I’m back home and back to The X Factor blogging with the Top 9 taking on party anthems.
India Rose Madderom kicked off the night with “Jai Ho.” It was a left of centre song choice, but I think the risk paid off. This is a tough song to sing, but she nailed it. The choreography was also great; it created a real sense of occasion without compromising her vocals. And she looked stunning. What a great start to the night!
My love of The Eagles might be swaying my opinion of Andrew Lawson’s performance of “Heartache Tonight,” but I didn’t like this. It felt a bit cheesy and contrived, like a Broadway number from a musical flop. He did look a lot more comfortable on stage than he has in the past, but I also felt that he didn’t really connect with the lyrics or song. It’s about more than performance after all. Maybe he can put it all together next week?
Amanda Grafanakis took on The Black Eyed Peas “I’ve Got a Feeling,” and delivered a fairly lackluster performance. I just didn’t feel it. She sang it well, except for a few shaky high notes, but there wasn’t enough conviction behind it. I also found all of the background movement a bit distracting, especially those flipping shirtless men!
Luke and Joel got the party started with Outkast’s “Hey Ya!” For me this was the best performance to that point, simply because it was so much fun. Yes it had vocal flaws, but it was so enjoyable that it just didn’t matter. There was not a person in their seats while they were on stage, and that’s a party.
I was worried that the party anthems theme wouldn’t allow Sally Chatfield to be Sally, but I needn’t have worried. Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now” was such an excellent song choice. Freddie Mercury is a hard act to follow, but she performed the song admirably. This was great fun.
Mitchell Smith proved that he’s no Chris Brown with his rendition of “Forever.” I’m starting to feel quite sorry for him honestly. I remember when we first saw him and he was singing these lovely acoustic ballads – tough on party anthems week I know, but why does he keep getting these upbeat R’n’B numbers? It’s all feeling contrived and out of his vocal range. It’s quite sad that Kyle as his mentor still doesn’t really get who he is.
Mahogany did a credible job with Britney Spears’ “Baby One More Time.” It wasn’t my favourite performance of theirs, but I think that was more a fault of song choice than the girls. Britney isn’t the best singer, so while they were always going to out-sing her I’m not sure they had enough room to really impress. I would have loved to see them tackling something with a bit more soul like The Pointer Sisters or Donna Summer, but they’ve probably done enough to escape the bottom two.
Altiyan Childs was as good as he’s going to get with Bon Jovi’s “Living on a Prayer.” He performed the pants off it, and was kind of crazy but it was certainly entertaining. I’m not sure he should really be in the competition, but while he continues to amuse me I’d like him kept around.
I feel like Hayley Teal did the best she could with David Guetta/Kelly Rowland’s “When Love Takes Over.” It wasn’t the right song for her; it wasn’t in the right range and didn’t give her the opportunity to really connect with the lyrics. It was all a bit frothy, and she had to try too hard to deliver the vocals, which meant the connection was lacking. Again, I would have loved to see a more soulful take on party anthems rather than more vacuous modern music. Not her fault though, so I hope she scrapes through.
I think Kyle’s boys are in danger this week. Is it finally Mitchell’s turn to go?