X Factor UK – Top 16 Performance
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The four wildcards were introduced at the top of the show. I have to say, I was pretty WTF over Louis Walsh picking Wagner. But then, most of the Overs really sucked anyway.? My favorite performances tonight were: Matt Cardle, Diva Fever, Mary Byrne and Treyc Cohen.
Aiden Grimshaw seems to be a favorite, but his performance felt nervous and unsure to me–but not like he was acting a part. OK, I just watched this again, and I’ve changed my mind. He was definitely playing a part, but it still seemed a little weird to me. His performance of “Mad World” was staged exactly like Adam Lambert’s. They watch American Idol in Britain, right? Hm.
Wild Card picks
Wagner Carrilho – Louis Walsh (Overs)
Treyc Cohen – Cheryl Cole (Girls)
Paije Richardson – Dannii Minogue (Boys)
Diva Fever – Simon Cowell (Groups)
UPDATE: Now with FULL VIDEOS including judges comments.
Live blog and VIDEOS after the JUMP…
FYD (Simon) – “Billionaire” by Travie McCoy – Louis likes them for the most part, but thinks they are better dancers than singers. Cheryl thought the dancing interferes with their singing. But Danni thinks they should move MORE. Simon calls them relevant because people on the charts are singing and dancing. Louis insists they have to sing in tune. Actually, Louis? They really don’t. But I agree with Louis, they aren’t great singers.
Matt McCardle – (Dannii) – “When Love Takes Over” by David Guetta ft. Kelly Rowland – Matt gets off to a rough start, but once he gets going, he delivers an emotional performance. Louis calls him the real deal, and a “Music Man.” Cheryl really likes it too. Simon says he wasn’t convinced during his audition, but came around at boot camp. He think this performance topped boot camp. He thinks he could have a hit with the song. He tells Matt to have more confidence. Dannii says he nailed it.
John Adeleye – (Louis) – “One Sweet Day” by Mariah Carey – Hm. Not sure if this was the right song for John. Dannii loves his passion. She didn’t think the song choice made him sound current. Cheryl says he sang it beautifully. She’s not sure he’s put his stamp on the competition yet. Simon liked the final note, but thinks John wasn’t given a chance to do much with it. (A dig at Louis) Simon and Louis argue about whether it was #1 in America. Louis says he’s genuine, and knows he’s got a lot more to give.
Rebecca Ferguson (Cheryl) – “Teardrops” by Womack & Womack – A disco song? For Rebecca? Really? Standing in one spot, clutching the microphone, she barely moves. She brings very little energy to her performance. She’s got potential, but she’s got to step it up. Louis calls her a class act and tells her she’s got an amazing recording voice. Dannii loves her style, but wants to see her grow over the weeks. Simon thinks she should emphasize her fun side now. He thinks she’s got tremendous potential. Cheryl thinks she’s “real” and “incredible”.
Storm Lee (Louis) – “We Built This City” by Starship – OMG. The eye makeup! The dancers are wearing rubber face masks. This is pretty bizarre. Storm’s vocals are overwhelmed by the huge production. He’s going for some hair band/glam rock thing, but the performance isn’t memorable. Dannii says he sang it really well. Cheryl said the image was “a little bit much”. She likes that he’s never given up. Simon says “it is what it is…Louis has turned you into something out of batman.” Simon says without the theatrics, he’s somebody who failed to be a rock star. Louis loved it, of course. Simon adds that he sang it really well.
Belle Amie – (Simon) “Airplanes” by B.o.B ft. Hayley Williams – This band was put together by Simon. Wow. This performance is a HOT HOT mess. Off key, un-together and tentative, not sure if more rehearsal would even help this bunch. Even Simon can’t fake a smile through this. Louis sees chemistry and thinks they have great potential. Dannie liked the song choice. She thinks they are gelling really well. Cheryl felt unsure about them. (finally some honesty). She liked the song choice. Simon says they need time. He thinks the show needs some girl power and that there’s a place in the market for Belle Amie. Eep.
Cher Lloyd – (Cheryl) – “Just Be Good To Me” by The SOS band – OMG. Girl looks like a crack ho. Honestly, she’s got so much makeup on, and she’s scarily thin. She’s got a strong voice and some charisma, but I’m sensing she’s a train wreck waiting to happen. Cheryl loves Cher, I think, because she sees her younger self. Louis says she’s got incredible stage presence. It could be a #1 record, he says. Dannii says she’s “so watchable” and commands the stage. Simon says any doubt people have about Cheryl’s choice were just blown away. Simon says she’s “a new little star.” He thinks she’s part of a “new generation.” Cheryl says she breathes star quality–cool current and young.
Diva Fever – (Simon’s Wild Card) – Sunny by Bobby Hebb – This…does not suck. Kind of an interesting song choice, and their vocals are solid. Fun to watch, too. Louis calls them fun. He says they remind him of Simon and Piers at the Christmas party. Ha. Dannii loved it. Cheryl says they reminded her of a song you’d here on the telly to motivate you out of bed in the morning. Simon thinks the world has become boring. He thinks the music business should be fun and entertaining, and that’s why he welcomes them on stage. The neon outfits they’re wearing are hilarious.
Paije Richardson – (Dannii)? “Killing Me Softly” by Roberta Flack – I was impressed with Paige’s audition and Houses performance. But, this is kind of a mess–really off key. Louis is comparing him to Luther Vandross. What? Cheryl says he sings like a Diva. Simon says was praying that Dannii would bring him back. He likes his attitude. Simon says he’s infectious. Dannii says he put personality on it.
Katie Waissel -? (Cheryl) – “We Are the Champions” by Queen – How the heck does this girl keep advancing? She’s forgotten her words, broken down on stage, and tonight she’s mediocre on a song that’s WAY too big for her. The hat she’s wearing is redonkulous. Louis thinks she’s more style than substance. He thinks the song was too big for her. Dannii thought it was vocally fierce, but doesn’t like her look. Simon likes her look, he thinks she’s original. Loves that she’s a drama queen. He compares her to Cyndi Lauper. He thinks she’s a pop star. Cheryl loves that she’s expressive like Lady Gaga. Cheryl says she’s a nice girl (There was some negative gossip about Katie in the papers).
Mary Byrne – (Simon) – “This is a Man’s World” by James Brown – The X Factor twitter says Mary’s got a sore throat. She’s got really powerful pipes. I didn’t like her audition much. I thought she was Suebo 2.0, but she’s got a pretty fierce bluesy side. The crowd is going nuts. Mary is crying. Dannii says, “That is one of the best vocal performances on the show.” She calls her a “new wave” of pop star. Well that would be interesting. Cheryl says you can feel the energy in the room. “It was like you waited your whole life to sing that.” Simon says it was fantastic because she’s a trier. He says she gave 110%. Louis says she’s become a Diva, and he’s so proud of her.
Nicolo Festa – (Dannii) – “Just Dance” by Lady Gaga – I wouldn’t have picked this song for him. His strength is his quirkiness. This mainstream dance stuff does not suit him at all. Boring. Louis says Nicolo is his cup of tea. Cheryl didn’t love it–he wasn’t connected. His sunglasses didn’t help. Simon liked it, he thought it was different–says Nicolo looks better than he sounds. Dannii thought he sounded great. She knows she took a big risk, but she believes in it. Nicolo insists, however, that he’s “normal” and not a diva.
1 Direction – (Simon) – “Viva La Vida” by Coldplay – Well, I expected this to be worse, but it’s still pretty bad. This is a really stupid song choice. They’re staying in tune mostly (The whoa whoa whoes were pretty rough, and some of the boys are better than others). But the world does not need a boy band version of “Viva La Vida”. Louis loves what they did with the song and thinks they could be the next big boy band. Dannii says they look like they fit together. She thought the song was fantastic. A perfect pop band performance. Cheryl thinks they have all the ingredients for a perfect pop band. They need more time to develop. Simon put them together in a boy band, because they were too good to throw away. He acknowledges they screwed up at the end, but commended them for bringing it back together. Simon, for some reason, is going to leave the styling up to the guys. I agree with Louis. They do look like crap.
Wagner Carrilho – (Louis – Wildcard) – “She Bang/Love Shack” mashup – This is literally like bringing William Hung back to the AI live shows as a wild card. Seriously now? WTF was that??? Dannii says, “It was entertaining, but we’re looking for the next recording star. Very karaoke.” Cheryl said he was very earthy and nice. Simon says, “that was the most bonkers performance I have every seen in my life.” But…embrace the madness says Simon. Louis says everyone will be talking about Wagner’s performance tomorrow.
Aiden Grimshaw – (Dannii) “Mad World” by Tears for Fears’ – Yeah, he’s doing the Donnie Darko version. He seems really nervous. Not his best performance. Wow, kid. Calm down! It’ll be alright. Louis says it was one of the best performances of the night. He is the next big male pop star. Cheryl thinks it was brilliant. Simon mentions Adam, but not by name. He says it was the second time he was blown away by that song–it happened once in America. You are so current, he says. He compares his voice to Michael Stipe and says it was the best of the night. Dannii said his performance had legs–vulnerable and arresting.
Treyc Cohen (Cheryl – Wildcard) – “One” by U2 – Wow. How did this girl not make it through in the first place? She’s got a powerful voice coupled with charisma. She’s the best of the girls. WTF? Louis says this is her time. Dannii says she can sing anything, but she needs to put her stamp on it. Simon says she looks vulnerable and lacks confidence, yet he’s amazed they overlooked her. He also thinks it was the best vocal of the night. (I agree). Cheryl can’t believe she was overlooked (Uhm yeah, you overlooked her, Cheryl).
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Posted in X Factor, X Factor UK 124 Responses to “X Factor UK – Top 16 Performance” Older Entries ? 
Truthiness: 10/10/2010 at 1:59 am Therefore, not only would the Aiden version have little resonance to AI or Adam for the vast majority of viewers, but there would have been hardly any reason for Simon to name check Adam on X Factor: very few people know who he is. Few people know who any AI alum is in the UK. To be honest, I was kind of impressed that he mentioned the AI performance at all; it’s more than he did when he used Cornell’s Billie Jean (though Louis did!).
Yeah, but the people who staged the song, are not the average UK audience. They would probably have more of a knowledge of the US AI, than everyone else.
Anyhew, don’t really care. I thought it was an okay version, but not great (any comparisions to Adam completely aside), and definitely not among my faves of the night.
Q3: 10/10/2010 at 4:26 am Setting aside the staging, I actually don’t think Aiden’s performance of Mad World was that much like Adam’s. The vocal arrangements were quite different and the emotional context were completely different.
The contestants don’t do the staging on X-Factor — so I am not sure that any similarity should reflect on Aiden in any way.
I thought it was an excellent song choice for Aiden — his nervousness actually worked to make it a kind of weird, creepy version of the song.
But the odd part to me was Simon’s comment about it being like Robert Pattinson and Twilight? I really didn’t see anything in Aiden’s performance, staging or attire that was anything like Twillight. Was Simon thinking about Randy’s Twilight comments about Adam in the AI8 Final?
In any case — The Times is reporting that the oddsmakers have made Aiden the favorite to win — 7-2 odds.
geekygirl: 10/10/2010 at 5:07 am I am glad you gave it another look MJ, I thought he was doing a performance piece. The song has a haunting melody, and the lyrics are quite different from most pop pieces. As Q3 said, apart from the staging, which was really just sitting in a chair, Adam and Aiden played them differently in interpretation and I think they both worked. Adam sang the lyrics with vulnerability, interpreting the message of the song of someone questioning life. It was moving and intense. Aiden sang it like the angry ramblings of a madman. The chair made of chains and the shirt like a straightjacket, yea, I thought it all worked and it gave me chills, but for a different reason than Adam. I don’t think one is better than the other, and it shows what a good song Tears for Fears wrote, because both these versions modeled after Gary Jules version from Danny Darko, are nothing like the original.
I took Simon’s comment about Twilight to be more about Aiden’s look, he was made up to be pale, the hair, and facially he was dark broody Edward. Also the fog and the trees and the white lighting, it was all spooky. I just watched the video again and yea, it still gives me creeps and chills. He played that part well. I haven’t been impressed by him so far, didn’t even really remember him, but he did deliver that performance well imho.
And Simon wouldn’t mention Adam unless it would benefit him. He throws comparisons to Leona Lewis in any time he can, but there is nothing in it for him and Adam. And tbh, I am not sure a lot of the viewing audience would have known who he is anyway.
springboard: 10/10/2010 at 5:13 am The UK public wouldn’t know Adam. The X Factor audience is 10-15 million, whereas American Idol is about 500k.
I thought that overall, the show was a lot better than the usual first week X Factor shows.
The staging for mad World was obviously copied fro Adam’s performance, but it doesn’t shock me the slightest, as Simon seems to try to reproduce on the X Factor what he liked on Idol.
I liked Matt, Marie and Aiden the most.
Q3: 10/10/2010 at 6:31 am The UK public wouldn’t know Adam. The X Factor audience is 10-15 million, whereas American Idol is abound 500k.
Looks like Aiden’s performance has caused a spike of viewership of Adam’s MW videos. So seems like it was good for Aiden and good for Adam since he is not well known in the UK — and any exposure is good.
But with the Internet — the comparison is fast and easy to make — even if you never watch Idol.
Mateja: 10/10/2010 at 7:10 am Wild Card Week hoists ‘X Factor’ up to 12.2m
The X Factor’s first live show of 2010 was paramount in ITV’s domination of primetime last night, early viewing figures show.
Wild Card Week. was seen by an average of 12.23m (48.5%) between 7.40pm and 10.10pm, peaking at 13.49m (51.7%) between 9.15pm and 9.30pm. The X Factor was up 530k on last Saturday.
Hazehel: 10/10/2010 at 8:02 am Wild Card Week hoists ‘X Factor’ up to 12.2m
Edit – Looks like I looked at the wrong page. But it’s 11.89 million on Saturday 14 million on Sunday last week.
Just to give an idea of what this number means – 14 million is the equivalent of 70 million viewers in US. Simon Cowell seems to be pretty good at whipping up interest in the show, I think a lot of the drama reported in the press are likely orchestrated by him, if I weren’t the tin-foil hat conspiracy type I might even suspect him having a hand in Gamu Nhengu trouble with the immigration authority (he did however exploit it for all that it’s worth).
It’s quite noticeable that while American Idol’s ratings generally decline from the season premier onwards until it perks up towards the finale, X-Factor seems to be able to keep the ratings up and actually increase it as the season progresses. Something to be learned by American Idol perhaps – it’s the interest in the contestants that keeps the ratings up, while I’m not a fan of the manufactured drama in X-Factor, I think American Idol seemed to have lost the knack of promoting the contestants to the public last season.
Judee: 10/10/2010 at 8:32 am Wowowow at Savan Kotecha being the vocal coach on the show. Simon has built quite an imperium in Britain with this show. Impressive.
btw. Brian Friedman has been the creative director (e.g. staging and choreography guy) for years now on the show. I’d guess him and Adam know each other pretty well 
.
Also i LOVE Cher. She’s absolutely brilliant. She doesn’t really need X-factor to get a record deal. The labels would fight for someone like her. Take any young pop star (Miley, Katy, Kesha, Cheryl Cole etc.) and give them a great voice – you have Cher. Girlfriend’s gonna be alright no matter where she finishes in the reality show.
Oh Nicolo – you’re my guilty pleasure. I’m rooting for ya 
.
mj: 10/10/2010 at 10:03 am How many contestants will be eliminated tonight? With a Top 16, there will be some double eliminations, right?
mj: 10/10/2010 at 10:05 am I find it interesting that peeps in the UK watch television on a weekend night. Friday and Saturday night in the US is television dead zone.
butte009: 10/10/2010 at 10:11 am Also, I’m starting to think they may need to eliminate groups here, unless they make the groups bands instead of just singing groups. Having boy bands like 1 Direction will immediately turn a lot of people off the show. There is no signs of the reemergence of vocals groups here, and I think there are still a lot of negative connotations for boy bands since we are only about a decade removed from the last time they were dominant. I think it will be years before boy bands are popular here again.
Depends on the demographic. Pre-teen girls are becoming a bigger market. My 8 year old loves Big Time Rush (BTR) on Nickelodeon. Apparently they have a cd coming out on Tuesday; much to my surprise. Here’s one of their songs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkzKGxfmmwc These boys aren’t that bad.
I think the producers are trying to recreate the Monkees myself. But hey, nothing is new these days.
butte009: 10/10/2010 at 10:12 am How many contestants will be eliminated tonight? With a Top 16, there will be some double eliminations, right?
Two go home tonight.
Valentin432: 10/10/2010 at 10:13 am I read that it was a double elimination tonight.
I wonder if they will nominate a B3 or B4 and let the judges decide who stays, or if they will automatically eliminate the act with the least votes and decide between the other 2.
Mateja: 10/10/2010 at 10:17 am Two acts will be eliminated tonight.
Here in Slovenia people watch TV every night, it doesn’t matter which day of the week it is. Entertainment, family shows are usually on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, politics and sports Monday to Thursday. So Sat. and Sun. nights schedule for the X Factor seems completely normal to me.
geekygirl: 10/10/2010 at 10:59 am I find it interesting that peeps in the UK watch television on a weekend night. Friday and Saturday night in the US is television dead zone.
Sad but true. There is usually a popular show on sometime around 7 on a Sat as a lot of ppl watch tv while they get ready to go out. Both my daughters watched the first hour then split.
davedpg: 10/10/2010 at 11:08 am Here in the UK, all the big entertainment shows are on at the weekend with sport, soaps and documentaries in the week
Hazehel: 10/10/2010 at 11:33 am I find it interesting that peeps in the UK watch television on a weekend night. Friday and Saturday night in the US is television dead zone.
Weekend nights are largely family entertainment, so you get shows like X-Factor and the UK equivalent of Dancing with the Stars (Strictly Come Dancing). The rationale I suppose is that young single people go out on weekend nights but families stay indoor. Nights from Monday to Friday are largely a mixture of soaps (yes, Brits watch soaps at night and in huge number), drama series, documentary and the like. They put quite a bit of effort for Saturday but Sunday night can be a bit of a doldrums for TV watching, and presumeably it’s why the rating for X-Factor is higher on Sunday – there is nothing else to watch.
I find it however interesting that most of the shows from US that I like are shown on Sunday in US- Mad Men, Dexter, Breaking Bad, True Blood, etc. There must be a reason why interesting drama series are shown on Sunday, but I’m not sure why.
JohnP: 10/10/2010 at 12:11 pm I find it interesting that peeps in the UK watch television on a weekend night. Friday and Saturday night in the US is television dead zone.
I think the difference may be down to sport. In the US, sports games (baseball, football, hockey) last many hours and are often on late afternoon/evening at weekends. It’s difficult to schedule other programs around that and keep them highly rated. I doubt other broadcasters want to compete against them either. In the UK, live televised evening sport is rare at the weekends, but less so midweek, so it became traditional for top-rated entertainment to be shown weekend evenings. That’s my guess anyway, but there may simply be an element of what someone in the PTB a long time ago decided when we would watch given program types.
karenc: 10/11/2010 at 5:39 am But I never really thought Austin Drage was copying David Cook. It was a clearly different take on the song – it was a soul/R&B take on a rock/blues version of a R&B/pop song (kinda interesting how that comes round, doesn’t it? It’s like Austin was doing Michael Jackson doing Cornell version of his own song). –
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6At6q01m5c
A contestant on Australian Idol (Teale Jakubenko) also did another one which was a closer copy of David Cook/Cornell’s version, but unfortunately sounded worse because of that (because you just can’t help comparing the two) –
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BE32dBhhXA4
I think both these versions are closer to David Cook’s version than Chris Cornell’s, especially near the end. But do agree the Austrailian Idol’s version is closer. I found this version of Chris Cornell’s Billie Jean and there are differences in the melody between his and David’s, though the arrangements were similar, Cornell’s had a harder edge, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xW25VB1Mpw.
The thing that I thought was interesting is that at least one of the judges didn’t like an arrangement that was so well liked in the US. The contestants seem to be much more pop orientated and I’m not sure if that’s just the nature of the show or if it is more because they are in a different country with different tastes. It will be interesting to see what kind of contestants they get over here for the US version.
I did like Matt Cardle the best. Most of the rest of the contestants that I thought had good vocals were too OTT and poppy for me. And I think some are overproduced. It seems to me that some with weaker vocals can hide behind the production, which isn’t even created by them.
One other thing I noticed is that Simon seems much more interested and engaged than he was during AI, especially for the last year and maybe the year before. He seems to enjoy the pop acts the most.
Mateja: 10/11/2010 at 6:49 am The thing that I thought was interesting is that at least one of the judges didn’t like an arrangement that was so well liked in the US. The contestants seem to be much more pop orientated and I’m not sure if that’s just the nature of the show or if it is more because they are in a different country with different tastes. It will be interesting to see what kind of contestants they get over here for the US version.
Well you have to remember that both Pop Idol and The X Factor were created in the UK. What is the original idea of these two shows? To find a popstar. Pop singers. I wish we could watch the first season of Pop Idol (UK) and different Idol versions around the world. I think it would be interesting to compare the original Idol version to American Idol and how American Idol developed over the years. I think the first season of AI was quite similar to Pop Idol. But after the first season, there were less pop singers on Idol. More RNB, soul, then country … And Idol pop singers are completely different than non idol pop singers – very wholesome, family friendly, without any edge. I think this is a problem. AI lost the connection to pop music. The last three winners are all HAC artists – adult TOP 40 – that says something about the demo that watches the show.
I personally believe that lost connection to pop music is bad for Idol. I mean, it’s totally fine to discover a country or rnb artist once in a while, because I don’t think Idol could produce 20 popstars in 10 years. But, it’s bad when the show stops producing pop singers.
In the UK, it’s easy for the show to produce pop singers. The music scene is different and pop prevails. The X Factor is still considered a family show and entertainment TV, but it has more edge than American Idol. The judges on the X Factor are not afraid to say: “You have the voice, but you will never be a popstar.” Yes, it’s cruel and unfair, but it’s realistic. Because no matter what these shows promise, they can not make a popstar out of anyone. X Factor performances are quite close to the guest performances that we can see on results nights. Now think about AI season 9 contestant performances and season 9 guest performances … It was like … two different worlds.
karenc: 10/11/2010 at 1:21 pm Matjeta:
The thing is, at least with the pop charts in the US, there wouldn’t be types that would be considered pop stars that could come from AI. Much of the current chart is rap or singers that are autotuned, and the music doesn’t rely on vocals. Of the types of songs that are popular that use vocals, AI has had representatives that have been sucessful. And I do see where most of the AI singers are not as edgy as most pop stars are. I think that the closest that AI has come is Adam Lambert. I remember thinking that in Season 8, when they on Lady Gaga and Katy Perry as guests, that Adam fit in very well with them. And other than them, the most popular artist in the US last year was Taylor Swift, who fits in very well with the type of singer songwriter that has been on AI the past couple of years.
To some extent, AI has brought success to some artists that wouldn’t have been on a major label otherwise, even the most successful were otherwise rejected by record labels before they were on AI. I see AI as going against the pop charts by relying on vocals, and now some musicianship, rather than looks or dancing ability. Now, I do think that someone can be found that has all these abilities, and maybe they already have.
Mateja: 10/11/2010 at 3:09 pm The thing is, at least with the pop charts in the US, there wouldn’t be types that would be considered pop stars that could come from AI. Much of the current chart is rap or singers that are autotuned, and the music doesn’t rely on vocals. Of the types of songs that are popular that use vocals, AI has had representatives that have been sucessful. And I do see where most of the AI singers are not as edgy as most pop stars are. I think that the closest that AI has come is Adam Lambert. I remember thinking that in Season 8, when they on Lady Gaga and Katy Perry as guests, that Adam fit in very well with them. And other than them, the most popular artist in the US last year was Taylor Swift, who fits in very well with the type of singer songwriter that has been on AI the past couple of years.
To some extent, AI has brought success to some artists that wouldn’t have been on a major label otherwise, even the most successful were otherwise rejected by record labels before they were on AI. I see AI as going against the pop charts by relying on vocals, and now some musicianship, rather than looks or dancing ability. Now, I do think that someone can be found that has all these abilities, and maybe they already have.
Oh come on, you don’t have to be a bad singer and use autotune a lot to be a popstar. The idea of these singing shows is just that, to find a popstar that also has decent singing ability. Idol just didn’t evolve over the years. Idol contestants are still mostly covering old songs. First they sang to backing tracks and then they had a band that certainly didn’t make the songs sound current and fresh. Instruments didn’t really help either. Now the band is gone and maybe, just maybe it won’t be replaced by another band. They promised top producers, so maybe they are going back to backing tracks again?
The X Factor did evolve over the years. If you watch Leona Lewis’ performances, you see that season 3 wasn’t much different from Idol. But then the production values started improving because Simon Cowell realized that the show has to evolve that way to produce a popstar. It’s a circus, yes. But pop music is a circus, too.
Regarding Adam Lambert: Yes, he is the one contestant that had enough edge to fit the current pop scene. I think this is exactly why the judges and the producers supported him – it wasn’t just his singing and performing ability. He was the image of a perfect Idol contestant.
Regarding Taylor Swift: She is a good songwriter and a bad singer. Idol is not a songwriting competition, so the idea to find another Taylor Swift on Idol was totally crazy. The secret of her appeal is certainly not singing. It’s her songs that appeal to teenage girls and her image of a country/pop princess. Which girl on season 9 fit that? Janelle? She was the first one to go. I don’t really know what the producers were thinking when they put Lilly Scott and Crystal through. They are far, far away from Taylor Swift. Same with Didi Benami.
Now that The X Factor is coming to the USA, AI producers realized they are in big, big trouble.
iFly55: 10/11/2010 at 7:23 pm I have to agree with Mateja, AI is in huge trouble when The X-Factor comes to America!
There isn’t much involvement from the judges when it comes to performances up until maybe the Top 3; however, with the X-Factor the judges spoon-feed and prep the contestants … every step of the way!
With the X-Factor, very rarely do you get responses like, “poor song choice”!
But it’s going to take allot of marketing and allot of cross-promotions to get America excited about The X-Factor!
I was really happy with the Top 16 performances! Matt Cardle and Aiden Grimshaw had standout vocals, but all in all quirky and fun perfomances all-round!
karenc: 10/11/2010 at 7:23 pm Oh come on, you don’t have to be a bad singer and use autotune a lot to be a popstar.
If you look at who is popular currently on the pop charts, there are many that are. And this is not the kind of singer that a show like AI is going to find. And some of the most popular music is still rap, which won’t be included in AI.
The types of music that vocals are featured that are still popular today are singer songwriter, country, alternative rock, R&B, and pop rock. And those types have all been representative on AI,with some degree of sucess.
The idea of these singing shows is just that, to find a popstar that also has decent singing ability. Idol just didn’t evolve over the years. Idol contestants are still mostly covering old songs. First they sang to backing tracks and then they had a band that certainly didn’t make the songs sound current and fresh. Instruments didn’t really help either. Now the band is gone and maybe, just maybe it won’t be replaced by another band. They promised top producers, so maybe they are going back to backing tracks again?
I think it’s a step backward if they do, because it will not allow them to show who they are as an artist as much as it does when they get to choose their own arrangements if capable. And I don’t just mean the ones that played instruments, because Adam Lambert was very capable of choosing the arrangements, and staging of his songs. Kelly Clarkson was able to do well even with these limitations, but she really didn’t get to show herself as an artist on the show.
I could see how someone that is less experienced would do better in a show with more producer influence. It seems like on the X factor, they are told what to sing, what arrangement they are going to use and how the staging is going to be. It is ok on the show, but I think to have any long term sucess, you have to have an idea of what you want to do. Other than Leona Lewis, I don’t believe there have been many that have had that level of success from the X factor that we have seen from AI.
Regarding Taylor Swift: She is a good songwriter and a bad singer. Idol is not a songwriting competition, so the idea to find another Taylor Swift on Idol was totally crazy. The secret of her appeal is certainly not singing. It’s her songs that appeal to teenage girls and her image of a country/pop princess. Which girl on season 9 fit that? Janelle? She was the first one to go. I don’t really know what the producers were thinking when they put Lilly Scott and Crystal through. They are far, far away from Taylor Swift. Same with Didi Benami.
Right, but Taylor Swift is far from an edgy pop star as someone can be, and that was my point. This is the type that is appealing to teenage girls right now, the Jonas Brothers, Justin Bieber. These are as far from edgy as you can get, and family friendly like many of the AI artists.
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