Most of the people they let through to the TV judges on those shows are awful, and they know it, and it is the reason they get in.

Someone I knew at Uni last year said he went in for one of those shows, and he said they where choosing ones in the preliminary rounds who where truly awful over ones who weren't too bad, just for the sake of the TV show.

I know by the end they get a few people who are usually pretty good, but they go on about them having to look right and have "the x factor" and all that crap, all they have to be able to do is sing well. They don't need to look good or have a celebrity attitude or whatever, they just need to be able to sing....or that's how it should be.

I'd rather have pop stars be ugly and boring if it meant they could sing and write music or whatever, rather than a load of people who look good but can't even sing live or write their own music.