The countdown to Christmas has officially begun as Saturday night saw the X Factor return for its seventh series. Now, I have to admit, back in the days of Pop Stars, Pop Idol and even the first couple of X Factors, the concept of finding those hidden diamonds in the rough was what excited us – or me at least. I personally liked the terrifying private audition rooms with just the judges and the contestants as it made it seem more authentic and actually a singing contest. Now, even the completely bonkers people know they have an audience ready and waiting and it seems a little less real somehow.

It may be slightly cynical to suggest that part of the reason we all tuned in this week was to watch Cheryl’s moment of malaria collapse and unfortunately the other thing none of us could avoid listening to was Geri Halliwell’s relentless babble. I particularly loved the bit about how she wanted to see more ‘Girl Power’. As ever, there were some entertaining people in the form of G&S and who could forget Shirlena Johnson and her rendition of Duffy’s ‘Mercy’? I did have high hopes for the kooky Madonna lookalike Katie Waissel but although her vocals were fine (I’m a harsh judge, ok), I did agree with Louis that her performance wasn’t quite to standard and definitely not what you would call ‘X-Factor’ worthy.

The other interesting thing which seemed to grab the audience’s attention and even caused a cyber riot on Twitter was the rumoured use of autotune on the contestant’s microphones. Now, I can’t say whether this is definitely true or not but it was clear that there was a slightly robotic and enhanced sound attached to some of the vocals. This was especially noticeable with the focused on contestants including 18 year old Gamu Nhengu, who are probably the ones that will progress further through the show and who Cowell and the producers will think increase the ratings no doubt.

So, I guess this does in fact suggest that the X Factor isn’t really about finding those diamonds in the rough at all? Will we all settle down with our wine and takeaway for the next round of auditions on Saturday then? I dare say it’s still a pretty safe bet.