THE past week’s events on The X-Factor have perhaps been more akin to an average episode of Emmerdale…
Axe Falls On Shamed Frankie
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| SHAMED: Frankie Cocozza's axing ends his crazy journey |
THE drama first began last Tuesday when less than 48 hours after the events of the previous week’s shock double elimination were sinking in, Frankie Cocozza had been axed. The reason was for breaking one of the show’s ‘Golden Rules.’ The exact rule that had been broken has not been named for legal reasons but it is worth stating that the show runs a strict policy in order to get the best out of the contestants. This is why last year, they introduced a set of Golden Rules; 10 rules that must not be broken by anyone – such as no leaving the contestants house without permission and no intimate relationships with fans. Contestants are warned that they will face disqualification from the competition if any of these rules are violated. Tabloids have speculated that Cocozza broke rule number seven on the list – Zero Tolerance on Drug Use. What truth it is, Frankie has blown a golden opportunity, his chances of becoming a popstar crushed.
Frankie’s Loss Is Four Acts Gain
THE simple logic could be that Frankie would be replaced by one of the eliminated acts from the previous week. The X-Factor has a reputation for pulling tricks out of its sleeve when nobody notices and it did it again last week. At a special press conference on Thursday afternoon, it was announced that the public would choose one of four acts to return to the competition. The four acts in question; they were the foursome that had been unceremoniously dumped by their mentors on the first live show. Recalled from their homes across the country; Jonjo Kerr, James Michael, 2 Shoes and Amelia Lily were back and hoping the public would get on their side. A 48-hour phone-only vote would be used to determine who would get the ‘wildcard’ or ‘lucky loser’ place on Saturday’s show, with all profits (minus the VAT rate) being donated to the Help For Heroes charity. In some people’s mind, it was criticised as they technically had four weeks off from the competition but these contestants never got the chance to see what the public made of them, so in a way, it’s actually a win-win situation.
Lights…Camera…No Action!
SIX acts, plus whichever one got the reprieve, were tasked to perform either a Queen or Lady Gaga song. Everyone was now set for Saturday and when it came to 8:15pm that night…nothing! A powercut at the BT Tower, which supplies power to the programme’s studio in Wembley, meant the set was plunged into total blackout! Viewers were left having to watch reruns of auditions whilst everything was being hurriedly repaired to prevent severe disruption to the evening’s TV schedules. Incensed people took to Twitter to vent their frustration and as ever with these social networking sites, crazy rumours began to fly around for the delay. As the audition tapes continued to play, there was a possibility of the show having to be cancelled. Still, watching the clips was perhaps better than having to sit through several minutes of staring at a blank ITV1 slide with depressing breakdown music……but the viewers were waiting, the audience was waiting, the acts were waiting and as far as ITV was concerned in this day and age, the advertisers were waiting. So, after an enforced ad break, the gremlins were finally fixed and The X-Factor went on air, some 16 minutes behind schedule.
Better Late Than Never
FOR the first six acts of the night, no more delays, they now had to take to the stage. Louis Walsh’s last act standing Kitty Brucknell was first but she was already feeling upset. She wanted to perform ‘Born This Way’ but Misha B was drawn ahead of her on the week’s selection and took the song. This left Kitty with ‘Don’t Stop Me Now.’ The vocals were better than last week but it was an underwhelming start. Next out was Craig Colton with ‘Paparazzi.’ Potentially, it was another song which in all honesty should have sounded out of his depth. Once again, Craig proved everyone wrong and this performance was perhaps his best to date.
It was down to the final territory in the Groups category again, but this time it was girl power left. Little Mix has already been the surprise package of the show and they wowed yet again with a Queen/Lady Gaga mash up of ‘Telephone’ and ‘Radio Gaga.’ Louis though did feel they were becoming too one-dimensional. It was a fair point because they have yet to sing a ballad and if they have serious intentions on winning, it’s something Tulisa has to explore sooner rather than later. After last week’s Club Classics disaster, Janet Devlin returned to her roots with ‘Somebody to Love’ and it backfired. The performance of the previous week seemed to have taken its toll and she looked weak and vulnerable. Janet’s tag as favourite at the start of the competition has definitely loosened.
Whilst Janet’s stock was plummeting, rival Marcus Collins saw his continue to rise. After last week’s show-stopper, he continued the upbeat theme in his performances with ‘Another One Bites The Dust.’ Ultimately, it was not as strong as last week, but still enough to cement his place at the top of the bookies odds. Misha B hoped to prove Kelly Rowland that she made the right choice in giving her ‘Born This Way’ and it paid off handsomely. We have seen better from Misha in this competition but out of all of the remaining acts left, she had the best week in terms of performance level.
Who Clinches The Lifeline?
SO NOW it was time to see who was going to get the chance to rejoin the show? 2 Shoes, Amelia, James and Jonjo had each prepared their own version of ‘Show Must Go On’ but only the act that had topped the vote would get to sing it. With all the tension already created by the mishaps at the start of the night, STV (ITV1 in Scotland) got too carried away in excitement and accidentally posted a pre-prepared story of the result on their website. Immediately people cried ‘FIX’ but this time, there was no case to answer as this was ‘genuine human error’ and STV honourably put their hand up straight away and apologised. The individual who posted this though will still probably get fired!
When it came to the official result itself, there was ever only going to be one outcome from the moment the vote opened. With a 48 per cent majority decision, Amelia Lily was back in the game! When it came to her performance, she showed why she deserved a second chance and why Rowland should never have gotten rid of her in the first place. Gary Barlow was certainly optimistic of her chances by saying that “the Great British public love a comeback.”
Finally…After A Chaotic Week…Another One Bites The Dust!
NO SUCH hitches were reported on Sunday night and everything ran smoothly as another act was sent home. Marcus and Craig were deservedly sent through to sing again and Little Mix kept Tulisa in the running for another week at least. Janet’s supporters came out in response again for their troubled star and the public were prepared to see another dose of Amelia. It left, arguably the two best acts in singing ability; Misha B and Kitty fighting for survival in the Final Showdown. What a sing-off it was as both acts performed like they never performed before and it was going to be very difficult for the judges to split them apart.
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| FITTING: Kitty left the competition in style |
With Louis and Kelly predictably standing by their own acts, both Tulisa and Gary overcame their difficult decision and decided that Misha should still be in the competition on the fact that Kitty had been painted as a villain, perhaps unfairly in recent weeks, to many people. The Next Generation of judges had teamed up to eliminate the veteran Louis who became the first judge to be ousted out of the competition, AGAIN! For Kitty, it was the end of a long and turbulent journey, but she ended it on a high by being able to perform the chorus of ‘Born This Way,’ leaving host Dermot O’Leary petrified at the end. It got better for Kitty, when during an emotional interview with Caroline Flack and Olly Murs on The Xtra Factor; Lady Gaga raced onto the stage and gave her a farewell hug. It was a touching and moving moment and Kitty does have a future in showbiz, especially if she continues to be inspired by the biggest popstar in the world.
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| BANG: Amelia Lily is well and truly back |
It is one week that The X-Factor will not forget in a hurry. Congratulations have to go Amelia for getting her chance to impress the public. Of course, people are saying that if she goes on to win it would be unfair on everyone else and you expect those kinds of opinions. Let’s not forget, it wasn’t the public who chose to get rid of her in the first place. One thing is for certain though; Amelia Lily has well and truly blown this competition wide open!
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