Simon Cowell Calls RATM Vs The X Factor "Stupid"

If you haven’t yet heard about the campaign to send Rage Against The Machine to Christmas number one then where have you been? First, read this post, second, go and join the Facebook group and pledge your support, third, buy Killing In The Name when you’re meant to.

In essence, sick of seeing The X Factor dominate the charts every holiday season, with the winner’s debut song always making number one, Jon Morter started a Facebook group urging everyone to buy Killing In The Name by RATM instead in order to beat The X Factor for once.

At the time of writing, the group has over 500,000 members, and the song is second favorite with the bookies to be Christmas number one. And Simon Cowell is taking notice. He told The Independent:

“If there’s a campaign, and I think the campaign’s aimed directly at me, it’s stupid. I think it’s quite a cynical campaign geared at me which is actually going to spoil the party for these three [contestants]. Me having a Number One record at Christmas is not going to change my life particularly. It does however change these guys’ lives and we put this opportunity there so that the winner of The X Factor gets the chance of having a big hit record. I also think it’s incredibly dismissive of the people who watch and enjoy the show… to treat our audiences as if they’re stupid and I don’t like that.”

You don’t like that? Well that changes everything then, let’s call it all off in case Simon Cowell gets offended. If anything his attitude makes me more determined to see this campaign succeed.

Campaign organizer Morter responded in the politest terms possible, telling NME:

“It’s a rallying cry. It’s been taken on by thousands in the group as a defiance to Simon Cowell’s ‘music machine’. Some certainly do see it as a direct response to him personally. If that’s what they take out of that song, then that’s fine for them. We’ve nothing personal against him at all, we just do not want yet another Christmas chart-topper from that show again.”

Exactly. And that’s coming from a fan of The X Factor. Simon Cowell needs to be given a bloody nose this year and it would make a nice change for the Christmas number one record to be something decent for a change rather than the usual reality show/novelty/boyband dross.

[Photo Source: Newscom]