10. Every X-Factor song
http://youtu.be/sxbX-z5-QHs Year: 2005-8, 2010 Weeks at No.1: Seventeen (combined) Reality shows have been a stain on entertainment for over the past decade, and none more so than the X-Factor. Starting in 2004 on the back of the success of Popstars & Pop Idol (American Idol in USA), they tinkered with the formula in a minute way to make it seem fresh. They sucker people in to watch the cringe-inducing auditions of the hopeless and deluded while throwing in a few 'inspirational' acts that touch the heart. The whole thing is a played out farce, yet viewers still return to it year after year. It's hard to decide whether to pin the blame on the producers or the gullible public. The televised shows begin around August and culminate with the live shows in the build up to Christmas before crowning a winner a couple of weeks before. Every year the winner has gone on to number one glory, though not necessarily when hoped (see the first entry of these 10!). Those who have bagged the Christmas #1 include Shayne Ward, Leon Jackson and Matt Cardle; who have all now predictably faded into obscurity. The only two winners who have made a name for themselves seem to be Leona Lewis and Alexandra Burke. A lot of the debut singles tend to be pitiful covers of already established yet unimpressive songs; Cardle covered Biffy Clyro, Jackson covered a Mariah Carey & Whitney Houston duet and Lewis rehashed Kelly Clarkson of all people. Burke gave Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah a new breath of life - some 20 years too late as Jeff Buckley had already made it his own with an exquisite arrangement. The others have been forgettable originals, none of which have any Christmas connection. But credit to the show makers - as much as I despise its dominance on popular culture, their formula has worked year in year out. And even if ratings are the lowest they've ever been for the show, an unsuccessful Christmas bid this year paves the way for the Hillsborough charity re-release of "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother". This leaves me to wonder just where and when the next festive song to hit #1 will come. Of course, there have been other strange Christmas number ones too, including Rolf Harris and St Winifred's School Choir. But what was the most ill-fitting one of all?