The X Factor
Joe McElderry has been crowned the 2009 X-Factor Champion
'Geordie Joe' beat Olly Murs on a dramatic finals weekend which saw performances from Robbie Williams, George Michael, JLS, Alexandra Burke, Leona Lewis and Sir Paul McCartney.
Saturday 12th December
Then there were two...
It was the biggest X Factor show of the year, we saw Olly pair up with Robbie, Joe with George Michael and Stacey sung with Michael Buble.
Each of the finalists performed three songs for their place in The X Factor final, including the songs they performed in their first audition. Based on the public’s votes, Dannii Minogue lost her final contestant as Stacey was sent home and Joe and Olly were left to go head to head for The X Factor crown.
Sunday 13th December:
The final was a huge event with an impressive array of guests including past X Factor winners Leona Lewis and Alexandra Burke who performed with 2008's runners-up JLS.
Other guests on the show included George Michael who performed his Christmas single, 'December Song' and pop legend, Sir Paul McCartney who performed two classic hits - with the help of the final 12 in places.
Over 10 million votes were phoned in to the show over the last 24 hour but only one person could win and it was South Shields lad, Joe who was named the winner.
Joe started singing a few years ago after playing around on a karaoke machine. Since then, he’s performed in a few local musicals and entered the North-East ‘Music Means Life’ competition in 2008. Now he has his own single release.
There was originally rumours that the winner's single might be Journey's 'Don't Stop Believin'', but it was later announced that the winner would be releasing a version of the Miley Cyrus track 'The Climb'.
Despite going top ten in the US and top 5 in Australia, the song stuck at No. 11 when it was released here earlier this year. So, it's pretty much guaranteed to be a bigger hit for Joe.
Result stats:
The statistics show that Joe McElderry won the show with 61.3% of the public votes, compared to Olly Murs's 38.7%. McElderry also received the most public votes in week seven, eight, nine and in the first part of the final
The statistics also reveal JEdward would have stayed in the competition over Olly if the judges had decided to take the result to deadlock when they were in the bottom two.
While the twins had received 10.7% of the vote, Murs had just 9.8%.
Changes to the show?
Simon is apparently considering Robbie Williams as a new judge. Cowell said: "A lot of things are going to change next year if we bring the show back. The show needs to change or it starts to fail. I like Robbie Williams. He'd make a good judge. He's fun, he's got good instincts, he doesn't take himself too seriously and he's a fun guy to be around."
Williams would be a fifth judge on the show and a new female would reportedly be brought in to replace Dannii Minogue - possibly Mel B or Kelly Rowland.
There's also a chance the series will be extended by a month and include 16 finalists, as opposed to the current 12. Live shows could be moved from Fountain Studios to Wembley Arena or the O2.