It only feels like it was yesterday that we were congratulating Sam Bailey on winning the X Factor. But it was in fact eight months ago and the search for a new star has begun following the return of the show tonight.
The X Factor may have celebrated its tenth birthday last year, but going by the first episode of the new series, the eleventh series will be the one that is celebrated, and it's all down to the return of Simon Cowell and Cheryl Cole and the official full time judging debut of Mel B. The show kicked off in the same fashion that we have become accustomed to, with Dermot welcoming the viewers into the auditions across the country. Seeing how well the smaller audition room did last year, the judges took their places on a smaller panel in a smaller room.
As nerve wracking as it looked for the aspiring singers to enter the room, viewers were given some light relief in the form of the judges interaction with each other. One prime example of this was when a batch of hopefuls gushed about how amazing Cheryl was, completely ignoring Mel who was sitting right next to her. Having had enough of being left on the side, Mel spoke up and gave us this gem: "Am I chopped liver? I f***ing hate sitting next to this one". And it was this comment that had the judges and us in tears of laughter.
Any doubts that Mel wasn't right for the job - and Simon had his fears too - were soon dispelled as the former Spice Girl held her own when she gave feedback to the countless numbers of aspiring singers. As giving as Mel was with her critical acclaim for some singers: "the passion and the emotion was ridiculously good", she also gave Simon Cowell a run for his money with her honest and sometimes brutal feedback. Despite giving Blonde Electric a yes, Mel did say: "In some weird way, I think you're that annoying, you're good."
What did you make of the first episode of the new series? (ITV Pictures)
As Mel held her own, Cheryl, who has returned to the show as a judge after a three year hiatus, appeared to want to let everyone know that she was back and that she wouldn't be taking any nonsense from anyone, especially Simon who she constantly told to "shut up". At one point, Cheryl even exclaimed: "I can't take this anymore, I can't". But the recently married former Girls Aloud star couldn't hide her emotion when she was reunited with a singer who she sent home from the judges houses round in 2008. The fact that she remembered Amy, did make us sit up and believe that she has and will be really involved with her acts every step of the way.
But whilst all the attention was on Mel and Cheryl tonight, we couldn't forget to mention good ol' Louis Walsh who continued to give us oodles of entertainment, especially when he almost choked on some cake brought in by Angelina Robinson's mum during her audition. However, we're still waiting for Louis' gem of: "You look like a popstar and you sound like a popstar". Come on Louis, don't keep us waiting!
The first episode of the series featured some great singers who will no doubt be singing to the thousands in Wembley Arena, but we're not going to lie and say that we weren't entertained by the totally eccentric hopefuls who thought they had a voice of an angel.
So with that, we can't wait to see what else the new series has in store!
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