The surest sign of the onset of autumn is a new X Factor scandal for us all to get hot under the collar about. Yet, in keeping with Simon Cowell's insatiable urge to improve the show each year, this time the internet was in uproar before the summer months had even expired.
The cries on Twitter of "Auto-Tune!" drowned out even Shirlena Johnson's unfathomable reimagining of Duffy's Mercy. The accusation was that certain contestants – notably Gamu Nhengu, who performed Walking On Sunshine – were given a helping hand by Auto-Tune technology, which enhanced the quality of their performances. Luke Lewis has already criticised the use of Auto-Tune over on the TV blog. And this being silly season, a number of MPs have even waded into the row, apparently in need of causes to get angry about.
But does it really matter? The idea that The X Factor manipulates contestants is hardly front-page news. Anything from emotional manipulation through editing (although the sob stories appear to have been dropped) to giving out-of-favour contestants duff production in the live shows can manipulate the outcome to the producers' ends.
In the 2008 final, favoured winner Alexandra Burke was paired up with Beyoncé while Eoghan Quigg got Boyzone; last year Joe McElderry sang with George Michael, leaving Stacey Solomon to warble along with Michael Bublé. Cowell only stopped short of making last year's winners' song his original choice of Don't Stop Believin' – a track McElderry had already performed. "Primetime ITV talent show isn't always exactly honest about everything it does" isn't exactly the sort of scoop that's going to win anybody a Pulitzer prize.
If anything, the whole fiasco shows just how far The X Factor has come. Back in the bad old days of Steve Brookstein, I doubt anyone would have batted an eyelid. It was simply a tacky talent show and a platform for Sharon Osbourne. But post Leona, JLS and Alexandra, it's proved itself as simply the way pop music is conventionally A&Red now. The show is no better or worse – no more or less corrupt – than the casting couches of yore. The fact that the artistic integrity of The X Factor is now considered a legitimate topic for MPs to debate – now that really is news.
