X Factor Live Show 3

Hi chickadees!

OK, you know I'm watching anyway so I might as well say something. I'll just keep it short this week.

1. Tamera Foster
2. Hannah Barrett
2. Sam Bailey
3. Kingsland Road
4. Luke Friend
5. Nicholas McDonald
6. Abi Alton
7. Sam Callahan
8. Rough Copy
9. Miss Dynamix

Rough Copy: Not terrible. Not perfect. Quite boring. You can't just make faces and change the music and convince me that you sound any better than you did 10 seconds ago.
Sam Callahan: Listen, he still doesn't sound great. But he's getting better. It's hard to judge Sam because I really don't even know why he's here.
Hannah Barrett: She looked fantastic this week. I think there could have been a little more to her performance. I know she was standing on a little platform but she could have moved just a little more and emoted more. And I think she needs to tighten up the softer notes when she starts before she hits the chorus. But it was fantastic. Hannah is fantastic. If she doesn't make it to the finals I will be so upset.
Nicholas McDonald: Finally, a suit! This set-up did not work at all. Good vocals. I like Nicholas. I just don't think the show knows what to do with him.
Abi Alton: Still breathy and bordering on flat. However, they do know what to do with Abi. Just... try harder, Abi. I don't mind unusual voices or affectations. But I genuinely question whether you can sing when you perform. That is not a good thing.
Miss Dynamix: Eh. Maybe they should turn the volume up on their mics? It wasn't as fun as it should be if they weren't going to blow us away with power vocals.
Sam Bailey: I can't tell whether I like or hate her dress. I think I like the bodice and hate the skirt. The performance was beautiful. Technically wonderful. But I think she's going to have to be a bit more dynamic in her performances because while it was a very good performance, I could just play Celine's version on Spotify and get the same effect.
Kingsland Road: There were a few issues but for the most part, I think they sounded great. I may be going insane but it seems like they all have decent voices and given how incredibly boring everyone was this week, I think they did fairly well and the performance was good. I think it was a good idea to strand them on the lighting gantry for part of the song and then do a combination of dancing and not dancing. I don't know. I think they still need a find a balance and figure out what kind of boyband they're going to be but they're on the right track.
Luke Friend: I liked it in the way I like performances on reality singing competitions that I will never ever listen to again. Terrible set-up though. I liked that they let him have his guitar but what in God's name were they thinking with the set design?
Tamera Foster: I pretty much feel the same way about Tamera that I did about Sam. No, I definitely liked her dress. But if you're going to sing a Beyonce song that I love you're going to have to be more than competent. All of that gesturing and hair-flipping with the hand that wasn't holding the microphone did nothing for me. I need some emotional connection to the performance or it's just you singing a song well. I'm giving her the top place for technical difficulty even though I didn't enjoy the performance as much as I wanted to.

By the way, I swear I type up my rankings before I know the results of the flash vote. OK, see you next week!

The X Factor UK Live Show #3

Hi chickadees!

Let's launch right in, shall we? I have no idea if anyone's reading this but if you are, hello!

I had no expectations for Club Classics week other than hoping that Rylan would do well. Still, there could be a surprise hit. I vaguely remember Rebecca Ferguson unexpectedly doing well on an uptempo dance number. The one thing that really began to irritate me was not seeing the opening package for each of the acts where they give background on their experiences during the week. It made all the comments from the judges and Dermot seem nonsensical.


Final Breakdown (in my opinion)
1. Lucy Spraggan
2. Union J
3. James Arthur
4. Ella Henderson
5. Kye Sones
6. Jade Ellis
7. Jahmene Douglas
8. District3
9. Rylan Clark
10. Christopher Maloney
11. MK1


I will be going through the acts in the order of their performances...

Christopher Maloney: Very cheesy. The dancers did not help. But for all that, the vocals were good. If you like Christopher's style, you will like this performance. I did feel like that on some notes he didn't push as much as he's capable of. I think he kind of won me over just because it was so happy and cheesy. He wasn't denying his style or trying to be something he's not. I think Tulisa's points were very valid though.

MK1: I feel like Charlie started out singing in a strange way that didn't take advantage of her breath at all. She really could have used some breath support. But her tone was interesting. It was very mature. The staging with the lights and dancers was chaotic in a bad way. The "la da dee la da da" was just annoying. The way they kept looking over at each other made it feel like they were unsure of themselves. I just don't feel like they seemed like capable performers. I wasn't comfortable because I felt like they weren't as confident as they could have been.

Jahmene Douglas: Jahmene needs to work on not looking angry when he does some of his riffs. I feel like his voice fades a bit sometimes because of the riffs. It was good but it was just a bit safe. For club classics it lacked energy. And it's getting to the point that he needs to start bringing it as a performer as well as a singer.
(Read up on him to see what they were referencing since we don't get UK gossip too much here in the US. So heartbreaking.)

Jade Ellis: She doesn't push enough. When she comes out looking gorgeous and strutting you expect to be wowed by the vocals but they don't have the same impact and the outfit and styling and staging and sets. Maybe a bit more dancing? People who are not the strongest singers can bring it in the performance aspect but she just sort of walked around, hit a mark, and kept posing. I thought it was good and she continues to get better but it's still not amazing. I don't know what Gary was talking about since I can't see the intro package, but I agreed with Nicole and Louis. She's not selling it yet. Nicole gives great advice sometimes. I feel like she gives the most genuine singing advice.

James Arthur: Like last week with Ella singing "Loving You" when I saw this in my subscription feed I thought it was a joke. It was laid back and sexy for Club Classics week but it worked. It was classic blues and rock, effortless, and just the kind of impact James needed to make to keep things from getting stale. He sounded amazing. We got to hear the smooth, rich tone of his voice not marred by pain. Loved it. :)