X Factor 2016

Clarkson was always the sole interviewer for that segment though, so it in that case it makes sense.

Rylan on Judge Rinder is one to be seen if you haven't seen Newzoids

The Xtra Factor is better than it has been in the past few years and having it live throughout helps get instant reaction and make it more fresh. They are clearly trying to emulate Bit On The Side.

But Clarkson then interviewed them on his own.

I'm enjoying this series a lot but dreading the 6 chair challenge. I find it terribly cringe worthy to watch when they trade off contestants for others all in front of a screaming crowd.

As for the Xtra Factor it is very strong having it live from the off. I wonder if they will follow suit with BGMT. They used a much improved live caption that was small and sat beneath the itv2 logo - this could have been the channel adding this so that it's not embedding into repeats.

As a bit of a sore point of mine I think that they're using far too many different fonts for various graphics, captions and for the Xtra Factor.

The typical X Factor sob story.

I wonder how low they will sink on the sob story's this year?

So there's a 'LIVE' DOG under the ITV logo that keeps appearing and then disappearing between performances. It's a bit strange, because it's supposed to be live throughout?

X Factor definitely isn't always live throughout.

This week it's on the left and actually sits almost on top of the STV DOG. Last week it was on the right. Why do ITV need to tell us the programme is live? They did the same with Saturday Night Takeaway as well...

It' doesn't make any sense. If the performances are pre-recorded, then why signpost it? People on social media are starting to notice, so expect a Mirror article with a conspiracy theory fairly soon.

Are the performances not live then? Or am I missing something.

I went to live shows a couple of years ago and everything was live in the studio but when I watched the recording back it seemed tobgebveey different as where I was sat a woman was in my seat!!

That sounds like a stock footage audience reaction shot - you wouldn't know anything was amiss unless you were in that audience. Then the STV DOG must be lower than the ITV one, which is cleanly above and aligned with the LIVE text. Does the LIVE need to be so bright though? It should be the same brightness as the logo DOG.

It's quite common in the states to have a "portions of this program were pre-recorded" disclaimer at the end, but I don't see a need for flagging up what's live and what's not. The current trend in British TV seemed to start with EastEnders Live, which of course flagged up the live bits (understandably).

In the past a lot of 'live' programmes had pre-recorded segments shown as live. Zig & Zag on The Big Breakfast and Wait Till I Get You Home on Noel's House Party come to mind. In fact, some 'on the bed' Big Breakfast interviews were not only pre-recorded, but recorded on a set rather than in the house.

A practice that continued with Saturday Night Takeaway though now they're more honest about it, even to the extent where they flagged up a short delay earlier this year with their wedding stunt.