X-Factor / Mike Norman / 28 November 2011 /

Mike Norman has taken some bad blows on this year's X Factor but he's man enough to admit he was wrong, whilst also feeling very upset at the treatment of the latest act to be eliminated Janet Devlin.

I'll start by being quite frank. Janet Devlin's demise on this year's X Factor has been extremely uncomfortable viewing and, ignoring financial gain (or loss in my case) for one moment, her elimination on Sunday night was quite welcome.

First things first, Devlin definitely deserved to go this weekend after her horror show on Saturday night, and it was quite refreshing to see the public get one aspect of the voting correct for a change. But what sits very uncomfortable - not just with myself - is the way the young Irish lass has been treated in recent weeks.

Shunned by her mentor, regularly criticised (for non-singing aspects) by Gary Barlow, no advice given on song choices, and constantly made to sing in the early 'death' slot on a live show. It all contributed to draining the poor lass of any confidence whatsoever and I'm not surprised one bit that she was so nervous the other night, forgetting her words during her first performance.

Forget Kelly Rowland's pathetic, and quite frankly embarrassing, attempt to act as if she cared for Devlin's plight on Sunday night's results show; the toothless mentor had been given a 'way out' by the very fact that Louis Walsh and Tulisa Contostavlos had already 'sent home' Devlin. This allowed Rowland the perfect opportunity to turn on the tears and pretend that she couldn't decide who to send home, Devlin or fellow Girl contestant Misha Bryan. But by refusing to make a decision, Rowland was actually eliminating Devlin from the competition.

I don't think there's an intelligent X Factor fan out there who doesn't know that Rowland wanted rid of Devlin. The Betfair Community lot - and there are some clever people over there believe me - called it deramping of the teenager; in other words, set up for an exit, given every opportunity to fail etc.

I could write all day on this subject, but I won't. I just hope that Devlin recovers from her horrible ordeal because I have no doubt whatsoever she will still be selling albums long after Marcus Collins, Amelia Lily, and Misha Bryan have bored the nation to death.

It's fair to say that my X Factor tipping exploits are over for this year. But as Rocky Balboa once said, "It's not about how hard you hit, it's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward."

Well I've thrown some hard X Factor punches already, and in the early rounds I was well on top. But in recent weeks I've been knocked to the canvass too many times for my liking, and the only way to move forward is to hold my hands up and admit I've got it completely wrong. I can't help feel though that my only crime - not for the first time - is knowing who will be successful and who won't be, and instead I should have been concentrating on who will win The X Factor, and not who will sell records.

In 2008 I told you that both Alexandra Burke and JLS would be successful - they are. In 2009, as the show progressed, I told you that Olly Murs would be the star (and not Joe McElderry) - he is. And last year it was pretty obvious that One Direction would be the big winners. The public went for Matt Cardle. The last I heard was that Cardle was round 1D's mansion, touching up the skirting boards!

So just who will be next year's X Factor flops? Collins and Little Mix (Rhythmix) are vying for favouritism in the Winner market at around the [2.5] mark, whilst Rowland's two Girls, Amelia Lily and Bryan, can be backed at [7.4] and [14.0] respectively. For the record, I think Little Mix will be quite successful after the X Factor.

I'm 20 virtual betting points down this series and I know when to cut my losses, so from this point on I sincerely hope Collins emerges victorious for my colleague Jack Houghton. Jack can bank a few more points this weekend when Bryan gets eliminated; the unpopular, but talented artist, being available to back at [2.0] in the 13th Elimination market. There's no bottom two this week, the act finishing bottom of the public vote will automatically be eliminated.

I'm off to buy an album by someone called the Pet Shop Boys. Apparently they are a group consisting of two extremely boring artists who have no style sense; just like Janet Devlin. They'll never sell records then, surely!

Star Predictor

So with just five acts remaining what does the Betfair market say? For the latest odds on the winner and next elimination markets check out our shiny new X-Factor Star Predictor...

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