Betting.Betfair

...it doesn't mean they're not after you. Is Rebecca right to fear Cheryl? The German philosopher Baron Friedrich Wilhelm Christian Karl Ferdinand Freiherr von Humboldt (Basil to his mates) was a bright old herr. In introducing his essay 'Sphere and Duties of Government', he emphasised one central idea - "the absolute and essential importance of human development in its richest diversity." Fine words, and a theory which thanks to John Stuart Mill, has stood humankind in pretty good stead ever since. Until now. Until the appalling manipulation of the British population over the weekend, that contrived to remove the mightily diverse Wagner from our screens. Two thrust out Cowell is it? I'll give you two thrust right in that . Savage editing and having to sing early made a mockery...

I'm not quite sure what to make of the [b]X Factor[/b] weekend we've all just had to endure; it was bizarre to say the least! Most of the craziness centred around eccentric Brazilian [b]Wagner[/b], who without a shadow of a doubt put in the worst performance I've ever seen by any X Factor contestant this year or any other year. But it was Cheryl Cole's post-song verbals towards Vaarg-ner that made for uncomfortable viewing. Wagner had simply stated some facts in an interview done earlier in the week, that Cole was someone to look up to because of the way she's come from a council estate to where she is today. Unfortunately [b]Princess Cole[/b] took offence to Wagner's subsequently twisted words and decided to have a pop at him live on air. It was all very unprofessional - on Cole's...

[b]Matt Cardle[/b] (2.62 Winner market; 1.18 Top 3 market) Matt is a fantastic singer no doubt and he fully deserves to be favourite to win this year's contest. Even my 'degree-in-music, league two football-loving' friend thinks he will win so that's good enough for me. The one question I will pose to you all though is, has he played his trump card too early? His rendition of The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face was spine-tingling admittedly, but that's the song that got the judges' attention at Bootcamp and I would have thought he'd have saved it for later in the show. His propensity for high-pitched songs might catch him out as the competition progresses, but somehow I doubt it as he is in such a strong position now, one below-par week won't be too detrimental to his chances of winning. [b]Rebecca...

With the girls outnumbering the boys seven to four on Strictly Come Dancing, The Contrarian is confident that his last reality TV show tip - on Strictly having a female winner - is as good as won, and it's time to start thinking about the X Factor. He's not sure if a girl is going to win yet, but there's one thing for certain - it won't be current favourite Matt Cardle. Oppose him at 2.86 - here's why... [b]The favourite rarely wins[/b] The first rule of reality TV show betting is to never bet on a favourite and that advice is particularly useful when it comes to the X Factor, as those who backed Rhydian Roberts in the 2007 final, which he went into as the 1.29 frontrunner, learned the hard way. Another fairly staggering trend to be aware of is that in each of the last three series,...