X-Factor / Jack Houghton / 06 November 2010 /

Jack Houghton takes aim and his rival and selects the best bets from this weekend's X Factor...

For two years they've clashed over the X-Factor. In 2008, Mike Norman prevailed. In 2009, Jack Houghton made it honours even. Norman's claims of foul-play last year sparked a brawl at the betting.betfair Christmas party. To avoid a repeat performance, the editors have decided to formalise things this year. Each armed with a £1,000 and their We-Love-You-Simon badges, Mike and Jack go head-to-head - tipping their way to a Christmas number one.

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I don't like to gloat, but it's hard to be this good. Last week I selected Belle Amie, Treyc and Katie in the 6th Elimination market and, trying to ignore the stifled cries of anguish I could hear emanating from Mike Norman's sofa somewhere up the A3, sat back and enjoyed the luscious final moments of the results' show as those three acts became the only ones left on-stage, each in-line for elimination. Naturally, Norman has failed to offer any kind of congratulations, preferring instead to proffer petty snipes as he watches his already dwindled betting bank make its final few turns around the plug hole.

What's important is that I remain aloof. You don't see Wagner getting upset by the nickle-and-dime attacks laid at his door by also-rans. I must follow his lead. Take the defeated cries of Belle Amie failure Sophia Wardman. She's been all over The Mirror, saying that Wagner occasionally barks out, for no apparent reason, "Make me some Brazilian black beans." And why not? If the man wants black beans, Brazilian or otherwise, then get him some. He's a star for cripes sake. Wardman also claims Wagner has hygiene issues and is unable to use a computer, "Last week he couldn't get the computer to work, but that was because he was holding the mouse upside down." What do you expect, he's used to handling lions, not electronic rodents.

It does appear though that Wagner has made sexist remarks, claiming that, "all women are the same when they are horizontal." Now, I've spoken to Wagner and he assures me he was merely trying to tell that old joke: "What do you call a woman in a distance? Dot." Something clearly got lost in the translation, so let's forgive the guy, and move on.

In other X Factor news, Damon Albarn has criticised the show for "playing" with the finalists' "bodies and faces". This from the man who relaunched his career as a cartoon monkey. The Sun report that a cat was thrown into the X Factor house. Mary Byrne's daughter has said her mum would wear a gastric band. And Katie may or may not have had panic attacks, knows she has to work hard, but may have refused to rehearse. These really are exciting times.

When tennis players are in form, they often talk of seeing the ball big, and of everything moving a little more slowly. That's how the X Factor looks to me right now - a big yellow ball, moving slowly across the screen in a predictable arc, ready to be ka-powed down the line for another outright winner. And here's what I'm thinking on the betting front this week... Aiden isn't the dead-man-walking that a number of people - including Norman - seem to think. I'm not sure he has much chance of winning the thing outright, but I see him back for a few more weeks at least. That leaves Treyc, Katie, Paije and Wagner as the dead-wood to dominate elimination proceedings in the near-future.

In the 7th Elimination market though, it really only makes sense to back Katie [4.0] and Treyc [3.5]. As the only remaining acts to have been involved in sing-offs, it is safe to assume they are not popular with the voting public, and so are most likely to find themselves in the Bottom Two this week. In a sing-off, you'd think Treyc would survive, but as I've said before, the judges are a fickle bunch, so I'd rather play it safe and back the both of them. I'm having £30 on Katie and £20 on Treyc.

Betting bank running total = £569.

This week's recommendations:
£30 BACK Katie at [4.0] in 7th Elimination Market.
£20 BACK Treyc at [3.5] in 7th Elimination Market.

Previous recommendations:
£70 BACK Matt Cardle at [5.1] in Outright Market - OPEN.
£70 BACK Aiden Grimshaw at [11.0] in Outright Market - OPEN.
£30 BACK Cheryl Cole at [7.0] in First Mentor Eliminated Market - OPEN.
£50 BACK Matt Cardle at [5.4] in Outright Market - OPEN.
£50 BACK Aiden Grimshaw at [6.6] in Outright Market - OPEN.
£50 BACK Rebecca Ferguson at [2.10] in Girls' Market - OPEN.
£30 BACK Paije at [2.04] in Paije v Treyc Head-to-Head Market - OPEN.
£80 BACK Mary Byrne at [4.10] in Top 3 Market - OPEN.

£20 BACK FYD at [34.0] in Outright Market - LOST.
£10 BACK Katie Waissel at [6.6] in Third Elimination Market - LOST.
£10 BACK Cher Lloyd at [60.0] in Third Elimination Market - LOST.
£20 BACK Belle Amie at [30.0] in Outright Market - LOST.
£50 BACK Belle Amie at [2.98] in 6th Elimination Market - WON.
£20 BACK Treyc at [7.80] in 6th Elimination Market - LOST.
£20 BACK Katie at [10.0] in 6th Elimination Market - LOST.

£70 LAY Wagner at [1.70] in Bottom Three Market - Week 3 - VOID.

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