British tabloid outraged by Danish doll’s audacity on ‘The X Factor’

The Mirror exposes professional past of singer-songwriter Sada Vidoo

British newspaper the Mirror is outraged. No, not because of the UK’s widespread inequality, or even Brexit, this time it’s ‘The X Factor’ and the news that somebody with professional experience – this time a Dane – has dared to audition for the show. Like that’s never happened before.

“X Factor ‘living doll’ Sada Vidoo EXPOSED as Platinum-selling established act from Denmark,” its headline screamed yesterday. One of Vidoo’s songs was “nominated for a Danish Club Hit of the Year Award in 2007”, it continued, as if this was the ultimate honour in showbiz.

Anything you can do …
Vidoo, of course, is only replaying the gesture of Andrew Murray, an Owls fan from Sheffield in England who finished fourth in the Danish equivalent of the show, ‘X Factor’, this year.

And the inclusion of performers with professional experience is nothing new. Last year, British media reports revealed the vast majority of the final 16 of the UK show had significant experience in the industry.

Pally with Dansk X Factor judge
Vidoo’s 2007 platinum hit was ‘Ten Miles’ for the band Infernal (another X Factor tie, as its lead signer Lina Rafn is one of the country’s best known judges), and she has also worked with the duo Me & My.

She released her own album, ‘A Story with No End’, in 2014, which included a cover version of Pat Benatar’s ‘Love Is a Battlefield’, the song she sang in her audition.

Cowell not impressed
Nevertheless, despite four yeses, uber judge Simon Cowell was not impressed by her decision to perform as ‘Living Doll’.

“She is barking mad, you know that?” he told his fellow judges, before telling her: “Sada – you’re not a doll, this is ridiculous.”

As she left the stage, co-judge Sharon Osbourne quipped: “She’s got to get back to Toys R Us; she’s got to be back in the window by the morning.”

The UK’s ‘The X Factor’ returns to Danish screens next Tuesday (September 13) at 20:00. In the meantime, watch Sada Vidoo’s performance below.




  • Diplomatic tensions between US and Denmark after spying rumors

    Diplomatic tensions between US and Denmark after spying rumors

    A Wall Street Journal article describes that the US will now begin spying in Greenland. This worries the Danish foreign minister, who wants an explanation from the US’s leading diplomat. Greenlandic politicians think that Trump’s actions increase the sense of insecurity

  • Diplomacy meets Westeros: a dinner with the King, Queen – and Jaime Lannister

    Diplomacy meets Westeros: a dinner with the King, Queen – and Jaime Lannister

    What do King Frederik X, Queen Mary, UN Secretary-General António Guterres, and Jaime Lannister have in common? No, this isn’t the start of a very specific Shakespeare-meets-HBO fanfiction — it was just Wednesday night in Denmark

  • Huge boost to halt dropouts from vocational education

    Huge boost to halt dropouts from vocational education

    For many years, most young people in Denmark have preferred upper secondary school (Gymnasium). Approximately 20 percent of a year group chooses a vocational education. Four out of 10 young people drop out of a vocational education. A bunch of millions aims to change that

  • Beloved culture house saved from closure

    Beloved culture house saved from closure

    At the beginning of April, it was reported that Kapelvej 44, a popular community house situated in Nørrebro, was at risk of closing due to a loss of municipality funding

  • Mette Frederiksen: “If you harm the country that is hosting you, you shouldn’t be here at all”

    Mette Frederiksen: “If you harm the country that is hosting you, you shouldn’t be here at all”

    With reforms to tighten the rules for foreigners in Denmark without legal residency, and the approval of a reception package for internationals working in the care sector, internationals have been under the spotlight this week. Mette Frederiksen spoke about both reforms yesterday.

  • Tolerated, but barely: inside Denmark’s departure centers

    Tolerated, but barely: inside Denmark’s departure centers

    Currently, around 170 people live on “tolerated stay” in Denmark, a status for people who cannot be deported but are denied residency and basic rights. As SOS Racisme draws a concerning picture of their living conditions in departure centers, such as Kærshovedgård, they also suggest it might be time for Denmark to reinvent its policies on deportation

Connect Club is your gateway to a vibrant programme of events and an international community in Denmark.