Killing X Factor

No sooner had my naive brain been atuned to the discreet details of trend forecasting and what it held for the music industry, that I heard about this brilliant gambit to get Rage Against The Machine to Christmas number 1. It would be wrong to pretend I was some kind of free-spirited anti commercialism hippie freak, but I am sick to death of Cowell and his army of ill talented one hit wonder machines. I remember watching these kind of talent contests when wee Cheryl was still wielding a hairbrush as a microphone, and the whole thing seemed fun and innocent. But those were the days when I thought a pineapple hair-do was half alright and body glitter was a must for every Christmas party. As of the last decade, the Christmas charts have been saturated by talent contest winners; the likes of Girls Aloud, Shayne Ward, Leon Jackson, Alexandra Burke and Leona Lewis (and this is to name a few) have contaminated the number one top spot, interjected only by a heart warming charity jingle courtesy of Band Aid, and a lovely number from Bob The Builder. This just doesn't sit well with me. Word on the grapevine is that a Cowell backlash has been brewing for some time, and if RATM manages to get number one this year, I think a new dawn in music may be upon us. The X Factor devotees would hate it, but doesn't that make it all the more satisfying? Yes, the finalists are alright, no, I don't have any major qualms with them, and no, I'm not pretending that I hate all modern pop music. But RATM has guts and purpose; what purpose do any of the X Factor finalists have other than to make Cowell's wallet grow fatter and his trousers higher? This year, please please please, from the 13th of December, NOT BEFORE,, buy Killing In The Name in your thousands, and scream along with the rest of us 'Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me!' in the general direction of all things X Factor.