The X Factor

Alexandra wins, huzzah!

So in the end, the British public did the right thing and voted Alexandra Burke the winner of this year's X Factor. Fame and fortune beckon, even if her success has been a little overshadowed by the voting fiasco on Strictly Come Dancing (which, incidentally, was an issue I emailed the BBC about when John Sargeant left. Should have listened to me!).

The performances:

Eoghan Quigg - didn't deserve to get this far, swiftly despatched into third place. That said, on the night his first two performances were OK. His christmas song - Wizzard! - was OK, mainly because Simon eschewed the backing vocals except for some lightly warbling children and he got back some honesty as a performer. Wasn't great, but refreshing. The duet with Boyzone worked quite well too, though he was perhaps flattered by their appearance. The reprisal of the High School Musical number was dire though because it again highlighted that he's an inherently weak singer whose voices has to be drowned out by a production Phil Spector would be proud of - 3/5, 3/5, 1/5

JLS - things got off to a poor start. Last Christmas may be a favourite among women of a certain age, but their take was godawful cheesy. Didn't get any better with their Westlife duet, which was a mess. However, in their defence they were landed with that at the last minute after Rihanna pulled out - they were supposed to perform Umbrella. Can't remember what their third song was, but I noted it was 3/5, so that speaks for itself. I actually thought their rendition of Hallelujah was really good. It was understated, as Leonard Cohen performs it and the harmonies worked well. Easily their best performance of the series - 2/5, 2/5, 3/5, 4/5

Alexandra Burke - pretty much wiped the floor throughout. The christmas song - again, I've forgotten what it was - was terrific, as was the duest with Beyonce. If there had been any doubts about Alexandra winning they were erased at this point. The sheer enormity of Beyonce as a star alone must have gained Alexandra tens of thousands of extra votes. I'm not saying she won it for her, but she did turn it into a certainty. The third song was very good, if not exceptional, but she had set herself a high bar, so that's OK. Hallelujah was spectacular though. OK, so it's not supposed to be sung as a power ballad, but she absolutely made it work. Her final reprisal was tough, losing some bars to tears, but she recovered admirably and with great passion - 5/5, 5/5, 4/5, 5/5, 5/5

Beyonce also deserves an extra mention for her solo performance. Never seen her do rock before and it took some getting used to, but she's fantastic performer (she certainly made one guy in the audience's night) and it won me over, in no small part helped by her awesome black latex leggings. Hot hot HOT! Also helps that unlike Britney Spears, she actually sang and, when interviewed, doesn't come across like a mindless automaton. A consummate professional and quite a coup to get her to the UK just for this.

What now for the three finalists. Simon Cowell has said that with the current economic climate, only the winner could expect to persue a career as a professional singer. There's no doubt Alexandra will be a major star, but I do also think there's room for JLS. Not my thing, but there is a niche for group of that kind. Unfortunately (or is that fortunately?), I don't see any future for Eoghan. Seems like a poor investment from a commercial perspective. Simon Cowell will be well pleased Alexandra won.

Some video highlights:

Alexandra performs Hallelujah (and seals it)...



Beyonce and Alexandra duet...



Beyonce performs If I Were A Boy...