Showbiz: X Factor branded 'money hungry' by viewers after phonelines open early

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X Factor branded 'money hungry' by viewers after phonelines open early Oct 8th 2012, 09:58 X Factor viewers have reacted angrily to the decision to open phonelines for the contestants before they had even performed for the first time on the live shows - branding bosses 'money hungry'. Ella Henderson wowed judges and viewers with her performance on Saturday night's X Factor (Picture: ITV) The move was announced by Dermot O'Leary on Saturday night's show, leaving fans effectively able to vote for their favourite act as soon as the programme began, rather than the one who they thought had the best performance on the night. It is in contrast to previous series, in which the phonelines had not been opened until all the acts performed. The move could be seen to have directly affected the voting results, too, as Carolynne Poole and Rylan Clark both found themselves in the bottom two after being among the last to perform on Saturday night's opening live show. Carolynne was the last of Gary Barlow's Over-28s to take the stage, performing 12th out of the 13 acts, while Rylan was the 10th contestant on the night. The other two contenders who performed late on - Jahmene Douglas (last) and Ella Henderson (11th) could be seen to have escaped the 'headstart' effect by being among the favourites to win and therefore having an established fanbase already. Ella is the bookies' favourite while Jahmene is second-favourite. Viewers wasted no time in airing their views on the new format on Twitter, as many denounced the change in voting rules as a 'sham'. 'Whoever goes first gets the lead!' one user complained, adding: 'X Factor is so money hungry.' However ITV defended its decision, saying the change would allow viewers 'to interact immediately with their favourite acts'. Sunday night's result proved controversial as Carolynne Poole left and Rylan Clark stayed (Picture: ITV) 'This is a highly positive change to the X Factor voting format to meet the changing needs and behaviour of our highly engaged viewers,' an ITV spokesperson told the Mirror. Voting costs 35p from either a landline or a mobile, with a portion of the profits going to charity, and a share also going to ITV and Simon Cowell's production company SyCo. Sunday night's results show also caused controversy after Louis Walsh sent the vote to deadlock - which led to Carolynne Poole being eliminated from the competition instead of Rylan Clark. The decision prompted Carolynne's mentor Gary Barlow to storm off set - while viewers speculated that the result had been 'fixed' after Louis was seen talking to a member of the production staff - believed to be executive producer Richard Holloway - during the sing-off. PICTURES: The X Factor 2012 - first live show

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