The X Factor Live Show Week 6 - The Round Up

In the words of Alan Carr, what a week it's been! Frankie Cocozza exited The X Factor so it opened up a place for one of the previous contestants who never got to face a public vote - Amelia Lily, James Michael, Jonjo Kerr and 2 Shoes. The public made the right choice and voted Amelia Lily back in which was the best decision ever made!!! Not sure why they got rid of her in the first place, to be honest! Anyway, this week's X Factor paid tribute to the wonderful Lady Gaga and Queen, who both totally smashed it at the MTV EMA's last week with knockout performances. So it was time to find out, who was on the edge of glory, and who just needed to shut their Playboy mouth?

The X Factor Live Show Week 3 - The Round Up

Big hair, big egos, big voices, big arguments, big performances...this can only mean one thing: Rock Week! So it is time to find out who was on fire and who was fizzling out in the frying pan. Which acts completely headbanged their way through tonight's show and which ones are just a piece of trash on the floor in a rockstar's hotel room? Feel the heat, embrace the madness, devour the drama, it's time to have a look back at this weeks serving of the X Factor live show...

The X Factor Live Show Week 2 - The Round Up

A little late but we shall continue. After the X Factor had turned into the Shock Factor yet again after four contestants were eliminated by the judges, it was business as usual this week. What was particularly shocking was that Amelia left as I though she completely owned her performance the previous night and absolutely blew the roof off! She had the most powerful voice out of the whole competition and it was the saddest thing ever to see her go. As for the rest of them it was time for them to up the ante as the pressure was on like a Bonbon where they had to sing their little hearts out for their chance at a life-changing career move. With the theme of love and heartbreak, there were about to be some hearts broken as the fate of these contestants was left in the safe hands of the British public....

The X Factor Live Show Week 1 - the Round Up

What a live show it was last night! Embrace the drama, feel the fireworks, revel in the excitement! The performances last night really proved to be a mixed bag and there was plenty of conflict and bickering amongst the judges. The first theme of this week was UK vs. USA where the contestants had to take on a hot hit from an American artist and a British artist. After being informed of the cruel twist, in which each judge will have choose one of their own acts to go home on results night and consequently resulted in the suspension of the public vote for this week, the pressure was on to deliver knock-out performances to save themselves from elimination.

• First up was Amelia Lily who completely smashed it with a very interesting rendition of Michael Jackson's Billie Jean. She gave a powerful performance and was rocking a new candy pink hairdo. She received excellent feedback form the judges unsurprisingly. 
• Next up was Johnny who gave a rather space-age like performance of Cher's huge hit Believe which did him no justice whatsoever. He received mixed feedback where Gary showed dislike for the performance where he described the performance as 'cheap'.
• The Rhythmix ladies absolutely smashed it singing Hip Hop First Lady Nicki Minaj's super-duper hit, Super Bass and they really did put their own spin on it. They proved to be the sassy, kick-ass girlband that was desperately needed on The X Factor. They received a huge thumbs-up from the judges.
• Frankie, who showed off a kooky new look, sang the tune of the moment The A Team by Ed Sheeran and proved to be a big hit with the judges but will this be enough to get him through to next week? Not too sure. Not a huge Frankie fan, to be honest...
• Sophie proved to be a dark horse in the competition after she sang a stripped down version of Katy Perry's Teenage Dream with sexy dark locks and a killer new outfit. She looked absolutely stunning, hopefully she'll be saved. I honestly think that this girl has a lot more to offer in the competition. 
• Jonjo on the other hand seemed to lack a lot of confidence as he escaped right out of his comfort zone where he sang the classic rock song You Really Got Me and both Kelly and Tulisa expressed their disappointment but Gary had claimed that he had made Louis decision easy, which was a bit harsh. 
• 2 Shoes added a touch of campness to the show with a Barbie-esque pink car and sang Girls Aloud's Something Kinda Ooh much to Gary's disappointment. Whether it was fun or crazy remains a question...
• Reunited with his beloved guitar, James sang The Beatles Ticket to Rode. e had a great voice but it looks like it wasn't enough to impress the judges. Still believe that he has so much more to give if he stays in the competition. 
• Misha B totally smashed it with her rendition of Adele's Rolling in the Deep, in which he added her own urban flavour to it with her rap. Her stage presence was great and she was a massive hit with the judges!
• Nu Vibe brought some sexiness where they sang Beautiful People which was pretty average, but there is quite a bit of room for improvement. 
• Marcus also killed it with his rendition of the current No.1 hit by Maroon 5 Moves Like Jagger with soulful vocals and looked very dapper.
• Sami brought her powerful voice to the stage and even Gary said that he will walk out of the competition if she is not there next week Looks like things are really heating up.
• The Risk then sang Plan B's She Said and completely nailed it. Not bad for a group who had just been put together at the Judges Houses' stage - so late into the competition. The new line up worked really well. Maybe it was the best risk that was ever taken...
• Craig also proved to be one of the standout performances of the night singing Jar of Hearts with his very own arrangement. He proved to be a true artist and the gamble paid off brilliantly.
• After bringing show much drama before, Kitty proved to be rather boring after her rendition of Who Wants to Live Forever, though it's obvious that she can sing and stuff. She didn't really bring anything to be honest. 
• Newly redhead Janet sang beautifully and brought the perfect closure to the live show where she sang Coldplay's Fix You. 

No doubt that emotions will be running high on the results show. Oh, how it would totally suck to be an X Factor judge right now - they sure have a tough job ahead of them...

We'll have to see what happens.

The Return of the X-Factor according to me - The Round Up!

X-Citing! X-travagant! X- traordinary! X-Rated! X-Centric! X definitely marked the spot on Saturday night! The return of the X-Factor never failed to impress and it undoubtedly proved to be bigger and better than ever! From mooning to crooning, there was nothing short of entertainment during the first instalment of the search for a superstar. With a newly revamped panel consisting of Kelly Rowland , Tulisa and Gary Barlow as well as the return of long-standing judge and music manager Louis Walsh, this marked a new generation for the long-running music show. This new line-up 
failed to disappoint and proved that the X-Factor can be successful minus Simon Cowell on the panel, even though he is sorely missed by many fans out there. Sorry, what? Simon who? Cheryl who? Dannii who? In my honest opinion, I don't think there could have been a better line up with Kelly being known as one third of the biggest and best girlband the world has ever seen, Gary Barlow who looked rather yummy, being part of Take That (need I say more?) and Tulisa, one third of one of the UK's biggest urban acts N-Dubz, who are highly regarded for being very hands-on with the production of their music and their image. And above all, there was the return of the wonderful Dermot O' Leary, who was on hand backstage reassuring the contestants!


As for the contestants, we pretty much saw everything the other night ... and I mean, literally, everything!!!!


The Good ...

First of all, 18-year-old Frankie gave us an eyeful by showing a list of 7 girls' names tattooed on his derrière, which is the craziest thing ever, and subsequently proved to be a mini-Robbie with his rendition of the Zutons' Valerie with his cockiness edginess and too-cool-for-school attitude, which went down a storm with the four judges (and received a lukewarm reaction from myself) who put him through to the next round.

Then we saw 16-year-old Janet, who proved to be a favourite after just one week, gave a breathtakingly brilliant rendition of Elton John's Your Song which moved the judges and audience. She seems like the next Diana Vickers or Ellie Goulding with her laid-back style. She could win just on cuteness alone - she's like a little doll you just want to pick up. You can't not love this girl and her amazing singing voice.

The Very Bad...

It wasn't long before things began to heat up when 19-year-old George, who had previously auditioned as one third of ill-fated group Triple Trouble back in 2009 and shouted at the judges and audiences and furiously chucked the microphone on the floor, initially planned to redeem himself and prove that he had matured and had become a changed man after his obnoxious behaviour towards the judges during his previous stint, but it turned out he failed miserably. With his abysmal rendition of Pitbull and Ne-yo's monster summer hit Give Me Everything, where he sounded like a corpse and started strutting around the stage like a demented, singing zombie, he then gave a rather intimidating stance behind Tulisa, showing a lot of angst and aggression. The audience also showed their disdain for him and made it very clear that they disliked him and that he created a bad atmosphere and a negative energy. He proved himself to be anything but a popstar, embodying all of the negative qualities you would not  want to find in a popstar. He then started to get personal by going against everything he previously said about being deceitful and wanting to cause Quadruple Trouble 'maturing' and gave Tulisa a mouthful of verbal abuse by branding her a "scumbag from the block [ ... ] trying to replace Cheryl" to which Tulisa proved she could stand her own ground by not taking any sh*t and then the obnoxious teen gifted the judges with obscene finger gestures whilst being escorted off stage by security. You know things are going badly when the chivalrous-as-ever Dermot is trying to calm him down and tell him off as George showed no signs of stopping his vicious outburst backstage. His behaviour was disgusting and I strongly believe that if Cheryl, Dannii and Simon ever witnessed that then they would be extremely disgusted too. It became extremely evident that George hadn't changed at all and consequently made himself look even more pathetic as his second stint on the X Factor proved to be a million times as disastrous and an even bigger car crash than before.

The Weird Hmmm ...

Goldie - the female equivalent of Wagner? Errrrm ... NO. Goldie's audition was one that I just found extremely confusing rather than entertaining. She suffered what looked like extreme stage fright when she chundered in a plastic bag then went on stage and performed a song nobody had seemed to had heard of and no one could understand a single word she was singing. While she was at it, she also gave Gary a lapdance (let's hope his wife wasn't watching!) and started gyrating scantily-clad across the stage like a madwoman. She (seemingly) impressed all the judges except for Gary. It seems not even a saucy lapdance was enough to convince him. This was where we saw glimpses of Simon Cowell coming out. But I can guarantee that she won't get very far in the competition or bring the same weirdness "magic" Wagner brought to last year's series. It will only be a matter of time before Goldie will start to get rusty and lose her lack of shine. On the plus side, she had an amazing body and was definitely in good shape for her age!

And the 'On the Fence' ...

A self-absorbed, Leann Rimes look-a-like drama queen in the form of Kitty also auditioned, belting out a rather impressive rendition of Lady Gaga's The Edge Of Glory which blew both the audience and judges away. Just as well, as I was hoping she would be good after her little dramatic monologue, but then she came across as rather pretentious in my opinion where she sat on the edge of the stage and just wouldn't shut up. On one hand, I reckon she has a good voice, but on the other I'm not sure if she'll go very far in the competition. For me, this is just a big, fat, black, bold question mark. We'll just have to see what happens, methinks ....

So far so good! Good to have you back, X Factor! Cannot wait for the US version, let's see how they both compare ...

So what did you think of the X Factor? Have a favourite yet? Thoughts????