Why Does Britain Hate John and Edward?
Where is the Love? Certainly Not on X Factor 2009
Nov 5, 2009
Irish writer Brendan Behan once remarked “There is no such thing as bad publicity except your own obituary”. The X Factor PR machine certainly seems to have taken this to heart – day after day the media are full of stories on the contestants. And what the public really wants, apparently, is dirt, and plenty of it.
Who’s fighting with whom, who hates who, who fancies who, and who’s the dictionary definition of two-faced. And the more you get the contestants “out there”, the more people will tune in to watch. And this year it seems John and Edward Grimes (aka Jedward or The Twins) are on everybody’s lips.
Jedward are the musical equivalent of Marmite – you love them or you hate them. From the moment they made the final a “Stop the Twins” campaign was launched, with dozens of “Get John and Edward Out!” Facebook pages springing up, and a travel agent allegedly offering them a one-way ticket back to Ireland. And they can do no right in the house where the contestants are living either. If they’re not busy stealing other people’s cereal they’re responsible for spreading a nasty case of head lice.
Where’s Your “Jedward To Win” Campaign, Louis?
It’s fairly obvious the duo is not overly blessed with singing or dancing talent, a fact freely admitted by their mentor Louis Walsh. In a recent interview Walsh claimed “Every kid in every family is rooting for them. The kids like them and their parents don’t and they can rebel against them by voting for them.” Compared with Walsh’s manic campaigning for JLS last year, it’s not exactly a ringing endorsement.
So it begs the question – why on earth were they put through to the final? Because they’re Irish and so is Louis? Does he seriously think they have Westlife or Boyzone potential? Or was it simply the one act guaranteed to annoy Simon Cowell? And of course anyone that Simon is nasty to will garner some kind of sympathy vote
Jedward are rather easy on the eye, aside from the ever-growing quiffs, and the girls are certainly screaming for them outside the house. And despite the carefully choreographed booing before and after their performances, the Twins have apparently never been near the bottom two in any of the weekly votes. In post-show interviews they always seem chirpy and brush aside any mention of hate campaigns.
Could they possibly win? Absolutely not, as the whole purpose of the programme is to find an act which will make a best-selling album. No, they’ll be around for another couple of weeks, just to make sure that voting revenue keeps flowing in, then mysteriously find themselves in the bottom two, whereby the judges (aside from Louis, of course) will, sadly, have to send them on their way.
What Happens When It’s All Over?
And then … Will the boys settle for being some sort of novelty act to milk their 15 minutes of fame? Unfortunately they will soon discover what a cold, lonely place it is outside the hallowed walls of the X Factor house, with no protection from the nastier elements of the media.
It could be argued that just by entering the competition John and Edward should have known what they were letting themselves in for. But could two 17-year-olds really have expected to be vilified nationally just to boost ratings and grab headlines? Still, Dannii and Cheryl are already busily undermining Simon’s protege Danyl Johnson, who is allegedly “more hated than Hitler” and a bully to boot. So the circle of love continues.
