Mediation

Mediation

AN: Key Terminology in bold

Jake Quikenden
Using Jake Quickenden's X Factor audition first, we can clearly see a fair amount of mediation has taken place. Firstly, Quickenden sings a song that the judges at first dislike. However, one of the judges tells him that he is 'cute, and can sing'. This then drives him to sing something else, which is obviously much better. 

The process of selection for this clip is one that displays Quickenden as not impressive to the judges, which begins to create a more empathetic connection between the audience and the contestant. We can clearly see that he is attractive and a good singer, but is failing to impress the judges. This elicits sympathy from the audience, making them want to see him do better.

The clip is also constructed using a series of close up shots of Quickenden to present his emotions and feelings, most of these being concern, worry and an almost deep brooding and sadness when he reveals that his brother died the previous year. This is to appeal to the audience's emotions in order to have them feel more inclined to support him and cheer him on throughout the competition using sympathy. Footage that displays his back story is also used after his less impressive performance, which again appeals to the audience's emotions.
We are also mainly focused on Mel B (judge) and Quickenden, as it is these two people that have the most importance. Mel B is the judge who challenges his performance and goes on to admit that he is actually very good.
He is presented as attractive and talented by the use of language of Mel B, and the close ups of his face. We can see that he is emotional and also young, which appeals to the younger audience and also older generation of women, who are more likely to support him as he is attractive.

Natasha
Looking at the selection of the clips in this audition, it is clear that the focus is on humor and humiliation of Natasha. We don't get any background, like with Jake Quickenden, we only get clips that express Natasha's love for one of the judge's, Gary Barlow. This is specifically selected to create humor in the audience, who find her obsession funny.
We also get clips that are selected to show embarrassing moments when Natasha accidentally reveals more of her body than she meant to in her small, tight dress. This is again chosen to elicit humor from the audience, as she is of a larger build which is typically deemed as undesirable and clearly has no regard for her personal appearance.
The clips are constructed so that we get a small amount of knowledge on Natasha's obsession with Gary Barlow prior to her performance, which instantly indicates to the audience that she is going to be a bad singer, as she is already very strange and humorous. At the end of her performance we see close ups of her face to show her disappointment and disbelief that she failed to get through,as well as long shots that include her whole body to further show her embarrassing attire. This causes more humor for the audience as we often find humor in the misfortune of others (schadenfreude).
Overall, Natasha is presented as untalented, funny and embarrassing, as well as obsessive and unintelligent (she says "I used to sing out of my nose, but now I sing out of my mouth", which is considered stupid and funny).