X Factor finalists will have to be tough, Barlow warns

GARY Barlow has warned this year’s X Factor finalists that talent is not enough, and they will have to be able to “thrive” on pressure if they want to win the show.

The Take That star, who made his debut as a judge on the ITV1 talent show last year, said it was hard work.

He said: “One thing I noticed about last year is that some of the acts take to being in the 
X Factor environment like ducks to water and they just thrive on it. Every week they come back better and better, while there are others that just get worse, taking the criticism badly and finding it hard to move forward.”

The singer said most of the work goes unseen by the television audience. He added: “The performance on a Saturday night is the gift after a week of hard work: ‘You’ve done all this work and here’s your prize – you get to go on stage and perform’.

“The rest of it is all hard work – interviews, being filmed, practising your song and working out how you will translate it to the audience.”