X Factor UK

For 2011 X Factor has crossed the Pond. This year it is being aired in the US and in the UK. Although Simon Cowell is a wily entrepeneur even he cannot be in two places at once. This means that he is concentrating on X Factor;s launch in the US. He has handed the reins, almost, over to judges Louis Walsh, Kelly Rowland, Gary Barlow and Tulisa Contostavlos.

Perhaps he thought X Factor would be safe in their hands. Clearly it is not,

Of course X Factor always courts the press and this year is not different. Many of the ups and downs of X Factor 2011 will have been a publicity ploy. That is the way of X Factor. Draw in the audience whichever way you can.

That said this year X Factor certainly has had problems. For one thing its huge viewing audience has dwindled considerably. TV viewing in the UK has not improved so it is not down to competition from other channels.

Simon Cowell's departure could be partly responsible but I doubt it. Most who watch X Factor watch it for many reasons and he will be way down the list.

As a previous X Factor fan, well one who viewed as there was little alternative good viewing if I was at home in front of the TV, here is my twopenneth.

Simon changed the show over the last few years. He liked the format of Britain's Got Talent and opted for audience based auditions. Presumably the audience pay and it brings in revenue. IMHO it was a mistake. The original format proved the most entertaining, and often the most hilarious.

Changes have included forming groups from audition failures, airing on a Saturday and Sunday and more. This week's fiasco sounds as if it was also staged.

Frankie Cocozza came to the show as a cheeky chappie with and eye for the ladies. Naughty but nice, if you know what I mean. Each week he was portrayed as a bad boy, the show milking this for all it was worth. Anything goes I guess when the ratings are down.

Having crafted an image for him they then sacked him. More public announcements and humiliation all under the watchful eye of the show's producers.

This of course meant the show was a person down. And so it should have stayed. Instead a former wannbee was brought back after a public vote. Unfair on er, as she has not had the benefit of weeks of practice. Unless of course she has been in "waiting" so to speak.

Hard of course on others who have been booted off the show already. It just makes the whole show a joke.

X Factor producers may believe that all publicity is good publicity but it is not. Many people believe that the show has simply run its course and it is time to resign it to the dustbin of TV shows. This hubber has to agree.