Celebrity Big Brother final voting figures

I can't claim to have been as engrossed in this series of CBB as much as  some of those in the past. I'd say that since the move to Channel 5 it definitely seems to be drawing in a different kind of crowd. This is evident in the voting during the final (2nd to 5th February):

Scotty T - 36.32% 

Stephanie - 26.57%

Darren - 17.83%

Tiffany - 9.93%​

Danniella - 7.02%  

John - 2.33%

Personally from what I saw Tiffany brought the most entertainment value to the house. I'd have expected her to do a bit better really!

X Factor 2015 Voting Stats

Vote 1
Louisa Johnson - 15.9%
4th Impact - 11.2%
Anton Stephans -10.7%
Monica Michael - 9.1%
Ché Chesterman - 8.7%
Lauren Murray - 8.4%
Reggie 'N' Bollie - 7.4%
Seann Miley Moore -7.3%
Mason Noise - 6.1%
Max Stone - 5.8%
Alien Uncovered - 4.8%
Kiera Weathers - 3.4%
Bupsi - 1.2%

Vote 2
Louisa Johnson - 15.3%
Reggie 'N' Bollie - 13.0%
Ché Chesterman - 12.5%
Lauren Murray - 11.2%
4th Impact - 9.0%
Max Stone - 8.5%
Anton Stephans - 7.5%
Monica Michael - 6.3%
Mason Noise - 6.1%
Seann Miley Moore - 5.5%
Kiera Weathers - 5.1%

Vote 3
Louisa Johnson - 16.4%
Lauren Murray -14.1%
Ché Chesterman - 14.0%
4th Impact - 13.2%
Reggie 'N' Bollie - 13.0%
Mason Noise - 9.8%
Anton Stephans - 8.0%
Monica Michael - 6.1%
Max Stone - 5.4%

Vote 4
Reggie 'N' Bollie - 21.6%
Louisa Johnson - 21.5%
Lauren Murray - 14.8%
4th Impact - 13.8%
Ché Chesterman - 12.8%
Anton Stephans - 12.3%
Mason Noise - 3.2% (left after Saturday freeze)

Vote 5
Ché Chesterman - 22.2%
Reggie 'N' Bollie - 22.1%
Louisa Johnson - 21.1%
Lauren Murray - 18.4%
4th Impact - 16.2%

Vote 6
Louisa Johnson - 31.5%
Reggie 'n' Bollie - 27.0%
Ché Chesterman - 20.9%
Lauren Murray - 20.6%

Vote 7 Freeze
Louisa Johnson - 44.5%
Reggie 'n' Bollie - 35.2%
Che Chesterman - 20.3%

Vote 7 Final
Louisa Johnson - 53.9%
Reggie 'n' Bollie - 38.9%
Che Chesterman - 7.2% (left after Saturday freeze)

A revealing set of results. Louisa won most weeks, though interestingly almost always by a slim margin. The only other two contestants to win a week were Reggie n Bollie (week four) and Che (week five) . The vote for weeks 5 and 6 are notable in how evenly split they were. 4th Impact's vote help up pretty well throughout. Mason Noise died on his arse in week four. No run away winner this year!

The X Factor 2015 Final

This series of X Factor has certainly been unique in that compared to some years the contestants have been pretty decent, the ratings have all but fallen through the floor. Simon Cowell's yearly battle with Strictly has become a thing of the past - there is no competition to be had - and we're left with a final that lacks much of the enthusiasm of previous years. That said, I'm sure the duets will go down well this Saturday and if they have a 'losers' song like previous years, I'll be keeping an eye out for the one and only Wagner, who always 'makes it his own'.

The three finalists:

• Che Chesterman (Boys - Nick Grimshaw)   -   20-1
• Louisa Johnson (Girls - Rita Ora)   -  1-6
• Reggie 'N' Bollie (Groups - Cheryl Fernandez-Versini)   -  5-1

Final 3 Songs:

Che Chesterman
FAVOURITE SONG: Amy Winehouse - Tears Dry on Their Own / Marvin Gaye - Ain't No Mountain High Enough
NEW SONG: Bruno Mars/Amy Winehouse - Valerie
DUET: TBC

Louisa Johnson
FAVOURITE SONG: James Brown - This Is A Man's World
NEW SONG: Yolanda Adams - I Believe I Can Fly
DUET: Possibly Rita Ora

Reggie n Bollie
FAVOURITE SONG: One Direction - What Makes You Beautiful / OMI - Cheerleader
NEW SONG: Spice Girls - Spice Up Your Life / Outhere Brothers - Boom Boom
DUET: TBC

All three finalists are actually pretty different this year. Not as though being in the bottom three is the kiss of death, but it's not a plus point so I can understand Che Chesterman being the rank outsider here. That said he has picked up his performance over the last couple of weeks in part due to some excellent song choices. His songs for the final are somewhat unspiring though unfortunately (note: the duets are not yet known so I can't comment on that).

Louisa Johnson being so young and that being a 'dreams do come true' narrative likely works to her advantage. She certainly has a great voice too, though the odd duff song choice hasn't always made her sound like a million dollars (and again I don't think the choices for the final are the best). She's never been bottom 3 which of course is a major indicator that she's popular. At 1/6 though, where is the value?

Which leaves us with the fun act Reggie 'N' Bollie. I say 'fun act' because 'joke acts' in X Factor do appear to shifted more into the fun category over the past few years, so it would be a bit much to accuse them of being a joke. You could of course say that they're not very good, but that's a different kind of criticism. At 5-1, with decent songs for the final and again due to not being bottom three so far, Reggie n Bollie could feasibly be the very first year that this kind of act wins. Again they have a narrative and on top of that the new method of free app voting perhaps makes it less likely that people will vote for 'serious' acts. At the odds available I'd go for them!

Selection: Reggie 'N' Bollie to WIN at 5-1

Wladimir Klitschko vs Tyson Fury

I likely risk being labelled an old fart for pointing that that boxing isn't what it was 'in my day' but there's something to that. We really don't see all that many 'fight nights' worth staying in for. There aren't many big name bouts to speack of nor an awful lot of characters in boxing now. Tyson Fury certainly ticks that last box though. Depending on your point of view, he likely falls somewhere between a character and a nutcase, what with his karaoke moments and often bizarre outbursts. In terms of character, he's quite the opposite of Klitschko in almost every way.

Of course none of the theatrics matter once you're in the ring and of the two fighters Klitschko clearly has far more going for him. In terms of his record and boxing ability, other than questioning how exciting he is to watch, Klitschko is a formidable opponent and the few blips he's experienced in his career happened over a decade ago now. Fury, although undefeated has not fought a tremendous amount of what I'd call top flight fighters so could be in for a shock come Saturday 28th. On the plus side for him, he matches his oppoent in stature.

As he was in July, Klitschko is 1-4 to win the fight, which is about right in my view. He's not going to make it easy for Fury to get past his guard and is an intelligent fighter. If Tyson does get through though, he has a puncher's chance as Klitschko's main weakness from the past is that on the rare occasions he does get caught, he's not quick to recover. There's not much value in betting at 1-4 really so I would be tempted to go for Wladimir Klitschko by KO, TKO or Disqualification at Evens. I don't think it'll go the distance as I see Fury going all guns blazing in the early and middle rounds in an all or nothing approach.

This is Fury's chance to get his hands on the WBA, WBO, IBF and IBO heavyweight titles so I in no way undermine his determination and focus, but I do believe he's got his work cut out.

Selection: Wladimir Klitschko by KO, TKO or Disqualification at Even Money

Bosnia-Herzegovina versus Republic of Ireland, Friday, November 13

The Republic of Ireland is likely to be without key personnel for its European Championship qualifying play-off first leg in Zenica, Bosnia-Herzegovina on Friday. Defender John O’Shea and striker Jonathan Walters are suspended after being sent off and booked, respectively, in the 2-1 loss in Poland and striker Shane Long, who has an ankle injury, is also a major doubt.

The only previous meeting between the sides, in a friendly in Dublin in 2012, resulted in a 1-0 win for the home side, but the Bosnians have since qualified for 2014 FIFA World Cup, so may be a different proposition this time. Indeed, they’re on a winning streak, having defeated Andorra 3-0, Wales 2-0 and Cyprus 3-2 in their last three competitive matches to finish third in Group B behind Belgium and Wales. They’re looking to make it to their first UEFA European Championship but, with former Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko leading the line, they’re worthy favourites on home turf.

The lack of top-class centre forward is the obvious weakness in Martin O’Neill’s side, so let’s go for Bosnia-Herzegovina to record a hard-fought 1-0 win.

Selection: Bosnia-Herzegovina to win 1-0 (11/2 with 888Sport and Unibet)