Undescribable Perfection

Admirable film.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

In about July when we are bemoaning another wash out summer or a heat wave over the hill to greet us comes The X Factor and the circus rolls in to town.From sob stories to people deluded about their own talent for the last 10 years the show has brought us everything. The judges have come and gone but the hunt for talent seems to have continued regardless despite the endless claims that it ruins the music industry or is making people a laughing stock.Sure, not everyone who has won it has gone on to great things and the ratings seem to be on the skid but for pure Saturday night entertainment The X Factor has delivered year on year.

What really ticks me off about this show is that its made to look bigger than life, with great songs like 'O Fortuna' used while showing a reject crying and 'Dies Irae' for the judges entrance to the stage. Two great songs rubbished by the crap show yes but the worst use of a great song was with Barber: Adagio For Strings used beautifully in the film Elephant Man. Would this show put the song to great use? Well as you can tell they didn't, It was used with a segment of the show when auditions in Leeds failed to call back one person... I can only imagine what the director was thinking, Maybe "Wow no one got through in Leeds, what piece of music would best reflect this disaster??? What about the song that The Elephant Man died to while thinking of his mother? I can't get over the three judges who seem to believe that they are the greatest thing to hit the music industry since the electric guitar, Simon Cowell who seems to fall for ever teenage trollop that walks into the audition room (Like the porn star from one season that really couldn't sing... She got through). This from the man that brought us Robson and Gerome, Teletubbies and Five with endless covers to boot. Sharon Osbourne, Who was no one till MTVs The Osborne's and has been doing any crappy TV show/Advert since, I mean, Bingo anyone? However the worst judge of them all has to be Smeagol or Louis Walsh as he also likes to be called. He loves anyone who is Irish and loves to use phrases "I'm Not Sure If You Have The X-Factor" or "But They Are Number One" (Referring to Westlife), If by X-factor you mean failing to break the States and covering song after song, lip-syncing while sitting on a stall then Westlife sure have that... in spades. His shifty eyes, the way that he dresses and talks through his nose, he looks like a creep, the kind of guy who runs his business from an office above a taxi rank.What they should do is call this 'The Three Judges' because its only about them, THEY pick what song THEIR act has to sing... Sorry I mean cover, and when you see the phone number of the person that you wanna 'Vote To Save' who do we see in a picture box next to said number... If you thought that it was the act who was/is singing you are wrong. What you get is a picture of the singer's mentor, WHY? Seeing a picture of one of these three berks is quite bad but no where near as bad as hearing their opinions... Let me get this straight, I HATE BULLIES and I hate these three idiots because thats what they are. In Simon Cowells first outing on reality TV I seen him on Pop Stars, At this time they saw no point in have any fat over weight security guards. After Pete Waterman rubbish one act and made her cry with some unnecessary comments we saw a shot of her talking to a rather muscular contestant who also happened to be a black belt in something or other. He said to the girl that if they said anything like that to him he would 'knock them out'. Anyway when it comes to it the black belt does say after his audition 'If you think your hard Pete then come on'. He said this walking up to the table, Simon Cowell backed away with a look of terror and left it to Nikki Campbell to defuse the situation... Simon Cowell? Simon Coward more like! Now he is in a room with fat morons to protect him he seems to take pleasure in bringing an impressionable young girls to tears with slurs on there singing, weight and looks with the comment "I have to be honest" (This is something that someone brought up on the American Idol reviews). All three are bullies though not just Simon... Walsh kept going on at a 16 year old girl and would not stop till she cried, he attacked everything about her till he hit a nerve. It only stopped when she was lead away. I'm not saying that they shouldn't tell auditionees what they think of their performance, sometimes it can be funny, but its stopped becoming banter between the judges and singers and is now people with the power to make 'Dreams Come True' telling people to 'Give It Up'.Deep down inside I know that soon or later it will all come to an end... It has to, surely... we have to return to singer-song writers gracing the charts. As Robin Gibb (BeeGees) said "We are at a the stage where what we have now is covers, covers equal success, however it can only go so long before we have covers of the covers". Think of it, since the boy band phenomenon where someone like Walsh finds 5 good looking guys/girls, only after looks, do you think he says "Ok, who is the songwriter?" no, more like "Can one of you hand me that Abba album". This is what X-Factor does but on a bigger, faster scale.In conclusion whats really wrong with this program is the promise of 'The Greatest Singer In The World' and then leaving us with a good looking cover merchant. To me someone who sings while raising their hands up and down with their eyes close, stretching out every vowel in a song doesn't necessarily constitute to a great singer. My music idols are Bob Dylan, Keith Richards, Mick Jagger, Dolly Parton and countless others. These to me are people with something that couldn't be bottled but Simon Cowell seems to believe that he has not only bottled it, but is now selling it like golden eggs of which he is laying himself.

OK, first of all, I was NOT gonna watch this show, not after the disaster of Pop Idol and Michelle McManus (yes I got caught up in the hype!) This time, I got hooked! With talent like Tabby, Cassie, VWS, and others, well you had to watch it! I was surprised at one of the Finalists being there, but voted like mad for Steve (cos the ones I wanted had gone!) It was nail-biting TV, and at least with Sharon Osbourne, you got honesty! One of the highlights was her emptying a glass of water over Simon Cowell... or was it two glasses? I'm pleased for Steve, after working the clubs and pubs (been there, seen it, got the T-shirt) he deserves a go at "fame"! No-one really has lost, because Sharon has Tabby and Cassie under her wing, Louis has G4.. no doubt VWS will get a record, Rowetta I think should too!One last comment about the judges... Love em or loathe em, they do know the business!! Let's hope also that Steve will be more of a success than Michelle McManus, and please, please..... no mention of Hear'Say.

Sharon Osbourne has a lot of experience of the music industry, just because she's famous for being Ozzy's manager doesn't mean that's all she's done, her father was a manager and she has been involved in the industry for all of her life. In my opinion she is the best judge, she has compassion and does not get off on insulting people just for the hell of it, she cares. Sharon is a fair judge and does not insult someone unless the person deserves it, for being arrogant or rude.If you didn't like Pop Idol then why would you watch The X Factor? It is a classic TV talent show, and does not discriminate against the older performers or groups, anyone over 16 can enter and they only discriminate on the grounds of talent.If you liked any of the previous 'Popstar's' or 'Pop Idol' shows then you'll love this.