Why x factor is bad

Some of them achieved it. But many walked away with their dreams shattered. We laughed, we cried and sang along. Many of us thought we could do better ourselves. In recent years though, audiences fell by nearly half, and this week ITV confirmed it had no plans for the show to return. Its creator Simon Cowell is focussing his attentions on a fresh music panel show, entitled Walk The Line,while channel bosses have fresher formats to concentrate on, like The Masked Singer.

So how did The X Factor go from four yeses to being voted off our screens? Along with Big Brother and Pop Idol in the early s, The X Factor was part of a new wave of reality TV shows that enabled normal people to become stars in a matter of months. Not only that but the public could decide their destinies. There were also a lot fewer channels, he notes, and the internet was still young. Such was the show's cultural power that from to , every single Christmas number one came courtesy of an X Factor star, whether it was Shane Ward or Alexandra Burke.

However, there was a reaction to the contestant's apparently pre-ordained success. Rage Against the Machine broke the show's winning streak in Their single, Killing In The Name was sent to number one by a fan campaign that attempted to inform Cowell the British public were no longer going to "Do as you told me".

Perversely, even that counted as a victory for Cowell. His opponents confirmed the show's importance simply by caring about it. Matt Cardle returned the show to the festive top spot in , after more than 17 million viewers tuned in to see him crowned winner of that year's series, but he was the last of a dying breed. In a new digital decade, it became harder and harder for The X Factor to prove itself as the ultimate crucible for British talent. X Factor acts thrived in the CD era. Fans would buy their singles as a memento of the time they'd invested in the series.

Even if they never played the music, the song was all but guaranteed to go to number one. Streaming torpedoed that link. Suddenly, the Top 40 was counting consumption as well as sales - and music fans simply weren't playing the curdled cover versions the show forced upon its winners even Little Mix have erased their winner's single, Cannonball, from their discography, preferring to call the strident, anthemic Wings their debut.

X Factor winner Alexandra Burke says she was told to bleach her skin. Other guest stars throughout the years included Robbie Williams who came in too early on his own track, Angels joining Olly Murs.

It's not only a highlight in The X Factor's history - it's probably one of the best moments we've seen on British television. Okay, that might be a bit of an exaggeration, but Rylan crying in front of Nicole Scherzinger after being told he'll be in the live shows is truly memorable.

Before he was known as one of the kings of light entertainment, Rylan Clark appeared on The X Factor in , and was mentored by The Pussycat Dolls lead singer.

After being told he would be performing in the Saturday night live shows during the Judges' Houses stage read: plush hotel in Dubai he launched into an uncontrollable crying fit. He admits in his autobiography that it lasted 23 minutes, and that paramedics had to be called. They were often relentlessly mocked, but sometimes the acts the judges hated were the ones we loved the most.

Yes, I'm talking about the likes of Jedward, Wagner and Honey G - who all went great guns in the live shows, despite judges often feeling like they shouldn't. Jedward who have since turned on the show and celebrated its downfall were the excitable teens with spiky hair who were mentored by fellow Irishman Louis Walsh. Their well-produced, energetic performances often drew some pretty sharp criticism from the judges - but it didn't seem to matter because they were fun. John and Edward came sixth in , proving they won a sizeable fan base among the British public.

They are now advocates for a number of good causes and both have modelling contracts. Elsewhere, 's Wagner is largely remembered for singing most of his songs while playing his bongo drums - and landed in sixth place thanks to public votes. While Honey G from was largely branded as a novelty act including by judge Nicole Scherzinger , she controversially rapped her way into fifth place.

But that support only went so far - she released a single called The Honey G Show on Simon Cowell's record label, which only peaked at in the charts. Cousins and best friends Abbie and Lisa came together to perform as AbLisa clever and made it on to the arena auditions in Can you name the most recent winner of The X Factor? Oh how Simon Cowell has fallen. For a while, The X Factor was huge.

At its peak, around a decade ago, it was watched by just shy of 20m people — nearly a third of the UK population. Every Saturday night, plans would be rearranged, viewing parties would be thrown, sickies would be pulled and takeaways would be ordered, just to watch the latest episode of the ITV talent show. The format was simple: aspiring singers — from the sublime to the ridiculous, the divine to the deluded — competed for a record deal, duly jumping through hoops until just a handful were left.

Those lucky few were assigned a mentor from one of the judges, sent forward to the live shows, and became household names overnight. For the months leading up to Christmas, every other tabloid page was filled with stories of X Factor drama, both on screen and off. The winner was signed by Cowell, and all but guaranteed the Christmas number one spot.

So how did it all begin? With Simon Cowell, of course. Smug, supercilious and with an ever descending v-neck, he was the self-appointed gatekeeper of pop. His ascent to supervillainy began at the age of 16, when he dropped out of school and was hired to work in the mail room at EMI Music Publishing. As is the case with many privileged men, it took an act of nepotism to get him there; his father was an executive at the company.

Still, he clearly had a nose for business, if not music. In , having worked his way up the company, he formed his own record label.