The X-factor started off promising this year – with a plethora of good singers and new judge to spice things up a bit. But all of that came crashing down when Daniel seemed to be staying in week after week and Laura got voted off.

It was an utter shock for me that Laura White went, but it shouldn’t be. I keep forgetting that X-Factor is an entertainment show masquerading as a singing contest. Auditionees are probed for sympathy stories so that they appeal to the Judges and the general public rather than simply judged on the merit of their singing. ITV wants to create ‘personalities’ that can sing, rather than the other way around. The only reason Leona Lewis won was because she was such fantastic singer and mellow person that she didn’t need to have a strong sympathy story. Plus, she didn’t have much competition in her round.

What also is becoming clearer and clearer is that judges have their own agenda. No longer is it about saving the one that is the best singer, rather its about saving the one that is the least threat to your own act. Everyone has given Louis a hard time about voting out Laura, and rightly so (I extremely dislike him for various reasons), but everyone conveniently forgets that Simon also voted her off. And he didn’t even try to give a crap excuse like Louis did.

This ‘talent show’ is no more than a game to the judges, and Daniel staying in after Laura was voted out proves that you don’t have to be a good singer or entertainer to perform on the show. And I do feel for Daniel, because it’s not his fault he got to the live shows, he was just trying like everyone else. They consistently made him speak of his wife and daughter and play on the heart strings of the voting audience and he isn’t a BAD singer – just not as good as the others. No way did he deserve the abuse he received.

There is another thing that people should consider when picking up the phone to vote for their favourite – we don’t actually know how many votes each act has received. It is all down to trusting ITV and their crap voting system that loves to charge people and not register their vote. Just remember where they are making their money and that they have the power to influence who stays and who goes, without our votes at all.