I can't believe all these people watching X Factor and thinking it's actually real. The voting is clearly set up so that the judges can control who gets through and, if needs be, set parties against each other.
Michelle McManus effectively killed Pop Idol in the UK and, since then, there's never been a "comedy" winner like that.
Any artist who refuses to sign a contract for management, merchandising, etc, gets thrown out during that additional week of boot camp. It's basically all set up to guarantee returns for the rights owners.
