<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"When we suggested a month ago that viewers should start backing Christopher Maloney to win The X Factor, we never imagined you would actually listen to us. Four eliminations later and four more incredible survivals from Maloney, the prospect of the Liverpool warbler winning the ITV1 reality show isn&amp;#039;t a joke anymore.  He&amp;#039;s no Wagner or Jedward, he&amp;#039;s a serious contender.  As usual, Reality Bites was ahead of the curve, and now every Tom, Dick and Harry is placing a few bob on the Ronseal-tanned, shaky-handed, granny-bothering, Jane McDonald-in-the-making. But could he actually take home the crown in Manchester on December 9? We&amp;#039;ve weighed up the power ballad-phile&amp;#039;s realistic chances. For - The Stats X Factor rules state that no singer who ends up in the bottom two during the series can go on and win the show. This should mean that James Arthur and Union J may as well have their bags packed already and the only contestant standing in The Maloney&amp;#039;s way is wee Jahmene Douglas. It&amp;#039;s been an unusual year for voting on the show, but there&amp;#039;s been nothing to suggest that James or Union J will suddenly have had a burst of fresh voters and Maloney definitely isn&amp;#039;t doing anything different that could cost him precious phonecalls.   Against - The Eggnog Quigglet Factor Ah, Eoghan Quigg. The half-pint sized, chubby-cheeked, Diana Vickers-loving teenager is a distant and unfortunate memory now, but way back in series five of X Factor the Quigg was topping the votes every weekend. Grannies wanted to dab his cheeks with hankies and were willing to rack up gross phonebills to get him through each week. However, when it really came down to the crunch in the semi-final and final, Quigglet&amp;#039;s vote crumbled. He finished a respectable third in the final, but the nation appeared to come to their senses about what was right and proper when it actually mattered. Maloney could face a similar last-minute dip in support. For - Liverpool Love-in Liverpool has a strong track record of producing finalists on the X Factor (Ray Quinn, Rebecca Ferguson, Marcus Collins) and the passionate locals will be hoping that it&amp;#039;s fourth-time lucky for the city and this time they have a winner. Anyone who has spent anytime looking at voting trends on TV talent shows will know how important a strong regional vote can be and the anti-Maloney spin from &amp;quot;those London media types&amp;quot; can only have strengthened it.  Against - Media  Last week&amp;#039;s incredible tabloid onslaught of negative headlines about Maloney did pretty much everything bar blaming him for the sinking of the Titanic. None of the big X Factor writers (Ex-News of the World Dan Wooton, Mark Jefferies at The Mirror and Colin Robertson at The Sun) appear to have any time for the Overs act and seem only too happy to stick the boot in. Maloney has so far been unaffected by the negative press (He&amp;#039;s a diva, he&amp;#039;s a fake, Jane McDonald is the only singer willing to duet with him in the final). However, the constant asides and snipes must be having some sort of impact on viewer opinions and by the time we reach the final the press may finally have ground him down and won. For - Anti-Cowell Rage Against The Machine. Wagner. The Voice. What ties these three subjects together? It&amp;#039;s the anti-Cowell brigade, obviously. There&amp;#039;s nothing the public love more than a chance to stick the boot into Simon Cowell&amp;#039;s mega-rich smug chops and a win for Maloney would be the ultimate slap in the Botox. People say that Cowell always wins, and yes he would still collect a chunk of the phone money from Maloney fans, but the embarrassment of having a cruise ship-style singer as an ambassador for the show would surely dampen any financial profits.  Against - Judges No matter how big the ballad, no matter how high the note, no matter how orange the tan, Christopher Maloney just can&amp;#039;t win over the judges. Louis can&amp;#039;t stand him, Tulisa has a face on every time he performs like Maloney just left a turd in her shoe and Nicole Scherzinger has taken to comparing him to cheeseburgers. Even his own mentor Gary Barlow seems reluctant to get behind Maloney and has shown more passion for his rivals&amp;#039; acts in recent weeks. For - Lack of quality On most series of X Factor, sympathy, sob stories and a belting diva voice will only get you so far. Typically, the acts that look like potential popstars, plantinum-sellers and money-makers rise to the top and eventually triumph.  However, not even the most passionate of X Factor supporters could make a case that this has been a vintage year for talent. The judges might act like James Arthur is John Lennon reborn and they may be able to convince themselves that Jahmene Douglas doesn&amp;#039;t sound like a cat-strangler on those big notes, but viewers aren&amp;#039;t falling for it. Maloney could triumph purely on default.  Against - Final voters Some people vote every week on The X Factor. A large number only bother picking up the phone when it gets down to the crunch in the final.  The biggest fear for Maloney is that the people who vote in the final are the same people who have been sat at home wondering how on earth he&amp;#039;s got through every week. Do you think Christopher Maloney will win The X Factor? Let us know below! "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/tv/the-x-factor/news/a442087/christopher-maloney-could-he-actually-win-the-x-factor/>