2013-05-20T09:40:08-04:00 Pips Taylor http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/author/index.php?author=pips-taylor Copyright 2008, HuffingtonPost.com, Inc. HuffingtonPost Blogger Feed for Pips Taylor Good old fashioned elbow grease. tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.2232028 2012-12-03T19:46:11-05:00 2013-02-02T05:12:01-05:00

Pips Taylor http://www.huffingtonpost.com/pips-taylor/
At the quarters we lost Rylan who entertained us each week with his full-on entourage performances and I salute him for it, I have to say I did miss it this week... Will the nation tune in now the entertainment factor has left? Will they be tuning into Daybreak this week to see his presenting debut?!

On leaving, Rylan told the press that he thinks Chris Maloney will be crowned King... is he right? Maloney has never graced the bottom two, as each week Liverpool pick up the phone. It's nuts. Christopher Maloney has just over 100,000 followers on Twitter and Union J had over six times that amount - perhaps this goes to show that the youngsters don't pick up the phone and vote. Maybe voting online next year could help to encourage the twitter teens to vote?

Unfortunately we learnt on Sunday that teen girls' favourites Union J have left the competition. Awww, I'm pretty sure that despite their exit they will be 'the next big boy-band', as Louis loves to say. I don't think he could have said it any more if he tried...Well, as a farewell, here is Union J's last interview with me. I had the pleasure of talking to the boys backstage about cartoon characters - which of course led to impressions of Donald Duck- and which house they would be in if they attended Hogwarts. We didn't quite have time to cover any current affairs questions which was a shame, as this is strictly entertainment...



I was lucky enough to pop down and watch the The Results Show and I don't wanna brag but it was a pretty good show. The backstage goss is that Nicole Scherzinger does an amazing impression of Britney Spears' Oops I Did it Again and Gary Barlow gets pimped out to give out hugs to some of the lucky audience members. Last night this included Keith Lemon, who on hugging the Barlow exclaimed "I've just shit me-self." Nice.

Rod Stewart performed his Christmas song with the finalists, and my God was he awesome - that croaky voice that all mums love was very impressive. Tulisa also performed her new song, which is actually pretty catchy, and superstar Pink popped down to sing 'Try'.

But of course, the bit we were all waiting for was the results. You could have cut the tension with a knife! The finalists pre-show were pretty nervous and you could tell, poor things.

TalkTalk hosted a secret gig earlier this week and here is James Arthur talking to me about how inspiring he finds pizza and doing a pretty good impression of fellow contestant Chris Maloney...



So, who is will be crowned The X Factor Winner 2012?! I just cant call it- three very diverse acts- James Arthur is a refreshing talent, as is Jahmene with his insane power voice- but could Maloney pip them to the post and actually win it? For his Nan?! Tune in next week. You know you want to.]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.2170596 2012-11-21T10:04:24-05:00 2013-01-21T05:12:01-05:00

Pips Taylor http://www.huffingtonpost.com/pips-taylor/ X Factor and my God has this been a series full of talent, controversy and entertainment!

Gazza stormed out, as one of his 'overs' (Carolynne) went out to Rylan who let's say, doesn't have the strongest voice. We've lost three overs, two groups, three girls... but we still have all of the boys. The judges are pulling out all tactics and even getting personal in particular the 'fag ash breath comment' from Gary to Tulisa, and Tulisa's red wine guzzling comment back to Gary. Oooh and Nicole calling Gary boring for not loving Rylan. I could go on...

The diversity of the talent this year has been impressive, with most genres covered, bar reggae (maybe 2013?!) Favourites until this week's shock exit were James Arthur, Ella Henderson and Jahmene Douglas, with boyband Union Direction - sorry, Union J - in hot pursuit. Ella was voted off last Sunday which was a shock to the nation. Rylan (who definitely wins on entertainment factor) is still in the running, but how long can he hang on in there and how long can Chris Maloney last? He keeps going through each week and, according to the press, he has been winning on phone votes each week. The obvious question is how? Isn't he SO 10 years ago? Well, he's got the support of the blue rinse brigade, and they are the ones picking up the phone - not the boy band with half a million twitter followers.

Unfortunately, I have no backstage gossip to report on Maloney being a diva during my time in the studios. I haven't noticed him throwing his food on the floor or having hissy fits, or constantly on the X Factor hotline to vote himself through to the next week - all of which he's been accused of in the press, and all of which he's denied. But Louis still thinks he's a diva... so surely it must be true?!

We've had the battle of the boybands and District 3 were sent home leaving Union J - to respond to all of the screaming girls who camp outside the studios each week. Come rain or shine, they are there and they want a glimpse (no matter how far away) of their fave X Factor finalists. Its CRAZY and overwhelming to witness in the flesh, and they're not even there for me! Jahmene even told me that he's had phone calls in the middle of the night with fans demanding that he follow them on twitter. It's madness. The X Factor fans are pretty over the top when it comes to wanting to see the finalists for photos, signatures, or just to scream. We can hear the superfans screaming all day long. Do these people not have anything else to do?!

Well here's me babbling on, but who am I? Well, I interview the finalists each week on behalf of sponsors TalkTalk which is proving to be very funny, with lots of silly questions sent in via Twitter from the fans. My job involves a lot of waiting for the busy finalists to spare a few minutes to chat each week - their schedules are insane. Each week they are groomed, pampered, spray-tanned, their nails, hair, even eyebrows have to be 'done'. Is this the life of a musician/celebrity?! Yikes. They tend to rock up to our little lounge absolutely knackered and in need of a brew. They get to have a moment of chillout time - on condition that they also have a chat with me, asking questions from their Twitter fans, which tend to range from, the taxing "where would you like to go on holiday?" to some rather more silly and entertaining questions like, "if you were a chair which celebrity would you let sit on you?!" to which Kye replied "I would let Rita Ora sit on me." Nice. Its fun and light-hearted but it certainly aint BBC Newsnight and you either love it, or hate it.

We've uncovered a few exclusives - that Ella and James were writing together, Union J want to be successful "like the Sugababes" and Simone from MK1 claimed that his ideal houseparty would be a pyjama party with Lana del Rey and they could play video games... Party for two more like...! We've also discovered that Rylan is pretty good at impressions (Gary Barlow and Katie Price especially) and I feel he may well be presenting his own show after this is all over. Other gossip - Ella & George: was it on or off? Well, he told X Factor online that he "would perhaps consider dating her after the show, who knows?" She's now out but here is one of her Fila interviews as a finalist (blog post continues below...):



James Arthur surely can't be in the final two again this week... so I'm worried for Rylan and Jahmene but what do I know? Rumour has it, the TalkTalk room is cursed. If you chat to us on a Friday, you're not safe for the Sunday... (this week we chatted to Rylan, Ella & Jahmene) and Ella got voted out... Yep thats right, in my spare time I am a witch. Tune in to my interviews on Saturday at X Factor online or to be better versed in the latest news - watch the shows. You know you want to.]]>