By Jason Wright (Entertainment Expert)
THOUSANDS had applied and now just two acts remained. Following Amelia Lily’s departure at the end of Saturday’s show, just two now were left to fight it out. Marcus Collins and Little Mix would compete over two hours on Sunday night to decide who would win The X-Factor 2011. They were ready, the audience was ready, the judges were ready and Britain was ready to meet its next big popstar.
Before the serious business began, there was once again time to enjoy a performance from the eliminated contestants (minus Frankie for obvious reasons.) In his place, there was a cameo appearance by Goldie Cheung; the act that Louis Walsh had initially sent through to the live finals, but declined to participate.
Turning back the clock to the past
Each act had three songs to win The X-Factor 2011. In their first performance of the night, both of them performed a song from a past live show and they both opted to reprise their numbers from Movie Night (Week 7 of the competition, to you and me.)
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| GALLANT: Marcus was a creditable runner-up |
First Marcus performed ‘Higher and higher,’ bringing back the gospel choir he used to great effect back then. Just like the previous night, he had opened this leg of the final in sensational style. Then Little Mix jumped onto stage to perform ‘Don’t Let Go.’ The song once again showed their unique abilities of being a group with either no lead singer or someone who gets the majority of the lyrics. They all get their fair share and that’s why the public love them.
Giving Seasons Greetings
The X-Factor wouldn’t be the same without some Christmas cheer, something it has ignored in the last two series finals. So it was nice to see it reinstated for 2011. Marcus first gave a performance of Wham’s ‘Last Christmas.’ It was a song that was sort of lukewarm but the judges didn’t care, it was the final after all and it was all about standing out from the crowd for them.
Little Mix then next performed ‘Silent Night.’ This was them at their best, a song which just focused on their amazing voices that have grown throughout the competition. With every performance that goes by, the belief that this could be the year of the Groups was growing. All that Tulisa could do, as she had been doing throughout, was to make a loud plea for people to vote for them and that was an X-Factor political broadcast by “Tulisa’s Little Muffins” Party!
As the acts went backstage to prepare for their final and most crucial performance of the evening, it was time to look back at a series full of highs and lows. Westlife, who have just announced they are splitting up, performed an acclaimed rendition of ‘What About Now,’ with a montage of series highlights being shown on the big screen behind them.
Just one more chance left
So it had all come down to this. One song now stood between Marcus and Little Mix from victory – the winner’s single. Reverting back to old rules, both finalists ad recorded versions of the Damien Rice ballad ‘Cannonball’ but with one difference, both acts had recorded it in their own style and how they saw it fit. Unfortunately, both performances would be overshadowed by what is the worst ever X-Factor winner’s single!
Marcus went for a mixture of high notes and up-tempo base for his performance. Although many might have predicted it would suit him more, it didn’t quite turn out the way many expected but what couldn’t be taken away was the power and soul put into it and it even had Gary Barlow shedding a tear or two.
Little Mix opted for the more traditional route of keeping the song as a ballad throughout its entirety. They put plenty of dedication, emotion and other all sorts of dimensions into it. It sounded like they been in the music industry for years.
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| ELECTRIC: Coldplay put on a stunning performance |
A long wait would now have to be endured as it was time for another X- actor first. This group had declined from appearing on the show, until now. The biggest band in the world, Coldplay performed two songs from their recent new album, ‘Charlie Brown’ and ‘Paradise.’ The Wembley Arena crowd was transformed into a sea of glow lights for the performance and the group worked so hard that lead singer Chris Martin was left sweating like a pig after their performance.
An emotional and fairytale climax to an incredible weekend
Now came the moment Britain had been waiting. Could Marcus make it four wins for the Boys in five years? Or would Little Mix claim a long overdue triumph for the Groups? In what was the closest X-Factor final ever, with just five per cent of the votes separating the two acts, and the standard long pause, the nation decided that the winner of The X Factor 2011 would be
…LITTLE MIX!
After eight long years, the group’s category had finally hit the jackpot! In the past, the likes of G4, Same Difference, JLS and One Direction had tried and failed to win the final. Now Little Mix had well and truly showed them all up.
The girls were undoubtedly overcome with emotion over the announcement; tears’ streaming down their faces and even their mentor Tulisa cracked and was a sobbing wreck too. Throughout all they had been through, the public saw faith in them and they had well and truly beaten the odds. Marcus was left to just offer his congratulations but again, he will surely be on his way to a bright future.
That just left Little Mix enough time to wipe away their tears and perform their debut single before being enveloped into a massive group hug by all of the finalists. The race will now be on to get the single to Christmas Number One, but with that contest being taken place over two weeks this year and with a strong challenge from the ‘Military Wives’ charity single, it isn’t going to be easy. However, they will surely be virtually guaranteed number one in next Sunday’s chart beforehand.
Series eight in a nutshell
It’s fair to say this year’s series of The X-Factor has had its ups and downs. It started off so well in the early stages with rave reviews from critics over the new judging panel. Once the live shows started, it descended into chaos, which put a bit of a damp squib on the competition because, at least in my opinion, the talent was much better than in previous years.
When Strictly Come Dancing started in October, the expected ratings switchover happened and The X-Factor struggled to maintain its grip with Strictly’s approach to hit the show where it really hurt. Even the first night of the final on Saturday was outfoxed by Strictly’s semi-final and on Sunday, the peak audience was just over 15 million. As anticipated, this was the most watched show on the box on Sunday but still a massive four million down on last year’s finale and the overall series ratings were below both 2010 and 2009.
As for “The Next Generation” judging panel, Gary Barlow was a creditable addition and delivered his promise to be fair and brutally honest in his role. When Tulisa was appointed, I didn’t have any high hopes, but she has actually turned out so great in her role and my opinions on her have changed. The least said about Louis Walsh, the better, and Kelly Rowland was strongly opinionated and honest in her feedback but looked out of her depth in the UK. I wouldn’t be too surprised if at least one of these judges gets their P45 orders before next year however, with Nicole Scherzinger potentially switching from the US version to the UK edition next year.
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| Congratulations to Little Mix: X-Factor Winners 2011 |
Lastly, congratulations to Little Mix for a well deserved victory. Now will they turn out to be successful – the answer won’t be revealed until next autumn but with acts like Shayne Ward, Leon Jackson and Joe McElderry having failed to build on their success, and with last year’s champion Matt Cardle seemingly going the same way, there will be huge pressure on them to deliver. However, we should leave this until when that moment comes and celebrate on the foursome becoming the first group ever to win the competition. The countdown now begins again to summer 2012 for when the search resumes for the class of series nine.
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