Maloney Baloney!

By Shannon McClurg

You probably enjoy Reality TV as much as the next person. But do you know what is real and what is ‘reality’? Can you tell what is scripted and what is not? Take the X Factor for example, when a judge makes an “opinion” how do we know that that was not scripted? When you really think about it, anything that is said could just be a way of manipulating the public mind.

Maloney or Baloney? Christopher Maloney, an X Factor contestant, has been receiving negative comments from both staff and the public since the start of the live shows. It is said that the X Factor boss has banned staff from being negative towards the contestant from the fear it will help him win. Staff are beginning to believe that the public is starting to feel sorry for him which is why he receives so many votes.

But the question still remains, who is voting for him? The public audience ‘boo’ when he is on stage and the judges do nothing but criticise him. X Factor judge Tulisa in particular constantly calls the contestant ‘cheese’, making her dislike obvious.

Fellow contestant James Arthur also had something to say about the shows cruise ship singer.  He admitted that he is baffled by the public’s decision on keeping Christopher in the competition, saying: “I personally wouldn’t buy his album. I was much more of a fan of Ella Henderson, so I would’ve preferred to have seen Chris go that week. But that wasn’t the case – it was me versus Ella.” James also commented saying if Maloney wins it will be a big loss for the show and any remaining credibility will be lost.

All this negative criticism about Maloney makes me wonder if the show is actually fixed? Of course the boss declined all accusations of this.

Simon Cowell also fears that the credibility of the show will be wrecked if Maloney wins. He took to twitter and begged his followers to vote for someone with ‘real talent’. It has also been revealed that Cowell’s favourite contestant this year is James Arthur. No surprise there, as he is the most talented person in the competition and has been from the word go.

Is all the above not clear evidence that the public mind is being manipulated? Take Simon Cowell, tweeting to his followers telling them not to vote for Christopher. That’s manipulation right there, is it not? After all it is the public’s choice. Maloney himself is the wildcard of the competition.

In week seven, X Factor produced shocking results for who was evicted from the competition. When Ella Henderson was sent home Twitter broke out in madness with negative and abusive tweets about Maloney. Comments were: “I can’t even begin to explain how angry Christopher Maloney makes me”, “If your Gran is voting for Christopher Maloney take her phone cable out of the wall”, and “I’ve seen better drag queens than Christopher Maloney”.

What I would like to know is where is the shy, self-conscious contestant we seen at the beginning? Was it all a lie to perceive the public and judges from the very beginning? It is not as if all the feedback from the judges and the public can build his confidence.

The shaky karaoke king has suddenly gained a new form of confidence and comes across as arrogant on stage. He said: “I’m one of the hardest working contestants on the show”. Is he insinuating that his fellow contestants are not?

As always it is the public votes that will be the decider on who wins the X Factor – or so we are all told. But is it possible that if Maloney does win, the singing competition could come crashing down? I would be willing to bet a lot of money on it, as I look to the X Factor for entertaining talent and with Baloney that could not be further from what we are receiving.