X Factor's hypocritical culture RUINING music industry

Another year of X Factor, another set of mediocre singers and another year of hypocrisy tainted with controversy.

You didn’t have to look closely to see Cheryl Fernandez-Versini lip syncing her latest single ‘I don’t care’ on Sunday’s elimination show. Well, unfortunately Cheryl, maybe those contestants that you ‘judge’ every week for their singing ability do care.

It isn’t hard to see the criticism here. How can someone judge others for their ability to do something and then not even have the nerve to do it themself; it’s the ultimate hypocrisy. This is but one rather glaring example of everything that is wrong with the X Factor culture.

“Any advice for the sing-off, Cheryl?” “Erm… mime” #xfactor pic.twitter.com/kWVgQDfoL8

— Tim Glanfield™ (@timglanfield) November 2, 2014

In its simplest form the X Factor is meant to be a competition about the best musical talent that our country has to offer. Despite this, as we have seen time and time again, what this equates to is little more than a competition for who Simon Cowell can make the most money out of.

You could argue that this is merely just the nature of the beast in a setting of this type. However, it demonstrates the problem with the capitalist, money-grabbing state of today’s popular music industry, that cares more about ‘sellability’ than it does about musical talent.

2010’s One Direction’s unprecedented success, is a perfect example of this. Yes, to an extent they can sing, although it is more likely that One Direction’s success came from factors other than their voices. Possibly it is the fact that they were put together for the show to be more successful. Or maybe it was Simon signing them to his record label, despite coming third in the competition.

This is something that we can see possibly being repeated in this year’s eight piece boy band ‘Stereo Kicks’. Lola Saunders lost out to them in this weeks ‘sing off’, despite members of the public showing their anger on Twitter.

Well that was the wrong decision Mel b! Lola was by far the better act in the sing off! #xfactor (a bit behind I know!)
— Michelle Barber (@MichelleCHughes) November 2, 2014

The whole idea of the ‘sing off’ being a fair way to decide who should stay in the show further adds to the hypocrisy of the show. Can the judges be trusted to vote for the contestant who is most deserving when they openly vote for the contestants in their ‘team’? The judges should vote for the person(s) who were the best singers, not just the ones they have vested interests in.

You could vote for the better contestant to attempt to stop this sort of thing happening. Although, this will merely contribute to the success of the show, as well as having little affect on its outcome. Boycotting the show all together seems a better solution.

We need a repeat of 2009, when Rage Against the machine’s Killing in the name of beat X Factor’s Joe McElderry for Christmas number one. Maybe then, X Factor’s culture of hypocrisy will come to an end.

What do you think about talent shows such as the X Factor? Let us know in the comments.