Get on down there! X Factor auditions get under way in east London

 
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6 April 2013

"There's nothing as queer as folk and you never know who you're going to meet," said host Dermot O'Leary as he greeted eager wannabes at the ExCel Centre. Aspiring stars sang and danced in the car park as they warmed up for their moment in front of the judges.

There was a "real sense of excitement" as hundreds of singing hopefuls formed a long queue.

O'Leary said he was as enthusiastic about the show as ever, which is now in its 10th series, and believed it was all down to the new people he met every year.

"You just get surprised all the time. The crowd are always brilliant," he said.

"Football fans will tell you, it's like the third round of the FA cup or the first game of the season.

"You've got a real sense of excitement. You meet people you've never met before and in all walks of life as well. There's so many characters - that's why I love it," he said.

O'Leary said he saw the popular television programme as both an entertainment show and a serious singing competition, and defended acts from previous years who did not go on to have dazzling careers.

"For me the most important thing is to make a good entertainment show and that's my job.

"You look at acts that haven't sold as well as you hoped they would, but they've all done pretty well.

"Obviously there's some people and it just doesn't work out for them and the stars don't align.

"It's all things to all men. It is a really serious singing competition.

"Simon and the bosses want to find a star out of this and I want the best singer to win.

Although O'Leary is often the shoulder to cry on, he said there were more laughs than tears with X Factor supremo Simon Cowell.

"He's good. He's honest, he's tough, he's a lot more fun than you think he's going to be," O'Leary said.

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