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Can we step back from this and take a minute to appreciate the great work that Joe McElderberry has done....

Journey are back in the charts!

The anti Cowell anarchists are already cuing up next year's competition against his awful manufactured music. Morecambe and Wise's 'Bring me Sunshine' is the front runner.

Though they are going to be more organised this time, with a bigger web site, 24/7/365 ad campaign, celebrity endorsements and Morecambe and Wise action toys. If they get the number spot next year, they will consider franchising the anti Cowell movement. This could go global!

Grimshaw wrote:Cracking film that. And yes, it's very unsettling.

Iain, if you're in the top 10 then i assure you you're rubbing shoulders with me.

One of my favourite artists is Cardiacs, and their frontman Tim Smith said "There's nothing wrong with any kind of band in the world. Whatever they play. Musical prejudice is the worst thing in the world."

I couldn't disagree more.

Indeed. Have you heard what Klaus Wunderlich did to the 4th movement of Beethoven's 9th Symphony? All that power and excitement and joy reduced to the dullest imaginable lift music. No, really, however dull you can imagine it, I guarantee it's worse.

The reason this really excites me is not so much that a band and song I really like are Christmas number 1 but that the people had the power to do it.

The internet is the new medium of power and although it has been spoken about this being the case for awhile, it takes situations like this to really prove it.

The majority of the modern media have turned their back on the people and so the people have found an alternative source to hear themselves heard. I think that when you take a step back and see what was achieved it is astounding that anything was able to overcome the colossal media machine of the X Factor.

It feels me with a sense of hope that perhaps there are still people out there that think for themselves, even if many of the people that got RATM to #1 were probably just bandwagon jumpers/sheep themselves, at least they made the consious effort to choose.

A_n_t wrote:The reason this really excites me is not so much that a band and song I really like are Christmas number 1 but that the people had the power to do it.

The internet is the new medium of power and although it has been spoken about this being the case for awhile, it takes situations like this to really prove it.

The majority of the modern media have turned their back on the people and so the people have found an alternative source to hear themselves heard. I think that when you take a step back and see what was achieved it is astounding that anything was able to overcome the colossal media machine of the X Factor.

It feels me with a sense of hope that perhaps there are still people out there that think for themselves, even if many of the people that got RATM to #1 were probably just bandwagon jumpers/sheep themselves, at least they made the consious effort to choose.

This should scale. In a democracy, we hold power, not the faceless them. That's the point. Maybe "they" need a few more kicks in the pants at regular intervals to keep that in mind.

As luck would have it, I'm currently listening to Leftfield and Lydon's Open Up, with it's lyric "Burn, Hollywood, Burn. Taking down Tinseltown."

Exactly.

I just had this conversation with some colleagues over lunch. They were saying that it was vindictive. I however firmly believe it is about choice and reminding the people that would like us to forget we have that choice that is still ours.

The really bizarre thing about it though is that all of Joe's supporters appear to be under the impression that this week was the only chance that he'd ever have of having a number one single which doesn't show a huge amount of faith in his abilities or sustainability.

People have honestly been saying that the campaign was wrong because it was depriving him of success after all his hard work. RATM have been going since the beginning on the 90's and ordinarily would never have the chance of getting anywhere near the top 100 let alone the number one spot. Joe on the other hand has spent 13 weeks on one of the biggest tv shows on mainstream television and has a team of publicists pushing him forward. It does kind of look like RATM may have put a little more hard work into their music careers to date.

The most likely thing is that RATM will drop out of the charts next week and Joe will then go to the top spot and then possibly have a topselling album and maybe even a career out of this (although looking at past winners, it's touch and go). If he's as talented and his fans say he is, then he'll by fine. Even if he's a one hit wonder, then selling 450,000 copies of his single isn't all that bad really and it'll be something nice for him to look back on when he's moved on with his life.

A triumph of backlashing against the machine so ironically achieved by Rage Against the Machine!! I literally punched the air when it was revealed and I never listen to the charts normally!! Despite my radio work lol!!