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X Factor Betting: Who's been voting for these two then?

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Chickendinner are simply staggered that Same Difference have made the final...

People of Great Britain, you need to take a long hard look at yourselves in the mirror this morning and ask yourselves what you think you are playing at.

It is hard to recall a musical act more cheesy and harder to like than Same Difference - only Keith Harris and Orville, with "Orville's Song" come close - and yet here they are in the final. They have overcome the X Factor's resistance to groups, just as they have over come the X Factor's resistance to novelty acts, yet so sure were they of their impending departure in the semi-final that they even performed their last song with their coats on. Some of you, though, just had to pick up the phone and vote for them, and the rest of you did nothing to stop them.

So against all the odds (and all generally accepted stands of taste), Same Difference have made the last three, thus introducing a genuinely rogue element into the final. They are still the outsider at [9.0] to win, yet if a horse that everyone had laughed at were comfortably amongst the front runners with a furlong to go, you'd have to start asking yourself if there weren't something going on that you'd better take seriously, however much it runs counter to your better judgement. Somehow they have managed to mobilise enough votes to survive, and it's impossible to pinpoint exactly where they are coming from.

Neither can you underestimate the acuity and cunning of Simon Cowell, their mentor. He has a far better understanding of the programme, which is his after all, than Dannii Minogue, mentor of the other two acts. That said, Simon Cowell has also been pouring his finest flattery all over Rhydian [1.37], which suggests he feels Rhydian is going to be his biggest money maker from this series, with Same Difference and Leon [5.7] providing a double dose of gravy.

But Rhydian's personality, singing credentials and "brand" have already been established and are unlikely to be affected by not winning the contest (like Clay Aitken in an earlier American Idol, who came second, but sold far more records than the winner.) Which suggests that the ultra-competitive Cowell, knowing his investment is safe, might be of a mind to pull out all the stops to engineer a massive surprise. Leon looks like he's been overcome by the occasion and performed poorly in the semi. If he does the same again next week, it's a two horse race, which means Same Difference, a mysterious horse in the hands of a brilliant trainer, are great value at [9.0].