The X-Factor 2010 - The pressure starts to show

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)

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!

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.

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!

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

The X-Factor 2010 - Three Weeks In And All To Play For

BY JASON WRIGHT

MOST TV contests are very close to call after a few weeks of action and this year’s X-Factor is no exception.  Three weeks in and there are five or six acts that are fully capable of winning.  This blog reports back on the previous fortnight’s action.

Week Two (16-17 October)

AFTER the eliminations of Nicolo and F.Y.D the previous week, 14 acts were left in the running for Week two.  The second week’s theme would be known as “Musical Heroes” in which the judges chose songs from whatever music idol that each act had picked.

First on the bill are the Over 28’s and Storm Lee went first with ‘Born to Run’ by Bruce Springsteen.  It was a solid improvement, losing some of the insanity from the first week but still looking underwhelmed and strange looking.  Next was John Adeleye with Donny Hathaway’s ‘A Song for You.’  This performance also saw John make strong improvements on the first show and with hope of winning over more public support.  Brazilian Wagner followed up with Tom Jones’ ‘Help Yourself’.  Again looking so off-key and mad, Wagner is easily becoming this year’s novelty act, what was Louis Walsh thinking when choosing him as the category’s wildcard?  Finally, Mary Byrne gave another show-stopping performance with ‘You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me’ by Dusty Springfield.  It’s clear that she has already proven the bookmakers wrong; they said she wouldn’t go far but she’s a contender.

Cheryl Cole’s newly-dyed red hair stole the headlines for the girls’ category, but on the performance side, it was a strong night.  First in the category was Treyc Cohen, singing ‘Purple Rain’ by Prince.  It wasn’t on the levels of the first week, but again very impressive. Cher Lloyd followed with the Jay-Z rap ‘It’s A Hard Life’ again showing off her specialist skills.  Rebecca Ferguson perhaps gave the performance of the night with Nina Simone’s ‘Feeling Good’ and Simon Cowell’s comment suggested her as being labelled the ‘one to beat’.  Lastly, having received a barrage of criticism from both public and press all week, Katie Waissel had to give the performance of her life.  Her take on the Etta James’ ballad ‘I’d Rather Go Blind’ proved that, though at times she seemed to try extremely hard.

Next was the Boys and it began with Paije Richardson performing ‘If I Ain’t Got You’ by Alicia Keys.  Solid if unspectacular from the young wildcard act but he may want to pick it up if he wants to stay much longer.  Next up was Aiden Grimshaw, singing one his personal favourites ‘Jealous Guy’ by John Lennon.  It certainly seemed like the pressure got to him, his lyrical voice was so off-key; even he labelled it as “rubbish”.  That left Matt Cardle to close the show with the Bruno Mars song ‘Just the Way You Are’.  Once again, he showed off his brilliant vocal skills and proved he can give it everything at whatever he is given.

Last up was the Groups which kicked off with One Direction performing Kelly Clarkson’s ‘My Life Would Suck without You’.  After playing it safe on week one, they without question raised their game.  Diva Fever’s version of Boney M’s ‘Gotta Go Home’ which involved a canny pun at Louis raised eyebrows.  They may not be the best singers but can certainly entertain.  Finally, up came Belle Amie who made a massive leap forward with ‘You Really Got Me’ by The Kinks.  However, it will still take loads more to convince the public whether they really are group girl material

The results on Sunday first featured performances by 2008 graduate Diana Vickers.  After achieving a debut number one single earlier in the year, it was no surprise she would return to the show that kick-started her career.  Performing her new single, ‘My Wicked Heart’ proved just how far she has grown up since her time on the show.  The series five semi-finalist may have many critics from the public, mostly from her distinct voice; but she will be around for many years to come.  This was then followed by US pop sensation Katy Perry (who at the time of writing this blog is now newly married to Russell Brand) with her new song ‘Firework’, looking very stylish and on form as always.

For the second consecutive week, a double elimination was the order for this week.  First out was Storm Lee by virtue of receiving the lowest votes from the public.  Storm hadn’t won over many fans so this was perhaps a possible outcome, though one other reason could be that the first 15 minutes of the week’s show clashed with BBC1’s Strictly Come Dancing and so many would have missed his full performance.

Worse was to come for Simon though as both Diva Fever and Belle Amie ended up in the bottom three and forced to sing for survival.  Both acts gave it their all to survive and return for the following week.  However, the nightmare scenario for Simon was spared as Louis, Dannii Minogue and Cheryl all voted to send home Diva Fever.  If he had to make the final decision then surely he would have sent it to deadlock.  Though it was disappointing to see Diva Fever go, looking back, Belle Amie do have better vocal talents and so that may have influenced the decision.

Week Three (23-24 October)

12 acts now left in the running and the theme for last Saturday went completely against what has been seen in the past.  Traditionally the third week is reserved for Big Band but instead this year we got a strange theme of ‘Guilty Pleasures’.  This basically saw the acts perform a song that they secretly love.

The boys were the first category to go and it started with Paije.  He had a very tough week with the tragic death of his grandmother, but his performance of ‘Ain’t Nobody’ showed that a devastating event like that didn’t affect his confidence.  Matt was next with a real surprise, an acoustic version of Britney Spears ‘Hit Me Baby One More Time’ and it certainly won mass praise from the judges.  Finally, after a bad performance last week, Aiden returned to form with ‘Diamonds Are Forever.’  There still seemed to be something missing in his act but otherwise he could still go some distance.

Up next were the over 28’s and John was first with ‘Zoom’.  His performance though was overshadowed by a strange backing dance act that according to Simon and Dannii, seemed to demonstrate, let’s just say “getting it on”.  After struggling with her initial choice of song, Mary performed her audition song ‘I (Who Have Nothing)’.  It sounded very good again but drew criticism that she should try something else to enhance her chances of winning. Wagner then followed with what could only be described as one of the maddest performances in the show’s history.  A mash up of the Spice Girls ‘Spice up Your Life’ and Ricky Martin’s ‘Livin’ La Vida Loca’ was so like drunken karaoke.  He shouldn’t be on the show; he is more like a Eurovision entry for Lithuania!

Now onto the girls and the top of the category’s pack, Rebecca started off with ‘Why Don’t You Do Right?’  Preferably, her performance last week was better, but still once again, the Liverpool lass really showed off her talent.  In the week’s build up, Cheryl had promised fans of Cher that she would sing a ballad this week but this proved to be a white fib.  Instead, Cher came out onto stage with another rap-style song, ‘Shout’ by Tears for Fears.  This is now getting ridiculous, if Cheryl intends on making Cher a superstar, she has to give her something different to sing otherwise she’ll be voted out sooner rather than later.  The girl is trying hard but at the moment in the words of Dancing on Ice judge Jason Gardiner, “she is so BORING!”  Next in the category was Treyc with ‘Whole Lotta Love.’  Hardcore music fans would immediately recognise it as the theme to Top of the Pops in the 1990s and Treyc once again owned the stage, she could well and truly be the surprise package.  Katie had the duty of closing the show on Saturday with ‘I Wanna Be like You’ from the classic film The Jungle Book.  After two mediocre performances, she finally arrived in the contest, showing off her full vocal ranges.

Just two groups now remained in the show and the first of them was One Direction with ‘Nobody Knows.’  Following up from last week’s marked improvement, they may well give Take That and JLS a run for their money in terms of the future fan support.  The second act was Belle Amie singing ‘I’ll Stand By You.’  Another good performance from the foursome, but Louis felt that Simon was hindering their chances by giving the girls the wrong material.  Louis’s comments were unnecessary and frustrating to listen to.  Belle Amie chose their own material for this theme and is pleasing to see that Simon is giving them a chance to form a close bond together.

The Sunday night results show first featured a performance from Michael Buble with ‘Hollywood.’  Considering that he admitted afterwards he had been suffering from a sore throat, its effects weren’t being displayed then.  Then came what is becoming a traditional moment in the show, Cheryl Cole swapping the judges desk for the stage to perform her new single ‘Promise This.’  All eyes seemed to be transfixed on her rather raunchy outfit she was wearing but otherwise she once again delivered a brilliant vocal, even if accusations in the media have indicated that Cheryl mimed the song.

After two weeks of double eliminations, just one act left this week and things returned to normal with just the sing-off to decide who went.  John and to the shock of many, Treyc went head to head to survive and once again, a majority decision was reached by the judges’ which saw John get knocked out.  He tried his best, but he just didn’t make the connection between himself and the public and that was his ultimate downfall.

This is perhaps a very close competition to call then again and we are just three shows into the live shows.  Seven weeks of fierce competition remain so the real story that emerges is certainly still yet to be uncovered.  The next blog on this year’s contest will come at the end of week six but in the meantime, in a fortnight’s time, I’ll be looking back at what was no doubt the most shocking and outrageous moment in X-Factor history, when Jedward survived the axe and eliminated an act that had so much potential.  Adios for now!

Outright Winner of The X Factor (as of October 25th)

7-4 favourite Matt Cardle, 3-1 One Direction, 11-2 Rebecca Ferguson, 13-1 Cher Lloyd, 16-1 Aiden Grimshaw and Mary Byrne, 33-1 Katie Waissel, 50-1 Treyc Cohen, 80-1 Paije Richardson, 125-1 Belle Amie, 150-1 outsider Wagner

The X-Factor continues this Saturday at 8pm.