The X-Factor 2011 - A week no-one will forget

By Jason Wright (Entertainment Expert)

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

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.

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.

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!

The X-Factor 2011 - The week five curse strikes again!

By Jason Wright (Entertainment Expert)

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

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

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

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.

The X-Factor 2011 - An explosive start to the live shows

By Jason Wright (Entertainment Expert)

FROM the thousands and thousands acts that had aimed to become ‘The Next Big Thing,’ just 16 acts now remained in the running, ready and raring to kick off this year’s X-Factor live finals.

     With new judges, new attitude and a new opening title sequence (long overdue but I’m not too keen on the remixed theme), everything was in place for the perfect beginning.  However week one would be dominated by a ‘Big Twist’ and this time, it would be the first ever quadruple elimination, but not decided by the public.  Instead the judges would have complete control over the future of their acts.

     First, in their one and only effort to convince their mentoring judge, all 16 acts performed a song either by a popular British or American artist. Here’s how they fared…

GIRLS

Opening the live finals is a very daunting prospect as people expect the standard to be set high early on.  This year it fell to youngster Amelia Lily from Middlesbrough.  As part of the questionable makeovers given to the contestants in this run, her familiar blonde locks were switched to a shocking pink, but that didn’t stop her giving an confident rendition of the Michael Jackson classic ‘Billie Jean.’  Despite a few dodgy notes in the chorus, it was a good start, considering this is a very challenging song to perform.  Next up was Sophie Habibis with a piano version of Katy Perry’s ‘Teenage Dream.’  Slow-paced it may have been, but surprisingly, it came off very well as it showed the entire vocal range she has.

BREATHTAKING: Janet made herself the early frontrunner

     Then it was the turn of Misha B (she’s confusingly dropped her surname for the finals) with another surprise package of the evening.  Her version of Adele’s ‘Rolling In The Deep’ was spot on and became more special with an added rap element, perhaps showing off what could be her specialist genre.  Finally, the favourite for the entire competition, Janet Devlin sang Coldplay’s ‘Fix You.’  Unlike the other girls, there were no gimmicks, no dead giveaways, just her singing beautifully. More focus will now surely be placed on her in the coming weeks.

OVER 25s

THANKS to Nicole Scherzinger’s clever thinking, the Over category was raised last year, but with Nicole parked on the US show, it was dropped back 25 for this series.  First in line was Johnny Robinson, with a performance of Cher’s ‘Believe’ that definitely would make anyone cringe.  You may remember on the first week last year, I compared Wagner to Gordon Brown on helium.  On this occasion, Johnny sounds like Nick Clegg on helium!  Following on from him was Jonjo Kerr.  He seemed very nervous and his version of ‘You Really Got Me Going’ by The Kinks exposed it in every department.  He looked pained throughout and sounded more like a failed pub singer.

DIVIDED: Kitty will be either loved or hated by members of the public

    In all honesty, Sami Brookes should be back at her day job, but the exit of Goldie had granted her a lifeline.  She didn’t disappoint either, with her version of Yomada’s ‘You’re Free’ and Gary Barlow vowed to resign if Louis Walsh didn’t save her afterwards.  Lastly, Kitty Brucknell, the true pantomime villain of the line-up came out with Queen’s ‘Who Wants to Live Forever?’  There is no question that she can sing but whether she can last well into the competition is very questionable.

GROUPS

TULISA was put in charge of creating a groups winner for the eighth time in asking.  For this, she (along with her fellow judges) had formed three groups from failed soloists.  First of these “manufactured” groups was Rhythmix.  Dogged by criticism all week, they proved everyone wrong in their performance of Nicki Minaj’s ‘Super Bass’ and were labelled as the best girl group in the show’s history.  The only group to have come in from the auditions proper were Essex duo 2 Shoes, and they certainly brought some glamour into the show by their take of Girls Aloud’s hit ‘Something Kinda Ooooh.’  Gary however wasn’t impressed, comparing it to a “karaoke night in Romford,” certainly the comment of the night.

     The two created boyband groups came next.  First up was Nu Vibe and they were the disappointment of the night.  Their version of Chris Brown’s ‘Beautiful People’ lacked passion and forced judges Tulisa and Kelly Rowland to clash over the arrangement of the performance.  That however was then completely forgotten by the appearance of the new look version of The Risk.  A spot on version of Plan B’s ‘She Said’ was in tune and executed brilliantly.  As far as I’m concerned, they are the leading group in this category.

BOYS

MUCH anticipation was placed on this category as it’s won the show three times in the last four years.  First in was heartthrob Frankie Cocozza.  Though his performance of ‘The A Team’ by Ed Sheeran wasn’t the best by his standards, it at least proved he had strong talent and not just the looks.  That couldn’t be said about James Michael.  The Beatles’ ‘Ticket To Ride’ was completely murdered by his weak vocals and in summary, it wanted to make you fall asleep!

NAILED: Craig proved he is Gary's secret weapon

     The favourite in this category, Marcus Collins, certainly didn’t disappoint with Maroon 5’s ‘Moves like Jagger.’  He must have felt the luckiest guy around, having several women parading but it didn’t distract him one bit.  The final boy, Craig Colton, was labelled by Barlow as his ‘secret weapon.’  Christina Perri’s ‘Jar of Hearts’ is a difficult song to conquer, but Craig nailed it and wiped away pre-show criticism that he wasn’t up to the challenge.

     All in all, it was a night of surprises and expectant performances.  The judges had 24 hours to decide which of their acts they had to axe in the twist.  All the acts could do now was sleep and wait.

The Result

THE public must have felt completely powerless on Sunday as they had to wait with baited breath to see whether the judges would save their favourites.  It wasn’t going to be easy at all.

     Louis was the first judge to choose on Sunday.  He expectantly saved Sami and then, despite the criticism from the people, put Kitty through.  His decision to save Johnny seemed to really shock his act, but it was the right decision.  Jonjo screwed up his performance the previous evening and deserved his exit.

     Next was the Boys and again no shocks were in order with Gary opting to keep Marcus, Craig and Frankie and send home James.  His exit again wasn’t unexpected as he had underperformed massively in his song.  Then it was the turn of the Groups and Rhythmix, The Risk and Nu Vibe were saved to sing another week.  2 Shoes were sent packing, in some ways, a bit surprising considering Tulisa’s strong affection for them.  Indeed, she struggled to compose herself together to eliminate them.

CONSOLED: Amelia struggles to deal with Kelly's decision to axe her

     The hardest decision though had to come to Kelly and her Girls.  One of them had to go despite all four delivering great performances.  Firstly, both Janet and Misha B were deservedly put through, leaving Amelia and Sophie in the running for the final place.  It was made clear already that Kelly had adored Sophie from the beginning but the feeling was Amelia would be given the nod.  Ultimately, Kelly went for Sophie, axing one of the favourites from the competition.  She burst into tears, with the audience looking on.  Whatever you thought of her, you just had to feel terribly sorry for the Teeside lass.

    The X-Factor always has a secret sub-motto, expect the unexpected!  I don’t think anyone expected one of the pre-contest favourites to fall at the first hurdle.  I felt Amelia deserved to stay in the competition, but there are those who also thought Kelly got the decision spot on.  However, Amelia was the victim of a stupid twist from the producers.  Even Dermot O’Leary has had his say on the twist.  I didn’t like it, I don’t think many did and with one million viewers not bothering with Sunday night’s viewers show, it looked like some of the audience voted with their TV sets.  I hope this attempted format of mixing up the show is put into the ditch and doesn’t return.  No act has gone out on week one and has gone onto enjoy a successful career, so unfortunately, I don’t think Amelia will make the grade, which is a real shame.

     Kelly will have to deal with criticism from the Amelia obsessed fans, but it is the producers of the show who should probably accept that this was a bad move, rather than calling for the head of a new judge.  The public vote begins this weekend; wonder if our heads will be turned by the daft performances or the special singers.  However, X-Factor 2011 promises what is says on the tin; plenty of drama and controversy ahead.