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Simon Cowell: I will tell fans on TV why I backed Jedward
By Georgina Littlejohn, London Lite Last updated at 12:49pm on 10.11.09Simon Cowell has promised to explain to X Factor fans why he decided to vote for John and Edward Grimes on the weekend's controversial results show.
Slammed: fans have turned on Simon Cowell
He has faced a huge public backlash since the sing-off between the twins — known as Jedward — and Lucie Jones, 18, who was voted off the show by the public after a deadlock from judges.
X Factor Blog: Why didn't Simon get rid of Jedward when he had the chance?
Despite previously referring to the 18-year-old brothers as “vile” and “deluded”, Cowell, 50, is expected to explain on this Saturday's show why he backed them.
It came as more than 3,000 viewers complained to ITV about Cowell's shock “fix” decision. Some have also threatened to boycott the show and suggested Cowell may have known that the public vote had gone against Lucie when he forced the deadlock. Last night Cowell denied the claim, saying: “I could not have predicted the way public voting had gone.”
It was also reported today that Cowell tried to persuade fellow judge Cheryl Cole to vote for Jedward.
An insider said: “It seems Simon may have tried to get Cheryl to vote for the twins so he could save Lucie and it could have gone to deadlock without him, or the show, losing credibility.”
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Reader views (29)
The only way to send the message through of inappropriate unfair judging in this contest is to not to watch nor to vote. These hopefuls want to be on the show to promote their career in singing and entertainment. This is what it is said to be but this show has turned to be a circus of mind games as Simon said himself but he is playing this game as well. Seeing Lucie give an incredible performance singing on big band night, all he could say was she was icey and rehearsed. This is an 18yr old with no ceiling in her voice and ability to sing pop, big band, even rock, and ballards! Danyl hardly moves on the stage and he criticises Stacey. He has become hypocritical and its almost 7 days now and he and the ITV producers have not apologised for this show. Its arrogance and they think that the public will forgive them. The only way is to vote with your feet. turn to Strictly or switch off your TVs. Simon even wants you to watch him explain- what is there is explain? He said Jedward are lousy singers and yet the 4 judges let them through till the judges homes contest level- what is going on here? There were lots of other groups much better than them. Then he turns his back and votes for them by leaving it up to the public, he knew that either way Jedward leaving or Lucie leaving was a win win situation for him as he got rid of an act that could have threatened his 3 good acts. The sing off in this show was to save someone that was good at singing but the public had not realised yet.
- May, Bristol
Its all about ratings. cause contraversy and people will watch. Now he "promises" to explain, just so people can tune it to watch - there by not affecting his shows ratings.
He seems to blame the public, saying they in control, I say if we are, then we should all NOT watch it. let his ratings plumit..
- Peter, Isle of man
Heres my opinion don't vote for Olly, Daniel, Jamie and "Jedward".
- William, Baltinglass Ireland
Nobody's interested in your excuses SC, face facts YOU'VE BLOWN IT!
- Kj, London
I AM NOT WELSH...
Cowell will give is a load of verbal garbage on Saturday.
He is in it for the money and his own glory.
X factor a talent show.
I used to think so.
I feel sorry for the real singers. It is a set up.
- Ian Long, Caernarfon Wales
X-Factor or Britain's got talent.... Let's put the 2 shows in perspective:
If Simon had to take a decision on "Britain's got talent" between Lucy and Jedward, he most probably would not want to offend the Queen.... but in the "X-Factor" he does not care sending an insult to the British Public....
- Padd, London
this weekend show was a farce , the twins should have gone but if people are voting for them will they be paying for their single cause lets face it they can,t sing . when the show finishes this year the show should not go ahead next year just call it a day so that simon does not get any more money of the show, thats all he did it for to wind everyone up it just proves that it is fixed
- Angela Tugby, walsall west midlands
I think Simon has made a fool of himself allowing Jedward to stay in the competition. He has complained relentlessly about how vile they are and promised to judge the sing off purely on that performance . There is no way that the boys sang better than lucy and the only reason he put it to the public vote was to make sure that the better singer went out which would make it easier for his own acts. Although i find Simon arrogant, he generally speaks his mind and quite often makes a lot of sense, but i feel he has made a fool of himself and contradicted everything he has said by allowing them to stay. He has three of the best acts in the competition and has no reason to resort to silly games to keep them in the running. I love X factor but feel i no longer want to watch it. I feel sorry for John and Edward because they are getting the backlash from the decision Simon has made. He should have voted them out like everyone expected him to do instead of making a mug of himself and losing all credability. Does he not remember what he has said about them every week!!
- T Phillips, London
Saturday was a disgrace to the public, Simon have never had a good word to say about the twins. He had a chance to get rid but didn't.
Lucy could have got to the final with a voice like she had.
Simon knows already who will win this year X Factor because he will make the decision.
I hope the show folds.
On behalf of the cornish the show stinks.
- Jerry Burt, Cornwall
every one seems to forget that the 'public' is not several clones of one person. we are very much divided over this, aren't we. And in my opinion the 'public that vote for John and Edward consist of 14 year old girls and under who sneak away with the housephone and vote for them 20 times a night.
- Andrea Krudy, northampton
If your deluded enough to think that Simon Cowell does NOT have total control over the whole show, including knowing how the public have voted, before judging, you need help!
- X-Terminator, Suburbia
I agree, it is the public that keep the twins in the show. I lost faith with the public weeks ago with regards to their ability to recognise talent of any kind!! Obviously those of us (the minority) that are still able to make that distinction between a good voice and NOT are out voted by those that are clearly tone deaf or just plain awkward! Those with singing talent seem to be cast aside in favour of those that make a mockery of a fine voice! The twins would have been better placed in a comedy sketch as opposed to a talent competition (singing). I want to see our public making better decisions regarding this industry so we can be proud of what the British are able to produce!
- Elle, Suffolk
X factor is totally rigged anyway.It's about all the judges rather than the contestants.I am not saying that Lucy would have won.I very much doubt she would have, but come on......she was kicked out with the talentless two.The main thing is that Simon will make money out of them.
- Drew Hay, London UK
Simon lost all credibility when he stated that Joe is not the best male singer in the competition. Daniel does the same old same old and Ollie is a better version of Jedward - very entertaining to watch, but would you buy his records?? Don't think so. I have always loved this show, but have found Simon changing the rules to suit himself is just wrong. Hope it has backfired on him.
- Jj, Tyne & Wear
Of course - Mr Cowell is now promising an explanation on Saturday. Why? So viewers continue to watch obviously! Jamie, Ollie or Danyl will win the X-Factor. Fair? That is why Mr Cowell is where he is and we are where we are!
- Mo, Caterham, Surrey
It's an absolute disgrace what has happend to Lucie. It really puts you off wanting to watch, it's turning into a farce!!Simon was very hypocritical saying 'he's started to quite like watching the twins' he done nothing but slate them since they got there saying, I quote 'he will leave the country if they win.' He always says 'it's who does the best performance on the night who he will pick!!' Well he Obviously does that dosn't he? He's definately gone down in my estimation along with thousands of other public viewers!!!
- Anne Mounsey, Northumberland
I have always thought that X-Factor is such a great programme and an ideal opportunity for real talent to be found. Simon's greed for power, money and ensuring that he gets space in the tabloids has been taken to the extreme. He chose to save Jedward purely to cause a hype and ensure that everyone continues to talk about the X-Factor. Its no longer a programme of talent but Simons attempt at making money. I do hope that Jedward go on to win X-Factor now and I will vote for them out of pure spite as they will never go on to sell records but hopefully this too can bring Simons fast on X-Factor to an end. I have gone from being a loyal X-Factor fan to being an avid supporter of boycoting this absoulte hoax !! Simon Cowell - you're a "has been" - move on and find something usefull to do. Leave the judging of talent to those who are there to purely judge the talent and not judge on what will increase their bank balance !!!!!!
- An, London
Very shocked to see lucie jones go...........jedward..........you mean dead wood,we used to look forward to the x factor on a saturday night in our house hold but instead of itv1 on saturdays now im afraid its BBC 1 and strictly come dancing ...to hell with simon and his fix factor ...........
- Dean Woods, Grays
I totally agree with what JC below says. Yes Simon had the chance to get rid of Jedward but left it to the public instead. Stop voting for the twins if you don't want them in the competition. I certainly have not been voting for them.
- Mb, Essex
simon coward you got no fans left.
- Stefan Batowski, aberdare
he is laughing all the way to the bank. does he take the public for fools? best thing to do is not watch and not vote so he doesn,t get our over priced phone calls in his pocket. VOTE X FACTOR OFF TV>
- John, putney
Cowell is just a self-saitsfied, self-centred aging hypocrite who says 'it is a singing competition' when it suits his acts and says it is 'about entertainment' when he wants to vote off the best singer. Of course he can see $$$$ by representing the two creepy twins, so why should he vote for the best singer? I wouldn't mind so much if the man were more honest, instead of a twisted, twisting, irritating schemer.
- Peter Johns, Nice, France
Cowell told us on TV that Jedward were “vile” and “deluded2, "could not ding" were horrendous all in one week. He still voted off the girl he described as the best female singer in the show to save the twins. Nobody has any respect left for this has-been TV presenter. I wont be watching this show or American idol ever again
- Keith Price, Luton, Emgland
Who would you like to see in next Saturdays show - boring Lucy or bad entertainment by Jedward, I personally would like to see Jedward - to see what they sing next! Admittedly its a show that needs big ratings and the vile twins are going to pull more viewers than any of the other singers on it!
- Raminder Bhalla, Northolt
Did not Simon say that it is, who sings best in the sing off, and to forget what has gone before? So what he is saying is that John and Edward sang better than Lucy, and the week Rachel went, Lloyd sang better than Rachel. Simon and I are not listening to the same thing.
- Irene, Limoges France
Jc, London.... You said what I've thought all along..."The public are to blame..."
- Helen, London
It's just another sad and not so original marketing ploy by Simon when he know he's now damaged the show's credibility, to pull in more viewers this weekend. He has all week to try and explain his decision in any of the hundreds of newspapers across the UK covering this story, but instead he tries to insult the public's intelligence further by enticing them to tune in with his latest fixed publicity stunt. He really deserves no further support from the public
- Sasha Davies, Dartford, UK
What you all seem to be forgetting is that people must be voting for the twins to be in the contest still. Stop blaming Simon Cowell and if you don't want the twins in the contest stop voting for them!!!! If people hadn't voted for them at the weekend they would have been gone - wouldn't they!
- Louise, Caterham
Oh for God's sake. What is there to explain? That dark haired girl had a good voice, yes. But she had no stage presence and she would not have won. She was no pop star in the making! As Simon so rightly said, she has 'a ceiling' and if she hadn't gone last week, she would have certainly gone in the next 2 weeks (either before or after Lloyd's departure, as he's clearly next for the chop).
And anyhow, surely Simon is entitled to judge this competition however he likes? He's more than entitled to change his mind from week to week as the competition progresses. I hated the twins for the first couple of weeks. Now I think they're hilarious and probably a breath of fresh air for the kiddies pop charts. They're energetic, clean living, cute lads who are having fun. A bit reminiscent of The Spice Girls...... so why not? I wouldn't buy their records, but I wouldn't mind if they won. All the best singers are guaranteed to be picked up by record companies anyway whether they win or not, so what's the harm? There are too many miserable people in the world! I don't mind a bit of fun. Those lads are only 17, and I think this public backlash is more than a little bit inappropriate.
Also remember, Simon did not save them - he went to the public vote. So I don't see what there is for him to explain???? The public are to 'blame', not him.
- Jc, London
