X-Factor / The Betfair Contrarian / 27 September 2009 /

The Betfair Contrarian believes he can get class from a carthorse but Louis Walsh's X Factor 2009 fate may be in the lap of the girls...

One of the features that separate X Factor from its predecessor Pop Idol is that groups are allowed to enter. However, five series of the show have aired to date and the groups are the only category yet to produce a winner. How is Louis Walsh - [7.0] to manage the winning act on Betfair - going to buck that trend?

The Betfair Contrarian is here to explain why the long drought is finally going to come to an end this year...

The groups arent far behind...

Even though there has yet to be a winning group, it's not as if they are a huge distance behind the solo acts. In all five series one of them has reached the final four and in all but one they have had a presence in the top three, with two finishing as runners-up.

...and Louis has the best record with them

On both of the occasions when a group has finished second, Louis Walsh has been their manager, whereas no other judge has been able to take them beyond third. In the first series he took G4 all the way to the final, where they missed out to Steve Brookstein. Last year, he was very unlucky to be denied victory with JLS, who have since become only the second losing act in the shows history to have a UK number one. They got the most votes in the semi-finals and saw off a number of one-time favourites before losing to Alexandra Burke in the final with 41.66%.

He can also get class from a carthorse

That might be a bit harsh, but Louis certainly is capable of getting acts to overperform. The clearest example was with the McDonald Brothers in series three, which was the one occasion he failed to get a group into the top two. That year the Scottish siblings were slated every week by Simon Cowell for being dreary and pointless but Louis managed to steer them all the way to fourth. His feat in guiding Shayne Ward to series two glory was also impressive as final opponent Andy Abraham the bin man had a great story to supplement his voice. The fact he won with a slender 50.6% of the final vote shows that it was a managerial triumph.

Kandy Rain have huge potential...

One of the most promising groups in this year's competition are Kandy Rain, a girl group who according to the tabloids formed after working together as lapdancers. Popular TV forum Digital Spy already has a two-page appreciation group in their honour, despite the fact their audition was only aired last weekend. The band themselves have also been pretty savvy from a publicity point of view, posting videos on YouTube of them singing other songs, varying from Snow Patrol's Chasing Cars to TLC's Scrubs; that range could come in very handy in the themed shows. They have also uploaded footage of them goofing around, in an attempt to show off some personality.

...and won't suffer gender discrimination

On most reality TV shows the audience tend to favour male performers, yet no such bias exists on the X Factor. Thats proven by the fact two of the last three winners have been female: Leona Lewis and Alexandra Burke.

It's Louis' turn to win

Pattern fans may be interested to know that the last four winning managers were in chronological order - Louis Walsh, Simon Cowell, Dannii Minogue and Cheryl Cole. Therefore, its Louiss turn again.

'.$sign_up['title'].'

'; } } ?>

:

:

:

?

: