The X Factor Finals: Week 2
October 19, 2009 10 Comments
Well, another weekend has passed and another X Factor contestant has been booted off the show. It’s also another chance for me to write far too much about it all. Here’s what happened:
Saturday
Running Time (including the Xtra Factor): 180 minutes
Time I watched it in: 77 minutes
X Factor Ratio: 42.8%
Before I started watching, my mate sent me a text saying: ‘ Jon and Edward! Amazing!’ That certainly built up some anticipation; were John and Edward actually capable of being amazing? This text was followed by a more detailed description: ‘Red leather/pvc suits – hotel porter trollies – and oops i did it again by Britney! TV has found a new level!’ I decided to prepare myself for a ground breaking piece of television.
Louis was not in attendance, for sad reasons, so it was interesting to see how that might affect the final outcome.
Lucie – I don’t know whether I liked it or not; she’s a pretty good singer but it seemed slightly half-hearted. There is something about her though, and, as Simon likes to say, she has potential.
Olly – The Whitney Houston bits seem mental so far. Apparently, Olly was singing a Tina Turner song, but I’d never heard it before and had no idea what it was. He was pretty good and performed well, but there is still terror in his eyes. Cheryl said that it was his ‘best performance so far’, since it’s only week two that doesn’t mean very much.
Two acts down and I’m already missing Louis’ funny faces.
Miss Frank – There were some ropey bits during this and they still don’t seem to be a performing as a group. Actually, there were lots of ropey bits, and I think that they could be in trouble this week, even before I’ve even seen the other 8 acts. Simon said it was terrible and had a go at Cheryl; he reckons they might be in trouble too. He’s just copying me.
Cheryl looked pretty nice tonight, although that probably won’t come as a revelation to anyone. And when I saw she looked ‘pretty nice’, I clearly mean that she looked amazing.
Rachel – She began her performance lying on her back on the stage; I’m no expert, but surely that would make it harder to sing. Still developed a nice range of facial over-acting during the song, so that was quite funny. She has a good voice but I wasn’t at all convinced by her and there were a few rough bits. It seems a hallmark of this series that many of the contestants have decent voices but not enough of them have any ooomph, so far.
Joe – I thought that Joe should have been in the bottom two last week, but I tried to have an open mind going in to this performance. I suppose he’s not got a bad voice, but I think it would work better if he was a drag act. Again, the judges loved him; I think I’ll just have to accept that he’s not my cup of tea.
Danyl – Like Rachel, he employed a great range of facial overacting to ‘enhance’ his performance. I don’t think the song did him any favours, but he’s a cracking singer. The main problem I have with him is that he’s looking so strong that if he goes on to win the competition, it will just be really boring.
Lloyd – Whitney’s words of advice for Lloyd were the ramblings of a mad cat lady - I’ve no idea what it she was on about so I can’t even try to analyse it. I enjoyed this performance, and he made the song his own, except for the chorus which was ridiculous in its ineptitude. And wouldn’t you know it, both Dannii and Simon agree with me. If only I could convince them about Joe. Simon had yet another go at Cheryl; what a nasty man. Cheryl started crying and Lloyd hugged her. Lucky Lloyd. Anyway, I thought Simon was overly critical of Lloyd and I think he did more enough with the verses to stay in comfortably.
John and Edward – They had a lot to live up to, based on the texts I received earlier in the night, and the performance was suitably mental. Absolutely mental. And then, just when you thought they couldn’t get any more mental, they did the talking bit. If you’ve not seen it, you should go and find it, and prepare to watch through your fingers. And, they really did sing ‘Oops I Did it Again’ by Britney Spears, dressed in red PVC, being spun around on porters’ trollies. They’ve clearly given them absolutely ridiculous dancing and outfits and gimmicks because they’re such appalling singers. In a strange way, that just makes me want them to stay in, so I can see what they are made to do next. Simon said it’s the worst performance he’s ever seen; in a way, that’s quite a compliment.
Rikki – He could quite easily join Joe’s drag act. Again, he’s not a bad singer, but it wasn’t great. I could see him struggling unless the alleged Scottish block-vote saves him.
Jamie – I wasn’t convinced by him last week, but he was excellent this week. Somehow, though, he bores me slightly.
Stacey – She has an amazing mutant-like ability to look different every time you see her. They decided to put her in a frock this week, but it still wasn’t very flattering; at least they disguised the fringe. I do like her voice and find her performances more compelling that they somehow should be. She seems a bit under the radar at the moment and I have a sneaky suspicion that she could be a dark horse. Unrelated to her singing ability, I am becoming increasingly convinced that she is actually 1970s sitcom character who has travelled to the real world.
Over on The Xtra Factor, they had a new feature, Dermot’s Debrief, which felt like an attempt to get Mr O’Leary more involved. I realise that I haven’t mentioned him since my thoughts on the first show, on the 23rd August. Despite him presenting the more profile programme, I can’t help but feel that Holly is the main presenter; as I’ve said before, hosting the ITV1 show is actually a rubbish job.
Predictions -
Last week, I did say that Kandy Rain would be in the bottom two, but other than that I was completely wrong. I think it’s even tougher to pick this week, and there’s a few that could/should be in trouble. I’d love to see John and Edward stick around, but they are actually rubbish.
Should be in bottom 2: John and Edward + Miss Frank
Will be in bottom 2: Miss Frank + Rachel
Sunday
Running Time: 135 minutes
Time I watched it in: 47 minutes
X Factor Ratio: 34.8%
After last week’s cringe-fest, I was dreading the opening group song, but, while it was still pretty embarrassing, it wasn’t quite as bad as last week. Not quite. Stacey looks completely different again, but, to be fair, they’d dolled her up well this time. I did have to wonder whether or not, ‘Queen of the Night’ was the best song choice they could come up with; it hardly seemed appropriate.
There was a lot of talk, beforehand, about whether or not Cheryl would mime etc etc. I’ll have to be honest, I fast forwarded through it all, so I can’t actually comment. Needless to say, I definitely fast forwarded through Whitney.
After the usual, painfully drawn-out reveal, we got down to the the final two: Rachel & Rikki. Rachel was certainly no surprise and, with Rikki there, it looks like the Scottish voting thing is a myth. Because there was no Louis present, it effectively meant that the final decision, on who went home, would be Simon’s.
Rachel sang With or Without You by U2. I hate to repeat myself, but I will; she has a good voice but I still wasn’t convinced by the performance.
Rikki sang a rubbish Westlife song. I thought the same about him as I did about Rachel.
I wasn’t sure who Simon will go for, but he went for Rikki. Fair play to him that he didn’t just pick Rachel because she’s been in the bottom two both weeks. Cheryl says that she can’t believe that John and Edward are still in: technically, she’s 100% right. They may be funny but they shouldn’t really still be in.
In conclusion
Miss Frank and John & Edward dodged a bullet this week and Rachel is going to have to be spectacular next week, in order to stay in. Rikki was never going to win the competition, so I’m glad that I get to see at least one more J&E mentalist classic performance.
Total Duration: 315 minutes
Total time I spent watching it: 124 minutes
Overall X Factor Ratio: 39.4%
About sherby57
Hey Sherby.
What an astonishing weekend on X Factor. Not cos of the performances – just cos everything was so mad!
J+E rendered me utterly speechless but I think they’ve won over loads of folk with their comedy routine now, as surely they are no longer taking the “singing” part of the show seriously. Having said that, I thought Cheryl having a go at them when Rikki got kicked out (Hurrah! Go Scotland for not voting for him!) was really spiteful and unprofessional. She did almost the same to Ruth last year and it was just as mean then. It’s a public vote, girlfriend, sniping at the other acts is just nasty. And as for the tears… Lloyd is a 17 year old boy, he kept it together and he had to comfort the supposedly grown-up showbusiness professional? Get it together Cheryl. Although, the cynic in me wonders if she knew exactly what she was up to. I bet teenage girls were voting in their gazillions for Lloyd as a result, all going “Aw, he’s so sweet, look at him comforting Cheryl, telling her not to be upset. AW.” I was almost doing that myself and it’s been a hell of a long time since I was a teenager…
Anyway, delighted Rikki has gone. He was rubbish. But they keep picking the wrong songs for Rachel and she was woeful at If I Were A Boy. One of my favourite, desperately sad, songs, and it shouldn’t be sung as a fighting anthem. What is it with all the grinning and punching? Gah. She was much better at “Without You” in the sing-off.
Also, for the love of all that is sensible, GIVE STACEY A COUNTRY SONG TO SING. Something by Faith Hill or Shania or Dolly Parton that she can actually sing properly. You’re spot on with the 70′s sitcom character thing though, lol.
Best part of the whole 2 days though was Whitney effectively saying the contestants were pants. Heh.
Hello CJ!
I had to wait until today to reply to your comments as I didn’t get chance last night, and I wanted to reply properly.
It was certainly a very interesting week; it annoys me when people criticise the show for ‘degrading’ music, when the reason people watch clearly has little to do with music.
You’ve hit the nail on the head with Jedward in calling them a comedy act. When you actually analyse it, they’re bloody awful. Even their dancing was woeful and they had all the coordination of epileptic cows. I found them funny, and I want to see what they do next week, but, by all rights, they should have been voted off by now.
I think the point with Cheryl’s comments about them was that they were unprofessional. She isn’t a professional music executive who actually mentors actors for a living, like Simon. I think all of the other judge’s (including Louis, who should know better), take it very personally, and that’s why we get such excellent drama. That’s why I also think that her tears probably were real, despite the urge to think that they were a ploy to gain votes. It must be a bit embarrassing though to have to be comforted by a 16 year old boy who is in the spotlight for the first time.
I get the impression that you didn’t think much of Rikki; am I right? lol. It was good to see the Scottish voting myth finally put to bed, although that suggests that people actually liked the McDonald Brothers….shocking.
Hmmm, I think that Stacey would be great doing a country song, but she might get a bit pigeon-holed if she did. I have a feeling that she must have been Frank Spencer’s sister in a previous life.
Whitney was a disgrace; even Mariah Carey was civil to them.
Stacey Spencer.
Heh.
If she manages to slip the phrase ‘oooh Betty’ in to her next song, I’ll vote for her 10 times.
Peeking over here (hi CJ!) to say that I am now totally won over by the twins. They transcended to a special place this week and I can’t wait to see what they’re up to next week.
Hi e
It’s nice to see you! The twins certainly seemed to have changed a lot of people’s opinions following last week’s performance. The thing is, though, is that they were still absolutely awful! It’s going to be interesting now to see how long they can last on the basis of surreal yet terrible performances.
Would you bet against them singing ‘It’s John and Edward time’, in homage to the might Chico?
I adored Chico (although Rhyddian kind of got on my nerves a little). So long as the twins are both awful and awesome, but mostly entertaining, I will be content.
Awful but entertaining is an extremely potent combination! I dread to think what they’ll be doing this week to top the Britney performance. I wouldn’t be surprised if they had them both dressed as little bo beep whilst singing ‘Barbie Girl’.
How long do you think they can stay in the competition for?
“How long do you think they can stay in the competition for?” For exactly one day after they stop poking fun at themselves in an outrageous way.
Gosh, that’s quite a sobering though – they could actually win the bloody thing!
I’m not convincing yet, though, that they are capable of consciously poking fun of themselves. Does your theory still hold if they are ignorant and it is the programme makers doing the poking?