According to The Sun sources, look for some major X Factor UK format changes. Apparently, the Saturday shows are boring without eliminations and/or superstar guest artists.
The live weekend shows will be cut from ten to six with acts voted off on both Saturdays and Sundays meaning “tedious” performance-only Saturday episodes, which got low ratings, will be axed.
Star guest artists will perform on both days and auditions will be held at Thorpe Park in the hope that fun theme park footage will win viewers.
He will discourage novelty acts like Honey G, who came fifth last year as audience figures hit an all-time low and the show was trounced by rival Strictly Come Dancing.
An X Factor source said: “Ratings plummeted and Simon knew a drastic revamp was needed.
“The Saturday night show became so tedious as there was rarely any drama which an eviction would bring.
“ITV believes transforming it is the right decision. It means all singers will perform on both Saturday and Sunday evenings, with acts being eliminated both nights.
“They are doing the Thorpe Park auditions early on too, because producers think the unconventional location will create some funny footage.”
Parts of Bootcamp will now be filmed in front of a studio audience.
Saturday and Sunday live shows will feature both performances and eliminations. Hm. That means no more overnight voting? It’ll be on the spot voting windows with immediate results. Actually, ITV’s other singing show, The Voice, featured all same day voting–windows only lasted through a commercial break in most cases. Only the final/finale had performances and results on separate episodes.
Also, taping the live shows at a theme park in order to create “funny footage”? Eep.
Additionally, Simon Cowell missed the recent London auditions due to a “mystery illness.” According to the Sun, Simon was left “bed-bound” after being “struck down with the unknown condition.” The other three judges–Sharon Osbourne, Nicole Scherzinger and Louis Walsh “carried on” without him.
However, the mogul “did manage to muster the strength to attend later on in first day.” So, it appears that Simon only missed morning auditions. He’s the third judge to miss auditions. Nicole missed a day due to a previous scheduled engagement, and Sharon was out a day due to back problems.
