Emblem3 on Singing One Direction Style Pop “It Sucks…It Will Get Us Votes But It’s Not Us”

By On 12/05/2012 · 64 Comments · In X Factor

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OH NOES. The boys of Emblem3 are chafing under the tutelage of their X Factor mentor, Simon Cowell! They aren’t happy with the honcho and X Factor judge’s decision to take them in a pop direction a la his wildly successful X Factor UK boy band, One Direction.

The guys express their dismay in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter:

As the contestants prepare to bring their A-game to Wednesday’s performances, Emblem3 is finding themselves in need to a confidence boost. After weeks of requesting that mentor Simon Cowell allow them to play something original (or, at the very least, play instruments on stage), they find themselves performing the One Direction-style version of Bob Dylan’s “Forever Young.” (To listen, click here.)

“You can imagine why I’m a little skeptical about it,” Drew laments. “There’s already so many people comparing us to One Direction. This is just… it’s gonna cause so much shit.”

While there are certainly supporters (to wit: 8,841 “likes” on the clip at the time of publication), there are also 2,724 dislikes and comments including “omg, terrible” and “We don’t need another wannabe One Direction band, X Factor needs to seriously limit these boy bands.”

Says Drew, “We took a lot of heat for it. It wasn’t like, hate or anything, it was disappointment. It’s like, ‘Man, we really liked you guys. It sucks that you’re selling out.’ Compared to our first audition…”

Wesley interjects: “It’s literally like 98 percent of people loved our first audition and on this one, it’s like 70-30. That’s a huge difference of likes and dislikes.” Adds Keaton, “It’s progressively getting more and more hate.”

Ruh rho! Who is going to win this battle, Simon or the boys? Hm. Emblem3 has already been warned by a regretful Vino Alan to fight for their song choices,. “He looked at us and said, ‘This is the perfect example of why you should be able to choose your songs,’” recalled Wesley Stromberg to the Hollywood Reporter.

Unfortunately, the boys are a wee bit intimidated by the all-powerful Simon:

Asked if they’d brought the new numbers to Cowell’s attention, Drew says, “You can’t say shit. How do you say that to Simon? He’s like, the most powerful freaking man ever. He’s like a trillionaire.”

Keaton says, “It sucks because it will probably get votes, but it’s not us.”

Adds Drew, “It’s so far away from our style… We’re the opposite of One Direction. It makes me feel like I’m selling myself. I’m not being real.”

But the boys try to look on the brightside:

But if there’s a voice of reason, it’s Wesley, who reminds his band mates that, “We’re in a competition now.”

“There’s two different sides, the real world side and the TV competition,” he says. “On the competition, certain things work and get you more votes. They don’t necessarily work in the real world to get you more fans and followers as a career, so you’ve gotta find a perfect balance inbetween. This is temporary… you don’t have to trip that hard at all.”

OMG. Rude awakening ahead!

He adds: “If we win, that’s sick. Then we’ll get to do our own thing.”

*DIES LAUGHING* *MAKES MORE POPCORN*

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  • http://twitter.com/desireechick Kesia Monteith

    Well, to be fair, as tired as I am about the complaining myself, Beatrice and Lyric 145 had cussed and fussed to their mentors about song choices, but TPTB just wouldn’t budge by even a little bit. At least Jimmy I. seems to give the Idol contestants some leeway. On X-factor, it’s Simon’s way or the bottom 2/3 for you.

  • elliegrll

    Idol contestants go through a lot of coaching about the correct way to act in front of the cameras.  I think it was a few contestants from season nine or ten, who revealed that producers stayed on them about being humble, and told them that Daughtry was eliminated because he wore sunglasses during one performance, which supposedly upset some viewers.  

    It was clear from the first live episodes that a lot of this year’s X Factor contestants let the machinations of the show get to them.  I’ve always thought that all of the coaching that goes on behind the scenes of AI has prepared the contestants for the fact that AI is just a show, and the main focus will always be on ratings, and not putting the contestants in the best position to achieve their goals.  I think that most contestants understand that, which is why we don’t often hear a lot of whining when songs are changed at the last minute, or even in the early days, when Simon would yell at someone for having their pick of 1000′s of songs and picking a bad one, even though both he and the contestants knew that that wasn’t true.

  • mjsbigblog

    Yes, insulting the majority of your fan base by calling them unworthy and silly is pretty naive or stupid. Get these lads media training stat. lol.  

    Let’s hope lots of men–who understand music, unlike us silly women who only vote for an act because they’re cute–vote them into the finals.I have no idea what these kids are like in real life, and will never know, so I don’t really care.  But the reality is, if they expect viewers to vote for them, not slagging them off to the press might be priority number 1 at this point. lol

  • http://twitter.com/eilonwya10 Eilonwy

    Yes, insulting the majority of your fan base by calling them unworthy and silly is pretty naive or stupid. Get these lads media training stat.

    That, right there, may be your key evidence that E3 aren’t bright enough to execute a good conspiracy theory with Cowell after all.

    *sigh* Being manipulated in the OMG!authenticity narrative would have been more fun than watching a trainwreck unfold simply because Cowell believes he’s always right and E3 lack basic tact.

  • http://twitter.com/MissGolightly22 No Thanks

     ”Let’s hope lots of men–who understand music, unlike us silly women who
    only vote for an act because they’re cute–vote them into the finals.”

    Let’s be real, being a “cutey” is one of the main reasons a lot of the male acts get through week by week (ESPECIALLY on Idol).  Not the ONLY reason, mind you, but one of the reasons some fans vote hundreds of times a week.  The next reason is likability/relatability  A distant 3rd is respect for their talent.

    Because, quite frankly, MOST people who take their music seriously (aka “music snobs”) don’t take these talent competitions seriously.

    That’s just the nature of the beast.

  • http://twitter.com/desireechick Kesia Monteith

    “Yes, insulting the majority of your fan base by calling them unworthy and silly is pretty naive or stupid. Get these lads media training stat.”

    Where did they say that?

  • Axxxel

    Emblem 3′s comments about the girls only voting for them because they think they are cute… I think Emblem3 could have said something like… It is flattering, I don’t really see myself as being cute or handsome… I hope that besides the looks, the girls will love our music as well…

  • Axxxel

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxqN2xU3Ekg&feature=youtu.be

    And there is some”Emblem 3 bashing” about this video going on in another MJ thread:  http://www.mjsbigblog.com/idol-headlines-for-12512-the-evening-edition.htm

  • mjsbigblog

    Because, quite frankly, MOST people who take their music seriously (aka “music snobs”) don’t take these talent competitions seriously.

    I could namecheck a slew of respected music writers who watch and respect the talent that comes off American Idol.
    Personally, I don’t vote for contestants based on their looks or personality, and I’m pretty sure I’m not alone on that.

    But the bottom line for me is that I really despise the anti-woman stereotyping, even if there is an element of truth to it. Emblem3 WILL be eliminated without those annoying girls they so carelessly slagged off, so they might want to keep a lid on it.

     Also their comments weren’t just about singing competitions, but music in general.  I’m a woman, and I take my musical fandom seriously. Their remarks were naive and childish. 

    But then again, they are just kids. Hopefully they will mature in a few years.

  • http://profile.yahoo.com/PVEFG2TOUIXSROKUSO2O2DOWWE Taylor

    Yes, insulting the majority of your fan base by calling them unworthy and silly is pretty naive or stupid. Get these lads media training stat. lol. 

    I can’t find this quote in the transcript above. Where did they say this?  

  • Axxxel

    it is not in the transcript but in the video which is featured in the same article which is the source of the transcript… I am not really following the whole story, but after I saw the video, I was surprised…

    I mean, maybe some member(s) of Emblem 3 feel a bit awkward with that sort of fan attention, but why should they comment about it in such an unpleasant way… I mean, why so unpleasant to one of the sort of fan attention that will generate votes for them and keep them in the competition …

  • justmefornow

    I think the big “F YOU” was much more than actually saying just “NO” to Jimmy on song choices.

    That week Jimmy and Will i am were kinda of making fun of Casey and his song choice which along with Casey’s health problems, caused him to have a break down. James went back in and basically called them both bullies and called them out on their douche bag behavior. (I guess all the bullying James got as a kid hit a nerve there.)

    This incident was only revealed later in an interview with James and confirmed in another interview with Casey when Casey was asked who his hero was and he said James Durbin.

  • Incipit

    justmefornow, I didn’t see this incident on AI, and it wasn’t referenced in the original post (or I would have researched it) – which only talked about “3 Idol S10 contestants” with no particulars, but my point remains the same.

    Maybe more so – since it sounds like James was acting like the adult Professional there – and the two mentors were the childish ones – so I still wouldn’t reduce his reaction or actions to a Juvenile “Eff You”, when it was so much more layered, Adult, even principled, than that.

    Meanwhile, the childish, bullying, brattish behavior continues to be a factor on the XFactor – and not from the majority of their contestants either. IMO.

  • http://profile.yahoo.com/XY62PETGTXO3FFQXX45UKQ2O7M Steph

    Simon is really out of his mind if he thinks that he can turn E3 into the next 1D.

    1D can sing, are likeable, are oozing with charisma and look like male
    models. They are pure vibe plus they have Harry Styles and Zayn f*cking
    Malik.

    E3 may have more musicality but who cares? Takes more than that to be successful. They just don’t have 1D’s spark.

    They also don’t have Larry Stylinson. ;-)

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