Boot Camp 2K15!

[aradia22]

Getting tired yet? Too bad. We've got a lot more of this to go before figuring out who we need to actually care about.

[aradia22]

Group 1: Ryan Ruckledge, Katie Coleman, Samantha Atkinson, Silver Tone and Alex Wallhead

• Man bun has a decent pop/rock voice. Could get annoying but good for this.
• The girl group was good, particularly the higher voice that stood out. They could have been better. More strong harmonies, less bland unison.
• Red hair was good. Not impressive but very solid. Very good control. I think her voice could be versatile.
• The blond came out ready to be a star. I like her.

Group 2: Jennifer Phillips, BEKLN, Stephanie Beeby, Isreal Allen and Bupsi

• Jennifer has a good voice. I don't know if she did enough to stand out. It's hard to stand out with the beginning of that song without a super unique voice.
• I like BEKLN. They will sing the kind of music I want to listen to and their vocals are pleasant. I don't have to think so much about whether or not I enjoyed it.
• Bupsi played it a little safe. I do think she could do well on the show so I hope she stays.
• Isreal (sp?) was also good.

Chloe Paige sounds young to me. If you do blue eyed soul you have to nail it. To me, she's just OK. She's got a good voice. I don't think she measures up to the singers who do this really well. I'd prefer to hear her do more rock and roll or rockabilly. More pop.

Anton Banaghan was good but I think he also held back.

Alien picked an easy song so they sounded fine. I think they'll be happy to be a brand and do what the judges say. I don't know if they'll click with the audience. It's your typical girl pop pretending to have edge. It's everything from Avril Lavigne to Miley Cyrus to Selena Gomez, etc. etc. 

Seann Miley Moore would not be as special without the get up. This was an OK audition. Nothing special.

Group 6: Man in the Mirrror

• I liked the group but they felt very dated. I do like having a lead singer with a slightly deeper voice.
• Lauren Murray has a nice voice but I don't think she shined.
• Plaid shirt was OK but rough in spots. I think it might have been out of his range or he might have been pushing it. He impressed me a little at the end though and he's relatively attractive. I could see them packaging him as a heartthrob.
• The blond was OK. Not special. Many people have that voice and with this song and arrangement it sounded really dated.
• Where did two-tone hair come from? Meh.

Group 7: Red Nile, Danny Sharples, Anton Stephans, Gifty Louise and Mason Noise

• I love Gifty. That is how you start a song!
• Grunge ponytail was good too. I have no idea how they'd package him but he seems fun.
• FINALLY a girl group ready to step to Little Mix and Fifth Harmony. I don't think they're ready yet but at least someone is trying.
• Anton Stephans was a little rough and I find his voice a little irritating. I could totally see them keeping him and making him a bit of a joke though.
• The other guy from the Backstreet Boys was good. I don't know if he's a star. Something feels like Usher-lite. Like Mike Posner + Jay Sean.

Group 8: Monica Michael, Papasidero, Batz in Da Belfry, Sophie Plumb and Princess Diamond

• Fur coat was pretty good. She gives me the vibe of a guest act from another country who performs during the results show. Pleasant, versatile voice. Not too remarkable but solid.
• I like Monica. She's got a good voice but she also has style, stage presence, and attitude. And she has an edge.
• Papasidero was fine. I don't need another Andrea.
• Princess Diamond has a decent voice. You can't forget the words though. You didn't even have to sing the whole song. How will you get through the live shows?

[aradia22]

Group 9: Simon Lynch, Tom Bleasby, Karen Mav, Joseph McCaul and Sophie Stott

• Karen had such a good first audition. This was fine but rough. I think the range made her go a little flat. I'm glad she got to get back in there at the end. I hope they keep her.
• Simon... meh with one nice riff.
• Tom took a while to land on the pitch but once he did I liked it. He has a VERY particular voice. But so did Johnny Robinson.
• Joseph was good. I like him.
• Sophie's not bad. But she didn't stand out after this many auditions.

Group 10: Jamie Benkert, Josh Daniel, Mon Amie, Ben Clark and Andy Taylor

• Fake Ollie was pleasant. I feel like he should be in a group.
• Josh was good. I don't know why he didn't impress me. I see how you get jaded judging singing like this.
• I think ice cream man could have an excellent career in entertaining children or regional musical theatre. He's got a Jim Henson studio muppet vibe to me.
• Bieber hair has a nice smoky voice. I find him bland.
• The voices in Mon Amie are so high and kind of classical that they don't feel like a girl pop group. I hear more of a retro sound. More of the Puppini Sisters. But the one with the hat is a pop singer. They're good but they need to be told what to do. Hat girl is a star though. THIS is how you do blue eyed soul.

Group 11: Kiera Weathers, Castiello, Kelly-Mai Webb, Lochei and Decibellas

• The boys. The first guy had a nice riff. Too bad they forgot the words.
• The blond girl was good. Nice big voice.
• The girl group was good. Still a lot of singing in unison. They'll get cut or stay depending on how much they like the other groups. Not special enough.
• Jean dress has a great voice. I got excited thinking she was in the group. I really like her.
• Am I going crazy or did leather and chains not sing?

Group 12: Kush, Stephanie, Charli, Lucy and James

• Plaid shirt and Fame sounded surprisingly good. I didn't expect their voices to fit this song so well.
• Retro glam was fantastic. She didn't try to show off but she has a unique voice.
• Janis Joplin sounded great.
• Joss Stone was good too. There are too many girls this year. It's going to come down to age to save some people. A lot of them are getting cut.

Group 13: Louisa Johnson, 4th Power, Sherilyn Hamilton-Shaw, Neneth Lyons, Jasmine Leigh Morris and Andre Batchelor

• Good bye, Andre. I don't have time for this.
• Red hair has a great solid voice.
• Oh, this was TOTALLY Neneth's song. It's totally an Overs song to begin with.
• I liked Sherilyn better this time but something about her still strikes me as cannon fodder.
• 4th Power. The professional group. They're good but I think I might have to actually watch the show and learn to care about them. All I see is a group that shouldn't be on this show.
• Louisa is good. And pretty and tall and blond. I liked that this song is more rock and roll than straight soul or blues.

This Group: Proud Mary

• The girl group was sloppy. They made themselves look like cannon fodder.
• Stevie. I liked it. It had a Little Richard vibe.
• Headphones was messy.
• Goodbye blue jacket.
• Back to back, Jenesa came across as the less talented version of Neneth. Goodbye.
• If the other group sang, I missed it.

[aradia22]

My Choices

Girls: Katie Coleman, Gifty, Kiera Weathers, Monica Michael, Stephanie, Charli, Lucy, Louisa Johnson

Boys: I was not too impressed with anyone.

Groups: Mon Amie, BEKLYN, Red Nile

Overs: Joseph McCaul, Neneth Lyons, Stevie

 

I'd save Lauren Murray based on her first audition. In her first audition they said she was 25, so I hope she can be an Over. It'll keep her safe. Same with Karen Mav.

 

Here are your spoilers for the actual results.

[aradia22]

Thoughts on the results.

 

Girls: I can't believe

Katie Coleman

and

Gifty

didn't get through. Those two are stars. My best guess is they don't want to muddle the field with too many possible winners. I don't think

Chloe Paige

deserved to get through at all. I actually have no idea how

Havva

got in there because I don't remember seeing her.

Boys: Where was

Che

during Boot Camp? Now that he's not in, I kind of wish

grunge ponytail

had made it but I'm not really bothered.

Overs: Where did

Ebru

and

Max Stone

go during Boot Camp? This is some bullshit.

Joseph and Neneth

should be here. They don't want an Over to win this year (or affect the vote too much).

Groups: This is some nonsense. Unless other people can get over my dislike of

4th Power

, I can't see a group winning this year. My best guess is that they took the girl from

Mon Amie

aside and told her to audition next year by herself.

[aradia22]

Boot Camp Single Auditions

 

Silver Tone: Something about the beginning sounded off. One or two people were throwing it off. Then it went very girl group in a bad way. If you're doing a gospel version why are you afraid to show emotion? They really need coaching and if the judges aren't invested they'd be a group that got kicked off in the first or second week.

Lauren Murray: It took me a while to warm up to it. In the beginning it was neither strong nor smooth. If you don't have power or that silky R&B voice what do you have? Breathy-ness and awkwardly dropping down to low notes? I still like her but I think she'd do better as an over. If you're already 25, why not wait a year and have a better shot?

Brodie Kelly: Decent but I don't need these breathy, whispery, quavery vocals in my life.

Simon Lynch: There were some very nice parts of this but it was far from perfect and a song that leaves your voice this exposed needs to be perfect.

Josh Daniel: I think it's something he's doing with his voice. It's making this weird unpleasant buzzy sound. It sounded better when he opened it up. Is he really 21? He looks a lot older. I liked it on the whole but it wasn't a wow.

Seann Miley Moore: He's got a beautiful voice in there. I don't know what it is because I see him opening his mouth but he has a way of closing off his vowels sometimes. Is he the one from Australia? Because that would explain it. I do like him though. He's ready for this in a way that a lot of the others aren't.

Joseph McCaul: I like him but honestly the way he squeezed some of those notes resulted in a very annoying sound.

Anton Stephans: There were some parts of this performance I really loved. But I think he does too much. And some of what he does sounds really irritating to me. When he tries to make his voice cut through, it's too much. He doesn't need to push that much. Maybe it's a backup singer thing?

Alien: I didn't hear anything great and I don't think it's an accident that they kept cutting to Ollie and Caroline.

Tonatha: I can't believe I'm saying this but I would have rather listened to One Republic. She doesn't have the depth (both in range and also that full, grounded quality) to make the kind of cover she wanted to do work. It didn't play to her strengths.

Monica Michael: She doesn't have the strongest voice/doesn't push herself enough. She throws out a big note and then throws away the rest of the line. This was again too breathy and quavery for me. I still like her.

Papsidero: Take away all the gimmicks and props and I just hear bad 90's vocals. Like a bad Britney Spears impression. Then shouting/shrieking. I did get a good laugh out of it.

[aradia22]

Andre: Only mentioning this off key moaning because it made Cheryl laugh so hard she was crying.

Che: A nice, clean vocal. His eyes are a little blank. He has to learn how to perform. But I do like him. Even if he bears an unfortunate resemblance to James Arthur.

Havva: I don't have a problem with many singers. Ariana Grande is fine for me. I have NO idea what she was singing. And I don't think her singing was that impressive.

Jamie Benkert: Meh and I'm over people who close their eyes the whole time.

Ebru: Why would you choose a song that's almost too low for you with a very limited range and one nice riff at the end? What the hell kind of an audition is that?

Mason Noise: Decent falsetto. Doesn't sound like the best singer but if he could look like he's enjoying himself a bit more, who knows? He has some tricks and could be a good performer/dancer.

Bupsi: I enjoyed it but a couple of ballads like this on the show, and Bupsi would be out.

4th Power: It sounded kind of ugly... Messy. They don't have as much control over their voices as they should and the blend is off. And it still seems soulless. I don't think they give a crap about what they're singing. They're there to show off.

Ben Clark: The way he cheated the break between "sure" and "how" in "not really sure how to feel about it" sums up my issue with him. I don't think he can really sing. I'm not here for you to talk through the song.

[aradia22]

The First Kings: Some kinks need to be ironed out but I like them. I see no future in an older boy band but they sound good.

Holly Johnson: I don't remember her from any other round. She sounded good.

Jennifer Phillips: Good. Not as good as Mariah but better than a lot of the other contestants.

Keira: Totally fine. I think she can do better.

Kush: Not something I'd ever listen to but good.

Louisa Johnson: The way she sings, I think she's reaching for a depth (vocally) that she doesn't have. You can't cheat it if you don't have it. I think she sounds better in her upper register and not trying to push for the big, full voice she doesn't have. Be a rock singer. When she was using that part of her voice, I liked it. When she was failing at the other thing it was just mediocre.

Chloe Paige: Very average. Weirdly squeaky and irritating.

Gifty: Fabulous voice. I think we've only scratched the surface on what she can do.

Charli Beard: I think Charli and Louisa are kind of competing for the same spot and based on this round, I'd give it to Charli. Very polished with a lot of smart choices.

[aradia22]

Based on this round I'd take Seann Miley Moore, Che, The First Kings, Gifty, and Charli.

 

And save Lauren Murray, Monica Michael, Keira, and Louisa in spite of weaker auditions.

[Kromm]

Why is this the year of the Freaky Contestants?  Just SING, damnit.  We don't CARE what you are wearing!

[kdm07]

Andre: Only mentioning this off key moaning because it made Cheryl laugh so hard she was crying.

 

Probably the most emotions he showed all of Boot Camp. I don't follow UK gossip so does anyone know what's going with her? She used to be much more engaged in whatever she was doing.

 

I'm with Simon, Silver Tone can sing but they are frustrating me beyond belief with their arrangements. Seann is fine but less would be more with him. Something about Anton feels...off. Mason will be fun to watch I think.