The X Factor
What is the X factor in The X Factor? What makes it different from, say, American Idol or The Voice? What makes this show special?
Ummm …
Well, the judges are zany and colorful and good-looking. You've got African-American record producer L.A. Reid. And you've got gorgeous, always encouraging singer/dancer Nicole Scherzinger. Sure, superficially, they may remind you of Randy Jackson and Paula Abdul from American Idol. But then they fill out their panel with—well, Paula Abdul herself, actually. Oh, and this critical Brit guy who throws out cutting zingers with rigorous regularity, sorta like Simon Cowell did on American Idol. Oh, wait: That is Simon Cowell.
OK. You have to at least acknowledge that the format's different. Way different. Granted, it does still feature embarrassing auditions at the front end of the season, and high-stakes competition toward the back end. But in the middle they send X Factor hopefuls off to boot camp where they're mentored by the judges. Wild! Why, if it hadn't been for The Voice, that mentoring thing would've been an incredible innovation! Oh, and instead of the viewing public determining who stays and who goes home, this time it's the judges who do the actual judging. Sometimes. Unless it's one of the rounds where the viewing public determines who stays and who goes home.
There are scads of other differences too. Contestants are broken into various subcategories, like "girls" and "boys" and "over-30s" and "groups." Yes, groups can compete against individual singers here, mano a mano (in a manner of speaking). Don't fret that, in Season 1, all the groups were booted by the fifth week.
And then there's the prize money (a $5 million recording contract) and the Pepsi sponsorship (not Coke!) and—
Who am I kidding? The X Factor isn't different at all. Which may explain why the viewing public has also been rather indifferent to it. Singers sing. Some sing badly. Some improve. By the end of the season, the singers who sing the sweetest songs snag scads of Simoleons. What else can you really do with a singing-based talent show?
Well … you can show a contestant dropping his drawers and flashing Paula while giving the program's trademark "X" a whole new meaning. The producers didn't see fit to cull the offending scene, making me wonder just how desperate The X Factor is to earn a little free publicity. Indeed, the show at times seems to court controversy as diligently as it tries to make stars out of its singers.
Is that the thing The X Factor is counting on to make it stand out? Maybe. But then again, it doesn't rev its engines every go-round, and besides, America's Got Talent may already own that road.
Episode Reviews
"Results Show 7"
More than 30 million voters decided to send Josh Krajcik, Chris Rene and Melanie Amaro to the finals, leaving Marcus Canty out in the cold. "God blessed me so much," Canty says as he leaves. "I gave it my all and that's all you can do."
Florence + The Machine performs, with singer Florence Welch wearing a backless gown. Scherzinger also sings; before she takes the stage, a montage of clips runs of her performing in other venues—showing her scantily clad and dancing seductively. Scherzinger's live performance is fairly tame, however—suitable for her song "Pretty," in which she laments that that's all a former boyfriend considered her.
The word "d‑‑n" makes an appearance during that song. We hear someone misuse God's name.
"Performance Show 7"
The four remaining contestants sing for judge accolades and audience love. Scherzinger is booed—punishment for making a perceived judging misstep. She says she can endure the boos and that "God is good."
Contestant Marcus Canty sings the old Boys II Men song "I'll Make Love to You." Scherzinger enthuses, "You are bringing sexy back!" adding that he does so as a gentleman. Lithe dancers writhe during musical numbers, and Melanie Amaro sports a bit of cleavage. Cowell declares a number to be "bloody fantastic," and we also hear "h‑‑‑." Judges snipe at each other.
Josh Krajcik, meanwhile, sings the Leonard Cohen staple "Hallelujah." And we hear more of the back stories of contestants: Chris Rene, a former drug addict, breaks down in an interview and again onstage when thinking about his late father. "I wanted to make him proud," he says, "and I never did."