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X Factor UK 2011

admin — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 20:11:57 +0000

So we now know who will be going through to the judges houses.

Gary Barlow is off to LA with the boys.

Kelly Rowland is off to Miami with the girls.

Louis Walsh is off to Barcelona with the over 25s.

Tulisa Contostavlos is off to Greece with the groups.

It seems that all the judges are happy with their categories and seem really committed to them (not sure about Louis as he appears go have Goldie in his group?).

X Factor 2011

admin — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 07:33:20 +0000

As the new season of X Factor is underway I had resigned myself to not watching it due to the change in judges (apart from Gary Barlow who I really admire).

Fast forward past the audtions I am now tuning in with the other millions of people because I think it’s such a great judging panel. The combination of Gary, Kelly Rowland, Tulisa Contostavlos and Louis Walsh (still not sure of Louis and how he claps!) has made for something fresh and more exciting. Have not missed Simon Cowell at all I think Gary Barlow is far better in the head judges role.

I just hope they don’t put any silly acts through. This was the point I switched off last night when they put Kendro and Goldie through to the next stage of bootcamp.

I have also been following X Factor Australia who’s judges are Guy Sebastian, Ronan Keating, Mel B (scary spice) and Natalie Bassingthwaighte. They have some really good acts in the final 12 although Natalie’s choices I wasn’t sure of. Plus they have gorgeous host Luke Jacobz.

Here’s a sample of two of the X Factor Australia 2011 Live Final 1 performances. The best two from the night in my opinion.

Declan Sykes singing Uprising by Muse followed by Christina Parie singing Since You’ve Been Gone by Kelly Clarkson.

X Factor 2010 – Live Show 2

admin — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 08:43:15 +0000

All change with the X Factor. Excellent performances by Matt Cardle, Mary Byrne, Rebecca Ferguson and Treyc Cohen. John Adeleye upped his game and sang brilliantly and Aidan put in a disappointing performance after last week. Also, Cher Lloyd actually sang!

With Simon and Dannii both an act down this is what it looked like last night.

Simon’s groups – Belle Amie, One Direction and Diva Fever.

Cheryl’s girls – Cher Lloyd, Katie Waissel, Rebecca Fergusson and Treyc Cohen

Dannii’s boys – Aiden Grimshaw, Matt Cardle and Paije Richardson

Louis’ Over 28’s – Mary Byrne, Storm Lee, John Adeleye and Wagner

Storm – Sang Born to Run. A little flat in places but the song suited his voice and he put in a decent performance.

Treyc Cohen – Sang Purple Rain. Treyc is a fantastic singer. She absolutely smashed this song. Treyc has a really powerful voice but not to the point of being overpowering. My only comment would be to watch the wobbly bits in her voice. Too many can be annoying.

VIDEO REMOVED DUE TO GREEDY COMPANY

Paije Richardson – Sang If I Ain’t Got You. Paije has a good voice. He has a nice easy sound to listen to. Not sure about his styling, looks like he’s being dressed for the 80’s and don’t know what Dannii is trying to do with him. He’s worth more.

One Direction – Sang My Life Would Suck Without You. Love this Kelly Clarkson song and it suited the group. Glad to see they put Liam on lead vocals this week. Simon did the wrong thing last week. Liam and Harry (curly haired one?) are both good lead singers. Great performance, although there is one lad (not sure of his name) who still looks really uncomfortable and he’s not one of the stronger singers. It’s not surprising when you think they are suddenly singing to millions of people on tv but Simon needs to look out for him and build his confidence. Really like the group.

Cher Lloyd – Sang Hard Knock Life. Can’t help but like the sound of her voice because it is so different. Better song for her not least because she sang more which showed her voice off better. Still don’t think Cher’s as good as some of the other contestants, but she has got a commercial sound. As she’s only young she has chance to really improve and become much stronger. Still want to hear more from her which is always a good thing with an artist.

John Adeleye – Sang A Song For You. Much better song choice and he sang it brilliantly. Love his voice.

VIDEO REMOVED DUE TO GREEDY COMPANY

Diva Fever – Sang Barbara Streisand. Not a huge amount of vocals with this song, but fun, fun, fun. Originally by Duck Sauce (two DJ’s have remixed it).

Rebecca Ferguson – Sang Feeling Good. Great song choice and what a fabulous performance. Rebecca has such a unique and fantastic voice. The way she sang this song was incredible. Would buy her record. She’s been likened to Sade, but I think she is way better.

VIDEO REMOVED DUE TO GREEDY COMPANY

Aiden Grimshaw – Sang Jealous Guy. Not a good song or performance for Aiden last night. What a shame. After a fantastic performance last week, this started off shaky, got better, but just wasn’t in the same league. Does this show he hasn’t got the range with his voice to tackle different songs or was it just nerves after having such great reviews last week? He needs the chance to show us more.

Wagner – Sang Just Help Yourself. Again he is very likeable but it was a weak performance. His vocals (not that he is a good singer) were overshadowed by the music. Perhaps that was Louis’ plan.

Katie Waissel - Sang I would Rather Go Blind. Still not the best artist out of the finalists but she sang it well. Didn’t like her make up last night, it didn’t suit her. I am still torn with Katie. Despite all the nice things they keep saying about her she still comes over false. Without controversy though where would the X Factor be!

Belle Amie – Sang You Really Got Me. Better song for them and they performed it well. They still need to gel more and decide you should be lead singers.

Mary Byrne – Sang You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me. What I love more than hearing Mary sing is the audience reaction to her. It speaks volumes. Another fantastic, goose bumpy song from Mary. Her hair and make up were softer this week, looked even nicer.

VIDEO REMOVED DUE TO GREEDY COMPANY

Matt Cardle – Sang Just The Way You Are. Wow, wow and more wow. What a brilliant singer. Absolutely love his voice and just want to hear more, more, more. The single best performance of the night, worthy of a single – which I would buy. And of course, he is gorgeous!

VIDEO REMOVED DUE TO GREEDY COMPANY

The Fab last night (the best) – Matt Cardle, Mary Byrne, Rebecca Ferguson, John Adeleye, Treyc Cohen

The Drab last night (the not so hot) – Wagner, Aidan Grimshaw, Storm

And in the style stakes, 2 – 0 to Dannii who looked radiant lovely again last night. Hair looked great and so did her dress. Cheryl does not suit the red hair (taking style tips from Sharon Osbourne?).

As I said in my last post there is definitely animosity between the Chermon camp (Simon and Cheryl) and Loudan (Louis and Dannii). If Cheryl isn’t careful she is going to lose her ’sweatheart’ image. I already feel she is over exposed on tv at the moment. It’s clear that Simon and Cheryl are in league with each other.

X FACTOR LIVE SHOW 2 RESULT NIGHT – Storm is voted out first. Judges choose between Belle Amie and Diva Fever. Louis, Dannii and Cheryl vote to keep Belle Amie, Simon is saved from making a decision.

X Factor 2010 – Live Final Show 1

admin — Sun, 10 Oct 2010 08:27:01 +0000

With a potentially exciting line up for the first final and the controversy surrounding the show this week, millions of people were no doubt glued to the television for the first X Factor Final. And we were not disappointed. This is probably one of the best line ups we’ve had for the X Factor if not the best (allowing for nerves and the occasional flat note!).

Simon has the groups – F.Y.D, Belle Amie, One Direction and wild card Diva Fever.

Cheryl has the girls – Cher Lloyd, Katie Waissel, Rebecca Fergusson and wild card Treyc Cohen

Dannii has the boys – Aiden Grimshaw, Nicolo Festa, Matt Cardle and wild card Paije Richardson

Louis has the over 28’s – Mary Byrne, Storm Lee, John Adeleye and wild card Wagner

F.Y.D – kicked off the proceedings. Although a little flat in places, it was a good opening song for the evening (Billionaire) and they are no doubt a fun group.

Matt Cardle – Brilliant. He has a superb voice and can’t wait to hear him throughout the series. He sang When Love Takes Over.

VIDEO REMOVED DUE TO GREEDY COMPANY

John Adeleye – Quite good. I think he can do much better and needs to be able to put his own spin on the songs. He sang One Sweet Day.

Rebecca Ferguson – Although I love her voice, she has a fantastic sound, the song choice (Teardrops) wasn’t right for her.

Storm – Can’t help but like this contestant. Not sure about the red hair but he had a good song (We Built This City) and sang it really well. Given the right songs he should do well.

Belle Amie – I thought this group were brilliant at the judges house but last night they were missing something. The song choice (Airplanes) wasn’t right and Simon should have given them a better start. The band is great though and can’t wait to see them perform again.

Cher Lloyd – Despite the controversy surrounding Cher I loved her first audition and was pleased to see her given a chance. However, I didn’t like her performance last night. She didn’t really show off any great strength to her singing voice although the rapping is good. Don’t think she was given a good song (Just Be Good to Me) and the danger will be that every performance will be the same. Cheryl be aware.

Diva Fever – You just can’t help but like this pair. Extremely camp but very likeable. Good song choice (Sunny) although it seemed the one singer took most of the lead singing, but still very enjoyable.

Paije Richardson – So glad he was brought back into the show. Such a great presence, good voice and can’t wait to see what else he does. He sang Killing Me Softly.

VIDEO REMOVED DUE TO GREEDY COMPANY

Katie Waissel – Quite good. Not the best but having seen her on you tube in her show she has got a good voice and understand why she was chosen. Didn’t like her look last night and agreed with Dannii that her ‘usual look’ is quirky and likeable enough. Think she has much more to give. She sang We Are The Champions.

Mary Byrne – Although I was rooting for Mary, wasn’t sure whether I would like her voice on a regular basis. Last night she rocked! It was the sort of performance where you’re left wanting more and completely brought the house down. Shirley Bassey watch out

VIDEO REMOVED DUE TO GREEDY COMPANY

Nicolo Festa – Still not sure why he was picked although he is kooky. His performance was a little wooden, not the best voice last night and was flat in places. He has potential. He sang Just Dance.

One Direction – Fantastic group although they can do even better. For some reason they didn’t use the strongest singers as they did at the judges house. Maybe this was tactical to get the ‘forming’ and ‘norming’ stage out of the way so they can plan who should take the lead. They are a great group. They sang Viva La Vida.

Wagner – Very likeable and a fun element to the show but not a good singer. He sang She Bangs and Love Shack. One for the ladeez!

Aiden Grimshaw – Wow! Love the song (Tears for Fears Mad World) and a very dramatic performance. Wasn’t sure about him at the judges house. Great voice but some odd actions when he sings. Looks like Danii has worked this out of him. One to watch. Best performance of the night.

VIDEO REMOVED DUE TO GREEDY COMPANY

Treyc Cohen – Glad she was brought back too, very good voice. Think she can be given some powerful songs and will just eat them. She sang One.

The Fab last night (the best) – Aiden Grimshaw, Mary Byrne, Matt Cardle, Paije Richardson

The Drab last night (the not so hot) – Wagner, Nicolo Festa, Cher Lloyd

On a note about the judges - felt that Simon and Cheryl are cosying up leaving Dannii and Louis in a separate camp. Also felt there was some staging of comments last night to elicit arguments.

And in the style stakes, 1 – 0 to Dannii who looked radiant last night. Hair looked great and so did her dress. Cheryl looked nice too but a bit over done on the false tan.

RESULT NIGHT – Nicolo Festa is voted out first. Judges choose between Katie and F.Y.D. Surprisingly they keep Katie.

X Factor – Live Show 5 – Movie Week

admin — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 10:08:15 +0000

Movie week should have brought about some fabulous songs. For goodness sake how many movies have been made and how many hits have come from them.

I’m starting to get fed up with X Factor. The song choices, the ridiculous comments especially from Louis, who I now feel should no longer be a judge.

Stacey Solomon

Started the show well, singing Son of a Preacher Man and looked great in her slinky outfit.

Olly Murs

A fun and entertaining performance. Loved the dancing in the middle too. How Louis Walsh can comment on ’silly dancing’ when he has Thing 1 and Thing 2 as his performers, who can’t sing let alone dance. In fact I don’t understand how any of the judges can moan about the dancing. The audience loved him to bits.

Lloyd Daniels

I’m sorry to say Lloyd hasn’t got the strength of voice or personality to take him any further. He’s only young and hasn’t got the life experiences to put the emotion into the songs. Stand by Me is a great song and he didn’t do it justice. Shame really as he is a hit with the girls but you can’t have a career on just looks alone.

Lucie Jones

I like Lucie, she has a brilliant voice. Didn’t like the song choice although she sang it really well. I do feel as though she’s trying to look too much like other artists ie Avril Lavigne, which is probably not her choice. She needs her own look now and I’m still not sure what her ‘market’ is.

Danyl Johnson

Purple Rain is an iconic song and not a good choice for Danyl. I liked the more subtle singing but there are still traces of trying to make the song more than it should be. A good example of this is Whitney Houston. Great singer, great songs but in concert she messes about with songs too much. Simon shouldn’t let him spoil the songs. His look was good and there’s no doubt he is a great singer.

Jamie Archer

I love Jamie’s style. He’s a rocker and I love the song Crying. He sang it really well but, I felt last night he’d lost some of his sparkle. Maybe that’s because yet again he ended up having to change the song shortly before the show. It was a better song choice for him than Unchained Melody. And will someone please get a gag for Louis. If the song was from a movie even if it isn’t a well known movie what does it matter. The film is Gummo from 1997.

John and Edward

Just get rid of them off the show. They can’t sing and they can’t dance. In fact they can’t do anything without a stage full of props. They actually ruined Ghostbusters. Enough said.

Joe McElderry

He has to be one of the most consistent performers. He is a superb singer, looks great and can sing anything he’s given. It’s a shame he’s being labelled with the ‘musical theatre’ label, but he is far and away one of the best in the show. My only criticism is to try and sing with more pure notes than fluctuating them at the end of the sentences. He did do this more last night with Circle of Life and it was great. Love him.

I think something was wrong with Louis Walsh this week, his comments were not constructive, he picked one of the worst bands to be in his group and he sits there picking faults with the other contestants. I’m also getting fed up with the same sort of comments that the judges use ie authentic – getting boring judges!

Update. I have officially lost all respect for Simon Cowell. All the moaning and groaning that’s been reported in the paper about his dislike for John and Edward and, when he has the perfect opportunity to get rid of them off the show he bottles it. It’s clear what he’s done. Because of the publicity they generate it must be ringing up the £ signs for him and his company.

The X Factor is about finding the best artist and making that decision tonight, whether he felt Lucy could win or not, shows that it’s not about the acts. He’s probably just incited people to vote even more for the unmentionable pair. I won’t be watching the X Factor for the rest of this series, I’ve completely lost interest in it now. Good luck to those who remain but watch your backs.

Heading into week six the line up will now be:

Simon Cowell

Olly Murs, Jamie Archer and Danyl Johnson

Cheryl Cole

Lloyd Daniels, Joseph McElderry

Louis Walsh

John & Edward

Dannii Minogue

Stacey Solomon

Dannii and Simon both have all their acts and Louis once again is losing out.

X Factor – Live Show 4 – Joe and Jamie the Rockers

admin — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 21:38:26 +0000

Rock week this week saw some great singing. It’s probably easier to say which acts weren’t the best.

Lloyd, Danyl and John and Edward were in my bottom three this week.

Not sure what happened with Danyl. Couldn’t tell if it was a bit of an act or he really was that downcast. His singing was the worst we’ve seen with a lot of flat notes.

Joe was brilliant as usual, he seems to be the most consistent as was Jamie. Also good were Lucie and Stacey. Still not completely sure of Olly or Rachel

John and Edward must go soon. They can’t sing or coordinate their dance movements together. Take away all the other backing dancers and put them on stage on their own and the public would see how rubbish they are. Yet, Louis takes the mickey out of Jamie who can outsing and perform on his own with nothing else around him. Get real Louis.

Let’s see how the public vote tonight.

Update: Vote off between Lloyd and Rachel. It should have been Lloyd and John and Edward and I’m sorry to see Rachel go over the other two.

Heading into week five the line up is now:

Simon Cowell

Olly Murs, Jamie Archer and Danyl Johnson

Cheryl Cole

Lloyd Daniels, Joseph McElderry

Louis Walsh

John & Edward

Dannii Minogue

Lucie Jones, Stacey Solomon

Dannii and Simon both have all their acts and Louis once again is losing out.

X Factor – Live Show 3 – Miss Frank-ly Superb

admin — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 08:49:41 +0000

Considering it was big band week, which is part of the series I always look forward to, I thought the show was extremely disappointing.

The acts did their best but yet again most of the judges didn’t choose great songs to show case the singers.

Miss Frank were brilliant this week, and I have to say Danyl was superb. They were the best two last night. Rachel finally looks the part and her new hair and make up brought out the best in her along with a good choice of song for her although I still think she needs a powerful ballad to seal her place in the show.

I did like Jamie, he will always perform well but Simon may have let him down this week. The song was changed 24 hours before the live show to Angels of Harlem. The original song should have been If I Can Dream. Listening to the Elvis version I think Simon made the right decision to change it as I don’t think that song would have worked with Jamie’s voice.

Joe was great too but not the right song for him, he needs something to belt out. Am I the only one who thinks Joe is like a young John Barrowman (that’s a good thing).

I’m also a fan of Lucie and Stacey, who always sing well, but didn’t inspire me last night. On the tv Lucie seemed too close to the microphone and just needed a little more emotion. I’m sure they could have handled some Shirley Bassey songs. My Life orGoldfinger to name just two. Songs that people can relate to.

And Olly, he was just . . . well Olly, cheeky chappy with a chirpy voice.

I’m sorry to say Lloyd is not a strong enough or diverse enough singer to make it in this show, even though he seems a lovely lad. I don’t think Cheryl made the right choice in having Lloyd and Rikki in her top three. Thing 1 and Thing 2 (aka John and Edward) have to go. They just cannot sing. The judges say they can entertain, but annoy is a more appropriate word.

Let’s see how the public vote tonight.

Update: Can’t believe what happened. The two acts I thought were the best Saturday night ended up being in the bottom two. The only explanation is that people think they are being voted for so don’t. So Danyl and Miss Frank ended up in the sing of and Danyl won based on the public vote.

Heading into week four the line up is now:

Simon Cowell

Olly Murs, Jamie Archer and Danyl Johnson

Cheryl Cole

Lloyd Daniels, Joseph McElderry

Louis Walsh

John & Edward

Dannii Minogue

Lucie Jones, Rachel Adedeji, Stacey Solomon

Dannii and Simon both have all their acts and Louis once again is losing out.

X Factor – Live Show 2 – Jamie Rocks!

admin — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 23:15:21 +0000

Is there no end to Jamie Archer’s talents? What a fantastic performance tonight and great choice of song from Christina Aguilera called Hurt (if you want a good cry listen to the full Christina version on You Tube here). What a great piece this would be in the finals, Jamie Archie and Christina Aguilera singing this song. Nothing could beat that for a powerful combination!

What I really love is the fact that Simon Cowell has not tried to change him. He already has a trademark look – t-shirt, jeans, scarf and of course the hair and it’s great to see that hasn’t altered it.

Tonight, without any backing dancers or big music and just a spotlight on Jamie, he captured the audience. He showed tonight he is capable of anything and in my opinion he was the best act tonight. The melody in the song was lovely.

Again, I can’t stop watching the video of him performing this song, which in itself is beautiful. He is so captivating which is what you want from a performer. Listen to the music without watching him, it’s still brilliant.

I think Simon Cowell is really doing his best by Jamie and bringing him on so well and encouraging the best from him.

Joe was also good and Danyl, although giving a good performance, didn’t bring out the emotions like Jamie did. The song choice wasn’t good and it seems Simon is going for songs with ‘a big note’ for Danyl. Not showing him a different light.

Lucie and Stacey were great too although Stacey should have had a more well known song too. I also thought Miss Frank did really well tonight. Loved their song choice, they could be superb. Olly was fun to watch.

The weakest acts were John and Edward, Rikki, Lloyd and Rachel. I like Rachel but she hasn’t been given the right song for her voice yet.

By now you’d think the judges would realise that the wrong song can knock their act out. People like to hear songs they know.

Update:

So Rikki has gone after her was in the last two with Rachel. It really should have been John and Edward as they clearly can’t sing or perform, but they obviously have some fans out there. So heading into week 3 the following acts are now left.

Simon Cowell

Olly Murs, Jamie Archer and Danyl Johnson

Cheryl Cole

Lloyd Daniels, Joseph McElderry

Louis Walsh

John & Edward, Miss Frank

Dannii Minogue

Lucie Jones, Rachel Adedeji, Stacey Solomon

X Factor – 1st Live Show

admin — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 22:24:41 +0000

Well what a great start to the live shows.

Considering it was the first live performance they all did really well, but the acts that really stood out for me on Saturday night were: Jamie Archer, Joe McElderrry, Lucie Jones, Stacey Solomon and Danyl Johnson.

I didn’t think much to the groups and was really surprised to see John and Edward go through. It’s a shame for Kandy Rain being the first acts to leave, but predictable really. There are some really great solo singers this year and the groups will struggle against them.

Miss Frank, when polished up a bit will be great. Stacey needs to learn to calm down when talking it’s letting her down a bit. Catherine Tate will be mimicking her before long!

Big well done too should go to Alexandra Burke for her very polished performance of Bad Boys,

and Robbie Williams.

Not sure about Robbie’s new single but it was good to see him strutting his stuff even though he looked a bit wide eyed. Probably not surprising when it’s your first appearance in a few years, but hopefully he will have seen the reception was great for him.

So we head into week 2 with the following acts remaining.

Simon Cowell

Olly Murs, Jamie Archer and Danyl Johnson

Cheryl Cole

Rikki Loney, Lloyd Daniels, Joseph McElderry

Louis Walsh

John & Edward, Miss Frank

Dannii Minogue

Lucie Jones, Rachel Adedeji, Stacey Solomon

X Factor Final 12 – Oh Yes Jamie!

admin — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 20:16:49 +0000

Well I don’t have to watch the X Factor each week now, I’ll just have my phone on speed dial voting for Jamie Archer. Out of everyone he was the one person I really wanted to go through and didn’t they just make us wait until right at the end of the show to find out.

I do like the other acts, especially the girls, but Jamie’s different. He’s got personality, a great voice and looks and I think he’s going to surprise us all.

So who’s going through then?

Simon Cowell

Olly Murs, Jamie Archer and Danyl Johnson

Cheryl Cole

Rikki Loney, Lloyd Daniels, Joseph McElderry

Louis Walsh

John & Edward, Kandy Rain, Miss Frank

Dannii Minogue

Lucie Jones, Rachel Adedeji, Stacey Solomon

Some really good people in the final. I think Danii’s category will give everyone a run for their money and I’m afraid once again the bands won’t have a look in. Why oh why did Louis put those boys through?

I don’t think Cheryl will win this year, it could be a fight between Simon and Danii. Just my predictions of course.

Until the live finals start you can’t really get a good measure of how good any of the acts are until they’re faced with the pressure of live tv, audience and judges. But at least this year they’ve already had a feel for singing in front of an audience though.