2016 LIVE SHOW 6: Disco

[aradia22]

I actually like Disco and sure, most of the fun acts (Bratavio, Gifty, Relley C) who might do something great with this theme are gone. But aside from Emily who will make us all miserable thinking about her cake in the rain, I'm not too upset about the theme.

[Kaoteek]

This week was pretty boring, to be honest, even though I like Disco. Saara was fine & felt legit in her performance ; Sam's I will Survive was very by the book, lacked energy and was utterly unmemorable, just like Ryan's Play that Funky Music ; one of the Jackson 5AM seemed completely off tune, and the medley + break at the end of the song didn't work for me ; Matt was okay, but that song isn't one of my favs ; Emily felt slightly off-key during most of the song ; and Honey G was Honey G.

Can't say i'm particularly invested in who stays and who leaves anymore, but still, it would be nice to keep Saara a couple of weeks more, til December. Just think of the Christmas/Santa/Finland puns & songs they could do with her !

Edited November 14, 2016 by Kaoteek

[Kaoteek]

Results :

Spoiler

Sam vs Ryan, Sam out ; next week, the movies.

[aradia22]

General sidenote... I haven't been watching the results show or the Xtra Factor the past few weeks. It's kind of exhausting when all the people you like are gone. The main live show is tedious enough as it is. I don't really have the energy for the other stuff. I skip the judges' comments most of the time too.

Saara Aalto: Why are people not voting for you? Well, maybe it's because people resent an act that's not from the country the competition is taking place in and in particular an act who has been shopping themselves around for ages. People have the fantasy of Kelly Clarkson getting her big break. They don't want to hear about someone competing on The Voice and X Factor and this and that and also complaining about not making it when they have, they just haven't won or gotten the level of success they've wanted. 

On to her performance. I think the outfit was unfortunate. It was not flattering to her body. The singing started well. Standard but smooth and pleasant. I mean, not nearly as good but like a cabaret kind of Doris Day/Karen Carpenter kind of thing. Yeah, that's too high praise. Maybe Debbie Boone? Things got a little unwieldy when the beat came in. I feel like Saara can wail but she doesn't have a naturally big voice. She's also very cheesy. She performs like she's a pop act in a Disney Channel Original Movie, not a genuine pop act in the real world. 

Sam Lavery: I like Sam. Of the remaining acts, I think she comes across as one of the least media trained. There's not too much posturing either. She just seems like a relatively normal teenager. I love this song. I've actually seen Gloria Gaynor sing this live. This was a decent vocal. She just doesn't have the biggest or best voice either. Unlike Saara, I think it got better when the beat came in and she did her Cher Lloyd thing. She's gotten better at performing and her voice has improved a little. I think they still haven't figured out who Sam is supposed to be yet and how to embrace her strengths and downplay her weaknesses. Were there some rough notes? Yup. Has she grown on me? Yes. I think if she has something to say as a songwriter or gets a good team behind her, she could have an interesting post X Factor career.

Ryan Lawrie: OK, now I'm suspicious about whether Ryan is singing to a pre-recorded track. It's not that he sounds amazing suddenly. It's that I can suddenly hear him. Putting that aside, I thought he was fine. Not an amazing vocal but not annoying. Though I still think he should be in One Direction 2.0. The staging made no sense. The guy in charge either needs to be taking more drugs or fewer drugs because something is off this year. Also, not a good hairstyle for Ryan.

5 After Midnight: OK, obviously their VT's are also super staged but I found them sweet. I still can't remember their names for the life of me. I did better with Stereo Kicks and there were 8 of them. It started off good before the singing. When the singing started it was disorienting. Too much contribution from the backup. Who was singing? Who was off-key? Who even knows? When bucket hat started singing it got better. A little rough but not unbearable. Kieran is a better singer. I still don't see them as a very credible professional act. I think the best case scenario is someone writes them really catchy JLS songs and they dance and lip sync their way to some chart success before going to do other things like choreography or Strictly Come Dancing or presenting. I thought the Earth, Wind and Fire section went better but that may just be because I like that song and it was able to cover up their weaknesses more. I also think they've had better dancing moments on the show.

[aradia22]

Matt Terry: Speaking of media trained, I like Matt but he is VERY polished. He's got one of the better voices left in the competition but they still don't know what to do with him. For some reason the stage presence is lacking and this week they were throwing too much stuff at him. I was watching his eyes dart around trying to follow the girls on roller skates. What are you doing, X Factor? And walking from backstage? Why? But he does have that light Justin Timberlake/Robin Thicke R&B voice that was popular in the early 2000's. Very few mistakes tonight in the vocals. Best case scenario? Olly Murs. If someone can teach him to have stage presence I think he could hang around on the pop charts for a while, never being a huge contender but finding his fan base and hanging on to them. Though I think Olly Murs had more stage presence. 

Emily Middlemas: Emily also comes across as very fake and polished, even more so than Matt. The competitive figure skating thing doesn't surprise me. She just comes across as one of those people. Not really type A, but the kind of Anne Hathaway thing. More practiced than genuine. I like this song too. I don't know what notes Emily was trying to hit but I know which ones she wasn't hitting. She doesn't have a strong voice and she has trouble landing right on the correct notes. I don't know what else I can say. I used to like her more but she's starting to fall into the Abi Alton/Katie Waissel category. I don't think making her sing so high this week really did her any favors.

Honey G: 17 seconds wasted walking to the stage in silence this week. If you're counting how long until she started rapping and not just yelling her name, that would be 37 seconds wasted. Eh, at least there was some solid wedding dancing. I don't know. Still not amused. I'd rather have Reggie n Bollie back. Or almost any of the other "joke acts."

[aradia22]

RESULTS thoughts...

Spoiler

Sam Lavery: Eh. Fine. Not great. But exactly how you'd expect Sam to sound. The song was too big for her and didn't play to her strengths but she produced the same Sam vocal she's been producing. She has kind of a big voice but it doesn't have that grounded weight she's searching for... you can't just cheat a gospel depth. And I've been waiting for her to do something with that yodel/yelp but it hasn't happened.

Ryan Lawrie: A little ugly. He was singing out but it wasn't a great vocal. Also, again the backing track made me think he needed his friends. He's meant for a boy band. He's mediocre on his own.

I had to watch the video. I thought the judges sent home Sam which is crazy. I don't understand that as a play at all. It makes much more sense as deadlock. Though I'm surprised Sam didn't catch on/that they weren't tough enough to just send Ryan home. Reliving Sam's time on the show, I really feel like Simon could have molded her into a little Cher Lloyd with more edge. Maybe it'll happen after the show. 

Random: Sharon looked great.

It's a shame 4 of Diamonds is going on the X Factor tour instead of Gifty. But maybe she'll go back to school. http://www.itv.com/xfactor/tour

[Happy Belly]

i am wondering when the judges are going to start calling out Honey G and her one trick pony "singing". Oher contestants were critiqued with the judges telling them we want to see more, and to paraphrase, you gave us the same old, same old. Honey G does the same thing. every. single. time. and to me, its boring. Plus, I dislike rap music. Maybe that's why I am tired of her?