On Friday the 11th of December, as hundreds packed into the Students’ Union, including one very special guest, Elton George Lewis was crowned the winner of Canterbury Christ Church Pop Factor 2009 and will be opening the main stage at this year’s Summer Ball. Pop Factor proved to be a huge success at CCSU, as the popularity of the SU rocketed to a stage where it was ‘one in one out’ into the building, as the full capacity meant that many unfortunate fans were often turned away.

The first two weeks saw hopefuls audition in front of judges Simon Cowell, Louis Walsh, Cheryl Cole and Dannii Minogue. But obviously these weren’t the real X Factor judges, they were even better! We had the arrogant Mr Cowell played to perfection by CCSU president Liam Preston, the cute little Irish Louis Walsh by myself, Kal Sajad (No idea why I had to be the camp judge!), our fab Sports Sabb Steph White took to the stage as the glamorous Cheryl Cole. Last but definitely not least, Vice President Welfare and Education, Steve Godwin, played the judge from down under Dannii Minogue. Mr Godwin proved to be a crowd favourite, putting in full effort in trying to imitate Dannii, as week in week out he turned out in a black wig and sexy little dress (although if we’re getting picky he could have shaved his chest).

As the audition stages ended, the number of acts were whittled down to the final 16 and each judge was assigned as a mentor to four of the finalists. Unfortunately, financial limitations meant that Pop Factor was unable to replicate ITV’s X Factor in being broadcasted on prime time television with the facilities to phone in and vote for your favourite act. However, we had the next best thing, in a sound-o-meter hidden away in the Union, which determined which act would go through based on the noise levels of the cheers they received. The bottom act each week left the competition with the next two taking part in a ‘sing off’, from which the judges had to make the difficult decision in voting who would be leaving the competition. As the weeks progressed, disappointed acts were “sent home” (using the X Factor lingo) as Pop Factor picked up pace and popularity.

There was the assumption that Pop Factor would be a pub karaoke style competition, but it was anything but. As something that started out as a light hearted ‘bit of fun’, Pop Factor’s continuous growth in popularity meant that some acts started to take it very seriously indeed. There were numerous Facebook groups supporting particular acts, and some fans even turned out with banners as they cheered on their friends. And the rivalry amongst the judges was also clear to see, as friendships with the performers grew, with no one wanting to see one of their own acts get voted out.

There is no doubt that the ‘Jedward’ of the competition went out to the ‘Jumbo Skets’, a girl band consisting of a number of Christ Church Cheerleaders. They didn’t necessarily sing the perfect notes, but their enthusiasm, energy and creativity came in abundance, epitomised by their performance of ‘It’s Raining Men’, in which presenter Jake ‘Mclane’ Kemp was hosed down with water and stripped to his Calvins.
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It is imperative to mention the efforts of both Mclane and Georgie Farrer, who mimicked presenters Dermot O’Leary and Hollie Willoughby. Their on stage chemistry was spot on, as they engaged well with the acts, judges, and most notably kept a sometimes boisterous audience under control. Despite Georgie’s repetition of the phrase “I thought that was FAN-tastic!” and Jake’s cringe worthy humour (My favourite being when he asked an act carrying a guitar in a case why he had “bought his tennis racquet?”), there is no doubt that Pop Factor would not have been the same without the two “FAN-tastic” presenters.

So to the final. After over a month of singing their hearts out each week, and the consumption of dozens of Lemsip sachets to keep those sore throats away, we were down to four acts. The cheeky ladies’ magnet Elton George Lewis, the consistent Stevie-Louise Attwood, the soulful Casey Erin Hall and the passionate duo of Henry and Angel. After the first round of performances, in which acts had to belt out a song from the theme of ‘Christmas’, the judges had to choose one act to be sending home. After much deliberation, the four judges agreed that the unlucky act would be Henry and Angel.

That left three acts battling it out to be crowned the first ever Pop Factor winner. However, before all that, there was a special treat for the audience. As the SU doors opened at eight o’clock, there was excitement in the air as an X Factor finalist, whose identity had been kept a secret, would be performing later that night. There were rumours and whispers around all week prior to the final as to who the guest act would be, and it’s safe to say that not many were left disappointed as Rachel Adadeji, from the recent series of X Factor, came from behind the curtains to perform a number of hit songs including Robbie Williams ‘Let Me Entertain you’ and Beyonce’s ‘If I Were A Boy’. It was clear that Rachel had not let her new found fame to take over, as she got involved with the audience, inviting them on to the stage as she smiled throughout.

The three Pop Factor acts then sung a final song of their choice, in a last ditch attempt to sway the vote of the judges. However, the format of the competition had a slight twist for the last performance - the reliable sound-o-meter was replaced by a new judge; Rachel Adadeji. The pressure was on for the Christ Church finalists as they prepared to sing in front of someone who Simon Cowell (The real one, not Liam Preston!), once described as having “great vocals” and putting on “superb performances.” However, all three acts performed to the best of their abilities and truly justified their place in the final. But there was one act who took the audience by storm. The deciding vote went to Rachel Adadeji and there was only one winner she could pick. With his dapper dress sense, his dance moves that made every bloke in the audience envious, and his cheeky smile, this gentleman was ultimately the most entertaining performer in the whole competition. As he performed a memorable rendition of Jackson 5’s ‘Blame it on the Boogie’, winner of Pop Factor 2009 was Elton George Lewis. EGL was ecstatic as the fans ran on to the stage during his ‘Winners Performance’, demonstrating the craze and interest that the competition had generated.

Pop Factor might now be over but it has shown us that the Students’ Union is THE place to start off a Friday night. And throughout this term you will be able to win up to £250 as CCSU does ‘DEAL OR NO DEAL’ on Friday nights. But for those of you who want to see more of Elton George Lewis, you will just have to wait a little bit longer until the Summer Ball.

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