X Factor Live Tour .....Erm....actually quite good surprise!

I'm not going to bore you with a list of my record collection, but suffice to say that I consider myself a lover of 'proper' music and the manufactured pop of The X Factor is the polar opposite of my listening preferences. 

That said, I'm a fan of the TV show, not in any way, shape or form as a serious music programme, but as family oriented light entertainment of which there sadly isn't enough of these days.

Each year though I am dragged kicking and screaming by my children to the Live Tour which has in general been like watching noisy paint dry as one karaoke idiot after another has his 15 minutes.

Here's the surprising bit, having been to see this years offereing at the O2 last night, I thoroughly enjoyed it!

Aiden, Katie and Mary needn't return to the day jobs, as long as they dont mind cruise ships that is, Wagner was ..erm different (but not as funny without the panto judges having a go at him after he sang performed!)

Cher and One Direction, whilst not being my cup of tea, certainly managed to hold a tune between them and worked the crowd like naturals (Im not old enough to remember Beatlemania, but this must have been similar - before you say it, I'm not comparing either of them to The Beatles!)

The winner, Matt was great, 'playing' guitar and singing without the band and again working the crowd a lot better than some 'serious' artists Ive seen.

The real highlight though was Rebecca Ferguson, best voice I've heard in years, didn't have the same force of personality as some of the others but the voice was spellbinding, she sang 'Make You feel My Love' and I'm now going to give up trying to persuade my kids that nobody sings it as good as Dylan!

As long as it's not filled with predicatable covers, I think I may even buy her album when it comes out, just hope Simon Cowell can be persuaded to step back and let her career develop with an eye on quality not profit, sadly doubt it will happen though.

Think my musical tastes must be going in reverse, must fight it and dig out those unlistenable Dylan bootlegs to restore my sense of musical superiority and importance!