X factor

I'm a huge fan of X Factor. My two favorites (and for many others) have been Laura White and Diana Vickers for being such original talents. So you can imagine that I was gutted to see Laura get voted off so soon into the show. I didn't think Mariah week was her strongest performance but she was nowhere near the bottom two as she brought it home in the end. For someone to have sung "Cry me a river" (during the Judges House week) or "Falling" on Week 1 the way she did and to fail to make the Top 5 is a mistake if this is indeed a purely singing competition (it isn't - screen time in the early stages and hype, likeability, variety and versatility shown in performances, a singer showing emotion and connecting to the viewing public and momentum going a singer's way all play a part).

Who ends up in the bottom 2 is down to the public and whilst the judges may be criticised for voting off a great talent (tactical perhaps as Cheryl stated but then Ruth Lorenzo's performance of Knocking on Heaven's Door was simply fabulous), that is the downside of reality shows. Some cynics would say that such shows always need one shock departure as part of the narrative over the course of the season.

It turns out though that I wasn't the only one bemoaning last week's results. Newspapers and online media have been full of "Laura was robbed" headlines. There is even a petition to have Laura reinstated (http://www.petitiononline.com/lwrein/petition.html), stating that ITV should run the next show with all last week's contenders (including Laura and Diana - who couldn't take part in the show due to a severe throat infection) and vote 2 acts off to stay on schedule.

Pop and politics are not immediate bedfellows so it was interesting to see Culture Secretary Andy Burnham mention Laura's departure during oral questions for Culture, Media and Sport. During a discussion on the comments made by Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross on BBC Radio 2, he apparently noted that MPs "should resist that temptation to comment on editorial matters" but that "the temptation is great in my case, having seen the wonderful and talented Laura White very harshly voted off X Factor on Saturday."

I guess we will all have to tune in to the show next week to see if the frenzy surrounding Laura's departure has any effect. For me, the effect it should have is to be another indication of just how good Laura White is and she should be signed by a record company. Then she needs supportive management, time to write a great album which incorporates her unique musicality, the right song to release as a first single and a good stylist (I did feel that her styling could have been more Duffy-esque (cue the yellow, white and purple flower dress she auditioned in and which makes an appearance in some of her previous photo shoots)).

For those Laura fans out there, a few of her own songs have been posted on You Tube. The song She in particular is amazing.