Dec 28 2009
X-Factor Mentoring HAS to Change
X-Factor Mentoring HAS to Change
Here’s an interesting message from the UnReality Team 
Right – it’s no secret I’ve thought X Factor was lame this year. The talent was lacking in a lot of the finalists, and there were a lot of problems. Mentoring in particular needs an overhaul:
“The judges cannot give good, constructive criticism and advice if they invested in select groups of contestants as their mentor.”
We saw it this year with Simon, who wouldn’t say a word against his contestants, even when they were awful. If Olly had been mentored by Louis, imagine the harsh comments he’d have made – tacky, like a bad wedding singer, etc.
a) They need to concentrate on the contestants as individuals. If Jamie’s a rocker, find out what he’s passionate about and give him the right songs. We need to see the contestants develop as artists so we know who they’ll be when they emerge.
b) They need a seperate team of mentors – Yvie Burnett is a must for vocal coaching, but they’ll need advice on stage presence and stuff like that. I think Brian Friedman needs to go as creative director though.
c) The theme weeks are a disaster – look at Jamie Afro, Rachel Adedeji who ended up singing songs that didn’t suit them. Scrap the themes and give the contestants the right songs – it’ll create a bit more variety on the night as well!
d) The winner’s song – it can’t be a boring power ballad. That’s unimaginative and bad for the winner. Give them a song that’ll compete in the charts and stop with the schmaltzy key-change nonsense.
What do you guys think?
Regards,
The The Unreality TV Forum Team
http://forum.unrealitytv.co.uk/x-factor/x-factor-the-mentoring-has-to-change!/