I thought it was bad asking folks to vote by the country they live in - Wales has a smaller population so what does that say about who they wanted to win.  There is too much emphasis put on this sort of thing and it breeds bad feeling - I should know I go to enough football matches - there was a lot of anti-Welsh feeling on the web when the Sports personality vote was going on - and the right person won there even so - he should have won last year.  Rhydian was by far the most talented but as Shaynlola said he didn't need to win - Leon did - he is not going to make it any other way.  In a years time he will probabally have faded into club or cruise ship singing, there are lots of singers like that out there.  And Kathryn Jenkins is brilliant - I've seen her live a couple of times - and that is not my sort of music at all.

Finally more than 24 hours later able to download the track. Not normally much of a groupy :-)  think it is really suberb.  I love that type of voice though. I hate unclear vocals.

I think this lad is going to prove any doubters wrong, I feel it in my water :-D

I think what you all forget ( or maybe not) :-) is that it is live,  every live act like Westlife, Celine dion, Michael Buble , Kylie and all the others that graced the stage :-D I thought, Rhydian and Leon could BOTH sing far better than them all Live so recorded both will be excellent.

90% of the singers today wouldn't get passed first base in the X-factor :-) 

EDITED to add I still can't down load the song so someone likes him ;-)

I think many will beg to differ over the final winner, but probably all be thankful it wasnt the dreadful Same Difference. They gave me the creeps - I found them sickly, smarmy and very very strange. Oh yes and neither of them could sing (she couldnt even seem to walk and had to skip all the time).

she couldnt even seem to walk and had to skip all the time :-D :-D :-D  She is very childlike I have to admit, nice kids though, but they were vey Brady Bunch.

Oooh no! Louis kept saying they would be great for childrens parties...no thank you.

Living in Portsmouth maybe a career in cruise ship entertaining.

X factor seemed quite short on proper talent this year to me, Leon the winner? not my cup of tea, he sang off key too often. Nikki had a decent voice but I think people didn't like her cocky attitude, same as Beverly, she said her only competition was Rhydian!!!the  next week she was out. Don't be fooled by Nikki and her sob story "my dad died and we found an application form blahblah"  she made it sound like she was "just a dinner lady" and knew nothing about singing in public, yet she does not appear to be new at this singing lark... as can be seen here...   http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=WlZoRk8c4xI               recognise her?  yep Nikki!. They were so short on groups thet actually had to manufacture a boy and a girl group from the contestants that had already been told "sorry no". I used to quite enjoy X factor. Leona was a worthy winner last year but she had already cut a couple of records before she applied for X factor.The whole thing is turning into a fiasco  I abhorred Same Difference so much I can't even comment on them lol "The Butlins Twins" he he perfect name!

Leon was on GMTV this morning.  He was making the excuse that he'd been up ever since, but I'm sorry, he was out of tune yet again and awfully so!

Maybe to win the x-factor these days your name has to start with Leon????

Yes, me and a friend were on digital spy website in the x factor forums, and it was so hot with people posting, we couldnt keep up with the pages, I think most of them thought Rhydian would win, and looking at his face he did too! To be honest I think that he got quite a few more votes because he sang with Kylie minogue {who i don't like either} but lots of people do, and she only agreed to sing cause it was for her sister Dannii. loads of people were complaining they couldnt even get through on the phones to vote. what a fiddle lol

and why is this message list getting narrower and narrower?

It also became clear from this series that the whole thing is a means for the judges to get acts they manage plenty of TV coverage.

Watched him on GMTV and he was useless. No power at all. That was the first time I had heard it.
But on Lincs fm later they played the track, which I will say was better!!!
BUT if he cant play live :(
Someone texted in to lincs fm and said that the song was chosen for Rydian. And Rydian would have been veryt goo with that song. It needs power and thats what Leon hasnt got.
Leon has a very good voice, but it was the wrong song for him.
Sorry just MHO
Lea.

I thought that it was Leon's version that won him it.  I thought Rhydian was awful at the key song. I could barely hear a word he said.

I guess it comes down to taste :-)

I honestly think he ( leon) will do very very well.

At the end of the day I guess the country voted.

And of course as we have learned recently, phone ins are always reliable and honest! :D

Certainly a lot more now than they have ever been :-D

I read too that many people could not get through with their votes - however when 3 became 2 they announced that there was only 1% difference and to get voting!  That must have got a lot of people to vote - at 35p a time.  It is a wonder they didn't give longer so they could make more money!

Maybe to win the x-factor these days your name has to start with Leon????

You could be right.  If there's a Leonard on there next year, that's where my money is going! :-D

Well I tried to vote for Leon and my daughter tried to vote for same difference and neither of us could get through - so I saved some money there! :D :D  Remember Leon is only 18  - not many 18 year old boys have much confidence talking to people - I teach lots of them who can't string two words together in conversation. Leona wasn't famed for her sparkling wit and conversational ability last year either - in fact I can't remember her making any impression on me at all last year until she won. :D Give the laddie a chance!!

Yes.....but Leona has the voice to make up for it!!  :)

Yes saw him yesterday as well and thought he was dire. He has no real voice projection and had no stage presence :rolleyes:

Yes everyone has their own opinion on it, and we don't all like the same voices,{good job too}
I wasn't Rhydians biggest fan, but at least he could sing and in tune. i don't think the last song favoured Rhydian at all, yes he struggled, but looking at both their performances over the whole show although Leon came a long way, he still has a long way to go, his voice might be good in a couple of years time,where as Rhydians obviously done the training and is ready to go.Thank god the "Butlins Twins" didn't win, i couldn't stand them lol
With all this fuss going on about rigged votes etc, I do feel very sorry for Leon though.

Never heard anything about vote problems. Just from sore losers ;-) :-D :-D

Voting polls are now audited fully, everytime you call one now you get a big speel about this and that.

Never heard anything about vote problems.

Currently being investigated by Ofcom.

Well I had trouble getting through but by redialling I got through to vote for Rhydian OK.

And it has been dismissed as a lot of tripe :-)

Half of the population can't get through you can have half the country dialing the same number and them all getting through. We could'nt get through either for ages.

Not sure what some peoples problem is with him. He can sing better than most singers  around just now. Half of them woudn't even dare sing live.

I don't know what I feels the need to defend the guy but I think there is an awfully lot of unjust comments about him. A 18 year old child. Wish I had such lack of talent at 36 never mind 18.. 

God Suprised at that Lucy as that is the one thing I thought he had over everyone in the compitition voice projection. Every word he sung was crystal clear , pronounced properly too :-)   Maybe you lot are getting too old :-D ;-)

I downloaded the Song and had it on in the car on the way to work today it brought tears to my eyes. Sings it from the souls of his boots. :-)

18 years old or not he can sing to me every night.   I love that type  of voice. Actually listened to the final tonght after comments about pitch forgetting it was written for 2 woman that can sing boy can they sing, I thought it was vetry good. Rhydian really struggled in bits with the higher notes.  Guess we all like different things :-)    BE suprised if it isnt No1. Love song and lovely singer :-)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSwHKVinxX0&feature=bz302 

Not a bum note in sight ;-)

Goodness knows how many 'takes' and how much 'doctoring' it took to get him to sound half decent!!  :)  Has he got the 'X' factor??....no way!!  It is patently obvious that the only one of the final twelve with the 'X' factor was Rhydian, like him or loathe him, and for that reason, most people think that the votes were rigged!  I'll guess that Leon has a shorter 'career' than even Steve Brookstein!!  :) 

Who?

I liked Beverley too.

Beverley, Nikki, et al....all great singers, but 'X' factor??  I am wondering whether it is the beginning of the end for this show and I have always been the 'X' Factor's no.1 fan!!

I hardly watchedit at all this year especially due to Leon and others getting so far.  Sorry, don't mean to be awful but I've heard better singers in my local.  He doesn't have the character or voice, I feel that he's another destined for the cruise ships.  No bad thing though, not a bad life really if you love entertaining people.

He sings better than Michael Buble and he has done better than Cruise ships. :-)  This type of singing is very modern now it is a particular type I think.

I doubt he will have a shorter career that Steve Brookstein with heading for nearly 300K record sales and downloads again proof is in the pudding.

We all have different definitions of what is the X factor, It would be hard to sell Rhydian records but perform on stage and musicals etc no problem for him but  He aint exactly handsome :-D

People always say the voting is rigged and the only ones I have heard saying it are those who's favorite act didn't win.

I knew from the minute that boy auditioned he was going to win..that aint because if cheating.

Have you heard who Simon Cowel was backing of the two ;-) love him or loathe him he is always pretty much spot on.

He aint exactly handsome 

Not that looks come into it :-D  I am still shocked that Leon won.  He got better as his confidence grew, and I have to admit, I like the 'swing' type music that his voice suits, but a lot of the time he was flat or completely out of tune.  He showed no emotion, other than the sob story rubbish that some people seem to love.
Rhydian was far superior, and didn't have a sob story.  I wonder if that's what made him lose it in the end? 
I'm not bitter, it doesn't matter to me, I'm just a bit shocked.

I don't think the Ofcom thing will come to anything either.  It happens all the time, and it did with Big Brother a couple of times during this years show, although it wasn't so widely known.  It usually comes to nothing.

For me I assumed the X factor was about talent in whatever style, as opposed to Pop Idol whcih was about pop singing.

I liked Rhydian best for his voice (agree he is not oil painting hence the outlandish hair and act) but he has a super voice.

I also liked Leron, though it is less my type of singing than the above.

The Butlins twins would probably be fine at a holiday camp.

I prefered Beverley to Niki.

I must be weird I liked both Rhydian's voice and looks :D

I like Rhydian and to be honest does it matter what he looks like when you are listening to a Cd in the car you cant see them. But I do feel appearance is a big factor in the music business. I was watchng a vid of the Pouges and Kirsty Mcoll last night and commented I wonder if they would ever have got on tv these days.

Listened to the Leon single on Utube and it did sound fab so much better than on the show. I think that just proves how much they mess about with it. I wish we could hear the other two versions as well. I prefered Rhydian on the night and would of loved to have heard Same Differences version. Did they jass it up or not?

Leon is a nice guy and came across very well and he has a nice voice. But to me he lacked character and personality very wooden. Rhydian is no oil painting and lots of people found him creepy which I feel is a shame as it did go against him. I liked the fact to he didnt have a sob story that part of this show really got on my nerves. He was very arrogant at the begining and I really didnt like him and couldnt believe he got through the various rounds but he did lose that arogance as the weeks went on.

I see he has signed a deal with Simon Cowell so we havnt seen the last of him. Remember Will Young came Second to Gareth Gates and has done much better than Gareth.

As for the phone rigging I think we always hear that when the fav hasnt won. You cant take the single back of Leon now and Rhydian has a contract so I think it should be forgotten about.  I wish Leon all the best as he really does seem a nice young lad with talent.

Remember Will Young came Second to Gareth Gates

Not in the version I watched he didn't! :D  Gareth was favourite to win I think but Will beat him. :)

My son saw Same Difference in a Birmingham Club last night and apparently they too have been signed up for a record deal with Simon Cowell for around March time.

Sorry I stand corrected. Bang goes that argument lol

I was all for Will to so how did I forget such a small detail. :rolleyes:

It was a year ago Lumpy :-D a long time ago ;-)

I do the same with these type of shows can't remember the show title at times.  :-)

More than a year if I remember rightly!!  :D  It was Leona Lewis last year, Shayne Ward the year before..............

Tee Hee I knew what I meant to write :-D :-D  bad as each other. Too much X -factor hormones.. :-)

Been on the Ribena??  :D  :D

That's me about as much as I can stand. One Breezer and I have to go to bed ;-)

Will and Gareth were on Pop Idol, not X Factor :)

So they were!!  :)