We’ve had the first X Factor episode of 2010 and 2.5 – yes 2.5 – of my predictions have already materialised. That’s no.2, no.3 and half of no.8. (It looks like Joe Celery’s* album might not be gracing my CD shelves after all).

I’m going to save my main X Factor blogging for the Live Finals and, instead, this week I’ve been inspired by a recent Guardian article on the six best X Factor performances of all time. (I also figure that if I send the Guardian web traffic they might be more willing to approach me to Live Blog for them). However, I do feel the Guardian missed a few classics. So below are five more for inclusion.

Diana Vickers – “Call Me”

Vickers did some downright quirky performances in season four of the X Factor, which were mostly 100% amazing. Who else could get away with singing “Man In The Mirror” with their back to the audience? Or “I’m Not A Girl (Not Yet A Woman)”, Britney’s weirdest song (yes, and that includes “If You Seek Amy” and the really bizarre one about threesomes)? But Vickers’ best had to be the amazing “Call Me”: Vickers rocks out on a bench, surrounded by roller-skaters, for no real reason. It works perfectly and essentially she is prefiguring Glee two years early. By far the most interesting contestant the X Factor’s ever had. 

Alexandra Burke – “Candyman”

“Candyman” was Alexandra’s equivalent of Leona Lewis’ “Summertime”: a breakthrough performance that screamed star quality. It was in this performance that Alex hinted that she might be the first proper popstar the X Factor had produced: someone who could both sing and dance. At the same time.

Shayne Ward – “Take Ya Mama”

Shayne Ward should have been massive (the British Justin Timberlake, I tell you). And this performance marked something significant. For the first time they gave a contestant a song released just ONE YEAR BEFORE. Yes, this is where they started to realise that “relevance” was importance.

Shayne had a brilliant voice (the male equivalent of Leona) and the *best* falsetto – and here he sings a song about coming out to your mum by taking her clubbing in that falsetto and yet still sounds quite masculine. If only he hadn’t released a solo single with the lyric “I want to thank your mother just for giving you birth” and he might have been amazing. Please come back with some excellent material, Shayne.

4. Ruth Lorenzo – “Always”

Ruth was interesting because she was kind of like Shakira crossed with Bon Jovi. Ignore the odd wobbly note in the below performance (she’d just been voted out) and this is proper fall-on-your-knees-with-emotion singing, which anyone who’s seen me do karaoke will know is my absolute favourite kind. By the end of the song there is essentially just screaming occurring and it sounds bloody (fist shakingly) brilliant.

5. Leona Lewis and Take That  – “A Million Love Songs”

It’s got to be the best ever X Factor duet. From the “Ladies and Gentleman…Take That!”, to the amazing key change and the fact that Mark, Jason and Howard occasionally look a bit lost, it’s just pure brilliance. And even better for the moment four minutes in where Gary Barlow tells Simon Cowell that he better not give Leona the usual sh*t album he’s given previous winners, or else.

I can think of at least three more (Alexandra & Beyonce’s “Listen”, JLS’ “Umbrella”, Stacey Solomon’s “Who Wants To Live Forever”) but must leave it there before the YouTube videos crash my page. Plus I really want to watch CSI Miami. A Blog post may also emerge on some of the more car crash performances too (I’m thinking of several weird performances by siblings who seemed to be singing love songs to each other).

Please do share your own thoughts. If you comment it makes my Literary Agent Flatmate believe that I have a large Internet Following and therefore makes it more likely she’ll ask me to write books.

*Spell check changes it to this and I quite like it.

This is my big blogging comeback. Literary Agent Flatmate recently announced that my infrequent blogging makes me appear uncommitted to writing and therefore I am unlikely to be offered a significant £££ publishing deal. What about my existing back catalogue, I exclaim?! Not enough, apparently. And so I return.

Planning my comeback after a gap of three months, I now know exactly how famous musicians feel whilst writing the difficult second album. What do the public *want*, I ask, in a not dissimilar way to Gwen Stefani in her exciting self-referential song “What You Waiting For?”?. What currently is the most pressing issue in popular culture?

And then I suddenly realised: ah yes, the best way of determining this is to see what my fanbase are currently googling to find my blog!

I am both alarmed and intrigued by what people are googling to find my blog, but I feel the below list casts an illuminating light over what The People really, really want.

1. “Derren Brown’s boyfriend Mark”

The People are *obsessed* by Derren Brown’s boyfriend, who happens to be called Mark, and all 62 of them must have been very disappointed when they found my site because I once happened to mention Derren Brown’s boyfriend and I’m called Mark. The People’s obsession has led to me being slightly interested myself and therefore I invested ten minutes in a bit of googling. There is a disappointing lack of information on the interweb about Derren Brown’s boyfriend, Mark. I learn only that he is an interior designer. So I understand why the People are frustrated. Not even a picture.

2. “How do the duck and the hippo in the silent night advert make babies?”

I truly love all those who have, like me, also wondered about the Duck and Hippo’s unconventional relationship in the Silent Night Adverts. I have a vague recollection from Biology A Level that two different species can breed (i.e. a horse and a donkey, making a mule) but I imagine they have to be more genetically similar than a hippo and duck. Hope that helps.

Someone also asked: “is the hippo in the silent night advert married to the chick?”. To answer, it’s never been made clear, and there is no obvious wedding rings, but the assumption is yes. Either way, it’s weird and wrong.

3. “F**k I hate yoghurt adverts”

I hear you, I hear you. I also hear the person who asks google “what’s the plural of Petit Filous?”. I think the answer is, one petit filous is too infinitely small and pointless for the brain to comprehend and thereby technically they can only be seen in packs of six. Therefore, Petit Flious automatically refers to the plural. Hope that clears things up.

4. “What is Jason Orange doing right now?”

Why does my blog attract a small but worrying group of Jason Orange stalkers? What kind of internet site would tell you what Jason Orange is doing right now? Not mine, and I also can’t tell you what kind of women he’s into or where you can find naked photos of him.* But please do keep visiting the site.

5. “Can i just say I love how every northeaster ever knows Joe McElderry?”

Ha ha ha, of course you can. FYI, apparently there is a small statue to Joe McElderry in Edinburgh. I wonder if there’s also one of Michelle McManus in Glasgow? If so, I wonder if it is broken and deserted, just like Ozymandias? I’m really pleased by that reference, Literary Agent Flatmate

I can also answer the person who inquired “how much is Joe McElderry worth?”. The answer being, a George Michael-esque single that charts at no.2 and a similar fated album, followed by a successful stint in Joseph.

6. “Boyband Tied Up”.

Um, sometimes you lot freak me out a bit. And I’m not sure those googling this are actually interested in my blog post on how Take That’s “How Deep Is Your Love” video symbolically depicts the disintegration of the archetypal Boyband video (which is where I mention the fact they are tied up).

7. “What is Lady Gaga’s blood group?”

Not a bloody clue. I also don’t know how she made her rib cage bleed at the MTV Music Awards. I guess I can sort of excuse the People’s curiosity about this, as Gaga has recently been touring with a blood fountain on stage. Some less disturbing Gaga googles have been “I hate pop but I love Gaga” (she’s great, isn’t she?), “Lady Gaga loves cats” (me too), “my boyfriend loves Lady Gaga” (good for him! Nothing to be alarmed about there) and “Lady Gaga the next big superstar” (I think you’ve missed the boat there).

8. “Build Me Up Buttercup Glee”

Why are you googling this? This could not happen, could it? The worst song of all time can’t appear in the best TV show of all time? Never! I would explode in confusion!

9. “I hate my birthday it’s so depressing“

I find this quite moving. Hope it wasn’t so rubbish this year. I feel the same way about New Year, FYI.

In fact, my blog seems to be a repository for people feeling a bit down. Over 1,000 people have googled “depressing songs” and found my post of the most depressing songs of all time. Which makes me feel a bit sad myself as my post on why I hate yoghurt adverts was much better.

10. “Suddenly the car was surrounded by what looked like giant bats”

Err, ok then, but I have no idea how my blog can help. Equally intriguing are “rubbing myself” (nice, but again how is my blog relevant?), “People who think they are cats” (I do think I’ve seen that Channel 5 documentary actually so have some thoughts on this) and “depressing party songs” (you should’ve come to our house party 3 years ago).

So there you go, my comeback. I feel quite invigorated by my return to blogging. And anyone who accuses me of rehashing my old material to create my “second album” is just wrong.

*Incidentally, I also don’t know what Shayne Ward’s favourite pastimes are. Sorry. At a guess, I’d say he probably likes a good night on the town but also enjoys the odd night in with some DVDs and a glass of wine.