The seventh series of
The X Factor sparked several heated controversies, with over 5,000 complaints registered with
Ofcom throughout the series. A spokesperson told the
Daily Mirror newspaper that ITV bosses were worried about the number of complaints as claims that the show had become "seedy and oversexed" and accusations of fixing would tarnish the image of the show and ITV. The decision to form two groups, Belle Amie and One Direction, from soloists at the end of the bootcamp stage was branded unfair by some of the other groups, as neither had entered the competition as groups. The controversy deepened after Cowell put through both Belle Amie and One Direction and picked just one of the original applicants. More controversy erupted after the
News of the World reported that after failing to qualify in 2009, Treyc Cohen signed a management deal with Artimis Music Management Ltd that landed her a recording contract in October that year with
Birmingham-based Ajoupa Records and she released a single entitled "A Time to Be Heard". The rules of
The X Factor strictly forbid record deals while a contestant is on the show. According to the newspaper,
The X Factor was attempting to release Cohen from her management deal and remove the single from sale.
Judges' actions Controversy was caused when Cole chose not to send popular contestant Gamu Nhengu through to the live shows. Nhengu was an early favourite to win and many viewers were upset that Katie Waissel and Cher Lloyd were put through despite stumbling through their performances at judges' houses. Around 1,000 people complained to ITV and by 7 October 220,000 had joined a Facebook page called "Gamu Should Have Got Through". Cole reportedly became the target of death threats, and took extra security precautions in her home as well as at
The X Factor. Bookmaker
Paddy Power were forced to give odds on Nhengu winning the show after a large number of bets were placed, and made her the favourite to win, but all punters had their losing bets refunded when Nhengu was not chosen as Cole's wildcard. There was speculation that Cole was pressured by producers to eliminate Nhengu over issues with her visa, but Cole denied those claims, saying it was entirely down to her "gut instinct" and that she believed Lloyd, Waissel and Rebecca Ferguson were the best singers in her category. In 2014, during the special
The X Factor: Cheryl Looks Back, Cole revealed that during her deliberations during judges' houses, she called Cowell, who strongly urged her not to put Lloyd through to the live shows, though stated that she refused to give up on Lloyd in the end. Hundreds of viewers complained when, in week 5 of the live shows, Cole abstained from voting against either of her acts who she mentored in the bottom two (Cohen and Waissel) and was not allowed to vote last to send the result to deadlock. When the time came for the judges to determine the result, Cowell was asked to vote first and voted against Cohen. However, O'Leary then asked Cole to vote second rather than last which traditionally occurs when a judge has two of their own acts in the sing-off. Cole stated that she wanted to abstain from voting. When O'Leary asked her to clarify what she meant, Cole responded that she was abstaining at that moment but wanted O'Leary to ask Minogue and Walsh to cast their votes then ask Cole again where she would vote last and send the result to deadlock which is how a judge with two acts they mentor in the sing-off would vote when voting last. Due to Cole abstaining from voting against Cohen or Waissel when she was asked second, she was not allowed to send the result to deadlock. A spokesperson for
The X Factor explained: "A judge can abstain from placing a vote. Cheryl made it clear that she would not send anyone home and therefore abstained from voting. Dermot went back to her to clarify that it was going to go to a majority vote if she did that. Cheryl was unable to take the vote to deadlock as deadlock requires a valid active vote." After the series ended, voting statistics showed that Cohen received more votes than Waissel, meaning if Cole was allowed to send the result to deadlock, Cohen would have been saved.
Accusations of fixing After O'Leary's revelation that producers had rehearsed what would happen if Cole abstained in week 5, allegations were made that the result was rigged to save Waissel, on the producers' assumption that her outlandish performances and growing unpopularity with the public resulted in better ratings and sensational press reports and article releases for the show. One of the assumptions that viewers believed was part of the presumed rigging was to not have Cole vote last and stop the result from going to deadlock. Cowell denied this claim, saying he would never want to defraud viewers and said the situation had "been blown out of proportion". O'Leary defended himself and the show on Twitter, saying "We never know which way the judges are going to vote. Ever. The only thing I know is who's in the bottom two when I'm given the card. I don't know which judge to go to until I'm called and the judges, including [Cowell], don't know the vote or who we're coming to next. It's that simple."
Heat printed an apology in their 1 January 2011 issue and accepted that Cowell was unaware of the public votes cast until after the final. There were accusations from viewers of fixing during the semi-final when O'Leary announced that only the public's votes would decide which acts would advance to the final, but the next day in the semi-final result show, this was changed and there was a final showdown. The show's official website also stated that the result would be decided by the public vote, and Walsh confirmed that on a radio show earlier in the week. It was the first time in the show's history that the judges were given a vote in a semi-final. Cowell (incorrectly) said that "There has always been a sing-off when there are five people left in the competition. This is a lot of nonsense about nothing." However, semi-finalist, Mary Byrne said she believed the result would be solely down to the public until the day of the semi-final performances in which the next day, she ended up in the final showdown with Cher Lloyd. She claimed that Cowell really wanted Lloyd in the final because of Cowell constantly praising Lloyd's performances, Lloyd as an artist, and Lloyd having a high likability from Cowell throughout the live shows and Byrne to be voted out because she believed that Cowell thought that Byrne's primary genre of music of
easy listening as an artist, was too different among the other semi-finalists and old-fashioned compared to the more modern mainstream music. and forty-five viewers complained to
Ofcom. Series producers claimed
post-production work was necessary on the show because of the number of microphones used during filming: "The judges make their decisions at the auditions stage based on what they hear on the day, live in the arena. The footage and sound is then edited and dubbed into a finished programme, to deliver the most entertaining experience possible for viewers. When it gets to the live shows, it will be all live." In October 2010, Ofcom ruled that viewers had not been "materially misled" as pitch correction was only used during auditions and not when viewers were paying to vote for the contestants. Ofcom also received over 2,868 complaints from viewers about "raunchy" dance routines from
Rihanna and
Christina Aguilera during the final. Although an ITV spokesperson denied the routines were inappropriate, Cowell was warned by ITV to "cut the sleaze". In April 2011, Ofcom ruled that there had been no breach of guidelines over the performances, and highlighted that "approximately 2,000" of the complaints were received after the routines were covered by the
Daily Mail, and said the newspaper's report featured a number of stills that were "significantly more graphic and close-up" than material broadcast, and that were "taken from a different angle to the television cameras". Before the final,
Digital Spy's reality television editor Alex Fletcher listed his five favourite moments from the series. His favourite moment was Nhengu's elimination, on which he said "No other show can make people so passionate, angry and feel like they really know the programme's stars. With only approximately 30 minutes of screentime, Gamu had managed to capture the hearts of millions. Whatever you think of Simon Cowell's programmes, you have to give them credit for achieving that." The series won in the Most Popular Talent Show category at the
16th National Television Awards in 2011, beating
series 4 of ''
Britain's Got Talent, series 6 of Dancing on Ice and series 8 of Strictly Come Dancing''. It was also nominated in the TV Reality Programme category at the 2011
TRIC awards, the Entertainment Programme category at the
2011 British Academy Television Awards, and the Best Talent Show category at the 2011
TV Choice Awards. ==References==