Monday, October 30, 2006

UK's "Idol" Show Ruining Christmas #1 Single Gambling

OK, in the UK there's a long tradition of celebrating whatever song happens to be #1 during the week of Christmas. It used to be happenstance, of course, but now a lot of artists release "Christmas" singles (not songs with Christmas themes, per se, but holiday appropriate fare or just a huge, star-studded event) in hopes of being the winner of this year's Christmas slot. Naturally, since they're British, this also involves gambling. People wager lots of money on what song will make it.

Now that's all being spoiled by "The X Factor," Simon Cowell's reality show that supplanted "Pop Idol" as the UK equivalent to "American Idol." The first single from the winner of the show is always a massive seller and now they're timing them to come out just in tiime to dominate the pop charts come the holiday. It's ruining it for everyone, since the gambling this year says that the reunion single of super boy band Take That, hit group All Angels and even the UK's beloved Cliff Richard are all pegged to fall short to "The X Factor" winner. That's right, we don't even know who is gonna win but they're sure to beat any and all superstars. Now THAT'S a hit TV show.

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