So here it is folks the last blog before Christmas, and an X-Factor extravaganza. Yes the final is upon us, and heavy favourite Rhydian looks ever more likely to bring opera into the charts, giving us karaoke kings no chance of ever being able to sing the winning song, then of course it could be worse and Same Difference could end up winners. But before all that you may notice that this blog has surfaced a little later than usual. Close friends will know why, and I have contractually been obliged not to say why, but to any one who wants a reason to help them sleep at night it is that I just couldn't be arsed! So too keep it short and sweet this week has no lists, no banter and no karaoke. So instead that here we go with the X-Factor final story.......
After 18 long weeks of tears and pain, the final is finally here. Three acts all after the coveted number one spot this Christmas, all three totally different styles, all three with totally different fan base's, all three with no chance of being in the charts next Christmas! A big, big week for the acts, and for the judge's, who have no say in the final outcome, that is unless Simon Cowell pays a small army to rig the voting so that Same Difference win and Louis Walsh spontaneously combusts live on stage.
And so to the acts that will grace the stage in this years final. We have from Scotland - Leon, from Wales - Rhydian and from England - Same Difference. Each act has three chances to gain the public's votes during the show. First they will all sing a Christmas song, expect a lot of cheese from SD, then they get to duet with some special guest's, expect some cheese from SD, and finally they get to sing their own favourite song from the series, expect some cheese from SD!
1. Same Difference - All I Want For Christmas - What better way to open the show than with a great big dollop of cheese. The pair exploded onto the stage in typical over the top fashion, with kids a plenty, and lots of sparkly tinsel exploding all over the stage. They flew around on wires like fairies and all in all it was what you would of expected from them, but it's got them this far and I suppose they agree aiming for the audience that would love this kind of over the top madness. Louis said it was a great start to the show and that he had not expected them to be in the final, Sharon said they had done well and it was a great opening to the show, Danni said they looked great and they deserved to be on the final and Simon said they come into the show as underdogs but they may cause a big upset on the night.
3. Rhydian - O Holy Night - The shows hot favourite (Not mine by the way) came on stage in a crisp white suit, and complete with a choir of kids to help him, but not in the cheesy way that Same Difference use them. Of course this was a big vocal for him, and he sang it with his usual panache. A very confident performance from Rhydian, and even though it was a touch safe, it should do him no harm. Louis said he was the next big singer to be going to come out of Wales, Sharon said it was beautifully sang, Simon said this shows to all the critics of the show just what talent you can find out there, and Danni said it was brilliant and can you come round and sing at her house on Christmas Day!
So round one over and done with now. Next up it duets time, and this was going to be a very special night for one of the acts.............
1. Same Difference - Any Dream Will Do - feat Jason Donovan - Well would you expect anything else from the Same Difference camp, of course not! As seems to be the only way they can get votes now there was the usual stage full of kids thrown in as well, just for added cheese! The song ended up a bit of a farce as it seems Shaun had been dumped in favour of Sara singing along the duet with Jason Donovan. To spare Jason's blushes the judges don't get to comment on this part of the show, luckily! So instead Dermot asked Jason what he thought of Same Difference. He said that he found they sang from the heart and they enjoy what they are doing and they enjoy doing it their own way.
2. Rhydian - You Build Me Up - feat Katherine Jenkins - A very confident performance here by Rhydian, and who can blame him with Katherine Jenkins up on stage with him! It was more back to his roots with this one, more his operatic style which has git him this far in the show. To be fair it was not the best from Rhydian, and the fact he sang it better as a solo earlier in the series maybe gave a little glimpse into the fact that he does not seem to be confident enough to sing with other artists. Again it was down to Dermot to get the guest's opinion, and Katherine said he was making Wales proud and that she loved singing with him.
3. Leon - Better The Devil You Know - feat Kylie Minogue - Now it does help that your mentor just happens to be the sister of one of the biggest stars in the world, but Leon did not let that phase him one little bit. It shows how far he has come to be able to confidently perform on stage with one of the most recognizable people in the pop industry. This was by far the best of the duets, not just because of the Kylie factor, but because of the more confidence show by Leon in performing with the guest singer, just as Leona had done last year with Take That. Dermot asked Kylie what she thought of Leon and she said she loved his voice and she had fallen under his spell, and with his style he could go all the way to the top, now that's the way to get the votes coming in!
So with two rounds gone Leon looks too of edged in front, but the final round could make or break it for the acts as they got to pick their favourite songs from the series..........
1. Same Difference - Breaking Free - Back to the cheese with this song from High School Musical. Now in the final you expect to hear polished performances of well known songs and not songs you rarely hear. On the other side of the Atlantic HSM is massive, but it's an American thing, not British. If they had done some cheesy Steps routine or S Club 7 they when would of touched base with the UK voters, but I think this was one cheesy song to far. To be honest it was not as good as first time round in show two! Louis said it was ok but there were two better acts to come, Sharon she loves an underdog and it was anyone's competition, Danni said it was a great performance doing what they do best, and Simon said the whole of England should get behind them, me thinks Simon thinks they need the votes!
2. Leon - You Don't Know Me - Leon at his best doing what he does best, and at this rate he could upset the odds and win the show. This was a brilliant performance by Leon. He first sang this back on show 6, and this was the point that you saw him go from shy to confident in his performance's. He may be singing a song that not everyone knows, but if you can sing a song and make it sound relevant to today's market, like Micheal Buble has done recently in this style, then potentially you could clean up. Louis said he has huge potential and that he is brilliant, Sharon said he has a smooth quality and the star quality is rubbing off on you, Simon said it was the moment that it all turned round for you in the series and that it was brilliant and Danni said he was having a brilliant night tonight and he should be proud of what he has done.
3. Rhydian - Somewhere - Well you would not of expected anything other that a show tune from Rhydian on his potentially final song. He first sang this song from West Side Story just three weeks ago, so it was still fresh in everyone's mind how well he sang it then, and he didn't disappoint this time with a brilliant performance. He has sang well tonight and looks ever inch the winner, but favourite are there to be shot down, and he will have to be careful of Leon creeping up behind him. Louis said on that performance he deserves to win the show, Sharon said she was so glad he sang this song and it was amazing, Simon said it was quite simply brilliant and arguably his best performance in the series and Danni said if you remember our first conversation I wanted to hear Simon say you were brilliant and we have achieved that.
So there you go, its now down to the voters to see who will be the first act to leave tonight and leave the two remaining acts to sing the potential Christmas Number One. So who would finish third in this years show........find out after this short break............
Now you know why that lot didn't make it through! So who is it that finished third in this years show............Same Difference. So here is there Captain Jack farewell.........at last!
Same Difference are made up of brother and sister Sean and Sarah Smith. Sean 21, is an entertainer in his home town of Portsmouth, while Sarah 18, is a student. Sean left home at the age of 17 to perform on cruise ships and has appeared in a number of pantomimes. Together, they perform at a local retirement home as Same Difference. Sarah left home at 16 to attend the Italia Conti Academy and has recently finished her diploma. Sarah has also worked as a model, and acted in the show Genie in the House, but claims that singing has always been her big passion. In her VT during the third live show she revealed that she was bullied at school for being overly interested in singing, and that she pictured her tormentors in her head telling her she wasn't good enough. Harriet Templer's, a school friend's account said that she had been witness to the bullying and that these girls were yelling abuse and even attacked her. The duo came in for particular criticism from judge, Louis Walsh, who has described them as "cheesy" and suggested that they would be better suited to children's parties and pantomime. After the show it was reported that they had been signed up to Simon Cowells record company to release a single, but if it didn't reach the top five then they would not be resigned, well here's hoping anyway. Goodbye Same Difference and good luck, but for god's sake pack in the singing!
So onto the final two Leon and Rhydian. They both now have to perform this years X-Factor song to win their last votes to become the 2007 winner, and almost certainly bag the Christmas Number one. This years song is When You Believe, which was originally sang by Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston, but this version had been re-written just for the X-Factor. So both would get to perform the song for the public and the judges to see who would come out on top in the show. First up Leon.
Leon - The pressure is on here, and Leon coped with going first well. It was a confident performance, and it sounded like a single already. He made it his own, and his style will be winning him the extra votes if he should need them. Louis said the best singers are left in and he was a winner, Sharon said she thought he hit the high notes brilliantly and that she wished him all the luck in the world, Simon said he deserved to have a shot at winning and to be in the final two and that he sang it brilliantly, and Danni said he sounded amazing and that he had shown the most progression throughout the series.
Rhydian - This was straight into his style of singing. Rhydian made it sound like a show tune, and not as pop friendly as Leon's version, even though it was vocally muck more superior. He was his usual confident self, and as favorite to win, he will be hoping the style that has got him to the final two will be enough to win him the vote's to win the show outright. Louis said it was polished and professional, Sharon said it was a totally different approach and very contemporary, Simon said thank you for being a great contestant and good luck in what will be a great career, and Danni said thank you for the opportunity to work with you and good luck.
So it was now down to the viewers to vote for the winner and the tension grew and grew. It had not been as good as previous years, in the fact that there had not been as many potential acts as there had been in other shows, but this years final two had proved they were neck and neck right up until the end. So who was the winner of the X-Factor 2007................
A proper shock winner on this years show. The emotion was high on Leon's face and the shock of him winning was clear too see, but win he did, and his progression from a shy young lad from Scotland to the confident young man performing brilliantly week in week out not only won over the judges but also the public, and if Leona Lewis won last year with her sheer talent as a singer then Leon won this year with his hard work and determination to get over his nerves and become the brilliant singer he has matured into. He was then asked to perform the song again and was joined on stage at the end by all the twelve acts from 2007.
And of course he received a massive hug from his mentor in the show Danni Minogue, who had two of her three acts in the final two in here first appearance as a judge!
So before we get to our winner story here is Captain Jacks farewell to runner up on X-Factor 2007 Rhydian..............
Rhydian Roberts 24, is a classically trained singer from Powys, Wales who auditioned in Cardiff. His voice type is baritone and he has had vocal training for the past seven years. He is a graduate of Birmingham City University, and at school played trumpet and cornet. Roberts has appeared in singing competitions before, in fact since the age of five he has regularly competed in the annual Urdd Eisteddfod, and in 2007 won two first prizes. Rhdyian played rugby for his school, attends the gym daily, and is also currently a personal trainer. He used to be the strongest bench presser in Wales during his teens, but gave up weight lifting for a career in music. During his time on the show there was controversy over the way in which producers edited footage to make him appear, what Rhydian calls, a pantomime villain. He also received highly critical comments from judge, Sharon Osbourne, in the early rounds but managed to win her over in the end. As a Welsh speaker Rhydian has recorded messages and interviews for Radio Cymru, recording an audio diary for the station's Dylan a Meinir Show and has also appeared on S4C shows such as Wedi 7. He is sure to have a great career in front of him and will probably end up on the West End in some Andrew Lloyd Webber production at some time in the future doing what he does best. Goodbye Rhydian and good luck.....
And so now here we have the winners story........... Leon Jackson.
So how did shy little Leon, who at the start of the show was probably everyone's favourite to go out in the first few weeks, become the next big thing to be found by Simon Cowell's X-Factor show. His boundless determination and increasingly stellar performances have seen eighteen year old Leon beat 150,000 other hopefuls to win the biggest talent show on TV. After a nail biting final featuring the man himself, operatic maestro Rhydian and pop duo Same Difference, Leon was voted champion of ITV1’s X Factor. Leon was born in Whitburn, West Lothian, Scotland, and currently lives there with his mother Wendy, who brought him up as a single parent. He formerly worked as a retail sales assistant. Leon only started singing properly in 2007 when his friends entered him into a karaoke competition, which he won. Apart from his hobby of karate, in which he is a black belt, Jackson says that singing is the only thing that makes him happy. He is a huge fan of contemporary jazz, his hero being Michael Bublé. Before he made it through to the finals of The X Factor, Leon had been planning to start an architectural technology course at Napier University.
Leon's debut single, a cover of the Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey duet "When You Believe" went on sale as a download from midnight on Sunday 16 December 2007 and as a CD on Wednesday 19 December 2007. The debut single became the fastest-selling single of 2007, with sales reaching over 300,000, which secured him the 2007 Christmas number one. At Woolworths the single at its peak was selling 40 copies per minute. Bookmakers reportedly stopped taking bets on who would get the 2007 Christmas number-one single, as Leon was practically guaranteed top spot. When You Believe indeed reached number one in the UK on 23 December 2007, thus making Jackson the first Scottish artist to achieve a Christmas number one. Simon Cowell has said a debut album will not be rushed out, following the success of previous X Factor winner Leona Lewis's debut album Spirit, which was released 11 months after Lewis won series 3 of the show. Congratulations Leon and I'm sure you won't need it but good luck......................
So there you have it folks, this years show is all over now, and Leon got the number one spot as predicted. Of course we will end with the song that all this has been building towards, but before I depart just a few words to say. This will be my last blog of 2007 and what a year it has been. If truth be known I never expected this blog to last for as long as it has done so a few thanks are going to come out now. Firstly thanks to Shaun for inspiring me to start the whole thing up in the first place, without his weekly banter, all in good jest then this would not of been as entertaining as it has been. Next up thanks to Andy for allowing me to bring my songs to Thursday nights and singing them on the Karaoke, without him then we would all just be singing in our bedroom's. Thanks to the staff of the Birches Head Hotel for some very memorable nights and serving of lots and lots of Stella. Thanks to Louise for some of the lists you sent me via E-Mail that found there way onto the blog. Thanks to Homer Simpson for saying so many funny thing's that have ended every blog this year. Thanks to Tina for getting up to sing with Hayley week in week out and helping to bring her out of her shell, although now she is squaring up to people I just can't control her. Thanks to all the unknown readers of the blog, who have made it so popular. And finally thanks to Hayley, my love, just for being you and backing me every step of the way. Have a good Christmas and New Year, and see you all in 2008.
" Homer: Christmas is the one time of year when people of all religions come together to worship Jesus Christ. "
Homer J Simpson
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