Why, Why, Why, Why, WHY, Is The X Factor So Damn Popular?!

It's _The Gong Show_'s fault. It started this whole stupid trend of singing competition reality TV shows...

*** I see it this way:

The Gong Show begat Pop Starz. Pop Starz begat Pop Starz: The Rivals. Pop Starz: The Rivals begat Pop Idol. Pop Idol begat American Idol. Pop Idol _also_ begat The X Factor.

And so on and so forth, 'til the end of eternity.

But _The X Factor_ is the current (British) iteration of this format, so I'll focus my sights on that.

*** WHY is it so popular?

Every year, hundreds of thousands of people turn up to sing a Whitney Huston song, get verbally mauled by the judges, and sent on their way as Snow Patrol's _Run_ plays over their exit.

Later on, it's the LIVE SHOWS!

By this point, a dozen "finalists" stumble through 2 month's worth of crying, panalist fall-outs, press speculation, pop banality and ludicrous histrionics.

Come December, we finally get our winner: Ms. Mariah Carey-clone, or Mr. Smarmy Bargain-Bin-Sinatra, who'll annoy us for a year, then disappear forever...