Well, what a bunch of old grumps you lot are. You sound like my grandad

The X Factor is brilliant stuff! I love all those fluffy shows though, it's what TV is for, mindless distraction.
Okay, there are a few differences between Idol and X Factor. The latter is a much glitzier production, when I watch American Idol now it all looks a tad drab. X Factor also has four different categories: Girls, boys, groups and over 28's. Each category has their own judge, so the judges are also competing for the win. Each judge is assigned their category after the audition phase, after which they whisk the possible contestants to some tropical locale. They then have some kind of high-profile person in the business join them for one last audition to whittle the numbers down to four acts per judge.
Then, once the actual show kicks off, the judges mentor the acts, helping to choose songs, etc.
It's the number one show over here. It airs from the fall until just before Christmas and it's all anyone talks about during that time. The Christmas number one song (a big deal over here) is usually from the winning contestant.
Can't wait to see how it does in the good ole USA

" Fire! Fire!, Diniz in the oven" - Murray Walker on seeing Pedro Diniz's Sauber on fire