With all the drama and entertainment dominating London’s newspapers each week surrounding the The X Factor contestants, it doesn’t surprise me that millions still religiously tune in every weekend to watch the performances and results, despite protesting that the show is fixed.
During the week, it was reported that estranged Over 28’s act Wagner Carrilho has been asked to leave the X Factor house due to his erratic, unpredictable behaviour! An X Factor spokesperson however, claimed that Wagner has checked into a nearby Holiday Inn hotel to work on his voice, with, I’m assuming – the hope of ditching the entertainment element of his colourful performances to be taken a lot more seriously in the competition with some on point vocals! Other newspapers claim that Wagner requested to leave the house, as he feels the other contestants don’t like him or his bongo playing in the house. Wow.
This weekend we will hear the remaining acts take on songs from legendary British Band The Beatles, with a Beatles theme. Luckily also, the last 9 acts will be embarking on the all-improved X Factor Tour which kicks off in February 2011 through to April. So, don’t complain if you don’t win guys, there can only be one winner, at least you get a good old chunk of pop star life touring around the country. As well as that we all know that not only the winner releases an album in the future. Favourite to win vocalist Matt Cardle said it was an ‘awesome day’ when he heard he would be touring with Aiden Grimshaw, who was sadly booted off last Sunday. Just eight remain let’s see what surprises emerge this weekend.
Paije Richardson.
Paije sang ‘Let It Be’ tonight. He had the best stage arrangement, it was wonderful. I’m almost certain he’s safe this week, well at least I hope. He gave a brilliant performance really heartfelt and powerful.
Louis, ‘Paije, it must have been so difficult for you to stand on that stage, with Simon saying you can’t win the competition last week. I think you can win the competition if you keep singing like this. You’ve got your mojo back. It was very rude of Simon to say you’ve got no chance of winning, you don’t know, it’s up to the public. I’ve compared you to Lenny Henry and Luther Vandross, but this week you were like a little Marvin Gaye!’
Cheryl, ‘I don’t think you were a little anything, to me you were just a little you. There was something really angelic and beautiful about your performance, I thoroughly enjoyed it.’
Simon, ‘Watching it back, it probably was a little bit rude saying you had no chance of winning. But I stand by what I said, based on that performance, you couldn’t win. Having said that, you’ve come back with a brilliant song, and performed it very, very well. It was a million times better than last week.’
Dannii, ‘I want to start by saying Happy Birthday, this week you went from being a teenager to the big 2-0. You came into this competition as the wildcard, but you’re still standing soul man!’
Mary Byrne.
Wow, stunning vocal from Mary tonight as she sang, ‘Something’ by The Beatles. She sang beautifully, and just as I’ve realised from the beginning – a belter of a song is totally what she needs, she did it well.
Dannii, ‘Mary, when you are on it, you are on it. That was up there with your best performances. But you need to have that confidence every time you sing.’
Cheryl, ‘I never feel nervous when you sing. I think the beauty of you is that you’ve lived a life, you mean every word of the song.’
Simon, ‘As annoying as this is, Louis did actually choose the right song for you. Sounded much better than last week, you’ve definitely got your confidence back.’
Louis, ‘Mary’s got her mojo back, yes! Very emotional, I felt every word of it. Hey, I want people to vote for Mary though, nobody’s safe.’
Katie Waissel.
New approach, new look with the 1970’s image and appearance, new hairstyle, Katie’s really fighting to refrain from appearing in the bottom two tomorrow. She sang Beatles classic ‘Help’.
Louis, ‘You are still standing, and I love your new look. You look like a supermodel. I love the fact you sung a song called Help. Vocally that was incredible. I want people to give Katie a chance because this is a singing competition and you can really sing.’
Dannii, ‘I think it was the first time you put the energy of the save-me songs into the real performance. I think you’ve been confusing audiences because you come out with something totally different every week and say ‘this is the real me’. The thread is that you do have a great voice. I think characters and acting is your strength.’
Simon, ‘Katie I’m not confused. I’m glad remained in the competition. This is you stripped back bare with no gimmicks. Lyrically it was absolutely genius. The irony, what frustrates me, is that a lot of people on the shows act in front of the cameras and are not what they appear. I want to make this point, that you are genuinely a nice person. You’ve taken a lot of stick, and you’ve taken it on the chin. I like the fact come back different every week, it makes you interesting. Loved that performance.’
Cheryl, ‘Definitely one of the most interesting people I’ve ever been able to work with. That was my performance of the night.’
Matt Cardle.
Matt sang ‘Come Together’ this week. An amazing performance from the ex Painter and Decorator. He will never have to pick up another paintbrush again! I love this song because I absolutely adore the Michael Jackson version, so so much. He displayed versatility, confidence, and boldness. With the judges’ comments this week, I’m sure Simon, and Louis are hating because they are not Matt’s mentor, Dannii had to reel them in.
Louis, ‘Matt, kicking off the show that was a great song choice. I’ve been a big supporter of yours from the start, I’ve always said I thought you were the one to beat. But there was something missing tonight. I’m not sure what was missing, just something wasn’t there.’
Cheryl, ‘ I completely disagree, it was so nice to see that cheeky chap coming out. I really enjoyed it. I have a sneaky feeling we could be seeing you in final.’
Simon, ‘I tell you what he was missing Louis, his shirt. I think the whole styling thing went a little too much to the left. To the point that it looked like you were just literally dragged from the loo on to the stage. Having said that, in the last part of the song, the vocal was fantastic.’
Dannii, ‘The best bit is that when you cannot hear what the judges are saying, you know it’s good. The girls would be happy if you were dragged from the toilet to their bedrooms! You are a star Matt.’
Cher Lloyd.
‘Imagine’ is one of the most beautiful songs in the world, and it was a good choice for my favourite female Cher Lloyd, one of the best lyrics ever written by the legendary John Lennon. I adore this song, reminds me of how society has changed so much, and how beautiful the 70’s were.
Louis, ‘Cher, it was a great song choice, magic. But when I saw you first at the audition, I thought we had found the most amazing contemporary pop star. There was no rap, and it didn’t go anywhere. You have the potential to be an amazing pop star. It was a lazy performance though, you’re so much better than this.’
Dannii, ‘Cher, I thought that was fantastic. What you’ve shown us up until now is that you can do a bit of everything. If we were to go to your show, there’s versatility. There have been two songs that I’ve loved, and that was my favourite performance of yours.’
Simon, ‘Part of me is happy you did this, Cher, but what I like is that you’re showing the person that you really are. You are a very sweet nice girl, and there are lots of nasty stories in the press about you, which makes me upset. You’re an absolute delight to work with. Part of the problem was what Cheryl did with the half staircase. There was nothing you could do on that. Your fans want you to give more of a performance, they’re not going to like this.’
Cheryl, ‘She’s performed week after week in every way, you have shown versatility. You rap, sing dance, you have production. When we strip it back it shows your vocal is not to be underestimated.’
Wagner Carrilho.
A triple rendition of songs – ‘Get Back’, ‘Hippy Hippy Shakes’, and ‘Hey Jude’ presents to you Wagner in a fantastic turquoise army jacket that I’ve just gotta have! I hope Wagner wins. I feel sorry for him, and the stories that are emerging which have probably been twisted to make him out to be a bad person, who knows, but I hope his times not up yet.
Dannii, ‘Wagner, I’m not going to talk about the singing on this one. I just don’t know what to say.’
Cheryl, ‘I don’t usually have anything constructive to say about you. But this week you made some comments in the press about me coming from a council estate. I am very proud of my roots. If I was to give you any advice, it would be to say don’t focus on how lucky I am to be here, focus on how lucky you are to be on that stage.’
Simon, ‘Wow, look, I think I’ve got to try and judge this Wagner as if this is the first time I’ve ever seen the show, and I was watching this performance. I surrender. In the real world, it was the worst version of a Beatles’ song I’ve ever heard in my life. But are you taking this seriously? Do you think you can win?’
Wagner, ‘I never thought of winning, all I wanted was a career in the show business.’
Louis, ‘I mean, Simon, every week he comes out and gives it his best. Every week he gets no credit. You have a big fan base out there. If you get in the bottom two tomorrow, the three witches of Eastwick here would vote you out!!’
Wagner, ‘I didn’t know the guy was a journalist. I said Cheryl is a role model, I believe she grew up on a council estate, and many people who live there don’t believe they can achieve better. You did because you are beautiful, you are talented…’
One Direction.
Simon’s boys sang All You Need Is Love, and had the change to re-enact The Beatles 1969 Abbey Road zebra crossing album cover – that was moving. They displayed excellent unity as a group, brilliant harmonies, and good stage presence which gained a warm reception from the crowd.
Louis, ‘Hey, One Direction, thank God for you guys, you lifted the energy in the studio. Good to see the fab five singing the fab four. The hysteria here is crazy. YES!’
Dannii, ‘Another fantastic performance. I just have to say tonight is that you guys, Niall and Zain, were struggling with the backing vocals. You have to work as a group and can’t rely on the others.’
Cheryl, ‘I can’t get into the whole platform thing. Don’t know why your mentor put you on that. But that was another great performance.’
Simon, ‘Who cares about the platform? Can I just say, you worked hard, delivered a fantastic, brilliant version of the song. I just want to say, look what happened last week – please don’t think these guys are safe. These guys [other judges] don’t want you to do well in the competition; I do – please vote.’
Rebecca Ferguson.
Yesterday, is another gorgeous song choice from The Beatles. Rebecca, being from their home town Liverpool, as a child she used to play in all the local areas where The Beatles used to be. Her performance was good, but for me, likewise with judge Dannii, not as good as previous weeks.
Louis, ‘Rebecca, you bring something to this show called class. That’s the most recorded Beatles song ever, but you so made that song your own, that could be a hit again. Everyone in Liverpool is supporting you, I want to see you in final.’
Dannii, ‘For me, it wasn’t my favourite performance of yours, you seemed a little bit nervous. You weren’t as on top of it as you normally are, especially I the first half of the song. Not the best performance from you.’
Simon, ‘For the first time in weeks, this is the first time I’ve seen you nervous. What I love is that you actually feel the words of the song. With you being from Liverpool, that was the absolute perfect tribute to Beatles.’
Cheryl, ‘First of all you can come to my dressing room as much as you like, you’re such a lovely girl. I could feel nerves, but after last week it’s no surprise. People need to vote for you.’
SUNDAY
After tonight just several acts will still be in the running to becoming America’s Next Top model – Whoops I mean X Factor! It’s obvious where my mind lies in the way of TV entertainment. I have to say since Leona Lewis won in 2006, and JLS came second in 2008 I have to say X Factor has become pretty weak – no way near as good as previous years, and way too predictable. The talent is simply not as good.
My final three will be Cher Lloyd, One Direction, and Matt Cardle, I may be wrong let’s wait and see. Also, my view is that Wagner will be going home after the papers twisted a comment he made on last night’s show concerning Cheryl Cole growing up on a council estate, and that she’s very lucky to be where she is today. I feel this was somewhat exaggerated, or misconstrued to have an excuse to get rid of him. Ahh the power of the Media, sometimes it can be a little O.T.T. Poor guy, let’s see…
So as soon as Katie’s name was read out during the result show, I thought that’s it for Wagner, to only find that my Cher and Paije are in the bottom two fighting for survival. After three judges vote it comes down to Louis’ vote, then after thoughtless deliberation he decides to send Paije home instead of take it to deadlock, so the decision doesn’t ride with him. Paije looked shocked and upset poor thing. Another surprising vote off this week.
Louis, ‘It’s so difficult. Both acts were superb in the sing off. I’ve always believed in Paije since day one. Cher in the sing off you were just incredible. I find it really hard to pick between them. It’s so difficult and very unfair because they’re both brilliant. Ok, Dermot, the person I’m sending home tonight is Paije.’