17 December 2005
DailyRecord
Cash pours in as 20m watch TV battle of the year
By Rick Fulton
BOOKIES are preparing for a £5million flood of bets in telly's biggest talent show battle ever.
More than 20 million people are expected to tune in as the finals of The X Factor and Strictly Come Dancing go head-to-head tonight.
Fans are expected to wager around£4million on X Factor and one million on Strictly Come Dancing.
And producers are predicting a record five million calls to their voting hotlines.
In The X Factor, betting was tight last night between Manchester heart-throb Shayne Ward, 21, and the duo Journey South, made up of brothers Carl and Andy Pemberton, from Middlesbrough.
Binman Andy Abraham, 41, from London, was a distant third.
Former world champion hurdler Colin Jackson was leading the field in Strictly Come Dancing.
Last night, one TV executive said: "The BBC and ITV will be wanting to win the fight for viewers as much as the contestants want to win the show prizes. The X Factor has just about edged the ratings battle so far with more wins than Strictly Come Dancing. But it's all about the finals now."
Money from calls to the BBC show will go to Children in Need
