***LATEST X FACTOR ODDS! CLICK HERE***

X Factor has to be the most shamelessly manipulative show on TV. From the bits where the contestants say that singing is all they’ve ever wanted to do, to the way that the music playing underneath the visuals always – always – swells up to a rousing chorus when a contestant is told that they’re through to the next phase, we really should detest X Factor.

But we can’t. We’ve tried not to watch it, but we’re powerless. As we’ve said before, the only way that we’ve been able to silence our self-hate for enjoying such lowbrow, common-denominator entertainment is by placing bets on the winning manager. And we suggest that you do the same.

Here are the latest betting odds for the X Factor winning manager market, from heckerspray and Betfair.com…

Sharon Osbourne – Sharon ‘look at me! I can throw up on demand’ Osbourne is now the least favourite manager to win X Factor. This is probably because she’s been lumped with the 25 and over category of performers – easily the worst group, as it’s full of mental old duffers who all share the knowledge that this is their very last chance to make a success of themselves. Even though – on the off-chance that they do win the series – the public won’t buy any of their records other than their first single, and they’ll be back doing Butlins karaoke before Easter.
FINALISTS – Nutty Goat Boy, Bin Man, Lovely Black Girl, Shrieky Black Girl
Current odds – 9/4

Simon Cowell – Simon is in charge of the groups. And he seems to hate it, which is strange because G4 easily sold the most records from the last series. But that says more about idiots who think that an opera version of Bohemian Rhapsody is a good idea than actual talent or worth. Simon missed a trick by getting rid of the group that were like a dinner party vocal Polyphonic Spree. They were weird as hell, and we’d have voted for them to win. But, no, Simon’s ditching everyone except for the blandest of the bland. The great big smug camp fool. 
FINALISTS – Incesty Bloke Duo, The B*Witched Tribute Band, Generic Boyband Number One, The Shite Girls
Current odds – 2/1

Louis Walsh – Not only is Louis the most talented manager (go on, you try to make stars out of Boyzone), he’s also been given the best group of performers to deal with. The under 25 category is packed full of good-looking-but-stupid semi-singers, and that’s exactly what Louis wants: a pretty, airbrushed puppet that he can autotune to shit all over a well-produced popsong, then make them break their backs performing on all the Saturday morning kid’s shows. Add a well-timed scandal or two, and Bob’s your uncle, he has a bona fide pop success. And he knows that this makes him the favourite.
FINALISTS – Indistinct Shavehead, Irish Elvis, Children Of The Cornrow, Cry-machine
Current odds – 13/2

We’ll update these odds during the series of X Factor. But if you want to find out how the odds stand at any moment in time, head over to the UK TV Special Bets section of Betfair.com. You  get free stuff when you join up, look…

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[story by Stuart Heritage]