyes, you're there serenading me with your beautiful voices. I could certainly walk 500 miles if it meant being nearer to you, Craig. I've been having this recurring dream recently where we are both dancing in the Scottish glens, drinking whisky and eating haggis smeared on oatcakes. You're wearing your kilt and then you get down on your knees and ask me to marry you. I'm still hoping that this dream will come true. I think you are definitely going to win The X Factor and I will be supporting you 100%. I've even had a T-shirt printed with your lovely faces on, and am currently learning to speak Scottish."

Given such intense support, can they actually triumph? Even assuming that last night Britain had the sense to dump awful Ray Quinn (a tiny KD Lang crossed with a crotch-thrusting Eddie Munster) and keep the MacDonalds in the running, it still seems unlikely. The final takes place on December 16 and most people expect that it will be a battle between Ben Mills, who sings like a hungover howler monkey undergoing a tracheotomy, and Leona Lewis, who sounds like Mariah Carey and may well be an android.

"If Ray goes out, then The MacDonald Brothers will be the favourite to get evicted next," says Rupert Adams, spokesman for bookies William Hill. "There can be little doubt that Ben and Leona will contest the final. That said, the Scottish vote has been greatly underestimated week after week, so we have done very well out of eviction betting."

Tom Urie, the Scottish actor and musician who recently starred as Danny McGlone in the stage version of Tutti Frutti, is a staunch supporter of the brothers. In the week that they performed The Proclaimers song I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles), he voted 18 times by text and had his land-line on redial. "I'd love The MacDonald Brothers to win but I don't think it'll happen," he says. "Not if they've got Barry Manilow songs this week. The show is becoming an easy-listening nightmare. Why don't they have a Babyshambles week? Or do Pulp songs? Just something a little more modern and interesting. Give them a real challenge instead of something clichd and boring like Love Is All Around that they've sung at karaoke for the last 10 years.

"When they did 500 Miles, you could see they were really into it. That is exactly what these guys should be doing. They should be folk heroes and that's how Scotland will get behind them."

The MacDonalds consider their Proclaimers cover to have been a risk that paid off. Even Simon Cowell liked it. If they are still in the running, their strategy now, when it comes to choosing songs, will be to try and play the Scottish card without alienating middle England (although Brian MacDonald tells me that if he had his way they'd be performing Metallica's One). It must help that the Caledonian vote is no longer split, fellow Scots Nikitta Angus and Kerry McGregor having left the show.

Assuming they are still in it this morning, do the MacDonalds honestly believe they can win the whole contest? "Of course we do," says Craig. "Our aim now is to reach the final, then once we get there that's another matter and we'll see how far we can go. Everybody in the competition now has a good chance. Nobody can predict who is going to go out. When Eton Road and Ben Mills were in the bottom two, that was a total shocker. We just have to concentrate on working hard. That's all we can do."

Their mentor Louis Walsh believes they can go all the way. "If we get them in the final we can win," he declares (again, speaking before last night's crucial vote). "They've never been in the bottom two, everybody loves them, the country is behind them and they are getting better."

Asked whether he actually thinks his protegs are any cop, Walsh prefers to point out their commercial potential. "I think they will sell an awful lot of records in the middle of the road market," he says. "They can sell records to mammies and daddies in the way that people like Westlife do I like them. I picked them for my final four because I thought they were good. I felt they would appeal to people who like Robson and Jerome, The Everly Brothers, The Righteous Brothers, people like that. There's a market there but nobody is tapping into it." He says that even if they don't win The X Factor, he will try to get them a recording deal.

Of course, he has another reason for wanting the MacDonalds to triumph, and it has nothing to do with money. "Cowell will be so furious. He's lost so much face already and will have egg all over his face. He said that never in a million years were they ever going to win the competition and I want to prove him wrong."

It has been a long, strange trip for the brothers. They didn't actually apply to go on The X Factor; a friend submitted a form on their behalf. But having succeeded in becoming one of the final few acts - out of around 100,000 applications - they have given it their all. In their life before reality TV, they were multi-instrumentalists who wrote their own material - pop/rock with a Celtic tinge - and would like to get the chance to start releasing albums.

"This has been the best experience I've ever had in my life," says Brian. "It's the most pressure I have ever felt, but it's made me a stronger person. If we are lucky enough to get into the music industry at the top level then this has been the best preparation we could ever have - dealing with criticism and performing in front of large audiences.

"I love performing and singing. My dream is to be a recording artist and go on tour and do all that. I want it badly and that's what keeps me going. I know I've got this one shot, and no matter what we are just going to try to go all the way to the end."

The MacDonald Brothers will be appearing as part of The X Factor live tour, which comes to the Aberdeen AECC on February 18 and 19, and the Glasgow SECC on March 4

[IRiSHMaFIA]

X Factor betting scam



X FACTOR finalist Ray Quinn is heading for an extraordinary back from-the-dead victory.

Money is pouring in for the pint-sized Scouse crooner to win Saturday?s showdown with Leona Lewis.

Bookies took ?250,000 on him yesterday and the stampede sparked fears of a betting scam.

One punter staked ?100,000 on the 18-year-old outsider to cause the biggest upset in the show?s history.

Bookies Ladbrokes say Ray?s odds have been slashed from 3-1 to 7-4.
Leona, 21, has seen her odds drift from 1-4 to 2-5.

Last night a spokesman said: ?Leona is still favourite but momentum is everything when it comes to betting. And Ray is currently being backed off the boards.?

The sudden turnaround in Ray?s fortunes has left ITV1 bosses reeling.

One told the Daily Star: ?It was a huge surprise Ray even made it through to the final. He admitted himself he was stunned to get there.

?It?s always been assumed that Leona would run away with The X Factor this year. Without a doubt she?s a superstar in the making. But it?s the public who have the final decision.?

A bookie insider said: ?It looks like punters know something we don?t.?

Ray has already come back from the dead once in the series. He failed to make it through to the final seven in Simon Cowell?s 16-to-24 category.

But the music mogul, 47, changed the rules of the show to give Ray another chance.

Star readers want Ray to win, with 73% voting in our poll for him to land the ?1m record deal.
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If that little bastard wins I'll never watch this show again. It's not sour grapes but a total injustice if Leona doesn't.

She's a star and could sing circles round Whitney Houston or any other singer out there, and she deserves to win hands down.

I think the way the voting is done is completely ridiculous. It's meant to be a talent show but who are the public to really judge? Why would they have so called professionals like the 3 judges mentor them and put them through week after week then leave the most important decision to the public? All it takes is one of the contestants having a few wealthy pals or family or someone with nothing better to spend their money on and they're through, and it doesn't necessarily mean they're the most talented.

It will be a disgrace to the show itself if Ray wins, and I think there would be public outcry.....well the public that actually knows talent when they see it and don't feel some cuddly fascination with a smiling bloody dwarf that thinks he's in the god damn rat pack!

He's obviously standing on a stool in the picture above. Leona is taller than him on her bloody knees ....ah okay that's petty, but I'm livid after reading that!

[Hairy Potter]

Well Done The right Winner for once

[faceless]

[Hairy Potter]

I have her single in MP3 format which I can't upload here but if you want it for your evaluation then pm me your email addy and I will send it 3.94 mb

if you like it buy it

[faceless]

if you put it in a RAR file you can upload it

[Hairy Potter]

I have tried upping it in rar format and still get the same error

trying to upload empty file

I have emailed it to you face