THIS WEEKEND was the week that is always designed to strike fear into the minds of both contestants and viewers – the dreaded Week Five! A frontrunner always seems to depart on this particular week. The competitive Maria Lawson in 2005, the consistent Laura White in 2008, the sexy Lucie Jones in 2009 and the formidable Treyc Cohen last year have all been victims of week five in the past and have had their dreams of being popstars destroyed as a result. Once again, the jinx would strike again in a shock double elimination. After its successful trial in last year’s semi-final, the ‘Club Classics’ theme was given a proper chance to shine and as Dermot O’Leary put it, this was the only week guaranteed to be a ‘ballad-free zone.’
OVER 25’s
JOHNNY Robinson was the first on stage and after his successful outing the previous week, he returned back to his entertaining roots with Madonna’s ‘Hung Up.’ Safe to say, the judges weren’t entirely impressed. Gary Barlow, who finally was won over by him last week, returned to his criticism of him, comparing it “the opening of a bad pantomime in Scarborough”. Ouch! Both acts in this category had a troublesome night as Kitty Brucknell failed to impress too. Her version of ‘Like a Prayer,’ another Madonna classic was out of her usual character on a theme that may have suited her liking. However, the feedback she got was a little harsh with Barlow saying that she couldn’t dance. In fairness, Kitty tried but it was lacking the extra vigour that has made her a talking point in the show.
GIRLS
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| BACKFIRED: Janet's style change led to mixed results |
AFTER Kelly Rowland’s absence last week, she was back and ready to get her two remaining acts back on track. There was no escape for Janet Devlin, who after four weeks of impressive but not stand-out performances, struggled with choosing her own song. She fluffed the words during her rendition of Jackson 5’s ‘I want you back.’ She did recover, but the judges gave mixed comments, with Tulisa suggesting to go back to her previous style of music. Following last week’s bottom two shocker, Misha B bounced back with Beyoncé’s ‘Proud Mary.’ It is well noted that when an act ends up in the bottom two on one week, they can’t win but don’t rule her out yet, especially in a competition that is becoming more open by the week.
BOYS
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| FRONTRUNNER: Marcus looks like the one to beat |
STILL with the full line-up in tow from the first week eliminator, Craig Colton kicked off the category’s running with Bryan Adams ‘Heaven.’ A club classic song was probably going to expose Craig’s weakness, but despite looking out of his comfort zone, he performed very well. Ultimately, he proved again that he can cut the mustard at this level. Marcus Collins has so far been a challenger if not a serious contender. However, everyone was up on their feet with his take of the true fifties classic ‘Reet Petite.’ Gary was in lots praise for his act, labelling it as “the performance of the season.” Perhaps, it was a little bit boastful but can that be blamed? With every high comes a low and yet again, Frankie Cocozza was on the end of that yardstick with ‘I Gotta Feeling’ by Black Eyed Peas. It looked as if he had downed full bottles of Smirnoff and Jack Daniels and was fashioned by an unemployed Next salesman! The result, quite possibly the worst performance ever in a live show; Jedward or Wagner could have done that song justice.
GROUPS
FLYING high after their praise last week, The Risk looked to impress again with Shalimar’s ‘A Night to Remember.’ Not as strong as in previous weeks for the group but it again showed their true potential. Every year, the experts have attempted to write off the category’s chances each year but on this occasion, they shouldn’t just yet. Girl group Little Mix have become serious challengers as their version of Rihanna’s ‘Please Don’t Stop The Music’ went down with a storm with the judges. It’s taken eight long years but The X-Factor finally seems to have found its first girl group that can make a successful career from the show.
The Result
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| FAREWELL: Tulisa had to say a shock goodbye to The Risk |
IT’S been clear for weeks now that a certain Mr S Cowell has been extremely unhappy about the quality of contestants this year. He decided to shake things up and the double elimination did cause a surprise, especially in the public vote. Little Mix, Marcus, Misha B and Craig all deservedly won their place back next week whilst Janet could count herself lucky to be saved by her many supporters. Also, despite his tripe the previous night, Frankie was somehow voted to stay in.
That left Johnny, Kitty and The Risk in the bottom three. It was anticipated by everyone that one of Louis acts would go first…but no! The Risk was eliminated after finishing bottom of the public vote. Viewers and the audience were left stunned whilst the boys themselves and their mentor Tulisa looked gobsmacked. The curse of Week Five has well and truly struck again!
So it was a showdown between the two remaining acts Louis had. For the second time in three weeks, he had to make a difficult decision. Johnny gave a dignified and polished performance but when Kitty can deliver under the huge pressure, it made the final decision far easier. Kitty was unanimously saved by the judges and expectantly, cued more booing and jeering from the audience. Sad as it was to see Johnny go, the fact is that Kitty would provide a better chance for Louis in the competition – though that chance is already at slim to nil!
The double elimination drama did manage to put X-Factor back in lead in the ratings war with Strictly, mainly helped that there was no head-to-head clash this weekend, though there’s certainly still a long road to recovery ahead. One thing is for certain, the competition has never been this open before as anyone from at least five acts could win! The second half of this year’s live finals is set to be a thriller … providing any new controversy doesn’t get in the way of course.
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