Melvin Odoom dishes on X Factor final, Murs’ mistake and Adele rumours
Everyone's on their "A game" says the Xtra Factor presenter as the 2015 final looms
We’ve whizzed around to the final stages of The X Factor faster than Simon Cowell can say "I didn’t like it, I loved it" and Melvin Odoom says the remaining four acts are ready and raring to go.
“Everyone’s on their A game,” Odoom told RadioTimes.com, taking a break from hosting ITV2 spin-off show Xtra Factor with Rochelle Humes.
“You can just see everyone’s working their arse off to be the best that they can be. I think everyone kind of thinks they could potentially win it, which is why they signed up for the show in the first place.”
Odoom won’t be drawn on who he wants to win as Louisa Johnson, Lauren Murray, Reggie N Bollie and Ché Chesterman line up alongside each other: “We’ve been with them from day dot”. But he’s convinced those that don’t take the crown have nothing to worry about.
“I’d like all of them to win. I think, essentially, they’re all talented, so they’re going to win one way or another. Whether it’s the person who gets the most votes or the one who goes and smashes it in the charts. They’re all just such good artists to be around.”
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The presenter doesn’t expect any bad feeling towards the winner either.
“The funny thing is, although they’re battling against each other, they’ve all become friends as well. They’re so close. I think whether someone wins or loses, they’re all going to celebrate. It sounds so silly, but it’s like a family when you go to the contestants’ house.”
While it’s been difficult to sugar-coat this year’s viewing figures, with overnight stats regularly falling behind Saturday night rival Strictly Come Dancing, Odoom says boss Simon Cowell hasn’t seemed cross backstage.
“Simon’s been cool. Everyone’s just enjoying the whole experience. This year it’s just been all about the talent. Everyone’s agreed that the talent has been through the roof and across the board, too. Look at every single category; you had someone who could have potentially won the show.
“We always make and build stars,” Odoom continued. "We wouldn’t have One Direction, Little Mix, JLS… all of these people without the show. This year we’re going to have a whole host of stars off the back of it, like Louisa. Even Reggie N Bollie who initially people thought were the joke or gimmicky act. They’ve proven themselves to be credible artists.”
Odoom admits he’s keeping his “fingers crossed” that he’ll be asked back to the show next year. He hasn’t got his eye on being bumped up to the main presenting job though – and didn’t put his CV on Cowell’s desk following that Olly Murs mishap.
“Nah, I’m happy doing Xtra. I’m going to leave them to it,” Odoom said of main show hosts Caroline Flack and Mr Murs. “It could have happened to me, it could have happened to Roch. It’s live TV and it happens," he continued, after Murs read out the name of who was going home too early. "You pick yourself up. He smashed it the weekend after with his performance and he’s smashing it every single weekend presenting. I think Olly’s an absolutely amazing person to work with and he’s the nicest guy in the industry, trust me.”
As for that final, Odoom was keeping tight-lipped about the guest line-up. “You know about Coldplay and One Direction – they’re big names. That’s a pretty good line-up,” he teased. Of the rumours Adele might perform he added: “If we had her on the show, it’d be an honour.”
As for whether she’d say anything about Ché’s mix-up with the lyrics to Hello last week, Odoom laughed: “Adele’s super nice, she’d never say anything like that. She’s really down to earth.”
The X Factor continues Saturday and Sunday at 8:00pm on ITV
