X-Factor / Mike Norman / 08 December 2008 / 1

Mike Norman has no sympathy for Diana and while his claims of unromantic liasons with Amy Winehouse might sound dubious, he's right on the money when it comes to the highs and lows of this year's X Factor betting.

The demise of Diana Vickers was confirmed last Saturday when she became the unfortunate artist to be eliminated from the X Factor, one week before the final show.

In all honesty, her recent performances have been gradually getting worse and (like I said and hoped it would) her appeal wore off. She was unfortunate in the fact that she got a severe bout of laryngitis at a crucial stage of the competition, but then again, what did she expect? Kissing guys she had barely known for five minutes is hardly the way to keep a powerful and unique singing voice at its healthiest - I should know, my pop career was ended when I stuck my tongue down the throat of Amy Winehouse last year. She bit it off!

Diana's departure does mean that regular readers of Betfair's X Factor pages have no reason not be in a strong position going into the final week. For weeks I told you how Alexandra Burke was the value in the Girls market, whilst my not-so-pesky colleague Jack Houghton also told you that Eoghan Quigg would prevail in the Boys Market and that Ruth Lorenzo was the one to be on (he wishes) in the 25 and Overs market. And just for good measure, I told you that JLS were an 'outstanding bet' in the Groups market.

Let us also not forget that ahead of Saturday's grand finale, the weight of Jack's money is on Eoghan to win outright at odds of [14.5] and [6.0], whilst my best advice was to back Alexandra at [5.6] and [8.2]. They are now available to back at just [4.6] and [1.68] respectively, with JLS available at [5.2].

So before I go on to tell you who the recipients of this year's X Factor awards are, I will give you all one final bit of straight forward advice...

Although Alexandra is the strong favourite to win, trying to predict how the UK will vote is a bit like snapping Pat Butcher without ear-rings or Jimmy Saville without a cigar - impossible. Will the whole of Ireland pick up the phone and support Eoghan? Will Britain vote for another artist in the mould of Leona Lewis, or will they want to see a group win for the first time in the shape of JLS?

Quite simply, if you haven't had a bet by now, then my best advice would be to not get too involved this Saturday - just sit back and enjoy the show.

However, if you have backed Alexandra alone at big odds then you would be mad not to lay her off to guarantee a profit (you can lay her at [1.7] right now). Or if you're lucky enough to have backed both Alexandra and Eoghan at fancy prices then surely it would be in your best interests to have a bit on JLS at [5.2] to at least guarantee you cover your outlay.

Whatever you decide to do, good luck. Now for those awards.

The Jonathan Ross 'Wish I Hadn't Done That' award goes to Ant & Seb for their hilarious audition back in September. It was funny because Ant wasn't at all a bad singer, but his rendition of 'Mysterious Girl' was ruined (and had the judges in stitches) when brother Seb came in after every verse with a rap lyric along the lines of, "Woman that I love" and, "C'mon move your body". Oh Seb, why did you do that?

The Paul Gascoigne 'Tears Of A Clown' award was nearly snatched away from Louis Walsh at the last minute when Eoghan ran on stage in floods of tears to comfort Diana. But the award has to go to Louis. From day one he criticised Danny Evans, but later had the hypocrisy to blubber his way through one of Danny's performances as he sang in memory of his wife. What a fool!

The Zola Budd 'Bare Feet Don't Make You A Champion' award goes to Diana. For weeks she looked like she had just got out of bed, ruffled her hair and forgot to put her shoes on before performing on stage. She was good, but her appeal wore off just like her shoes.

The Meatloaf sponsored 'Two Out Of Three Ain't Bad' award very nearly went to Simon Cowell in reference to how many fellow judges he would consider sleeping with, though with rumours that Dannii Minogue might not be around next year, two out of two doesn't quite have the same ring to it. Therefore the award goes to Ruth Lorenzo - she has a big bum, but two of her other body parts ain't bad!

And finally, the 'X Factor Champion Singer of the Year' award goes to Alexandra Burke [1.68]/Eoghan Quigg [4.6]/JLS [5.2] (delete as appropriate).

See you all next year.

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1. Nicky | 11 December 2008

   Whoever wins will be deserving as they are all good. Not sure how the voting will go but at the prices I am backing Eoghen to win

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