It's back: Louis Walsh, Geri Halliwell, Cheryl Cole and Simon Cowell, during filming for an upcoming episode of the new series of The X FactorYes, it's back tomorrow night and they say it's going to be better, bigger and more profitable than ever. But what are the secrets of The X Factor 2010? Who really mentors Simon's acts? Has his ex, Sinitta, been banned from the series? Is Simon really in a black mood with Cheryl? And why is Kylie being asked to pay for her own plane ticket? ALISON BOSHOFF has all the answers...
Flogging a dead donkey?It's not quite a dead horse, but there are worries that viewers are starting to tire of the X Factor, even though last year it pulled in an average 13 million viewers a week, making it the most watched show on British TV.
To try to prevent viewer fatigue, some over-used audition songs - such as Sex On Fire by Kings of Leon and snow Patrol's Chasing Cars - have been banned.
Cliches such as people talking about their 'journey' and contestants wheeling out sob stories are supposedly out, too.
Choreographer Brian Friedman says: 'Some acts that got through last year, like Stacey Solomon and Jedward, would never have got to the boot camp stage this year.
It's all about raising the standards.' Ouch.
Weird mix: The new series of X Factor will showcase the weird and wonderfulJUDGES' GROUSESSimon Cowell says this is the year he wants everyone to concentrate on the acts and not on the relationships between the judges.
But everyone connected with the programme knows that nothing is better PR than a catfight between them. And hostilities have already begun...
LOUIS v SIMON
There is conflict over plastic surgery. Simon Cowell says: 'Louis seems to be getting vainer each series - he has just had his teeth done.'
In turn, Louis says Simon - a fan of Botox, with a dazzling LA smile - is overtweaked.
'I got my eyes done and I admitted it, unlike Simon. I don't think I will get any more work done yet. But Simon has booked in for his usual surgeries. I don't know what bits of him are real any more. I don't think he does, either.'
SIMON v CHERYL
Officially, Simon wants a speedy recovery for Cheryl and wishes her well.
However, he's said to have been baffled by her decision to recuperate from malaria in Los Angeles and to take a four-day mini-break in Africa with her dancer friend Derek hough, where she caught the tropical disease.
SIMON v THE GIRLS
Simon is apparently 'fed up' with Cheryl and Dannii spending hours focusing on their wardrobe rather than the music.
He also believes they are too scared to criticise the singers and need to take the booing from the audience in their stride.
Presenter Dermot O'Leary said: 'The music industry is unforgiving and he wants the panel to reflect that this year - even if that's brutal.'
A FIX? (PART ONE)Girlband Husstle caused a massive row at the London auditions when they told other contestants Simon Cowell had made a deal with their manager to say they would get through to the judges' houses round. Their manager is former 911 boyband member Spike Dawbarn, who runs a talent school with Carol Mounsey, 29, who is in the group.
The argument apparently got so nasty that the show's producers had to deny that anyone would be promised a place in the live finals.
Cowell seems supportive of the group, which is made up of Carol, Stacey Camps, 26, Jessica Kozi, 25, and Alannah Maggs, 18.
And to add to the conspiracy theories, he asked another contestant, singer Sam Grierson, a glamour model, to ditch her girlband Dice and team up with Husstle.
Give it a go: Gary from Manchester hopes he has got what it takes to progress in X FactorA FIX? (PART TWO)There are suggestions of favouritism around a boyband called F.Y.E - five lads who have worked as backing dancers on the show.
Choreographer Brian Friedman, who worked with them last year, has been accused of favouring them after he sent a supportive tweet.
Louis Walsh thinks that they could be 'as big as JLS', who launched a successful pop career off the back of The X Factor in 2008, despite not winning.
NOT YOU AGAIN
The word is that Sinitta - who appeared in the last series dressed only in palm leaves - will not have any involvement this year.
She has helped Simon Cowell with his acts in the past. But the former lovers have had an up-and-down year. She fell out with one of his other exes, Jackie St Clair, and there was also conflict over her talent website Attinis - yes, that's Sinitta spelt backwards - which Cowell felt was treading on The X Factor's toes.
SIMON'S MINI-ME
Presenter Dermot O'Leary seems to be trying to out-ego Simon Cowell. He is hoping to present X Factor America, but says: 'I'm not going to beg for it.'
He has appointed an ' uberstylist' named Tom Stubbs to improve his look, and given a frankly absurd magazine interview in which he suggests that his £1,700 suits are inspired by Mad Men (the U.S. TV series about the New York advertising world in the Sixties) and talks about his style inspirations.
His popularity with Cowell may well be due to the fact that, at 5ft 8.5in, he is half an inch shorter than him.
SIMON'S SECRET STAND-INEveryone knows how busy Cowell is with his media empire and commitments in America. It now emerges that he pays someone to mentor his acts secretly because he is too busy to do it himself.
Tim Byrne, a producer at Syco Music, started a company called T Force in 2004, dedicated to training acts during the show and looking after winners. The acts Simon mentors are said to deal chiefly with Byrne, and speak to Cowell only through him.
Former contestant Lucie Jones said: 'Simon has a man who helps him with the acts during the week, then it gets to Friday and he'll see his acts and often not really like it.'
CREDIT CRUNCHThe judges' houses section of the show will be filmed at the end of the month and all judges are allowed to pick someone to help them.
The production team has agreed to fly out eight finalists to Australia, where Dannii Minogue is on maternity leave after giving birth to her first child, Ethan.
However, the producers say that if she wants Kylie there too, she can pay for her ticket herself, or Dannii can find someone who is in Australia already.
Strut your stuff: Contestants will again be doing their utmost to impress the judges as this year's X Factor gets set to hit our screensWHO'S THAT NEXT TO LOUIS?
With Dannii pregnant and Cheryl Cole recovering from malaria, the auditions featured guest judges. Geri Halliwell guested in Glasgow, where she was booed. Natalie Imbruglia was at Birmingham - and was apparently incapable of rejecting anyone.
Katy Perry guested in Dublin and spent her time trying to annoy Cowell. Pixie Lott came to Cardiff and was apparently worn out by the experience.
Ready for action: Dermot O'Leary is popular with the fans of The X Factor - and Simon Cowell, whilst former Blue Peter presenter Konnie Huq will present spin-off show The Xtra FactorHELLO KONNIE!
Former Blue Peter presenter Konnie Huq will host spin-off show The Xtra Factor after Holly Willoughby decided that, with her This Morning duties, the commitment was too much. Huq is showing signs of spotlight-hogging - doing the splits in the crowd and so on. 'It's like being the new girl at school,' she says.
WATCH OUT FOR....
A mature singer named Wagner, who Louis Walsh thinks is brilliant, and another contestant who reminds him of Sinitta.
And there's the red-headed twins whom Cowell dislikes - shades of Jedward here - and says are like 'a pair of junior Russell Brands'.
There is also the usual procession of hopeless causes and exploited oddballs.
source: dailymail
