‘Favored’ bets continue to survive

LAST Sunday, we watched “The X Factor Philippines” with heart in throat, because the day before in this section, we had “dared” to predict that, weeks from now, the tilt’s remaining three “survivors” might be Jeric Medina, KZ Tandingan and Allen Sta. Maria.

That “psychic” article caused a big stir—but, daring predictions have a nasty way of turning around and biting you in the butt, hence our antsy state last week.

Happily, however, the very first survivor named was KZ. Then came Jeric—followed by Allen! What do you know, all three of our favored bets had made it for one more week, and this audacious soothsayer and “educated guesser” had similarly gotten a new lease on empathetic life for seven days more. —So, are we good at what we do, or what?

MEDINA. Will he make it to the tilt’s “final-finals?”

Less smugly and jauntily, however, we must confess that we really don’t know how long our lucky streak will last. After all, we’re guessing that our three bets will continue to get enough votes not to end up as bottom-dwellers from week to week. How do you “logically” do that when the show’s viewer-voters’ cumulative decisions are sometimes not talent-based and are therefore illogical?

The only way that “our” bets will indeed make it to the tilt’s “final-finals” is if the majority of the show’s voters suddenly develop the knack for spotting the best talents and preferring them to the “idiosyncratic” bets who continue to survive the tilt’s weekly elimination process. Is that going to happen?

Hope eternally springs, but it isn’t likely. So, this early, we’re peremptorily retiring from our incipient career as show biz prognosticator. There simply are too many factors involved in the “X Factor” tilt’s “democratic” voting process that aren’t under our control, so we don’t want to be subjected to a weekly attack of nerves each Sunday, from here on in!

—Having gotten that out of the way, we must wonder if KZ’s “tattered” performance outfit last Saturday was “created” to help her make an edgy impression—or to work against her. Did she approve that tacky, tatty “creation” before she wore it? Just wondering.

To be sure, talent tilts have generally had a bad, sad history of producing, not fashion plates, but fashion victims in their stylists’ over-the-top efforts to grab viewers’ astounded attention. Which is why contestants shouldn’t cluelessly agree to wear anything thrown their way, because they could unfairly lose points due to the bad or “TH” impression that their unstylish stylists’ crazy concoctions sometimes make!

Other notes: Now that “Take Off” has been voted out (after three times as a bottom-dweller), “groups” mentor Gary V is now left with only one finalist. Ditto for Pilita Corrales, whose lone survivor, Joanne Da, also scraped the bottom last Sunday.

Charice is doing better with two bets, KZ and Allen, while Martin Nievera is doing best of all with all three of his finalists—Jeric, Gab and the alarmingly tenacious Kedebon—still alive and kicking! Maybe he can teach his fellow mentors a thing—or three?