• X Factor

X Factor’s Matt Terry is out of the race for the Christmas no. 1

It’s looking very unlikely that X Factor‘s Matt Terry will make it to the number 1 spot with his winner’s single after slipping to number 5 this week.

Simon Cowell did everything in his power to create a winning single in time for Christmas this year, including hiring the legendary Ed Sheeran to write the X Factor tune that was revealed during the final live show.

However, Matt Terry’s hopes for a Christmas number 1 appear to be over as he looks set to be the second X Factor champion to miss out on that heavily desired top spot. Last year, Louisa Johnson had what can only be described as a bit of a flop with her winner’s single after she placed at number 9 in time for Christmas.

After falling to number 5 in today’s chart update with “When Christmas Comes Around”, Matt’s chances of success are incredibly slim. Yet, there may still be a chance for the X Factor crew as former contestants Little Mix are currently in third place with their latest hit “Touch”.

The most likely contender is Clean Bandit at present. OfficialCharts.com report that their reigning number 1 single “Rockabye” is currently on course to nab first place. The song, which has been number 1 for an impressive six weeks already, is dominating streaming figures.

Rag ‘n’ Bone Man’s “Human” is less than 4,000 sales behind. “Human” received a surge in popularity after X Factor contestant Emily Middlemas performed her own rendition of the song during the live shows.

Who will come out on top come Friday’s official countdown?

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• X Factor

X Factor’s Honey G says Eminem inspired her new music video

North Weezy rap legend Honey G has revealed details about her upcoming single “The Honey G Show” and apparently Eminem played a major influence in the making of the video.

Christmas will be arriving early on the 23rd December when Honey G finally drops that single we’ve all been waiting for. And the X Factor sensation has taken fans behind the scenes of her new, explosive music video.

Chatting to The Sun in front of the green screen for her new video, Honey revealed: “The track that I am going to be releasing is called ‘The Honey G Show’.

“It’s basically a really really fun track it’s really wicked.

“The writing in it has been amazing. It’s the kind of track that could really catch on.

“I want it to give people Honey G mania.”

The 35-year-old former IT recruitment consultant confessed that she looked to big names such as Eminem when filming the video, saying: “Eminem is one of the influences.”

Honey also paid tribute to the writers of the track before reassuring fans that she is still responsible for the main chorus lyrics. She explained: “With regards to the actual track I did some of the ad libs and I wrote the ‘H to the O’ stuff, obviously I wrote that.

“But the writing for the track has been really clever.”

The controversial rapper continued to talk about her musical idols Missy Elliot and Snoop Dogg, describing herself as a fusion of these two artists that is just waiting to tear up the music scene.

Honey said: “I feel like I’m a combination of all these artists waiting to burst through.

“I hope the music I’m coming into the game with is going to blow up, just like Drake’s music did.

“One of my key goals is to basically go global.”

Despite her many influences, Honey reassured fans that her single will still be a unique work of art.

“The thing is, this track is completely new.

“It’s not really like anything else.”

Oh don’t worry, Honey. We have no doubt about that.

“The Honey G Show” is released on December 23.

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• X Factor

Did X Factor’s Honey G just let slip her act is a fake?

It’s been the question on everyone’s lips since she first walked into that X Factor audition room: Is Honey G actually for real?

As Honey progressed onto the live shows and proceeded to survive in the competition for a whopping eight weeks, viewers at home struggled to know whether she was in on the joke or not. However, during an interview on This Morning on Tuesday, the controversial rapper appeared to let slip that it might all just be an act.

Speaking to Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby, Honey G confessed that she had never performed on stage before, despite supposedly rapping for 17 years. The former contestant also admitted that her inner rap artist did not exist until she appeared on the ITV programme.

She said: “Before I entered X Factor I had never done a live rap gig. I feel like a rap artist has been born. I have grown as a rap artist.”

When quizzed further by a confused Phillip, Honey backtracked somewhat.

“I had been rapping, I had been posting my tracks on Soundcloud. I had been recording,” she continued.

Attempting to get the bottom of what she was saying, Phillip asked when exactly Anna Gilford became Honey G, to which she responded: “In the year 2000 I was studying in university and one of mates came up with my name.

“G because it is my surname and Honey is because he said I was sweet like honey.”

The North Weezy rapper insisted that she is genuine and not a joke act, explaining: “I’m not fake, this isn’t an act. I have grown up in the underground scene. I am known to BBC One Extra. My mum is classical pianist.”

She continued: “I might have picked up street lingo being on the underground music scene – it is now part of my personality.”

So, in conclusion, we’re just as confused as before.

Anyway, we won’t have to worry about that for now since Honey G became the next contestant to leave the X Factor on Sunday night. She pulled out all the stops with her contribution to the Mannequin Challenge this week, but the rapper still ended up facing the sing-off against 5 After Midnight.

Three out of the four judges decided Honey’s time was up, with Nicole Scherzinger, Simon Cowell and Louis Walsh all opting to send the act home.

We’re now down to our final four contestants with Matt Terry, Emily Middlemas, Saara Aalto and 5 After Midnight. Next week they will be performing some festive tunes for Christmas Week!

X Factor continues Saturday at 8pm on ITV. 

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• X Factor

Which X Factor judge has “virtually zero contact” with their acts?

X Factor judge Sharon Osbourne “barely sees [the] contestants” that she is supposed to be mentoring on the show.

It may come as no surprise considering Sharon has on numerous occasions forgotten her own acts’ names, but it has now been revealed that the mentor has little to no contact with her contestants.

According to The Daily Star, Mrs O has “virtually zero contact” with Saara Aalto and Honey G despite the show’s claim that it is the judges who are responsible for looking after the singers in their category and in charge of selecting their song choices.

The newspaper reported that neither of the contestants in the Overs category even saw their mentor until Saturday’s rehearsals last week.

A source revealed: “Sharon barely sees her contestants. She has a team to look after them while she flies back to Los Angeles every week.”

Well, at least the singers aren’t completely abandoned then!

This isn’t the first time Sharon has received criticism on the show. The 64-year-old has been already been accused of being drunk live on air. She has forgotten the name of the song Saara was singing, despite it being the most well-known and iconic tune in Titanic, and has also drawn a blank on Saara’s name and nationality in the past.

Yet, she must be doing something right as she is the only judge left with two acts remaining in her category.

Simon Cowell, Nicole Scherzinger and Louis Walsh are now all in the danger zone and if either Matt Terry, Emily Middlemas or 5 After Midnight leave next week, one of the judges will be officially out of the running.

Will Sharon’s good luck continue?

X Factor continues Saturday at 8pm on ITV. 

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• X Factor

Oops! X Factor’s Honey G accidentally retweets insults about herself

Controversial X Factor contestant Honey G has committed another social media faux-pas, after accidentally retweeting insults about herself.

The 35-year-old rapper, whose real name is Anna Gilford, has been eagerly retweeting all the positive comments about her performances in the show. However, she has apparently had some difficulty in determining the sincerity of other tweets, accidentally retweeting sarcastic comments about her abilities.

Amongst her (now deleted) retweets include comments such as “you are probably on 2Pac’s level right now. Keep going!” and “You’re deffo on par with the likes of Biggie and Tupac, you’re an absolute lyrical miracle”.

Something tells us the original writers of these tweets did not intend them as compliments.

On top of this, Honey G has comically retweeted direct insults, with another retweet saying “Can’t wait for @The_Honey_G Album, Said nobody ever”.

Perhaps Honey ought to read to the end of sentences before choosing to retweet them to her 40,600 followers (yes, we did a double take at that number too).

This is not the first time Honey has made a social media faux-pas. She angered fans on Remembrance Sunday by posting a promotional tweet during the two-minute silence to honour those who lost their lives in the war.

The X Factor continues Saturday at 8pm on ITV.

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• X Factor

Ed Sheeran has written an original song for the X Factor winner’s single

Ed Sheeran has reportedly written an original song for the X Factor winner’s single this year, which will debut during the X Factor final.

It isn’t a surprise that ITV bosses are pulling out all the stops this year after what can only be described as a bit of a flop in 2015. Last year, Louisa Johnson won the X Factor competition and released a cover of Bob Dylan’s “Forever Young”. However, it ended up being the first ever single to not reach the top spot in the charts, peaking at only number 9.

Simon Cowell is obviously keen not to repeat the embarrassment of last year as now he has enlisted the help of superstar/songwriter Ed Sheeran in the hope of securing that Christmas number one.

The 25-year-old acoustic singer has become a global success in recent years releasing massive hits such as “Thinking Out Loud”, “The A Team” and “Don’t”. He has also written songs for some seriously big names in the music industry, including the track “Love Yourself”  by Justin Bieber.

So if anyone can help the X Factor winner get to the top of the charts, it’ll be Ed.

According to The Sun, the singer has written an “acoustic ballad” for Simon and the X Factor team this year. A source told the newspaper: “Everything Ed does turns to gold. To have him write the winner’s song is huge and amazing news for this year’s winner.

“All the remaining contestants have heard the track and it works for the majority. They can’t believe potentially their first ever single will be written by Ed.”

However, before we get too excited, apparently it isn’t set in stone that Ed’s creation will be used. The insider explained how a different track might need to be considered if Honey G or 5 After Midnight were to win: “The only chance his song won’t get used is if 5AM or Honey G pull off a shock win. Then bosses might need to consider another one of their options.”

And considering bookies have slashed odds on Honey G to win the series, that is perhaps a distinct possibility…

X Factor continues Saturday at 8pm on ITV. 

 

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• X Factor

Honey G sparks new fix claims during X Factor results show

Honey G’s comments during Sunday’s X Factor results show have once again sparked claims that the themes are a complete fix.

It was not long ago that the X Factor jukebox was accused of being rigged, after the supposedly ‘random’ wheel landed on the theme ‘Fright Night’ just in time for Halloween.

Previously, host Dermot O’Leary, who is responsible for spinning the jukebox wheel, defended the show. He told Digital Spy: “Of course it’s not rigged. People kept saying to me, ‘Oh, it’s fixed’… It’s the most rudimentary hamster wheel you’ve ever seen in your life.”

We’re not too sure how he’ll defend this one, however…

At the end of the results show, Ant and Dec announced the next week’s theme from the I’m A Celebrity jungle. They revealed that the next show would be Movie themed but, when Dermot turned to the contestants for their reaction, it seemed Honey G was already well aware of the news.

Asked how she felt about the song choice, the controversial rapper admitted she already had an “amazing track” planned for the following week, despite the theme only being confirmed mere seconds beforehand.

She said: “Yeah really really excited can’t wait, know I’ve got an amazing track lined up, it’s going to be sick.”

Well, looks like this one can join the long list of fix claims against the X Factor. How many more should we expect before this series is over?!

Samantha Lavery was forced to depart from the competition this weekend, after being voted into the bottom two alongside Ryan Lawrie. And now the final is drawing ever closer as just six contestants remain… and both Simon and Louis’ categories could be in trouble as they are left with just one act each.

X Factor continues Saturday at 8pm on ITV.

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• X Factor

Viewers rage as Sharon Osbourne changes her mind last minute during X Factor elimination

Fans of the X Factor have slammed judge Sharon Osbourne after she changed her mind last minute over who to send home during last night’s results show.

Samantha Lavery and Ryan Lawrie found themselves in the bottom two during Sunday night’s results show, and Sharon did nothing to make the ordeal any smoother. The two contestants battled it out for their place in the competition in the show’s sing-off before the decision went to the judges over who to send home.

It was looking pretty level pegging by the time Sharon Osbourne was left with the deciding vote, but her sudden change of heart outraged viewers at home.

The judge appeared torn over her vote, saying: “At this point, Ryan, you have improved so much. That was a great, safe song. It was brilliant. I don’t know what to do. I honestly do not know what to do.”

Receiving a prompt from host Dermot O’Leary, she continued: “It’s only because he’s been in the bottom so many times. I hate to do this…”

At this point it seemed a dead cert that Mrs. O would be eliminating Ryan from the competition after referencing the fact that he had been voted into the bottom three so many times.

However, the pressure of the booing crowd obviously got to the judge as she unexpectedly shouted “Sam!”, sending proceedings to deadlock instead.

The decision now lying with the original public vote, Sam was given the boot and was forced to wave goodbye to the show.

Fellow judge Simon Cowell looked completely exasperated by Sharon’s indecisiveness, and it seems viewers at home shared his annoyance over the verdict.

Sharon WTF??!!! You said Ryan. Why the HELL did you change your mind??? What, because some of the audience booed?!! Ridiculous. #XFactor

— MissM (@Milly1978) November 13, 2016

Sharon: ‘the reason I’m sending him home is because he’s always in the bottom, so I’m sending Sam home’. Very logical #XFactor

— Not Chloe Jasmine (@ChloeJasssmine) November 13, 2016

Once again #XFactor shows what a farce it is! Sharon changing her mind! He’s always in the bottom because the public don’t like him!!

— Paul Ditchburn (@theditch76) November 13, 2016

#XFactor SHARON IS A JOKE

— lauren (@laurencoverdale) November 13, 2016

Sharon watching herself back like ……. @TheXFactor #XFactor #savage 😂😂 pic.twitter.com/f2r77w8syS

— Jenny (@jennifera1990) November 13, 2016

The final is on the horizon now as there are just six contestants remaining in the competition. Next week it’s Movie Week on the X Factor and so the singers will be preparing some classic film tunes in hope of wowing the public at home. Who will be the next to go home?

X Factor continues Saturday at 8pm on ITV. 

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• X Factor

X Factor song list confirmed for Disco Week

The full song list for the sixth week of the X Factor live shows has been released, so look away now if you don’t want to see any spoilers!

Last week we waved goodbye to Four of Diamonds after the girl group were voted into the bottom two alongside Saara Aalto. However, their performance was unable to match Saara’s, who delivered a powerful rendition of Jessie J’s “Who You Are”. Only their mentor Louis Walsh saved the group, with Nicole Scherzinger, Simone Cowell and Sharon Osbourne all opting to send Four of Diamonds home.

Now there are just seven contestants left in the running and this week is Disco themed! The song list has officially been confirmed so without further ado, let’s have a look at what tunes the contestants will be boogying on down to this Saturday.

The Boys, with Nicole Scherzinger

• Matt Terry: “Best of My Love” by The Emotions
• Ryan Lawrie: “Play That Funky Music” by Wild Cherry

The Girls, with Simon Cowell

• Emily Middlemas: “Wishing on a Star” by Rose Royce
• Sam Lavery: “I Will Survive” by Gloria Gaynor

The Overs, with Sharon Osbourne

• Honey G: “Stayin’ Alive” by Bee Gees
• Saara Aalto: “No More Tears (Enough is Enough)” by Barbra Streisand & Donna Summer

The Groups, with Louise Walsh

• 5 After Midnight: “Boogie Wonderland” by Earth, Wind & Fire

X Factor continues Saturday at 8pm on ITV. 

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• X Factor

Bookies genuinely think Honey G could win X Factor

Honey G has a real shot at winning X Factor, according to British bookmakers.

Despite being one of the most controversial X Factor contestants the show has ever seen, Honey has earned plenty of fans (including 50 Cent) and has never appeared in the bottom three or dance-off.

Now, it looks like Honey’s hard work is paying off – as bookies have cut odds on her winning the whole shebang. According to BoyleSports, she’s now the third favourite to win the competition after Emily Middlemas and Matt Terry.

BoyleSports dramatically reduced their odds on Honey G winning X Factor this week, from 12-1 outsider to 15-2.

Other bookies are following suite, with William Hill offering odds on 6-1 on the rapper emerging victorious this December.

It is the next step in what has been a long journey for Honey, whose real name is Anna Georgette Gilford. The rapper was originally booted from the competition before the Judges’ Houses stage, but later returned as Ivy Grace Paredes was forced to leave the competition due to visa issues.

During her time on the show, Honey has been slammed for racism, encouraging drug use and poor performances in the competition compared to other singers.

Celebrities and fans have been divided on the rapper, with big names such as Lily Allen labelling her act “offensive” and Boy George calling her “a joke”. Meanwhile, Grammy-award winning artist 50 Cent is a fan and Snoop Dog has promised to drop everything he has on for the chance to duet with Honey in an X Factor final.

Fans better start preparing for that Snoop Dog & Honey G duet now – because it doesn’t look that far away anymore.

The X Factor continues on ITV this Saturday at 8pm.

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