'X Factor' to 'get rid of sob stories'

This year's X Factor will not focus on contestants' backstories and hardships, it has been reported.

Producers on the ITV show are hoping to change the programme's image in a bid to find artists with greater longevity, according to The Sun.

A source said: "There was a time when people wanted to see someone who has had a difficult life get a number one Christmas hit.

"But that climate has completely changed. People want an artist that is going to keep producing."

Contestants are apparently being asked to tackle songs by artists like Lady GaGa and Corinne Bailey Rae, and told to take dance classes in order to prove that they could have a "genuine career".

The source added: "It's the seventh year and it needed to change. The climate is completely different to when Leon Jackson won it in 2007.

"JLS have set the standard of what can be achieved. They proved that an X Factor finalist can make the jump to being proper recording artists with a long career ahead of them."