X Factor Live Show 5

Hi chickadees!

Let's see if I can muster up the energy for this. I'm expecting quite frankly horrible things from Big Band week. I'm not a massive fan of this style of music to begin with.

Rankings (in my opinion)
1. Hannah Barrett
2. Sam Bailey
3. Tamera Foster
4. Abi Alton
5. Rough Copy
6. Nicholas McDonald
7. Sam Callahan
8. Luke Friend

Abi Alton: Is she supposed to be Billie Holiday? You're going to need a lot more than a flower to make Abi Billie Holiday. If I'm judging this as a regular performance, it's barely passing. If I'm judging based on Abi's previous performances, it was one of the better ones. It was a good idea to give her the backup singers to fill in all the gaps when she dropped the ends of phrases and generally just support the song so the vocals didn't seem as weak. I also appreciated the fact that she pretty much stuck to the melody this time. She still doesn't have a strong voice. It was just better than it usually is. Her vowels still kind of grate on my ears at times.
Sam Bailey: A bit cruise ship-y. Part of it was the awkward dancing and the outfit. The vocals were great though and I did enjoy her little riff on "blues".
Luke Friend: How is Moondance a Big Band song? It wasn't horrifyingly bad but it was a little rough. Just generally a bit wonky. Verging on going flat, dropping the ends of phrases, blaring out notes in a way that did not fit this style of music. The dancers were a mistake. The scatting was just strange. Let's all try to forget it.
Hannah Barrett: She's singing It's a Man's Man's Man's World. She's wearing a fedora. I'm expecting her to kill it. She does. I believe Hannah when she sings. This song should be on her album. I refuse to criticize her this week.
Nicholas McDonald: I really like this song. But I don't think it's right for Nicholas. It was pretty... but boring. You can't just play it safe with a song like this. You have to sell it. There were little issues with his vocals but they were such minor complaints it's not worth detailing them.
Rough Copy: The performance was kind of fun but the vocals could have been better. I feel like Rough Copy aren't improving but they are an entertaining group. At this point I can't see them making the finals.
Tamera Foster: Oh, here we go. I love the Julie London version of this song so I'm definitely coming into this with expectations. It was a bit weak here and there. I didn't really emotionally connect to the performance but overall the vocals were strong. She really brought it home at the end.
Sam Callahan: Sam is not a great singer. Like Abi, he sounded better than usually does (marginally) and he does a better job of selling a song than Nicholas. That still doesn't make him any good but like everyone else this week, he managed to be tolerable.

All in all, Big Band week went a lot better than I expected it to. See you all next week!

X Factor Live Show #5

Hi chickadees!

This week's theme is Number Ones. Should be interesting right? Before we get started, I would like to say that I'm a little heartbroken that Lucy had to withdraw from the competition due to illness. I really felt her absence last week and I continued to feel it this week. I feel like the spark of fun and life in this series has dimmed more than a little with her departure. I hope she puts out an album soon. I will buy it. :)

Final Breakdown (in my opinion...very conflicted about the order this week though)

1. Jahmene Douglas

2. Union J

3. Ella Henderson

4. Christopher Maloney

5. James Arthur

6. Kye Sones

7. District3

8. Rylan Clark

Rylan Clark: Hung Up/Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight). I don't know if you know this about me as I only reveal it when I feel like I'm in a safe space... but I'm an ABBA fan. A massive ABBA fan. Not in an ironic way. I genuinely love their big hit songs. This was before the phenomenon of Mamma Mia really took off with the movie, though I did see the stage show with Louise Pitre and it was brilliant. It was one of the few shows in my life where I've sat front row and those are always fun. Where was I? Oh, right, Rylan. The feathered shoulders felt unnecessary. They didn't really create interesting body shapes or make sense with the outfit. They just seemed glued on for camp value. Loved the way he broke the glass though. I think this is one of his best vocal performances. It still wasn't very strong but I think it was a marked improvement from last week. I did think it lost a little energy. Rylan just needs to find the balance between singing and dancing/performing. Nicole does a great job sticking up for him though. Very entertaining. 

Union J: Love Story. I couldn't get the best quality version of this because TheXFactorUK youtube channel wasn't uploading it and Fremantle was blocking all the high quality videos. I really like Taylor Swift songs. I can't help it. They just make me happy. With the quality issues, I thought they sounded good. It was a little safe. Anytime you sing a Taylor Swift song, you're not really trying to vocally challenge yourself. 

Kye Sones: You Get What You Give. He burst out with a lot of energy. I think this was one of his stronger attempts at using his falsetto. There was something about it that felt safe to me. Maybe it was just that American Idol style circling camera trick. I think this is a good song but it doesn't really have an arc. Kye did his very best and I can't fault him on the vocals or the energy but I wasn't thrilled by it. I pretty much agreed with Tulisa. I think Kye just needs to find the right song if he's going to rise in the competition again.

James Arthur: Don't Speak. So...I do kind of like this song. But while I've learned to trust James for the most part repetitive songs like this always scare me. It's very easy for them to start to get tedious even in a minute long performance. I felt like it was more of a return to the James we saw at the beginning of the competition. Some of the riffing felt excessive and unnecessary. It felt a little low energy though the vocals were good. I think James has to work on his performance style when he moves around the stage because before the emotional high point kicks in, it feels a bit random, like he's just wandering around. Maybe I'm just spoiled by so many great performances. Though this one was good, I'm used to being surprised and impressed by James and this week it just felt like another track on an album that sounded like the song I listened to a few songs back.

Ella Henderson: Firework. Katy Perry has some great songs. Now, there's some garbage on One of the Boys. And Peacock is just... *shudders* But those hits are hits for a reason and have rightfully spawned hundreds of youtube covers. There's something about some of those songs that has that magic capacity for a great performance. Personally, I went into this holding Ella's performance up to the amazing Lea Michele. So, no pressure, right? This was Ella doing Ella. She has a beautiful way of interpreting songs sometimes. When it started off a bit quiet it felt like she was speaking from the heart in singing those lyrics. And that's what a great performer does. But there were definitely weak points as it progressed. Some notes were weak and a bit strained. Her voice definitely cracked a few times. The high notes weren't always as strong as they could be and I would have sung some of those notes on different vowels because they were a little painful. It was good but there was so much randomness to it. It didn't feel natural. It felt strained. I really want her to work on fixing these same problems that come up almost every week without fail. It's really getting to the point in the competition where she can't just rely on the strengths of her voice. She needs to start addressing the weaknesses.

District3: I love the song. It's great exercise music. Again, I couldn't get the best quality version. Is the X Factor UK youtube channel against Louis for some reason? Anyway, even forgiving the sound quality, I thought they sounded very rough at first. It improved throughout the performance but it still just felt average. And I'm not sure they're ready to interact with dancers. It came across as awkward.

Jahmene Douglas: Listen. I know I've already told you I'm a massive Beyonce fan. But there is almost no touching her when she sings a ballad. I love Jahmene, but I was nervous about this performance. You can't mess around with riffs for this song. You need to bring POWER vocals. While Jahmene's performance was very, very, very good. It was lacking that power. There were so many brilliant points. But there were also some missteps when he strayed from the melody too much. And he couldn't sustain the amazing belt you need to make this song truly impressive. I think if I didn't know how this song can sound, I may have loved it more. 

Christopher Maloney: There was something very odd about Christopher's vowels during the verses. Maybe it was his placement. I did however think that the song choice really worked for him. He's a very good singer. What more can I say? In a week where my favorites all had issues I think Gary has a point in saying that Christopher consistently gives good vocal performances.