Why was Jade Ellis axed from X Factor? Voters deserve an explanation

Why was Jade Ellis axed from X Factor? Voters deserve an explanation

Jade Ellis - one of the strongest singers in this year's X Factor competition - was axed from the show on Sunday (October 28, 2012), causing outrage amongst fans of the young hopeful. By all accounts, Jade's performance the previous night had been below par, though the judges were given the opportunity to save the Londoner, who had performed a note perfect rendition of Dido's White Flag in the sing-off.

Nevertheless, the judges chose to save boy-band Union J, who had performed a dreary version of Pink's F*cking Perfect, complete with flat notes and very little charisma. The whole charade begs the question: why have a sing-off if the judges aren't going to base their voting on it? Union J were poor, though Louis Walsh, Nicole Scherzinger and Gary Barlow muttered half-hearted explanations for siding with the boy-band. One suspects the producers of the show have their fingers crossed that the band will emerge as the next One Direction and make everyone a ton of cash. Clearly still angry at the manner of her departure from the show, singer Jade told The Sun, "I believe I sang that song to a really high standard and if that wasn't enough to save me I honestly don't know what I could have done. People have said my performance was better than Union J's, but Tulisa was out there on her own when she chose to put me through. The vote could have been tactical."

All in all, The X Factor is slowly descending into farce, with Gary Barlow criticising Tulisa for her "fag ash breath" on Saturday's show. The N-Dubz star hit back, claiming Barlow should cut down drinking red-wine before the show.