‘Strictly Come Dancing’ premiere tops ‘The X Factor’ UK, but barely

This is clearly the start that “Strictly Come Dancing” was hoping for on BBC, but not exactly what “The X Factor” UK was hoping to have: Another tightly-contested battle between two shows that have fought brutally the past couple of years for domination.

This Saturday, the battle was so close between the two series that there was only a difference of 100,000 viewers between them. Overall, the season premiere of the BBC competition / inspiration for “Dancing with the Stars” drew 8.4 million, whereas the latest “X Factor” audition show drew 8.3. While the singing show did manage a slightly-higher peak audience, we know that it drives Simon Cowell insane to be #2 in the ratings in his home country, especially when you cannot use the show’s age as an excuse when its competition has been around just as long.

As for why the “Strictly Come Dancing” figures are up this year, we attribute it mostly to just the show being so silly and lighthearted in tone. “The X Factor” can feel heavy-handed and at times littered with cliches, which is why Sharon Osbourne was probably so valuable to get back this year. Unfortunately, we are stuck still with a myriad of other problems, including Nicole Scherzinger developing some of the irritating tics again that made us dislike her on the American version of the show, and Louis Walsh using the same lines that he has for the past decade.

We really don’t expect the “Strictly Come Dancing” results to change much this year, and to us the major question will be if more and more viewers will flock to “The X Factor” if the level of performance rises over the course of the season.

What do you think about this battle, and who do you think will emerge on top in the end? If you want to read some more “X Factor” UK news, just be sure to visit the link here.

Photo: ITV