The Final of X Factor 2010 With The Betting Very Close
11/12/2010
We have reached the business end of the X Factor 2010 and there are now just four artists left from the 0000's of hopeful X Factor dreamers. Matt, Rebecca, Cher and boy band One Direction will fight it out to succeed last year's winner Joe Mcelderry and 2008 winner Alexandra Burke. The Betting has Essex painter and decorator Matt Cardle as the odds on favourite and it is his to lose. He has hardly put a note wrong in any of his stage appearances and looks to follow in the footsteps of artists such as David Grey and James Blunt.
His main rival seems to be Liverpool girl Rebecca Ferguson who is his female equivalent, she has conducted herself with dignity throughout the X factor hype and is the value in the betting at 3/1 with Bet 365. Whichever of those two solo artists receive the best judge’s comments tonight and make no visible errors we expect the winner to be one of these two.
Two other contenders will be on stage in front of the overexcited finale audience in the shape of Simon Cowells One Direction and Cheryl’s Cole's Cher. The Boy band have been the surprise package of the X factor 2010 having entered as individual artists, their svengali mentor Cowell has done a great job with them but we expect telephone callers to support solo artists in greater numbers despite One Direction getting the teenage girls vote. They are a best price of 7/2 with Boylesports and Bet 365.
The outsider of the final 4 is Cher Lloyd who said herself that she didn’t think she could win. The bookmakers tend to agree as she is on offer at 28/1 with SkyBet. Apart from Wagner she has created the most headlines with reported Diva tantrums. These articles ultimately will harm the amount of votes she receives but as the youngest contestant Cher Lloyd can bounce back and hopefully will have a long career in front of her.
It’s going to be a great reality TV weekend with Strictly also reaching its climax, there are going to be plenty of twists and turns before the winners are crowned.
2/11/10
X Factor betting has been fierce according to bookmaker reports and the contest still looks as if it could go to the wire as we enter November. Most X Factor tips seem to be for Matt Cardle and he has headed the betting for a few weeks but as in recent years the favourite is there to be shot at (remember Danyl Johnson) and recent song choices have not helped (Britney Spears!). Momentum at the moment is behind other contestants. One Direction look to have the X Factor and mentor Simon Cowell can envisage them selling 0000s of records to teenage girls. Rebecca Ferguson is a class act in the Sade mould, Cher Lloyd has bounced back and proved shes not just a one trick rapper and Mary Byrne has the Irish and the over 28s viewers votes and remember there are a lot of them. At the current prices Rebecca at 4.33 with Betfair and Mary at 20/1 with Bet 365 and Stan James look bets that you can make and then trade as they progress in the X Factor.
12/10/10
X Factor 2010 continues to pull in huge weekend audiences and many of the contestants will be worthy winners. At the head of the betting is Matt Cardle at 11/4 with Bet 365 and he surely has a bright singing career ahead of him. However we wonder whether Mr Cowell with his commercial hat on (does he take it off?) thinks that more units more quickly could be sold by the likes of One Direction and Cher Lloyd. One Direction who are also in Simons category appeal to teenagers and they are the demographic driving the music and video industry through downloads and internet sales.
The five piece boy band have been heavily supported with all the bookmakers and are now around 11/4 with Ladbrokes and Victor Chandler. So really there is an x factor battle between younger contestants who are still to prove they have what it takes and the more mature contestants whose performances week in and week out impress. This battle will intensify as the show progresses and is also taking place on the sofas of Britain between teenagers and their parents.
12/10/2010
Three of the x factor 2010 wildcards performed creditably in the first of the x factor live shows, Treyc Cohen, Paije Richardson and John Adelye all look to be in with a shout of progressing further. Only Wagner who was entertaining but ultimately poor looked out of his depth. However the public voted for him to stay so Wagners x factor ride will last at least another week. Most impressive act of the week was Aidan Grimshaw who sang the Tears For Fears classic Mad World and he joined Matt Cardle at the head of the betting. Danni Minogue despite losing Italian crooner Nicolo Festa looks to have the best of the X Factor contestants and it is hers to lose.
5/10/10
We now know the 12 x factor acts competing in the 4 categories. The best categories seem to be the girls managed by Cheryl Cole and the boys managed by Danni Minogue. Cheryl's girls are Cher Lloyd, Katie Waissell and Rebecca Ferguson with Rebecca the second favourite, Danni has the current favourite in the shape of Essex painter Matt Cardle. He has been the most impressive new act on the x factor. Matt is joined by Aidan Grimshaw and Nicolo Festa. Both managers are expected to get at least one of their acts in the final three.
Simon Cowell has amalgamated good individual singers in to groups, thus giving him a decent shot at the contest. The best of his groups seems to be One Direction and they are value at 9/2 with William Hill and VC Bet. His other acts are Belle Amie and FYD.
Louis Walsh as is often the case has drawn the short straw with the Over 28's. He has contestants at the Last Chance Saloon or even the pub over the road the No Chance Saloon. John Adeleye, Mary Byrne and Storm Lee are his X factor singers and it’s good to see them getting some TV coverage and they will get some votes, but we cannot see Simon Cowell chomping at the bit to launch any of them to a worldwide audience.
26/0910
X Factor hit our screens this weekend in a slightly altered format. Dancer Bootcamp Brian took the X factor wannabees through dance routines to see who had some Lady Ga Ga moves and who was just Ga Ga. Many of them struggled to make some shapes especially the out of shape older singers. Tesco supermarket worker Mary Byrne found moving to the beat especially arduous, and after the show we expect that every bit hurts as opposed to every little helps.
Star of the auditions and the biggest mover in the betting was Matt Cardle the Essex painter who took a risk when performing the Roberta Flack "The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face". It was well received despite Simon Cowell saying he lacked confidence and self belief. Matt is now generally second favourite at 7/2 with William Hill and VC Bet, although some bookies make him joint favourite with Cher Lloyd.
Sixteen year old Cher also took risks with her song choice which was a version of Coldplay's Viva La Vida, it was a bit all over the place but she just about pulled it off and her X Factor support remains strong at 3/1 with SkyBet and Ladbrokes.
There were a few car crash moments with one contestant refusing to dance and the return of tabloid bad girl Chloe Mafia(Victoria) who sang Wishing On A Star in front of Simon who looked like he wished she would go away. Although maybe the publicity the Wakefield 19 year old is receiving will boost the ratings even further. The X Factor show continues to have the X Factor and is trouncing its BBC rival Strictly Come Dancing.
21/09/10
After the opening weeks of the X Factor the bookmakers and the viewers have a much clearer picture of who may have a long term recording career and who will be immediately returning to their day jobs.
The bookies have installed 16 year old Cher Lloyd as the early X Factor favourite. Cher from Malvern received a rapturous audience reaction on her first televised X Factor appearance. Cheryl Cole said “it was her favourite audition” and Louis Walsh said “she was born to be a pop star”. At odds of 7/2 with Ladbrokes there is still a long way to go in the competition and it remains to be seen if this Worcester wanabee will impress again but for the moment the future looks sunny for Cher.
X Factor is never far away from controversy either deliberately marketed by the producers to make red top front pages or by the individual contestants who knowing their voice may not be strong enough to get to boot camp plan another route to get their 15 minutes in the media spotlight. Chloe Mafia another X Factor auditionee has been revealed by the popular press as a £250 per night escort. The fee seems to have increased since Simon Cowell was quoted as saying “We haven't banned prostitutes, If a person applies to the X Factor it's obvious they want to do something better with their life.” Chloe made it through to the next X Factor round but public pressure may mean we don’t see her on our screens again.
Other contestants who have impressed with their voices as opposed to their back story include Liam Payne who first auditioned and made it to the Barbados home of Simon Cowell in 2008, Liam can be backed at 6/1 with SkyBet. Aidan Grimshaw from Blackpool is 13/2 with Paddy Power after his X Factor performance of Kanye West’s Gold Digger and painter Matt Cardle from Essex sang I’m No Good and was very good, he is 10/1 with Boylesports.
X Factor will continue to entertain throughout the rest of 2010 and will remain compulsive viewing until we discover who will succeed last year’s winner Joe Mcelderry. To place a bet on your favourite click any of the bookmakers above.