Simon Cowell says the next season of X-Factor will be the best ever. But he would say that, really, wouldn't he? Speaking at ITV's autumn launch this week, he explained that the revamped show ñ now with four judges and a new category for 14-16 year olds ñ is "in a different league this year," saying that already a number of very talented individuals had been discovered.
He added, however, that the four judges ñ himself, Sharon Osbourne, Dannii Minogue, and the reinstated Louis Walsh (whose reinstatement I don't think we ever got round to reporting on, for some reason) ñ had also experienced some true horrors: "In the London auditions there was the worst act ever in any talent show", he said. "Beyond belief. They're like these mutants, like the aftermath of a nuclear bomb going off and this is what's left".