Ah, this one is good fuel.
Simon Cowell obviously runs a very dirty show.

www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/16064674

He's clearly colluding with HMV.
(username failed moderation, Wed 7 Dec 2011, 16:50, 8 replies)

could be telling the truth
I worked on the web stuff for the first season of Fame Academy. I remember having to prepare a load of stuff for potential winners that was never used because obviously only one person won. I can't even remember who now.

BTW: I did have to sit in a shed a week before broadcast watching most of the rehearsals mind. Despite all the telly bollocks Lemar could really sing. Really fucking sing. Stop you dead in your tracks just to listen sing. Don't think he won though. As is the nature of these things.
( rob, Wed 7 Dec 2011, 17:01, closed)

Actualy, I've no doubt
they're telling the truth.

It's pretty common knowlegde, or common sense even, that the media prepare multiple versions of news, in advance.

I'm sure I've seen this happen before - didn't one of the papers print the wrong election result once, and another one managed to report the queen mothers death years before she actually popped her clogs?
(username failed moderation, Wed 7 Dec 2011, 17:06, closed)

Wrogn Results
The Mail also printed a guilty story for Amanda Knox recently after she had been found not guilty. I think Scaryduck has a screenshot on his pages somewhere.

S
(Shamrock, Wed 7 Dec 2011, 17:53, closed)

That was gold
...especially the fictitious interviews with people at the scene and the graphic descriptions of the faces of her family upon hearing the *bad* news.
(dchurch bah, Wed 7 Dec 2011, 18:25, closed)

it was probably deliberate
a similar story about fixing the X Factor winner was released last year, it just builds more publicity for the shte franchise

you all bin pwnd an trold by da cowester!
(Quintno EXPERIMENT RUINED CANCELLED, LEFT 4EVER, Wed 7 Dec 2011, 19:51, closed)

Trying. To. Give. A. Shit.
Nope..... sorry.
( Tab Hunter Make this useless process end and so, begin again, Thu 8 Dec 2011, 9:09, closed)

As said above, I'm sure this is HMV making a mistake.
However, I firmly believe that the winner's decided long before the series gets to television...
(Professor Kenny Martin Hmm? What?, Thu 8 Dec 2011, 9:26, closed)

Effectively, yes.
That's why a good 75% of the artists that make the live finals couldn't carry a tune if it had handles. Additionally, if they make it too far for comfort then they're given songs that are well outside of their ability or vocal range in an attempt to make them falter and attract negative votes. Ultimately, this can and will backfire. You can see who the intended winner was by who SIMCO gives the biggest push to, whilst allowing the unintended winner to slip into obscurity by cruelly failing to publicise them.

The protest and public votes mean fuck all, if they want them to be the stand out star from that series, then they will be. Xfactor is just an incredibly clever marketing tool, where winning means fuck all unless you were intended to be the victor from the outset.
( Muns, Thu 8 Dec 2011, 12:42, closed)