Hiya,

What a great time thank you!

We got a train, which was my first time in a wheelchair and not to be repeated in a very  long time I hasten to add…..so when we arrived at Charing Cross a taxi did the rest. The hotel was very nice but within ten minutes of checking in we were waiting outside for the chauffeur driven Mercedes, where we met another 888lady, andrea001 and her partner. Our car arrived with no sign of another so the four of us bundled in.

When we arrived at the studio they had made special arrangements because of my circumstances. We had a few canapes and a glass of wine while we waited, just three tables away from Louis and some of the contestants! There were only eight of us; four from 888 and four from Talk Talk.

When we entered the studio itself, we were really close to  the stage and judges.  All of the contestants were so friendly and didn’t just do autographs and photos, they kept coming back to us asking what we thought, cuddling everyone, Rubyrips, my daughter, got far more than her fair share in my opinion! They were so down to Earth and genuinely so grateful for the chance they’d been given. I did have two favourites, Lloyd, who was forever asking if I was alright bless him and Joe who was just so cute! Ruby got on really well with Lloyd, Joe and Olly! God knows what they kept chatting about….

Olly with Rubyrips…..edging out mum and 888ladies X Factor ticket winner, Champagne31. Is it me or is Olly REALLY excited……?

Champagne31 (left), with Rubyrips, sandwiching Joe.

Lloyd’s turn to entertain our gorgeous 888ladies! Cheeeeese!

Dannii, was so sweet and we share the same name apparently, she told us that her middle name is  Jane too. She also told us all about the new boots she had on, that were to die for and her plans for Christmas. Rubys’ idol is Cheryl who signed her photos and her C.D that Ruby had taken.

No prizes for identifying the stunning X Factor judge, Cheryl Cole, with our gorgeous Rubyrips!

I was hoping to be cured of my obsession with Simon…but now its worse! His trousers hung perfectly by the way, not up by his ankles! Unfortunately, he stopped to tell us he had to do something and would be back but neither he nor Sinita got a chance. Hmmmmmmmm Sinita, not sure about her…

Well when it was all over we returned to our hotel in two cars which was much more comfy. Ruby wanted Pizza but I managed to convince her to try room service I’d noticed that they had sea bass and it was delicious, she got her pizza and thoroughly enjoyed it although she says she could have had four for the same price at Pizza Hut… I didn’t dare tell her how much I spent on her ice-cream LOL (not telling bank manager either).

We decided not to go out as it had turned so cold and to be honest we were both so tired. Rubys’ phone did not stop with friends calling. Then my son called, he was on duty in a squad car and they had ten minutes to kill so he invited himself for a visit, I can only imagine what people must have thought when he came to our room in  uniform LOL. He loved Ruby’s leftover pizza too.

Finally we got to bed, sadly for Ruby I was up early as usual at 6am but had to make coffee in the dark and she moaned when I tried to put the news on so I had to wait until 8.15am (two hours wasted…).

Rubyrips is branded as she sleeps by mum, Champers. It says, “I had the X Factor with 888ladies”

We had a lovely breakfast where we met Andrea001 and her husband  again and said our goodbyes. As it was so cold we decided to give any shopping a miss so a taxi and train home and we were indoors by a quarter past midday.

Champers with the homemade 888ladies banner!

It was an amazing day and a whirlwind 48hours altogether but I slept better last night than I have in months and months!!!!!

As for the X Factor who wins I no longer have a real opinion because they are all so deserving and such delightful and polite young people.

Only a couple of pics because Ruby’s camera went weird and distorted colours  but  now you have the full exclusive from me!:)  Ruby is back on duty today and still on an enormous high, thank you once again for a great experience!

Love Champers xx

THERE ARE A PAIR OF X FACTOR FINAL TICKETS UP FOR GRABS SO KEEP PLAYING THE X FACTOR SLOTS, BE ONE OF THE ONE HUNDRED TOP PLAYERS AND YOU COULD REPLICATE CHAMPAGNE31 AND RUBYRIPS’ AMAZING EXPERIENCE!

Singing off……..

……..Agent008

Dear 888ladies & 888gents

Thank you for taking part in this week’s X Factor 30 Second Survey! Before I give you a few insights into how you voted, I would like to announce the 3 roomies who picked up 10,000LPs each for taking part this week! They were drawn at random and are: MrBugs, Hexieladie & Jackiebird25! Well Done to you all – you have £10 worth of 888ladies bingo on us! Also, an extra special well done to Hexieladie & MrBugs who have just become the newest 888ladies VIPs by being with us for 3 months AND by playing 4,000+ games!

First of all compared to last week, when Stacey had a 4% lead over Olly for your X Factor Favourite to win, with Lloyd languishing in last place, it has all turned around!!! Joe is now leading with a 1% margin over Stacey and with Olly well back in third, but Lloyd is still last….some things don’t seem to change, he must be the 888ladies favourite to go this week!

As for your favourite X Factor Judge, it is far closer this week with Cheryl edging out Simon by a mere 1%….Dannii and Louis are third and fourth, respectively.

64% are confident that Jedward WILL NOT have a No 1 single following their exit and more overwhelmingly our 888ladies roomies say that they also NOT the new Ant & Dec! Don’t worry Geordie Boys, your jobs are safe!

Spare a thought for poor Danyl, just over half of you think that the other judges, apart from his mentor, Simon, are too harsh on him, stiff upper lip now! Someone who doesn’t need any sympathy is Olly who has a 4-1 advantage over Lloyd in the popularity stakes!

86% of you watch as much X Factor as possible, either both the weekend shows or that AND the Xtra Factor shows too! Our 888ladies are X Factor addicts!!! This is up 3% from last week!!!

Don’t forget to have your say in next week’s X Factor Poll that starts on Monday and again runs out on Thursday at midday!

Singing off……..

……..Agent008

This week I felt an overwhelming sense that behind the fancy clothing, I could sense the game, or not, that the judges were playing.

As Dermot would say “and in no particular order….Louis”. Now, he makes me laugh like you wouldn’t believe. Watch him, carefully next week, when he’s watching Jedward perform. He does this head bob thing with a smile on his face as he taps his pen on the desk. Originally I thought he was taking the Michael but I think he’s serious! Louis – bopping away to the music whilst sitting down. I love it! Please take a look next week and let me know if you see the same humour in his movements. Classic! Despite his rule book, I actually think he’s the most honest of the crew. He doesn’t have the insecurities of not making it as a singer (Danni) or the inexperience of managing artists (Cheryl). He knows he can produce successful artists and he answers accordingly. He never has a problem to say another judge’s act is fantastic and deserves to be in the final. I love this about him and respect him for it.

Danni on the other hand is more guarded. Since her Danyl comment in the first few weeks she’s been on her best behaviour. However, she doesn’t show the same competitiveness as the others which allows her to be honest and polite, if need be, about the other acts. She quite rightly adores Stacey and this perhaps gives her the backbone to be more complimentary, knowing that her act is most likely to also get praise in return.

Smug Simon. His lips resort to two slits because he smirks so hard when his acts are performing. He sits back casually in his chair, with his arm round the back of Cheryl’s chair in a “just look how good this singer is” way, “look what I have created, they are undeniably amazing”. More so than Louis he has the right to be cocky. Not only is he a successful producer but also the successful (and profitable) creator of the show. However, in my opinion he is the most unbiased of the panel. He’s very (that’s very) quick to criticise the other judges and he sometimes struggles to be nice about blatantly good acts. Now, I don’t want to jump to conclusions, but I think there’s a chance that he was only nice about Jedward this week so that they will stay in the competition and ultimately they’ll be no match for Danyl and Olly. In my opinion of Simon, no matter how improved Jedward were this week, they were no match for his adored Danyl or Olly so why else would he not slate the twins???

Finally, and most controversially, Cheryl. Not only is she blinded by Daniel’s mediocre-ness but I think this is since she harbours a secret liking for him. He is a good singer. Is that not a fact? And he’s nice to look at. Is that not a generally at least female approved fact? (During my friends’ survey he got the thumbs up by all asked). Me thinks a certain someone does not want the audience to think she fancies a certain contestant. It’s that playground, “he’s only mean to you because he likes you…” trick. Perhaps a particular judge just hasn’t grown up enough yet.

Overall, there’s an overriding sense of smugness going on by the judges. Well, when we’re down the final 6, the judges are mentoring the best of the best (what should be though however that’s debateable). I think it’s hilarious. Be smug in week 1 when you have 3 fresh untrained acts to mentor and they pull out good performances. Not at the end of the game when you’re left with more talented and confident individuals.

It’s getting close now. Only 4 weeks to go!!!

Talking Tara

Dear 888ladies & 888gents X Factor fans!

We have the results in for this week’s X Factor survey including which 3 roomies who won 10,000LPs each just for taking part in our X Factor Survey Raffle!

I can tell you from your results that Cheryl edges out Simon by 3% for the most popular judge with Dannii and Louis languishing behind with 13% and 7% respectively!

Your favourite to win the X Factor is Stacey who has a 4% lead over Olly….poor Lloyd was last with a mere 1% of all the votes cast! Do you agree?

The majority of you think that the ‘Dead Lock’ IS a kop out and that the ‘FRO MUST GO’!

A massive 83% of you either watch both shows on Saturday and Sunday or ALL the X Factor shows, including the Xtra Factor! Wow, you are a bunch of X Factor obsessives!

Finally, over 80% of you either ALWAYS or SOMETIMES play 888ladies when watching the X Factor and from the information gathered, the city that you live closest to is Manchester! No wonder you stay in doors and play 888ladies whilst watching the X Factor all the time !!

Now the result that you have all been waiting for…who will get the 10,000LPs for taking part….the lucky roomies who were the first 3 to be drawn were: feefee66; lilmissbevan; uniform01

Don’t forget to check out on Monday for the next quiz!

Signing off…….

……Agent008

…..And it comes in the form of an oh so powerful vote from an oh so tiny lady.

No one living on planet Earth could have escaped the drama caused by Simon last Sunday night. Was he wrong not to save Lucie when she unquestionably has a better voice than Jedward? Was he right to give Jedward the chance to stay in another week when they undoubtedly give a great performance? Or simply, was the only correct thing to do, to leave it up to the public vote?

I’m in the camp of Simon always does whatever he wants, so you can’t really judge him like an ordinary person. He’s on Planet Simon, just like Jedward as he politely put it, are on their own planet. There are too many coincidences in favour of Simon for things to just happen by chance. We have a rock week to suit his rocker Jamie. A Queen week to umm…suit his rocker Jamie. When it’s big band week he gives a rock song to his favourite darling Jamie. Are you seeing a pattern here?

What’s Simon’s obsession with him? Is it because Simon wants to expand his reach into the rock world and this is his legitimate way in? Or does he think that Jamie needs all the help he can get? Surely not.

What I do know though is that rules for Simon just don’t exist. Heaven forbid we should claim that one his boys sings karaoke, is not daring enough with his songs or won’t make it further than singing down at his local pub. There are clearly double standards for his beloveds and they can never be criticised. Louis and his rule book may be a tad annoying but I actually think that he has a point. Let’s not forget that Simon is the producer of the show and can make up his own rules as he goes along. The other judges don’t have that luxury. Also, Simon is Simon and the public love to hate him which seems to work in his favour. Again, a power that the other judges don’t have.

However, I’m pleased to say that it was thumbs up to Dannii this week!!! She showed Simon that he shouldn’t have put the survival of Lucie at stake when he could have easily saved her last week. Now he knows how it feels to have a strong performer like Jamie up against a weaker yet more popular singer like Lloyd. So, Lloyd stays and Jamie’s out. And it hurts Simon….doesn’t it! But two can play that game and it seems that Dannii has one up on you this time.

Tara for now

Talking Tara

p.s. on the side – I thought that Jedward were genuinely great this week! I even gave them a little round of applause

Dear 888ladies & 888gents

Did you ever wonder what it would be like to be right THERE at the X Factor studios and see how the show is made and enjoy everything that you love about X Factor in the flesh!!??!!

Well pollybear, had such a luxury when she won a pair of VIP tickets to the show earlier this month!

She traveled down with her guest to the studios in London and was mesmerized by the whole VIP package and seeing how the X Factor is put together, behind the scenes….here is my interview with her.

agent: So, how was it?

pollybear: Amazing! The hotel, the luxury Mercedes car that picked us up and of course the experience itself of seeing the X Factor!

agent: Fantastic! Tell me everything from the beginning!

pollybear: Well, we traveled down by train from the gloom to sunny London, which was a great change of scenery for us! We arrived at the hotel, which was amazing and were given a beautiful room! When we were set to go, the chauffeur, who was early, phoned us to come down and told us that we had to leave for the studio before the scheduled time as there was a SPECIAL GUEST who was going to be singing that night!

agent: Wow! Who was that?

pollybear: Well, we already knew that were getting Bon Jovi, he is too gorgeous by the way…., and JLS but we got to see Shakira as well, they were recording her in advance for the show tonight! Bon Jovi has the top selling album at the moment and JLS have the number 1 single at the moment, can’t say better than that!

agent: Did you see any celebs when you were there?

pollybear: We saw Derren Brown and the Backstreet Boys in the crowd behind us, they were going to be on the Xtra Factor later on….we also sat and chatted with Stacey Solomon’s family but the most exciting thing of the night was that was the night Rachel was voted off!!! It was bedlum over there, she has an amazing voice but Simon knew what he was doing, he controls everything!

agent: What do you mean?

pollybear: He is the linchpin in everything over there. Everything that happens is based around him and this is what I enjoyed as much as the show itself, seeing how everything worked! The floor managers use him as a timer, telling him to speak more or less to fill in time till the ad breaks….then when the adverts are on, they all run around doing the judge’s make up, in fact they do their make up at every opportunity!

This is pollybear’s view from her seat, she was soundly told off for taking this so there is only one!

pollybear: After the show we had food and drink, which was great before our fantastic chauffeur called us as he was there with the Merc outside. We then went to one of Gary Rhode’s restaurants, which was more of a bar than a restaurant, I think that he has two, the other one is a more conventional restaurant but there, I had the most expensive cocktail….

agent008: How much was it?

pollybear: It was £10 and then I had the most expensive but the best Irish Coffee that I had ever had which was £9.95 but as this was the only thing that we paid for, thanks to 888ladies, it was fine!

pollybear: I am the envy of everyone at work, it was a fabulous experience, we even got t-shirts, I gave mine to one of the girls at work.

pollybear: Is seems that I always win with 888ladies, in the Advent Calendar competition last year, I won a Nintendo Wii, so that is two in a row…I win nothing with anyone else….

So there it is, maybe pollybear will get a hatrick of wins with us over the coming months – watch this space!! But there are still X Factor tickets up for grabs so keep playing on the Instant Games!! GL ALL!

Signing off……..

……..Agent008