BY JASON WRIGHT
If we have learnt something so far in this series, it is that all the domination is about controversy and shock. The X-Factor continues to deliver quality TV and here is a look at the past fortnight’s events.
Week 7 (20-21 November)
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| SCREAMING: Matt would have got the girls attention! |
Half of the field had now been decimated and eight were left standing. For week seven, the acts showed the spirit of the sixties by performing songs from the legendary band that is The Beatles. Two Boys were now left and they started off with Matt Cardle singing ‘Come Together’. Of course, the song was made famous last year by Olly Murs ripping nearly half his shirt off during it. Matt closely attempted the same feat by wearing nothing but a vest. As for the performance, it was a mixed bag, sometimes good, other times a bit off-key. Meanwhile, following the woes of Elton John week, Paije Richardson bounced back with a brilliant rendition of ‘Let It Be’ and Simon Cowell quickly took back his words of not having any chance of winning.
With four weeks to go, it’s remarkable and somewhat lucky that the Girls category still has three of the four remaining. Cher Lloyd once again built up a debatable issue with her performance of ‘Imagine’. While it was certainly nice to give something that only showed her singing, a few people questioned the song choice because this was just a John Lennon track, but if Lennon was part of the Beatles then surely it is allowed. Then Simon criticised Cheryl Cole for having Cher perform on top of a makeshift staircase and it got so heated that both had to be called to attention by Dermot O’Leary not once, not twice but three times! At times, you must wonder, give it a rest!
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| NEW: Katie changed her look, and it bought good fortune |
As for the other two girls, Rebecca Ferguson was under pressure. Being from Liverpool, she needed to give the iconic band pride but somehow her performance of ‘Yesterday’ just didn’t click. Maybe it was little too much for her cope with. Finally, Katie Waissel must be the luckiest girl on earth. Despite four sing-off performances, she was still hanging around. Now she had finally undergone a much needed change, new attitude and a new haircut, her rendition of ‘Help!’ was made her own. Could it be the start of a remarkable comeback?
As for Simon’s one remaining act, One Direction, the momentum of last week’s show-stopping was still fresh in their minds and certainly carried forward into this week’s performance of ‘All You Need Is Love’. It wasn’t as good as the previous week but still, the value of the performance was priced at sensational.
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| PREDICTABLE: Wagner was out of tune, AGAIN! |
Lastly, there was no sign of any change in pattern of performance for the Overs…of course! Over the last few weeks, Mary Byrne had been underwhelming but this time around, she provided a great performance of ‘Something’ and that proved she shouldn’t be written off just yet. If a medley of two wasn’t bad enough for Wagner, a medley of three was even worse! ‘Get Back’, ‘Hippy Hippy Shake’ and ‘Hey Jude’ were not sung in tune at all but still another seemingly crowd-pleasing attempt. There are some things in life money can’t buy…and for Wagner, there isn’t MasterCard!
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| TIME: Dermot passes the Cher vs Paije battle to the judges |
For the first time since week three, the sing-off threw together two new faces to the experience, Paije and Cher and it was a sing-off of two halves. The first half, performance-wise, seemed to put Paije in front as his was note-perfect whilst Cher, at times, looked to be crumbling under pressure, very nearly in floods of tears. However, the intensity and emotion in Cher’s performance just couldn’t be overlooked, and that probably swayed it with the judges. Simon put his obvious faith in Cher as he has been since the beginning and with both Cheryl and Dannii again protecting their acts from leaving; Louis was left in the dreaded position yet again. His head told him to save Paije, his heart told him to save Cher, whilst the audience told him to take it to deadlock. In the end, he went for his heart and kept Cher in. This is perhaps seen as the best choice since she had been the more consistent throughout but the audience just didn’t agree, and she was booed and jeered off the stage.
This reaction certainly stunned the teen singer even further to core, if being in the bottom two wasn’t that bad. Cheryl now had just five days to bring her “special one” back into contention. Would it happen or is she a dead girl walking in this contest?
Week 8 (27-28 November)
Loud, metal and flames could only mean one thing, it was Rock night! Now each act had to perform twice to make it through to the all important semi-final.
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| STANDING: Mary is Ireland and Louis remaining hope |
The Overs began and the unusual position of Wagner being first when normally being towards the end. For once, he gave a performance of credibility with Radiohead’s ‘Creep’, once being note-perfect before ‘Addicted to Love’ saw him return to normal. If he took a pill to change his style, the effects wore off very quickly! Meanwhile, Mary had somewhat of a night which many people hardly mentioned her performances of ‘All I Want Is You’ and ‘Brass in Pocket’. Both were not captivating but still worthy of positive feedback from the judges.
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| BEAUTIFUL: One Direction continue to look the part |
One Direction once again ended up right in the thick of it. Simon gave them two rather strange choices, yet still both performances ended up being performed sensationally by the group. ‘Summer of ‘69’ again showed the full vocal range but it was their second song, ‘You are so Beautiful’ that brought the debate. The song’s original singer, Joe Cocker, was in fact not a ballad person as this song seems to suggest but in fact a rock singer, according to Simon. Louis clearly thinks it was the former and hence after eight weeks…we rejoice in the return of ‘Louis Walsh’s Official X Factor Rule Book’. It won’t be long until he’ll get it out into the shops!
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| PRESSURE: Can Rebecca take the heat? |
The Girls were once again up to their usual tricks. After receiving a harsh reaction from surviving the sing-off last week, it left Cher feeling vulnerable and scared of going home next. Her two performances of ‘Girlfriend’ and ‘Walk This Way’ again seemed to show more singing and less rapping, definitely a marked improvement on previous but still has a long way to go before the public’s faith in her is truly restored…and not long left to do it in. Rebecca went the same way as Mary in going for more of the ballad-rock instead of the up-tempo rock. Still her versions of ‘I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For’ and ‘I Can’t Get No Satisfaction’ were both top-class and looking certain of at least making the final. If Cher doesn’t know how to cope with negativity, just talk to Katie, she can deal with it well. She gave her best performance to date with Kings Of Leon’s ‘Sex On Fire’ really being made to set on fire and whilst ‘Everybody Hurts’ didn’t quite match the standard, this was once again a solid week for the constantly elimination-threatened girl.
When a judge has one act left, it can make them feel under pressure of having to deliver. It must have been a distinct feeling of déjà vu for Dannii; last year when her last act standing Stacey Solomon was perhaps on the verge just a week after “you know what so I won’t mention it again for legal reasons”, she catapulted up to the next level and deserved to reach the final. Now fast forward back to 2010 and with Stacey perhaps all set to win I’m A Celebrity this weekend, Dannii’s last act standing, Matt had to at least achieve the similar goal of getting to the finale. The Essex decorator’s two songs, ‘I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll’ and ‘Nights In White Satin’ were once again effortless. Like Simon with One Direction, Dannii should now have nothing to worry about in terms of elimination.
Seven acts still in and just two weeks to go until the final weekend meant there only one way to settle the exit dispute this week, a double elimination had to be held, which meant for the first time in X-Factor history, a sing-off was held on the contest’s eighth week. Katie found herself in the bottom end of the vote for the fifth time but on this occasion, there was no way back, she came in last place and was out immediately. Her luck having finally run dry, she was very gracious indeed, knowing it had to come to an end sometime.
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| FAREWELL: Wagner says goodbye to the X-Factor |
For weeks now, an internet campaign has been in full swing getting everyone to back Wagner to win and it had a positive effect when the build-up to last week’s show had him installed a third favourite, odds slashed to 10-1 compared to the 150-1 given at the start of the contest last month. However the support somewhat didn’t materialise this time and the manic Brazilian was forced to sing-off against Mary. To ease tension, Louis, who mentored the pair voted first and put his faith in Mary and when Dannii and Cheryl agreed, the crowd went berserk, Wagner was gone. Simon Cowell then declared a victory for the show; its credibility had been saved from total destruction. He did though praise Wagner for his efforts, being the honourable gentleman he sometimes is.
So just five are now left in the running. Cher, Mary, Matt, One Direction and Rebecca will this Saturday and Sunday be fighting like they never fought before in aiming to secure a place in what has now become one of the television’s biggest highlights of the year…The X-Factor Final!
But who will make it and who will fall at the final hurdle? Semi-final weekend kicks off at 7:40pm this Saturday on ITV1 and ITV1 HD and a full report will follow next week.
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