X-Mas loses it's X-Factor

Much has been said of the campaign to get Rage Against the Machine to the christmas number one spot and I feel like adding me thoughts. I decided to not get involved in all the hype, mainly because Rage are not really my type of music. I do consider it 'shouty' but I know many would not like my choice of music.

However, I don't think musical tastes are really the issue here. I of course wanted to see Simon Cowell's corporate factory lose out and even more wanted to feel like people would reject his nonsense and am very pleased that has happened.

Many people who don't enjoy the music of Rage Against the Machine were equally delighted to see them take Christmas number one.

Of course, the music charts are irrelevant. The Christmas number one is irrelevant and nothing has radically changed as a result of this rather large upset.

But we are constantly told that X-factor matters to people. An average of 15 million people tuned into ITV on the two days of the final to see Joe McElderry defeat Olly Murs. Obviously that is a large number, but I'm not too proud to admit that I was one of those 15 million.

Why? Because there was nothing else on? Because it was vaguely interesting? But deep down did I really care? Of course not and I think nor did many of the other 15 million viewers.

We all recognise that who wins the X Factor really is not important, despite the fact that it seemed to be headline news.

This year we've seen the popular show Big Brother axed, I'm a Celebrity is supposed to heading the same way and there are even rumours that X Factor may not survive another year. So is this signaling the end of reality TV? Perhaps the recession has caused many to concentrate more on their own realities than someone elses?

So back to the topic. Enough people came out to buy the Rage track and therefore toppled Simon Cowell from his thrown of The Christmas Music King.

Some people put this down to musical snobbery but I think it's more than that. Over 500,000 people bought the record, most of them protesting against manufactured pop music. This is a good thing. It doesn't mean the revolution will automatically follow or that this will even create a big change in the music industry.

But it does demonstrate that enough people are willing to reject the corporate crap that we are fed on a daily basis. No matter how small, this was an act of resistance. At last we have proof that the British people are not all automated drones who will always do what they are told.

So let that be a lesson to the cynics who believe capitalism has taken over all of our brains. Enough people are willing to say , "fuck you I won't do what you tell me!"