On the following evening’s results show, Tulisa was delighted when her remaining acts The Risk and Little Mix were both safely voted through. Indeed, for many viewers and commentators Little Mix had been the pick of the bunch in the previous evening’s live show. Their striking take on the Katy Perry song ‘ET’ had united the panel and most viewers. Tulisa felt great as she left the stage, with both her acts intact after the dreaded public vote. However, as she took her seat back on the panel, her joy was tempered by the realisation that the bottom two would be Misha B and Habibis. For Tulisa it was difficult to decide which of the pair to vote to save. On the one hand, she admired the talent of Habibis and had also grown very close to the young Londoner. However, she admired the rich talent of Misha, whose style of music came closer to that of N-Dubz than any of the other contestants. Furthermore, Tulisa was keenly aware that the public would view her decision through the prism of the previous weekend’s controversy between her and Misha. If she saved Habibis, she realised, a lot of people would see this as her sticking a second knife into Misha. Decisions, decisions!
Walsh had, predictably, already voted to save Misha B when it came to Tulisa’s turn to speak. She announced that she and Misha had addressed their issues from the previous weekend, and added that she would have to base her decision on music, rather than ‘personalities and connections’. Already, things were looking bleak for Habibis. ‘I have to go to the person I can most relate to musically, the person who represents the music from my roots,’ added Tulisa, before announcing she would send Habibis home. After Rowland came to the same decision – via a telephone link-up – Misha B was saved and Habibis left the competition.
It had been a tough moment for Tulisa to send Habibis home. Their bond and friendship had been strong from when they first met during the competition. Tulisa would have loved to save her friend, but she had told herself from the moment she first signed the contract to be an X Factor judge that she would approach everything during the show with the utmost honesty and integrity. Though it had been a tough week for her, it ended with her standing tall. Not only had she successfully negotiated her two acts through the public vote, she had also seen Little Mix soar in popularity and respect. The crowning high for Tulisa came when the public saw her put aside a personal friendship with Habibis to vote honestly. What an eventful seven days it had been – and Tulisa had been the only X Factor judge to get into the Halloween spirit by wearing a cat-woman outfit for the Saturday evening show, complete with pointy ears.
The weekend’s drama had done little to dispel perceptions that Tulisa and Rowland had genuinely fallen out. Barlow insisted that all the drama on the panel was genuine and that relations between judges did get ‘heated’. He went on to single out Tulisa for praise. ‘[She] is brilliant,’ he said. ‘To come onto the panel as a complete beginner and put those groups together like she did, shows a real eye for talent. I hope one of her groups gets through to the final few. They’re very lucky to have her – she spends a lot of time and energy on them.’
Another of Barlow’s comments in this interview with Heat magazine was a critical one of Walsh, who he accused of spending insufficient time with his acts. Meanwhile, another newspaper placed Walsh and Tulisa in the centre of an alleged fresh controversy. It was claimed that Cowell, tired of the slipping viewing figures for the show, had charged Walsh with the responsibility of shaking up the judges’ panel. The chief option being mulled over by Walsh was, reportedly, replacing Tulisa with former X Factor judge Cheryl Cole. It was safe to say that no such swap was ever in danger of happening, and that this story could be filed under the ‘hype’ category. Meanwhile, Rowland arrived back in Britain after her prolonged absence. She looked in decent health as she arrived at LAX Airport for the flight to the UK. With a dash of irony, no sooner had Rowland recovered than Tulisa fell ill. She pulled out of all promotional arrangements for her perfume after being hit by toothache.
In another, ultimately successful, bid to boost ratings, the show’s producers decided to stage a double elimination the following weekend. As the public debated which two acts would leave the competition, few predicted that either of Tulisa’s remaining acts would be in danger of the dreaded chop. Both Little Mix and The Risk were, in fact, most often discussed as potential finalists or even as becoming the first band to win The X Factor. So what a shock it was when The Risk finished bottom in that weekend’s public vote, thus becoming the first act to leave on the night. It had been an entertaining weekend of X Factor. On the Saturday evening the acts sang ‘club classics’ songs. From Johnny Robinson’s camp opener to Little Mix’s superb rendition of ‘Don’t Stop The Music’ at the top of the show, it was an entertaining evening. The performance generally regarded as the low-point of the show was Frankie Cocozza’s chaotic take on ‘I Gotta Feeling’ by Black Eyed Peas. Given that he had already been considered likely to be voted out, lots of viewers expected that the bottom two would be Cocozza plus one other. Robinson was tipped to join him, in part because he had performed in the opening slot, known as the ‘graveyard slot’ due to the fact that the opener act is often forgotten by the time the voting lines open at the end of the show.
On the following evening’s results show there was widespread shock when O’Leary announced the results of the public vote, and it was revealed that Cocozza had survived a place in the bottom three. As gasps rang across the audience, even Cocozza seemed shocked and a little embarrassed to have survived. The shock became deeper when it sunk in that The Risk was in the bottom three alongside Robinson and the controversial Kitty Brucknell. Tulisa looked devastated. All she could hope for now was that they had not finished bottom, as that act would be sent home immediately, leaving the other two to battle for survival in the ‘sing-off’. However, Tulisa’s act was not going to be permitted any such lifeline. To her surprise and horror, it quickly transpired they had finished bottom of the public vote and would be eliminated immediately. The stunned expression on Tulisa’s face said it all. Meanwhile, O’Leary asked the band why they thought they had finished bottom. Risk member Derry Mensah replied: ‘I don’t know what it is, I’m just happy that we’re here together.’ The band’s de facto front man Charlie Healy confirmed that the band planned to ‘carry on’ together, while Andrew Merry added: ‘It’s been an absolute honour to sing with these guys, it’s been an amazing experience. Thanks to everyone who’s helped us along the way.’ Then it was time to wave them goodbye. After the sing-off Robinson was sent home by the judges, allowing Brucknell to survive another week.
Afterwards, Tulisa was asked what she thought had caused her previously fancied band to crash out of the voting public’s favour. ‘I don’t know,’ she said, still clearly shaken and upset. ‘I think maybe the band changeover, the dramas affected them probably… I don’t know.’ Whenshe was asked whether her initial manufacturing of the band and the subsequent line-up change prior to the previous weekend’s show had played a part, Tulisa attempted an answer but it was clear she was still in a state of some disbelief as she addressed that theory. ‘Yeah there’s a possibility, maybe that’s why they were getting so much support until now but honestly I have no idea,’ she continued. ‘It was honestly a massive shock for me tonight, I’m not denying that. I’m totally baffled. I don’t think they deserved to go at all.’ Despite admitting that her line-up changes and manufacturing of the band might have been responsible for their exit, Tulisa was absolutely clear that she had no regrets over her actions. It is not in Tulisa’s nature to back down easily on a decision she has made. She was not about to do so here. ‘I definitely do not regret one moment of creating those groups or watching them perform or watching them grow or getting to know them,’ she said. ‘For me it’s been a good experience for me and for them and life-changing for them because they’re going to go on to do good things and I can never regret changing someone’s life, no way.’
Tulisa had to pick herself up and begin another week of working on keeping her one remaining act in the runn
ing. Little Mix was growing in stature each week and Tulisa was determined for so many reasons to give them her backing. Firstly, they were her act, secondly they were her only remaining act and thirdly, she felt a sense of sisterhood with the girls and was keen to buck the X Factor trend of girl bands being unsuccessful. Tulisa had carefully, and not entirely inaccurately, positioned them as everyday girls who female voters should relate to, rather than envy. All the same, the band and their mentor faced a huge mental obstacle. In fact, Tulisa had a double trend to buck. No band had ever won The X Factor. The closest were G4 and JLS who had finished runners-up to Steve Brookstein and Alexandra Burke respectively. If Tulisa could take Little Mix all the way, she would be making X Factor history, as well as being the winning mentor. Quite a target to aim for.
As she continued to adjust to the tensions and pressures of the live shows, particularly the perceived rivalry with Rowland, Tulisa reportedly asked her predecessor Cheryl Cole for advice. An unnamed ‘source’ reportedly told the Sunday Mirror: ‘The row with Kelly really got to her [Tulisa] and she has been on good terms with Cheryl for a while so she sent her some messages to see if she could help.’ The ‘source’ added: ‘Cheryl has been through it all and told her to just enjoy herself and try to patch things up with Kelly. Tulisa feels much better, thanks to Cheryl.’ The veracity of this unattributed story was increased when Cole herself spoke about Tulisa days later. In the first interview from Cole since she had been controversially removed from the judging panel for The X Factor USA, she spoke of her liking for Tulisa. ‘She’s lovely, I’ve known her for years,’ Cheryl told InStyle magazine in the much-hyped interview. ‘She came to my birthday party.’ Cole then scoffed at the perceptions that she had a grudge against Tulisa or that she would not be watching the UK X Factor. ‘You know what’s funny? People are surprised I say I’ll be watching and that I’m a fan of Tulisa’s, but all they know is what they read in the gossip magazines and it tends to be crap.’
Back at X Factor HQ, the official story was that Tulisa and Rowland had made up. Tulisa said, ‘We’re cool’ but she was not in an entirely placatory mood. ‘All this stuff about me not speaking to Kelly is not true,’ she said, but added: ‘She wasn’t speaking to me.’ She also confirmed the suspicions that the advice Rowland gave her on how to mentor her bands had also caused tension to rise between them. ‘Yeah, she was giving me tips on things, like showing me clothes she thought might work for Little Mix,’ she said. ‘But it’s not like I’m gonna ignore something that’s a good idea. I just didn’t like it at the time. I didn’t go mad. We just disagreed.’ More interesting was Tulisa’s revelation that she and Rowland had had a conversation about not just the show and the music industry, but also about life in general. It had been a healthy exchange between the two female judges, who found that they had more uniting them than dividing them. ‘We had a long chat on Saturday night – a proper chat about the show and personal stuff too. It’s quite stressful being on the show and there’s so much going on I don’t think we ever had time to just talk about everything.’ She added: ‘We actually have a lot in common, which might surprise some people. We might even do a collaboration when I do my solo stuff. There you go, bet you didn’t think I’d say that?’ She also said she hoped the public would realise that it was passion and not petulance that fuelled her behaviour in the competition. She was not, she insisted, being ‘stroppy’.
Meanwhile, she was also focused on life beyond The X Factor. Participation in the show can become so overwhelming and all-encompassing that those involved can easily forget that life continues beyond the bubble of the show. Tulisa, though, was looking to the future and her plans to launch herself as both a solo music artist and also a celebrity in her own right, beyond the connections with The X Factor and N-Dubz. ‘My plan is to release my first single in February and then put out two or three before my album comes out,’ she said. ‘N-Dubz are having a break. We might not do anything for up to two years. We’re putting out a greatest hits record on November 28 which I hope the fans – new and old – will love. We put our heart and soul into our music so it’s kind of a celebration of the best stuff we’ve done.’
Another plan she had was to publish a novel. Addressing suspicions that ‘celebrity’ authors are sometimes not the author of the novels they publish but simply sign off a manuscript entirely created by someone else, Tulisa insisted this was her novel. She said she was busy working on storyboards for the book, which would chart the life of a Tulisa-esque woman. She hoped that 2012 would be the year that she truly launched herself as a personality in her own right. What would the younger Tulisa who, even before N-Dubz achieved fame, had happily admitted that she wanted to be famous, make of her plans and stature? She would have loved it. More recently, in 2010, she had said: ‘In 10 years time I want to be right at the top. Simple as.’ She spoke of her lust to achieve international fame, including popularity in America. That will be a big ask, but Tulisa certainly seems to possess the ambition, determination and strength of character to give it the very best crack she can.
Meanwhile, her next big ambition was to take Little Mix all the way in The X Factor.
CHAPTER NINE
As The X Factor live shows carried on, it was time to assess how successful Tulisa had been as a judge. The London newspaper Metro did just that in a kind of ‘half-term report’ feature. The article described her as ‘an unusual appointment to The X Factor panel and [the one with] the most to prove’. The article said that to her credit her presence on the show drew in ‘the youth quotient’, but said she was ‘ill-equipped to mentor groups when her only band experience is performing with a man in a chullo hat that raps about Facebook’. Most viewers, however, were giving increasingly positive feedback about her performances. With Cowell, too, in admiration of her and with her act Little Mix improving each week, Tulisa could afford to be confident about her X Factor time to date.
However, assessments of the judging panel were upstaged by the ongoing saga of the season’s most controversial contestant – Frankie Cocozza. His abrupt departure from the competition handed one of Tulisa’s acts a potential lifeline. Ever since his first audition, in which he said he was entering the competition to boost his chances with girls and then bared his buttocks, upon which he had tattooed names of girls he had slept with, Cocozza had divided opinion. His fans admired his rebellious nature, wild appearance and the hedonistic lifestyle that was so hyped by the press. His detractors thought him an untalented, ungracious act, ill deserving of his place in the live finals. After several weeks of live shows, during one of which Cocozza worsened his standing by celebrating his progression with an aggressively shouted swear word, many in the public were puzzled as to why he remained in the competition. Even his own mentor Barlow had at times been nothing short of damning of his act’s performances. Suddenly, midweek between two shows, it was announced he had left the show. This came after he was caught ‘breaking competition rules’, according to the show’s producers.
Speculation as to what his rule-breaking had consisted of was rife. There were widespread utterances of ‘good riddance’ as Cocozza disappeared into the sunset. One of Tulisa’s acts spoke in his support. ‘He’s all right really,’ said Andrew Merry of The Risk. ‘If you see him behind the scenes he’s a good laugh. I just wish the public could see what we see because he’s such a good laugh and a likeable character.’ (Cocozza has since tried to resurrect his career, including an appearance in Celebrity Big Brother.) Tulisa and a number of X Factor viewers hoped that Cocozza’s exit would see The Risk reinstated to the competition. Others expressed the opinion that the fairest move would be to bring the most recently eliminated act – Johnny Robinson – back into the fold.
Neither move would transpire. One of Tulisa’s acts would be given the chance to return, but not The Risk. Instead, it would be 2 Shoes who were handed the potential lifeline. In one of the more perplexing manipulations in X Factor history, producers announced that one of 2 Shoes, James Michael, A
melia Lily or Jonjo Kerr – who were all eliminated in the first week of the live shows – would fill the gap left by Cocozza. The confusion over this move quickly gave way to speculation. Was this move designed purely to get the popular Amelia Lily, removed from the competition by her mentor Rowland before the public had had a chance to give its verdict on her via the voting lines? As such, was this a thinly veiled slap-down of Rowland from the show’s producers? Other theories included suggestions that the entire plot had been written in advance, with Cocozza always destined for an early exit, allowing an always waiting-in-the-wings Lily to return and storm to victory.
And all this before the public had even voted which of the four eliminated acts they would choose to bring back. At least it took the heat off Tulisa. Though she realised that of the four eliminated acts, hers was the least likely to be reinstated by the public, she also realised that among all the attention being paid to Cocozza and Lily some was critical of two of her rival judges. Barlow’s judgement in putting Cocozza through to the live shows raised question marks against his judgement, as did Rowland’s decision to remove Lily from the first week of the live shows. With Walsh also facing repeated suggestions from the viewers that he had gone stale having been on the show since its inception, it was Tulisa who in many ways was retaining most dignity and respect as a judge and mentor. No journalistic assessments of her performance on the show could conceal that.
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