X Factor

Top bookie Paddy Power has eased the suffering of beleaguered Frankie Cocozza backers by refunding losing outright bets placed on the 18-year old hell-raiser after he was spectacularly booted off the show earlier today.

In excess of £10,000 has been handed back to over 1,200 Paddy Power customers who, somewhat optimistically, bet on wild child Frankie winning this year’s X- Factor.

Paddy Power said “Frankie punters didn’t get much of a run for their money so we’re only too happy to have a decent excuse to give their money back.”

Liverpudlian hairdresser Marcus Collins remain the bookies 9/4 favourite ahead of silky-voiced Janet Devlin at 3/1 and Craig Colton at 7/2.

2011 X-Factor (latest)
9/4     Marcus Collins
3/1 Janet Devlin
7/2     Craig Colton
5/1     Misha B
6/1     Little Mix
25/1   Kitty Brucknell

X Factor betting was thrown wide open tonight after series favourites The Risk were eliminated.

Paddy Power now making Marcus Collins their new 5/2 favourite to win.

Irish singer Janet Devlin has slipped out to 7/2 after a shocker of a week which saw the Tyrone singer forget her words.

Meanwhile tom-cat Frankie has managed to survive for yet another week. The ladies man appears to be slightly more popular than was once thought and has been now cut to a more cautious 66/1 to win!

Sharon McHugh, spokesperson for Paddy Power said: “What a shocker of a week. We weren’t expecting The Risk to go at all and it just shows how unpredictable this years show is! Anybody could go next and anyone could win. It’s wide open!” (more…)

X Factor bad boy Frankie Cocozza is the red hot favourite to be in the bottom two this Sunday night. The 18 year-old hell raiser who has the names of seven girls tattooed on his rear end looks to be in hot water with Paddy Power making him their 4/6 favourite to be in the bottom two and their 11/10 favourite to be the next act eliminated!

Sharon McHugh, spokesperson for Paddy Power said: “Frankie is coming across much like his tattoo on this year’s X Factor – in your face and tasteless, and it’s only a matter of time before he gets booted off the show!”

Meanwhile Janet Devlin and The Risk are now at logger heads to win the show outright at odds of 9/4. (more…)

Singing siblings Jedward are the hot favourites to represent Ireland at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest. Paddy Power now make the mischievous twins odds-on at 8/15 to fly the Irish flag in Düsseldorf this May after being backed in from an opening 5/6.

The act that will represent Ireland at the 56th Eurovision Song Contest will be chosen by the public on Friday 11th February. Backing vocalist and wedding singer Nikki Kavanagh is the 3/1 second favourite ahead of singer-songwriter Don Mescall at 6/1 and previous ‘Song for Ireland’ finalists, The Vard Sisters, at 9/1.

But even though the Lucan lads are hotly tipped to sing for Ireland, bookies Paddy Power aren’t holding out too much hope on Ireland winning the contest. It’s 33/1 that Ireland pull off their eighth Eurovision Song Contest win. In fact, it’s a far more likely 8/11 that Ireland won’t even qualify for the final on May 14th!

Sharon McHugh, spokesperson for Paddy Power said “Jedward are miles ahead of the competition and rightly so! If ballad queen Niamh Kavanagh couldn’t pull it off last year there’s no way her backing vocalist will! Punters are on the Jedward wagon all the way and despite the fact the odds look stacked against (Ireland) winning they’re hoping the crazy pair will do the business come May!”

Meanwhile, the UK have chosen boy band Blue to represent them at this year’s Song Contest. The UK, who are one of the top five nations to automatically qualify for the final, are 16/1 to win and 2/5 to finish ahead of Ireland on the leader board. (more…)

Lucan’s singing siblings Jedward are tipped to represent Ireland at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest with Paddy Power installing the mischievous twins at 5/6 to fly the Irish flag in Düsseldorf this May.

Stunning Irish Sky Sports TV presenter Nikki Kavanagh is the 9/4 second favourite ahead of singer-songwriter Don Mescall at 4/1 and previous ‘Song for Ireland’ finalists, The Vard Sisters, at 7/1.

Paddy Power are tipping Ireland to make it through to this years Eurovision qualifiers with odds of 5/6 for the Irish entry to compete in the Final on May 14th. However, the bookies are not holding out too much hope for an Irish win in Düsseldorf with long odds of 33/1 currently available on Ireland winning this years contest.

Ken Robertson from Paddy Power said “On paper Jedward tick a lot of Eurovision boxes and should they win the Irish nomination will definitely give Europe a performance to remember in Düsseldorf on final night” (more…)

The race to the top of the Christmas charts is well and truly underway after Matt Cardle was crowned this year’s X Factor winner on Sunday night.

Matt’s chances look very good indeed with Paddy Power slashing the odds on the former painter and decorator securing the Number 1 spot with his cover of Biffy Clyro’s Many Of Horror (When We Collide) to just 1/3 from 4/7.

Sharon McHugh, spokesperson for Paddy Power said: “As soon as Matt was crowned the winner on Sunday night we saw a massive rush of betting for the Christmas Number 1. His version of Many Of Horror now looks a given to top the charts this Christmas!”

But Matt’s winning performance wasn’t the only thing which set tongue’s wagging on Sunday night. One Direction’s Harry caused quite a stir after he supposedly whispered a rude comment in Matt’s ear. The cheeky teenager apparently mouthed the words “just think how much p***y you’re going to get” after Matt was crowned champ.

Cheeky it may have been but Paddy Power reckon there is a lot of truth to what the sixteen-year-old said and are already betting Matt will pull a cracker this Christmas. Hollyoaks hottie Jennifer Metcalfe is the 5/1 favourite to bag herself a bit of Matt! (more…)

Liverpool lovely Rebecca Ferguson has overtaken Simon Cowell’s One Direction as the second favourite to win this year’s X Factor. Support for the soul singer has taken such a leap that bookmakers Paddy Power have slashed her odds to 5/2 from 4/1.

Matt remains the 4/5 odds-on favourite to win outright but Saturday’s final is now looking closer than ever!

Sharon McHugh, spokesperson for Paddy Power said: “Matt is by no means a dead cert to win this year’s X Factor. There’s been a big last minute rush for Rebecca and she now looks like a real threat to Dannii’s golden boy!” (more…)

She might have checked out from this year’s X Factor competition but Mary Byrne is being tipped to cash in on her success to the tune of €2million according to bookmaker Paddy Power.

The Ballyfermot mum of one is being tipped at Even money to rake in between €1million and €2million by the end of next year. It’s not quite the equivalent of last year’s double act Jedward but one thing that is for sure, Mary will never be back on her till in Tesco again!

However, the Shirley Bassey fan is being tipped to stay loyal to her former employer who supported her campaign throughout the entire series. It’s just 9/4 that Tesco will get an exclusive distribution deal for Mary’s first single/album and odds-on that she stars in a TV commercial for the supermarket chain!

More importantly though, the odds on Mary topping the charts look very positive indeed with Paddy Power quoting just 4/5 that Mary will hit the Number 1 spot in Ireland and 6/4 that she’ll get to Number 1 in the UK. There’s even 6/1 odds available that she’ll eventually duet with Dame Shirley Bassey and 16/1 she’ll follow in Jedward’s footsteps and land her own TV show.

Sharon McHugh, spokesperson for Paddy Power said: “It might be the end of the road for Mary on this year’s X Factor but we’ve definitely not heard the last of her. The future looks very bright indeed for the Ballyfermot local. She might have checked out but she’ll be cashing in for a long time to come!”

Matt Cardle remains Paddy Power’s 5/6 odds-on favourite to win outright while baby-faced boy band One Direction are the 9/4 second favourites. (more…)

With just two shows left and just five contestants left it’s the beginning of the end for this year’s X Factor.

Of the five semi-finalists remaining Essex crooner Matt Cardle is the red-hot 8/11 odds-on favourite to sing his way to victory, followed by Simon Cowell’s remaining act One Direction at 3/1.

Scouse babe Rebecca, who was likened to the Queen of soul Aretha Franklin by nearly all of the judges last Saturday night, is 4/1, followed by seventeen year-old Cher Lloyd at 14/1. The game looks completely up for Dubliner Mary Byrne with Paddy Power now making her their 40/1 rank outsider to win and their 4/5 favourite to be the next act eliminated!

Sharon McHugh, spokesperson for Paddy Power said: “If the betting is anything to go by Matt Cardle looks to have it in the bag but previous years have proved that everything could change in the final couple of weeks. One Direction’s popularity shouldn’t be underestimated. It’s still all to sing for!”

According to insiders, one act will be sent home on Saturday night followed by another act on Sunday leaving the three remaining acts to go forward and battle it out in next weeks final show.

Meanwhile former X Factor contestant Stacey Solomon is the red-hot 1/12 favourite to be crowned Queen of the Jungle. (more…)

The line up for Saturday’s semi final will now see Matt Cardle, One Direction, Rebecca Ferguson, Cher Lloyd and Mary Byrne battle it out to secure their places in the grand final. I think to the audience, Matt, Rebecca and One Direction being in the final is a forgone conclusion, except to me. The voting this year has been very unpredictable and with Wagner making it to week eight of the competition while former favourite Aidan had gone home in week six. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a couple more surprises and upsets before the winner of The X Factor 2010 is announced.

ITV have yet to confirm the format of this year’s final and whether there will be one or two performers getting the boot this Saturday. Before getting into the realms of who I think might make it to the big final this year, here are my thoughts on each of them.

Matt Cardle

Matt has always been mine (and a lot of other females I’m sure) favourite to win the show this year. Not being biased and putting aside the fact that he is reasonably good looking and hence able to win over the female votes, Matt has consistently delivered original and powerful vocal performances throughout his time on the show. In my opinion he has been one of the strongest candidates from the early stages of the show and being an ex handy man helps make him a representative of the average working class person wanting to make it big, something he’ll have in common with many of the voting audience I’m sure.

One Direction

One Direction is probably the weakest singers amongst all the semi-finalists with their last vocal performance probably the poorest of the live shows so far. What has gotten them so far in this competition is probably an enormous backing of female groupies and possibly middle aged mummies too. Obviously, young, female voters I imagine make up a large percentage of X Factor viewers, and with Paige and Aidan sent home the group and Matt probably got the support of the remainder of the female voters between them.

Rebecca Ferguson

One of the strongest singers left in the competition and as the judges often repeatedly say – a class act. Her soulful voice and mannerisms really does bring lots of class to any stage that she sings on and vocally she is faultless. My only problem with Rebecca is that she lacks personality and confidence. She comes on stage, delivers a magnificent performance but would then hunch her shoulders and hide away again, I am not sure that she is likeable to all audiences.

Cher Lloyd

I think Cher’s popularity could be described in line with her price to win the whole competition. Starting somewhere in the realms of being a possible favourite she is now 14/1 to win the show. At first Cher was seen as unique, inspiring and confident but obviously her style and likeability has proven to have no longevity as she found herself in the bottom two last week. It’s not over for her yet though as she has produced some very powerful performances so far and had proven that she can both sing and rap. She is very contemporary and should have no problems getting the younger audience voting for her providing she sings the right songs.

Mary Byrne

Although constantly getting comments from the judges of being cabaret, boring and unchanging in the style of her songs, Mary in my opinion is fully deserving of her place in the Semi-finals. Mary is a strong and confident performer and very likeable. I think she has the support of all the other mummies at home trying to both work and be a good mother providing for the kids. Winning this show would mean providing for her family and I think a lot of the audience will identify with that. Mary can play the sob story card better than any of her competitors I think.

The semi finals -

I think the only person who has a definite seat is in the final is Matt, being both a strong singer and able to secure female votes. Rebecca and One Direction being priced at 10/1 and 14/1 to be the 12^th eliminated might actually prove to be a profitable bet for someone.

As mentioned before the voting has been quite unpredictable this year and we could well see the people who were behind Wagner suddenly vote for Mary. As Simon pointed out in Sunday’s show, some people are out there to de-rail the show with their votes and this certainly has been happening throughout the show so far. Fans of Cher seeing her in the bottom 2 a couple of weeks ago might suddenly vote more than they otherwise would have to keep her safe while fans of One Direction or Rebecca might not bother to vote as they are assumed safe.

With Mary and Cher the only contestants to have been in the bottom 3 and even then only the one time, it is very hard at this stage to predict how the voting will go this week and who has more of a public backing.

My prediction sees Matt and One Direction being in the final. I would not be surprised at all to see Mary or Cher join them. With Rebecca, I am just not convinced that she has the personality to pull in the votes needed.