Wawffactor

Synopsis

Straight off the back of ITV's announcement that Pop Idol won't be coming back and well before ITV's announcement of The X Factor, S4C swallows a little bit of it's pride and comes up with this more bearable show. Wawffactor doesn't go looking for a singer, it's looking for more of a singing performer - the dancing and singing go hand in hand, although the singing is all the more dominant.

In Wales, the series doesn't mean the world to contestants as much as The X Factor does. There's no £1 million contract, which invariably means no excruciatingly tearful pleas of 'Please, it really means the world to me'. It's more of a platform for any aspiring young singers, which works especially in Welsh-speaking Wales. Most of the contestants don't follow the traditional route of the Eisteddfods yet it is available to them - so not making the next stage is more of a tiny knock than the big overblown tragedy it is to some of those involved in The X Factor.

The format is simple - hundreds take part in a series of auditions around Wales - all of them auditioning in front of four judges:

• Owen Powell - former guitarist of Catatonia
• Bethan Elfyn - Radio 1 DJ, sidekick to Huw Stephens
• Aled Hadyn Jones (BB Aled) - Also from Radio 1 (best known from Chris Moyles) and also Entertainment reporter for BBC Radio Cymru
• Huw Chiswell - senior musician

Eventually, the hundreds that applied get whittled down to ten who take part in studio heats (with a studio audience of about 15!) The judges vote off one of the remaining singers every week. It's during this time that they recieve voice coaching sessions from profilic Flintshire singer-songwriter Caryl Parry Jones (who has also progressed to become Series Producer). The culmination is a live grand final from Cardiff (with a studio audience of certainly more than 15) with three remaining finalists. After the judges eliminate one of the finalists, the winner is decided by the now-obligatory phone vote.

Winners

2003-04 series winner: Lisa Pendrick - Following an album release, Lisa is concentrating on live performances and her own composing.

2005 winner: Rebecca Trehearn - Released an album and then moved to London where she is currently performing in the cast of Queen musical, We Will Rock You.

2006 winner: Einir Dafydd - Also released a debut album and then disappeared for a while before coming back to win 2007's Can i Gymru (Song for Wales) competition.

Trivia

Despite the fact that both male and female contestants enter, the winner is always a woman. Both 2004 and 2005 grand finals featured three women. The 2006 grand final was the first to feature a male in the final three (Nathan Whiteley from Wrexham), but he was voted out by the judges.

Weblink

Official site - in Welsh and English

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