Whitney Houston’s dress drama
Not content with being so long she could barely walk, Whitney Houston’s dress also conspired to wreck her UK comeback by snapping a strap mid-song. Ever the professional, Whitney carried on regardless.
Dannii’s Danyl disaster
Following bi-sexual Danyl Johnson’s version of Jennifer Hudson’s And I Am Telling You, Dannii Minogue – not known for her clever wit – decided to make a joke. “If we’re to believe everything we read in the papers,” Dannii said. “Maybe you didn’t need to change the gender reference in it!” Cue tumbleweeds and angry Cowell. Dannii’s ‘joke’ prompted 4,000 complaints, an Ofcom investigation (they found Dannii hadn’t breached their broadcasting guidelines) and an apology from the embarrassed judge.
Jedward ain’t afraid of no ghost
Ghosts and ghouls, fake electric shocks, a terrible cardboard cut-out car and awful ad libs. We didn’t know what we were watching when John and Edward Grimes performed the theme from Ghostbusters, but we knew it was destined to be the best comic performance of the series.
Special guest performance
For established acts, a performance on the X Factor can provide a welcome career boost. This year’s series has seen global stars including Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Lady Gaga and Michael Buble all promote new material on the show’s stage. However, it was another recording star with a new album in the shops (but no helpful X Factor booking) who won the headlines. Now, Calvin Harris claims he - and the pineapple he brought with him - invaded the stage during Jedward’s performance of Under Pressure to protest against the X Factor’s influence on the pop charts. We think we know the real reason.
Rachel Adedji’s trip
Revealing which judge has been chosen to mentor each group of singers is always an exciting moment in an X Factor series. How exciting? Ask Rachel Adedji. It was exciting enough that no one seemed to notice her face-planting at the news that Dannii Minogue had been picked to mentor this year’s over 25s!
More X Factor 2009 fun in our special.
