One Advantage

This surely is getting ridiculous now ...

Today One Direction were spotted leaving Sony HQ after a meeting with Simon Cowell. Speculation is rife that he is bagging the band for himself before the competition has even reached halfway through the finals.

Is the X Factor even a competition anymore? I appreciate One Direction are insanely popular (ask any teenage girl and they will confirm this!), but to give them the prize before they've even won??

Not only is this unfair full stop, it's also unfair on the other acts. None of them are going to get offered a record deal by the by, because the whole point of people competing in the X Factor is that the prize is one. Simon is basically saying to the band "You will probably win, but just in case you don't, I'll make you an equal offer myself of the prize". So much for the impartiality of being a judge, eh? I guess we can't rely on him both as their future boss, current mentor and current judge to give an objective view when needed come Saturday night.

Not that being a mentor really matters. Look at Belle Amie. Despite waxing lyrical today that they did not feel second best to One Direction, it's pretty obvious they're only saying that in the hope that Cowell will on the offchance offer them a record deal too. You're wasting your time, girls! He's already chosen his favourites! Louis Walsh was probably right - Simon has been spending all his time with OD as oppsed to BA. He had it written all over his face when he dodged the question when Louis asked him on the Xtra Factor.

I'm not opposed to people being successful, and if One Direction are going to be that's their business. But for Simon to publicly favour them like this - and bringing real money and contracts into it - before the competition's finals have even really got going is just plain unfair.

One Direction should do the decent thing and withdraw from the competition.