15 October 2009
It’s that time of year in the ’00s again. Four of the final five number one singles of 2009 in Ireland, occupying 11 weeks out of 12, are by acts from UK TV talent shows. The last of those four, our 2009 Christmas number one, will be in extraordinary circumstances. Before that, though, here’s the previous year’s X Factor winner.
I’m less concerned at seeing an X Factor alumnus here than re-encountering Flo Rida, a rapper who aspires to reaching the artistic heights of The Black Eyed Peas. Poor Alexandra, here with her ‘real’ first release after the obligatory winner’s single of ‘Hallelujah’, turns in a sparky Whitney-style performance but doesn’t get much to work with. ‘Bad Boys’, with its dull electro-R&B verses and formulaic hi-NRG chorus, puts The X Factor into sobering perspective by sounding like a ’00s reboot of 1988 Stock Aitken & Waterman. As for Flo Rida, he captures the essence of Alexandra’s plight in terms positively Peas-ian: “She so so addicted to them rougher fellas / With even the alphabet she only sings the crooked letters” Considering what lies in store for her 2009 X Factor successor, though, maybe she got off lightly.
