This picture from the Daily Star says it all. Seriously, who would be the natural choice for a career in the UK's pop charts? Someone to represent what the UK mainstream is all about at the end of 2014?
Andrea is a nice fellow, from what we've been told, but it's time to bid him farewell and leave Sunday to Fleur and Ben. Some papers, however, are saying that Andrea will win. This seems to be based on the number of people mentioning him in tweets or updates or searching for his name on-line. Sorry, I'm not convinced. I have probably referred to him far more times than either of the other two finalists but usually because of something that has annoyed or amused me and that certainly shouldn't be taken as a guide to who I reckon should or will win.
Crazy but some reporters just don't understand data and if you mention Google too they think no-one will argue. There is also the small matter of a massive difference between the population likely to vote and the population who may have wondered who this chap is or mentioned him in some post somewhere.
At the time of writing with just a few hours to go, Ben is actually favourite. Andrea is at 20-1. Nice odds if someone really does feel confident about the Italian!!
I have heard the Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars version of Uptown Funk that Fleur performed last week and it simply doesn't stand comparison. The guys are good but there was something about Fleur's interpretation that made theirs pretty forgettable. They have now brought forward the release of their track from mid-January to cash in on the publicity but I would have been inclined to suggest they let Fleur and Syco get on with it and happily collect the royalties.
Fleur really ought to be the winner of this year's competition and I can see her putting the win to effective use. She may not be an act that I am going to download or rush to see or hear but she's got it - that X Factor - and is very likely to match some of the best contestants from previous years when we look back and see what ever happened to so-and-so in 2018.
The only reason she won't will be if the audience doesn't get her songs. That is possible. They have, after all, kept Andrea in this far and took a while to get rid of Stevi Ritchie, despite all his best efforts to annoy people.
Then there's Ben. Oh, yes, nearly forgot about Ben. The favourite, no less. I don't see it, other than as a purely 'X Factory' type thing where the little old ladies and odd people vote in their hundreds of thousands (it used to be millions but not so many bother nowadays) vote for the nice boy or the one with the sweet story and, apart from buying the Christmas album, don't really do a great deal afterwards. Ben does look good and sounds pretty good too. He's a nice chap and tries hard. He'll get upset on the stage and Dermot will give him a cuddle. We'll wish him well as he rasps through one track, belts out another and, well, I have no idea what he'll do with the 'winner's track' as it's not something I know. Rumour has it that it suits him far better than Fleur which may be the main reason he's favourite.
I just don't see Ben making much headway after the tinsel has been taken down and the tickertape has been swept off the stage. The charts are full of new male acts, many with fabulously different voices, some writing their own material and lads like Olly Murs have got all the running when it comes to getting on to programmes and promoting more 'average' chart stuff of the sort he's likely to be competing with. Just as the excellent Matt Cardle got swallowed up and is seldom seen now, I fear Ben will just be around for a while and then fade away. Much better off and not exactly despondent but he won't be getting two or three album deals or doing duets with attractive female stars from the States.
So Ben can win. Fleur should win and will probably get the better contracts in the end whatever the case. Andrea really shouldn't win but I may put a fiver on him just in case.
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