The X Factor: 2009 Finalists Vs 2008 Finalists
October 7, 2009 2 Comments
Well, I’ve only just posted about The X Factor, but, a comment from my friend, CJ, has made me question the assertion that this year’s finalists seem the strongest line up so far. I was going to address this point in the comments section of that post, but it seemed entirely fitting for it to be a post in its own right. So, here it is.
It was certainly my gut feeling that the standard is overall higher this year, but then, as I’ve said a few times, I always tend to think this until you get to the live rounds and it’s only then that you really see who is actually good. But, is there any basis for thinking that this year are stronger? I thought it might help me to decide if I compared this year’s finalists to last year’s. This isn’t an entirely fair comparison as when you think about the 2008 contestants you have in mind their actual live performances from last year, and not just the few auditions we’ve seen from the 2009 bunch. I’ll give it my best shot though.
Girls
2008 – Diana, Laura & Alexandra
2009 – Lucie, Rachel & Stacey
From the 2008 auditions, Laura & Diana definitely stood out more than any of the girls from this year, but I’m not sure this means that they were actually better singers. Interestingly enough though, Alexandra wasn’t even on the radar at this stage, and yet ended up being the obvious winner. I’d say that although not being particularly memorable (yet), this year’s girls could have the potential to hold their own. I’ll have to give the win to 2008 because of how good Alexandra turned out to be, even though this is probably unfair.
Boys
2008 – Eoghan, Austin & Scott
2009 – Lloyd, Rikki & Joseph
One fairly drab lot of boys has been replaced by another lot. I think Lloyds is quite interesting as his voice is quite different, but, overall, I’ll call this one a draw.
Over 25s
2008 – Ruth, Daniel & Rachel
2009 – Danyl, Olly & Jamie
The 2009 lot are so much better than their counterparts from last year that it’s not even funny, and that’s even after you’ve taken all the awful histrionics in to account. A clear win for 2009.
Groups
2008 – JLS, Bad Lashes & Girl Band
2009 – John and Edward, Kandy Rain & Miss Frank
Kandy Rain have the potential to be as awful as Bad Lashes and Girl Band, while Miss Frank have the potential to be better than all of them. Only the potential though, they’re currently awful too. John and Edward are so bad that I actually quite like them now, but I don’t think that counts. JLS stand out from nearly every other group in X Factor history in that they managed to achieve the level of being ‘OK’. 2008 will have to win because of JLS.
Conclusions
Based on this rough comparison, it looks as though my gut feeling is wrong and 2008 was perhaps a slightly stronger year. Perhaps. As I’ve said before, and as I’ll keep saying, you can’t really compare until we’ve seen the class of 2009 perform live. We should have this conversation again after the weekend. Bring on the finals!
About sherby57
X Factor maths – yay! Although am now thinking last year was pretty poor too – dear me. Still, they did have Diana, Alexandra and JLS who were all pretty charismatic and interesting to watch so 2008 wins for me too, for the mo. You’re right though, Sherby – the live shows are the best way to judge. I’ll be back then;-)
I think that after the 2008 judges’ houses round, I probably thought they were the strongest year too. Last year, Rachel looked really strong in the auditions but was awful in the live rounds (not helped by some bad song choices). Laura was a big favourite going in to the live shows but then somehow couldn’t cut it. I think the variety of songs that the contestants are expected to sing really pushes their vocal talent to their limits.
I’m intrigued to see what happens on Saturday!