Live Show 1

[aradia22]

It's. Time. To. Face. The. Music. 

 

Are? You? Ready? For? The? Live? Shows?

 

AND! OVERLY! DRAMATIC! INTROS!?!

[aradia22]

Paul Akister: Paul, are the lights blinding you? Stop making weird faces! It was pleasant. I'd listen to it on the radio. But there was nothing impressive or special about it. This is like a 'I know you already love me' performance. Not a 'I'm fighting to keep my place' performance. I like performers who wow me every time. There are already plenty of mediocre people to listen to on the radio.

Lola Saunders: Glad she's back. That dress they put her in is terrible. Does she not have those low notes in her range? It's like the sound dropped out. I have heard so many goddamned covers of this song. This was fine. Not great. Again, FIGHT to stay. When she unleashes she still doesn't have those rounded, full power notes. But it's not those rock/pop straight tones either. It's this weird in between thing that's a bit of a letdown. But yeah, she still deserves to stay. She can get better. 

Overload Generation: Wait, what? Where'd they come from? Oh, good. Let your voice crack on the first phrase. That inspires confidence. They're so awkward on stage. Do something! Other than look like you're loitering outside a convenience store! The second one to sing with the hipster glasses wasn't bad. They seem to have no direction with the way they're just hanging around and the way they're dressed. When they sing in unison is it autotuned? Pre-recorded? The third one to sing solo, the one on the end, was actually quite good. This group REALLY needs direction. You can't just let that other one sing because he looks like Zayn. You can get away with a song like this if you have a bit of a rock sound and can come across like bad boys (but still not aggressive enough for the tweens to find you too dangerous and intimidating). Instead, it just didn't work at all. They don't have enough sound and power and the staging combined with their natural stage presence just makes them seem awkward and posturing. 

Jay James: Well, he's less irritating. He still needs to work on holding notes. And I don't love his sound. But at least he's tolerable now. He's not great but I have to give it to Simon and production. They did as much as they could to make him a credible contestant.

Stephanie Nala: Her quavery falsetto quavers so much that she's not totally landing the notes. However, they did do a nice job with the staging and they were smart to give her a song she could handle. She's still not a great singer, but a little more work and she could totally fit the mold of the baby-voiced R&B acts of the late 90's/early 2000's.

Jack Walton: Of course they brought back the irritating one. What the hell, man? Does this sound good to you? The beginning was awful but it got a little better as it went along. Have your vocal affectations but hit the notes. Don't go flat. Don't sound like you're dying. Don't strangle all the notes with bad vowels. He ended up being fine. 

Chloe Jasmine: Oh, good. Because I really needed to hear another cover of Toxic. It's a little much. Like, she's putting too many affectations into the same song. But I didn't hate it. If she can tone it down a little, I think I could put up with her for a few more weeks. She's totally not going to win though.

Stereo Kicks: Two Katy Perry songs in one show? I like Katy Perry but come on, guys. For a while I was all excited because I thought they cut it down to four guys. And then the rest of them came in. Damn. They need to stop letting the one with the stretched lobe piercings sing so much. Does he remind them of Aston from JLS? Because he's not Aston. He keeps cracking. Aside from that, they were good. Of course they are. They got some of the best guys and there are EIGHT of them! Ah! I'm not going to let this go. Admittedly, the one with the puffed up hair is good. But I'd like to hear more from red sweater as well. This is the problem when there are eight of them. It's going to be really hard to give them equal mic time and if they never get solos they might as well be background singers. Also, what is with the name? My immediate thought was Stereo Hearts.

Stevi Ritchie: Yay, Stevi's back! For the "fun" act, he's not an atrocious singer. Yeah, he's very cruise ship and goofy, like a comedian who also sings, but his vocals are tolerable and his performances make me smile.

Lauren Platt: Very solid vocal. I liked that they went a bit more cute and poppy but still gave her a Pharrell song. It played to her strengths without exposing the weaknesses of her voice by giving her a big adult female vocalist to measure up to. I was hoping that they'd bring in dancers at some point because the song kept building but never seemed to hit that high point without it.

Blonde Electra: I can tell what they're going for with the vocals and the outfits. I just don't think they pull it off. As with Jay, they did a nice job of trying to make them a credible act. I just don't think they're that talented as singers and I don't know who their fan base would be.

Ben Haenow: Poor Hey now. A tee shirt and a plaid shirt? Bridge Over Troubled Water? What the hell? This is lives. Give him something to work with. It was good but a little underwhelming. He's got to bring it a little more with vocals (just a little clean up) and with his performance and staging next week if they want to keep him around. It's not like he's Rebecca Ferguson where we're just happy he doesn't faint.

Jake Quickenden: It needs a little clean up but otherwise, it was very pleasant. He's not a great singer but he has a nice tone that makes him easy to listen to. At least compared to Jay and Jack. He's cute and perfectly, pleasantly mediocre. I won't mind if he sticks around for a while but he'll have to improve to make it closer to the finals. But I kind of think he could do it.

Fleur East: Well, at least they're getting it out of the way early. I don't know if she'll find her fan base because it's hard for the Overs but I like her. I do. I think she could give Chloe and Stephanie a run for their money. I think she can do both of their acts better than they can. And she's very comfortable on stage. Maybe don't go so dark and heavy on the eye makeup next time though. I don't know where she'll go from here because I don't know if she's got the voice to impress but to me, she's already a pop star.

Only the Young: I love Louis. They're called Only the Young and he made them sing Jailhouse Rock/Twist and Shout. I can't. Never leave me, Louis. Never leave me. They actually sounded good. I was worried about their sound being too small but they sounded nice and polished and the first guy impressed the hell out of me. They're still a bit too bright and shiny and is that one girl always going to wear a hat? But yeah, they were good. I think they missed their decade but they can always have a kids' show. I think the girls need to bring it a little more. Especially the blond one.

Andrea Faustini: There was nothing for him to fight against. The song gave him instrumentation to support him but nothing to overwhelm his vocals. It was good but I'm just a bit meh on him.

 

My Rankings (I rank based on vocals and performance):

1. Lauren Platt (Good vocals plus nice staging. They clearly like her.)

2. Jake Quickenden (Nice vocals with some nice improvement. A bit meh on the box but he had good stage presence.)

3. Fleur East (Good vocal with great stage presence. She owned that stage.)

4. Only the Young (Great performance and stage presence. Very solid vocals.)

5. Andrea Faustini (Good vocals and command of the stage. I'm just not that into it.)

6. Chloe Jasmine (They did a very nice job with the setup and song choice and Chloe did a good job on the vocals. She just needs to pull it back with the affectations and not put them all in the same song. Also, they can't do this same thing every week or it'll get old.)

7. Stereo Kicks (Mini Aston brought them down for me. And they still haven't figured out how to balance all the guys. The talent of the pompadour one brought them up but they're going to need to work on them as a GROUP or they'll just be mediocre. Also, I need more harmonies.)

8. Ben Haenow (I think this was a fine performance from Ben but if he's just going to rely on his voice he needs to clean up the vocals a little and pick stronger songs. This is lives.)

9. Lola Saunders (I think Lola can be better. The performance was meh and the vocals were just OK which doesn't cut it when other people are more polished.)

10. Stephanie Nala (Strong for Stephanie. I think it worked to define her brand and she did a good job with the performance. But she doesn't hold a candle to Fleur. If she can improve her vocals and find a fan base I think she'll stick around for a while.)

11. Blonde Electra (I have to give it to them. The vocals weren't amazing but they were OK. They didn't go flat or shriek or anything like that. And their stage presence was good without any awkwardness.)

12. Stevi Ritchie (Stevi's vocals were fine other than him getting tired and a little out of breath and shouting a bit at the end. It was fun and had life so I'm ranking it higher than the others.)

13. Jack Walton (Better than Judges' Houses but still not a great vocal. He handled himself fairly well on stage but you don't get that many points for hanging out with a guitar.)

14. Paul Akister (Poor Paul. He doesn't have the big, rounded sound I wanted and he just came across as underwhelming. Fine but meh. And he's in that tough first spot.)

15. Jay James (Better but still not great.)

16. Overload Generation (Meh on the vocals and super awkward in their performance.)

[aradia22]

Oh, btw. If you don't read the Guardian's liveblogs, you really should. http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/live/2014/oct/11/the-x-factor-2014-first-live-show-as-it-happens 

 

Lola’s singing a song that I don’t recognise, partly because I’m old but mainly because she’s singing the lyrics like a woman who’s rammed her mouth with cotton wool for a bet. Let’s say it’s called Stay With Me, because that make up about 90% of the song. It isn’t bad, but then again I am just saying that because I’m worried that her eyebrows will gain sentience, crawl out of the screen and bludgeon me to death.

 

Now for the over-25s. First up is Jay James, a man who can best be described as the Kathy Bates from Misery version of James Blunt. Jay James doesn’t so much sing as mimic the noise that a newborn baby makes when it falls down the stairs. I do not care for Jay James.

 

Simon doesn’t like Stephanie because she’s like a member of a girl band. Simon is sitting next to two members of girl bands. Simon will not leave this studio alive.

 

The wildcard for the boys is Jack Walton, who you’ll remember for being exactly the bloody same as every other boy who’s ever taken part in any series of X Factor ever.

You want to read it now, don't you? You should!

[aradia22]

RESULTS:

Overload Generation

and

Blonde Electra

are out. It seemed a waste of time to create a separate thread.

[Kromm]

"Stereo Kicks" is what they picked for an eight-singer boyband?  Does that even make SENSE?  Stereo is 2 parts, not 8.

Surprisingly, for the first time, I liked Blonde Electra.  Somehow.

 

Chloe Jasmine is the gift that keeps on giving.  She's SUCH a poseur, and in such hot water (some of it not even justly, but other parts of it by her own recent doings), but that act is damned entertaining if you start to think of it as a kind of extended performance art piece.  It must be exhausting to go through daily life being Chloe Jasmine, I have to tell you that.

Stevi Ritchie is shit, but I'm sure he's got the public behind him.

 

Fleur East?  I think the first 30 seconds of that were godawful.  Then somehow she turned it around completely in the last 2/3rds of the song.  It was interesting to see a performance teetering on the edge like that and get yanked back so firmly.  She gets respect for that.

Edited October 12, 2014 by Kromm

[aradia22]

I just watched the actual Sing Off performances. 

Stephanie

didn't actually sing that well but

she was

absolutely better than

Overload Generation

. Not good though. It's was a toss up between "I can't even finish listening to this" and "Wow, that was bad but I got through it."

[Kromm]

I just watched the actual Sing Off performances. 

Stephanie

didn't actually sing that well but

she was

absolutely better than

Overload Generation

. Not good though. It's was a toss up between "I can't even finish listening to this" and "Wow, that was bad but I got through it."

They both sucked.  I dub the group "Pants Overload", because what they produced was shit(e).  As for Stephanie?  There's an interesting tone to her voice, but absolutely no control.  Like none.

[Rockwello]

Will be watching on axs tv tonight

[Occasional Hope]

Apparently Blonde Electra have done prison tours.  Talk about cruel and unusual punishment.

[Nedsdag]

Will be watching on axs tv tonight

I have a crappy cable system that doesn't include AXS TV. Thankfully, I saw it live on line on Saturday.

 

Apparently Blonde Electra have done prison tours.  Talk about cruel and unusual punishment.

What was the deal with those girls? Are they American or did they go to a great speech coach?

[Kromm]

What was the deal with those girls? Are they American or did they go to a great speech coach?

Why would any act appearing on British TV ever think acting American would gain them votes?  Never, ever, ever will it, from what I know.  So unless they are enormously stupid and didn't know that, I'm going to guess they're American (and singing "Kids in America" probably nails that down--especially since Louis CALLED them American while defending the song choice).

[Rockwello]

we can't vote here so I agree, no advantage being american on this show, quite a disadvantage

[Kromm]

we can't vote here so I agree, no advantage being american on this show, quite a disadvantage

Most Brits default assume most Americans are obnoxious, ergo it never works out.

 

And certainly any American coming from the Realty TV angle WILL fulfill those expectations in full.  You won't find humble, sincere Americans that way.

[Rockwello]

I am shocked after seeing who got more public votes and who stayed ha

[junemeatcleaver]

I'm watching on AXS too so I'm a day behind.

 

Good lord Overload were horrible.  There are plenty of other cute boys in the competition who sing better and have more charisma, they were not needed.

[pythonite]

Much better than American Idol has been in recent years! So glad Axs airs it. I actually missed Simon.The American X Factor wasn't very good.

 

My pick for the top three is Andrea, Lauren and Ben. One of them has to win.