Not about the judges

Aug. 19 was not a good day for mentor Gary V on “X-Factor Philippines”: The two finalists with the lowest votes that week, Daddy’s Home and AKAJam, both came from his “groups” category.

Expectedly, Gary didn’t quite know how to take the one-two punch. He did his best to boost the spirits of his two beleaguered “teams,” and even promised to give the members of his losing all-female group exposure on his TV show even after the talent tilt shall have been concluded.

Everyone applauded that gracious gesture, but rather less appreciated was his excessively emotional reaction to his groups’ bottom-dweller ranking that night. The show’s mentors really need to remind themselves that the tilt is about the finalists, not about them.

Soloists preferred

On hindsight, however, Gary could console himself with the widely-shared observation that groups generally don’t do superbly well on talent tilts like “X-Factor.” There seems to be an unspoken or subliminal preference in such competitions for soloists, as opposed to multiple performers.

Why so? Psychologically, viewer-voters could be more predisposed to admiring or empathizing with a singular singer, because the bond achieved between the fan and the admired one is more focused and personal.

So it could be that the finalists in the groups category, as well as their father figure-mentor, entered the final stage of the competition with a basic limitation or hindrance not of their own making.

It’ll be interesting and instructive to see, therefore, how Gary’s surviving wards will fare in the course of the tilt’s remaining weeks. If memory serves, another group also ended up as a bottom-dweller in the competition. So, the handwriting could be on the wall, for all to peruse and take cautionary note of.

On the other hand, some “idiosyncratic” soloists have survived for the third week on “X Factor,” irritating some viewers because their lack of exceptional singing talent is all too obvious for everyone to hear—and wince at.

Votes rule

Still, we must concede the undeniable fact that votes, with their suggested imputation of popularity, still rule on talent tilts like “X Factor,” so naysayers will just have to swallow an antacid and shut up.

Or, they could, as we have done, decide to take the whole shebang with more than a pinch of salt, celebrating the good things when they do come, but not freaking out when the rule of the majority benefits the undeserving. There are more important things in life to get really exercised about, after all.

It’s also pertinent and consoling to note that some of the finalists’ production numbers on “X Factor Philippines” are imaginatively staged and lit, so its weekly performance shows are more than just nominally diverting. Now, if only the tilt’s other aspects—and the acuity of its viewers as judicious voters—would come up to par!