what's the x that made the x factor uk awesome?

I have a confession to make: I found a new guilty pleasure in the ninth season of The X Factor UK. There have been so many TV Talent Show, that at some point, we (read: me) got really sick of it. I cannot even name American Idol winners after Kris Allen. Wait, Kris Allen did win, didn't he? HAHA.

The video I shared above is about one of the contestants, Ella Henderson. She's only 16 and it's the later stage of the competition. She performs Cher's club anthem, Believe completely in a different way. I love how everyone changed their mind from implicitly disbelief of her song choice to be in awe of her performance.

I agree with Gary Barlow that all this time, we never really take this song seriously, until now. I believe Gary Barlow's comment how all the sudden the lyrics meant something is kind of true and it's really nice to see Nicole Scherzinger breaks down in tears.

Also in my wildest imagination, I picture Cher bitch-slaps Gary Barlow for calling her song annoying. 

Here are the x factors why I like the X Factor UK, well, at least for now:
  1. Like many talent shows on TV, The X Factor UK has given a starter point for many of today's well-known artists. Leona Lewis was the winner in the third season, One Direction was one of the finalists in 2012 (Oh, I bet you're humming What Makes You Beautiful right now)
  2. I am always questioning how real a reality show is. The X Factor US, for me is obviously staged. Yes, there are moments that I enjoyed, but The X Factor UK is definitely more raw. Ella Henderson's performance is just one of the memorable performances.
  3. The contestants, especially for this year. In my opinion, Ella Henderson is just one of this year's best contestants. I love Kye Sones - whom sang Bonnie Raitt's I Can't Make You Love Me in one of the episodes and my heart was breaking. The other contestant worth mentioned is Lucy Spraggan, who is so amazing that they actually released her original song before the contest ends
Also very unfortunate that we still cannot watch The X Factor UK on TV, but the good thing is we always have youtube.