Updates From Last Week

I'm burning up unused holiday at work and have time to spare, so let's continue the narrative of some of last week's postings.

First to X Factor which finally pulled a long overdue trigger and eliminated Phoebe and the Woo Woo Girls. Maddeningly enough they weren't actually the worst act on the night for a change, that honour going to Pete Doherty's Scottish Younger Brother who was screwed over with the choice of songs. That said, he still posesses twice the talent of the made up girl group who had been living on borrowed time and who finally got the boot, meaning at least that Simon Cowell no longer has to lie through his teeth and support them even when they do sing badly out of tune. Just for a change this week of course they all got to sing parts of the songs, even if one of them was 'We Will Rock You' which hardly has any tune to it at all and can be pulled off comfortably by even the most inept pub karaoke singer.

Now of course it gets interesting as there is no really obvious candidate for the finale elimination this week, unless of course McDoherty gets given songs that don't suit his style. Really though it seems academic as Robot Boy remains head and shoulders above everyone else, his voice blissfully cutting through the daft costumes and cheesy musical arrangements.

The Singing Dinnerlady is still full of surprises of course, whilst nobody will ever do 'Total Eclipse Of The Heart' like Bonnie Tyler, she still managed to perform it far more powerfully and tunefully that Nicki French managed the last time the song was a hit. Second place for her is a lock, although the sad truth is that she is just a bit too old and mumsy looking to be turned into a proper pop star. Whatever the merits of opening up X Factor to older contestants, it is actually tricky to market them properly as mainstream acts once the contest is over. Look at the experience of The Singing Binman two years ago. Amazing voice, top bloke as well and he even made a should have been a classic single in the shape of 'Hang Up', yet his only brush with proper fame is a naff Christmas record a couple of years ago.

Which leaves us with the Scary Twins who at the very least only scored a three on the creepiness scale this week. I despaired slightly at Simon Cowell's confident assertion that "you two could have a hit record with that" after their Butlins-esque performance of 'Wake Me Up Before You Go Go'. This man sits in judgement over the contestants based on his track record of having hit singles and signing stars, but producing uninspired cover versions of well established classics is what he was doing a decade ago. If he hasn't learned to stop taking the easy route and work instead on nuturing real talent then really he should stop pretending to care about music.

Back to Scary Twins themselves then, and whilst they come across as two fairly normal and dare I say it even likeable people in the interviews and vignettes, when performing they turn into crazed intense monsters, never more so than the shoulders back, heads forward, pinprick eyes stance they take up when awaiting the judges comments. A pub full of friends told me I'm going to hell for wondering out loud what Sarah Smith's come face looks like.

Tuesday also appears to be the day for the bookmakers to open the Christmas Number One betting afresh for a new week, presumably once they have had time to digest the new chart and wait for the start of the week sales figures to leak out. I asked Dave Stevens from Coral last week why they alone seem to have not run a book so far and he admitted that at this early stage people in the music industry know better than they do, so they leave well alone.

Not that this has stopped the other big three, and aside from William Hill still offering free money by taking bets at 1/4 on the X Factor Winner, everyone seems united in their belief that the Strictly Come Dancing Theme is the favourite for the position. After having this baffle me last week, I've since discovered that this seems to be based on a story that was fed to a couple of Sunday papers last week which suggested that the producers were lining up Alesha Dixon to sing the theme to the show and release it as a single. Since then there doesn't appear to have been any more about it. At the time of writing such a single does not appear on any published release schedules and does not even appear on the online store at hmv.co.uk which is normally first in the queue to take pre-orders for forthcoming singles (the X Factor single due out on December 19 is listed there already of course). Of Alesha Dixon and Strictly Come Dancing there is no sign. Maybe I'm missing something and the release has been announced somewhere, but for the moment it seems the bookies unanimous favourite is a single that doesn't even exist.

Back in the real world, I maintain that the smart money is on either the Sugababes or Soulja Boy. Paddy Power have the babes at 2-1, Ladbrokes at 3-1 (William Hill we ignore as you won't get a payout if they land at Number 2 behind the X Factor track). Soulja Boy is out as far as 10-1 with Paddy Power which is good value if you believe in the track, Ladbrokes' 5-1 is a more sensible price. Interesting to note as well that Leona Lewis is still considered a 3-1 shot by both bookies. With her sales still simmering and refusing to burn out, it is extremely likely she will still be Top 3 come Christmas week, making her odds another very good bet indeed.

Sadly I'm not at the office this week which prevents me from directly asking either Adam Perrin or Paddy Power himself just what has possessed them to put the Fraggle Rock Theme at 25-1. Oh yes, and the mystery of Hills offering odds on Lucky Soul is solved with the revelation that they have a download-only re-release of 2006 single 'Lips Are Unhappy' on December 17, but they remain the only bookmakers to consider them a contender.