My guesses for bottom 3 this week

John & Edward

Rachel Adedeji

Lloyd Daniels

Group performance this week: “Fascination” by Alphabeat – Monochrome theme with the clothes. I love this song, it’s extremely catchy and they’re doing a very good version apart from John & Edward‘s “the word is on your lips” bit. Argh! Get them out! I still feel that a helluva lot of lip syncing is going on with the group performances each week.

Westlife’s performance – I used to love them when I was younger. They’re looking older now but then again, so am I… I thought Westlife had retired but good on them for still being together.

The song is called “What About Now” and is a cover version. I have to say the original by Daughtry is much better as this one has definitely been given the Westlife treatment. I was waiting for the pause, drums then key change that is ever present in Westlife songs -and if they’re on stools that’s when they stand. However, they stood for the whole performance and the key change wasn’t present. I’m shocked!

And it’s a first for this series – Westlife are not out of their faces! Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay! The first guest performers to not be under the influence.

LINES ARE CLOSED

Michael Buble’s performance “Cry Me A River” No, not the Justin Timberlake version. The modern-day Frank Sinatra takes to the stage looking like James Bond. Can’t help but think this rendition of the song sounds like it could be a Bond theme. I like Micky Bubble.

And he’s another one who isn’t away with the fairies! Wooooo.

Results time!

In no particular order, the first act through to next week’s show is:

Stacey!

Olly

Rachel! First time she’s through on public votes. This could be interesting.

Next through is…

Joe!

Lucie

John & Edward!!!! This is such a farce!!!!

Next through…

Jamie

Final act through is…

Lloyd

That leaves Miss Frank and Danyl in the bottom two.

Miss Frank are going home, there’s no way the judges will kick out Danyl but neither of them deserve to be in the bottom two.

This show is becoming a joke, obviously the public are actually voting for John & Edward but it’s just not fair, ok, they may be entertaining but they are not talented in the slightest and other more talented contestants are being denied the chance of success because of it.

Singing for Survival

Miss Frank – “Love Don’t Live Here Anymore” – Good performance and harmonies with Graziella rapping again. They lost it a few times and Graziella stopped singing in the end. Not the best.

Danyl Johnson – “With A Little Help From My Friends” – Looking rather dejected, Danyl takes to the stage. There have been rumours around about how arrogant he is so maybe this will knock him down a peg or two. However, no one can deny that this an amazing performance and he’s putting his heart and soul into it. Bye Bye Miss Frank!

The judges say…

Louis – Sending home Danyl

Simon – Sending home Miss Frank

Dannii – Sending home Miss Frank

Cheryl – Sending home Danyl

DEADLOCK!

The act with the fewest votes from the public and leaving the competition tonight is…

…Miss Frank!

FARCE! FARCE! FARCE! FARCE! FARCE! FARCE!

**Next week is Rock Week and Bon Jovi & JLS are performing**

Firstly I’d like to apologise for the lateness of this blog post. I went out last night to see a comedy show instead of staying in and watching X Factor (yes, I know, how dare I?)

Better late than never though.

This week is Big Band week, my instinct is that John & Edward will struggle this week (they struggle to sing ANY song, so it isn’t a surprise I’m saying this!) Lloyd and Jamie may struggle with this style too.

As I said last week, this would have been a good week for Rikki the crooner but that isn’t to be and I look forward to seeing how they all do, even if I am seeing it quite a few hours later than everyone else.

I deliberately didn’t look at any X Factor tweets for fear that someone may ruin something for me. Philip Schofield ruined Eastenders for me by tweeting who fathered Heather’s baby! *tut tut*

Masterclasses this week are held by Michael Buble or Micky Bubble as I like to call him.

So here goes…

GIRLS

Rachel Adedeji – “Proud Mary” – Powerhouse performance. She looked great and put on a great performance tonight singing the song as though she’d never been knocked down and it’s good to see her confidence back. When talking to Dermot though…has she been possessed by Stacey? Weird!

Stacey Solomon – “When You Wish Upon A Star” – Jeez she’s got me all emotional and she hasn’t even come on stage yet! Now for the performance…wow! I’ve never been a major fan of Stacey but this week I’m converted, she was absolutely fantastic. Her dress is fabulous too…me wants.

Lucie Jones – “My Funny Valentine” – Looking fantastic and it’s a very sultry performance, I love Lucie’s voice, it is so pure and crisp. Ok, her voice cracked a tiny little bit during a long, high note, but apart from that it was sensational in my opinion.

GROUPS

Miss Frank – “That’s Life” – Looking sassy ladies!! Loving the look with the pinstripes this week. I don’t feel that their voices are blending as well this time but it is certainly and original and updated version of the song. Graziella is rapping! Oh my goodness, it should be sinful, but it actually works.

John & Edward – “She Bangs” – Ricky Martin is not big band! They can’t sing, they can’t dance, they sound like little boys doing karaoke (badly), they need a haircut, THEY NEED PEOPLE TO STOP VOTING FOR THEM.

OVER 25S

Olly Murs – “Bewitched” – Ooooh Mr Murs looks very dapper indeed; with very tight trousers. I’m sure many people will like that – just as many won’t – but you can’t please them all. I have to say this is his best performance by faaaaaaaaaaar. He looks so comfortable doing this genre and dancing with the witchy dancers.

Jamie ‘Afro’ Archer – “Angel of Harlem” – Jamie only had 24 hours to learn this song due to a last minute change by Simon. I don’t know what the original song was but I’m guessing it was proper big band and he just couldn’t do it because I have one thing to say…SINCE WHEN HAVE U2 BEEN BIG BAND??? Good performance but not impressed by the cop out.

Danyl Johnson –“ Feeling Good” – Quite an understated performance from Danyl tonight compare to his usual showmanship but it was much better that way. He did this song justice and I never doubted that he would. With the last line though I couldn’t help but think how big his mouth is! Yikes! Surprised he didn’t swallow up the audience.

BOYS

Lloyd Daniels – “Fly Me To The Moon” – I’d say this is his best performance too. OOOH Backflip! Show off! He is adding in extra notes though and this doesn’t really fit with big band, but the song really suits his voice and he looks like he’s loving every minute. He’s still by no means one of the best singers in the show, but he did well this week.

Joe McElderry – “Sway” – Joe trying to be sexy? Argh! No! He doesn’t look very comfortable when dancing but he does sing this song really well. He’s always been my favourite boy and I don’t think my opinion of him will change anytime soon whether he can do sex appeal or not.

My favourites from each group this week:

Girls – Lucie Jones

Boys – Joe McElderry

Over 25s – Olly Murs

Groups – Miss Frank

A new thing I’m going to add to my X Factor blog is the “Cowell Comment of the Week”. Simon regularly compares contestants’ performances to something completely zany and irrelevant.

The first comment of the week is:

“It’s like eating a sandwich whilst swimming.”

(To Lloyd when explaining why his backflip just didn’t fit with the song)

Louis again is not present for the show due to Stephen Gately’s funeral being held yesterday.

Group song this week is “Queen of the Night” by Whitney Houston. Much better this week than last. Must say though…Lucie looks very full of herself in the group performances. A few of them looked like they could be lip-syncing too.

My guesses for bottom 3 this week…Rikki, John & Edward (please please) and Rachel. Lloyd may be there too. Wonder just how wrong I’ll be…

Cheryl Cole’s performance – Nicola, Kimberley and Sarah from Girls Aloud and hubby Ashley are in the audience. First thought – strange outfit she’s wearing! Through the week it was said that Cheryl would be pre-recording her performance. Looks like she decided to do it live after all – I use ‘live’ lightly – there’s certainly an audience there and she’s performing in front of them but not singing live. The dance section at the end was the best part of it in my opinion. The song didn’t wow me but I know it’ll be stuck in my head for weeks and the song is guaranteed to be number 1 because she’s the nation’s sweetheart.

Lines are now closed! Excitement

But before the results are announced…the original diva…Whitney Houston!! *screams*

Wow! She looks fantastic. The dress is a little long though and she keeps hitching it up.

Ooops!! Speaking of the dress…wardrobe malfunction alert!! Straps have just come undone at the back of her dress, thank goodness for the shoulder straps or we’d be getting an eyeful.

It’s undeniable that her voice was ruined by the drug abuse etc in the past but it’s so good to have her back. She didn’t sing much and it seemed the backing vocals took over a bit

Hmmmm…as she’s speaking to Dermot after the song I can’t help but wonder what she’s under the influence of…she seems rather spaced out…wonder what everyone will make of that?

Cue the dramatic music…IT’S RESULTS TIME!

In no particular order, the first act singing again next week is:

Olly!

Next…

Miss Frank!! That’ll be a shock to a lot of people…

Joe McElderry

Danyl Johnson

Lucie Jones

Jamie Archer

All Over 25s are safe…

Stacey Solomon

Poor Rachel is the only girl left again.

Lloyd Daniels!

Still left are Rachel, John & Edward and Rikki

Final act through…John & Edward…come on…this is beyond a joke already!

That leaves Rikki and poor Rachel yet again.

Songs for Survival

Rachel – Poor girl is gutted. “With or Without You” – the audience are certainly behind her. She’s fighting for her place but her voice cracks a lot with emotion. I know it must be hard for her and it’s such a shame. I’m patriotic but feel that Rachel deserves to stay more than Rikki does.

Rikki – “Flying Without Wings” – Rikki is notorious for bursting into tears, here’s hoping he holds it together. It’s a good performance, not amazing, but he held it together and hit some high notes.

Judges’ Votes

Louis – vote will not be included this week.

Dannii – Sending home Rikki

Cheryl – Sending home Rachel

Predictable so far…

Simon – Who is he going to send home? Deciding vote this week and he can’t make it deadlock – After a dig at both Rachel and Rikki he decides to send home…

…RIKKI!!

**Next week is Big Band week and Westlife will be performing.**

Shame - Rikki would have been good at big band week.

This week is DIVAS WEEK! Woooooo. The masterclasses are held by the amazing Whitney Houston & Clive Davis. This is the first big challenge for all the guys in the show – it’ll be interesting to see how they do.

GIRLS

Rachel Adedeji – “If I Were A Boy” – Feel the song was too low to begin with. As soon as the high notes came in she was much better. She didn’t deserve to be in the bottom two last week and is proving it this week with a powerhouse performance. I’ve always liked her but felt Lucie was better this week again.

Stacey Solomon – “At Last” – Etta James classic that Stacey had never heard. Hmmm. I can’t bear to watch VT of her talking but normally like her singing. Not tonight. To be perfectly honest she’s boring me. She could have made it much bigger and better but took the easy way out.

Lucie Jones – “How Will I Know?” – A big Whitney song, great fun to sing. Whitney is my favourite singer and Lucie is my favourite girl. Big entrance. Loved it! Haha. Great choreography too. This girl is absolutely fantastic and at a much higher level than most of the other contestants. Amazing performance and she looked like she loved every minute of it, yeah she can’t hit the high notes with power but she has a lovely voice.

GROUPS

Miss Frank – “All the Man That I Need” – Each of these girls have good voices, but when they sing together the harmonies give me goosebumps. This is not their best performance by any means but the key change was good and I like how they all take a week each to be the main focus of the song. I think they’ll be in the competition for a long time. I don’t agree with Simon, it was not “terrible”.

John & Edward – “Oops, I Did It Again” – They’ve lost me already and they’ve only reached the second “yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah”. Please public don’t let it be “Oops we’ve let them stay in til next week again”. The talky bit? Don’t even get me started….WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!? The red suits like Britney’s catsuit…the whole thing makes me want to go pull my toenails off, but I’ll resist for now.

OVER 25S

Olly Murs – “Fool in Love” Olly is back to the Olly we saw in the first audition!! Yay! Not majorly keen on the song – Tina Turner had much better and well known songs he could have chosen. He certainly put on an amazing performance and was evidently enjoying every second.

Jamie ‘Afro’ Archer – “Hurt” – Oh, this is a very different Jamie than we’re used to and I think I like this one. A little bit rocky but vulnerable, good combination. I said last week I’d like to see something different and questioned if Jamie was a one-trick pony. He’s proven by singing this song that he can do something different. Loved this song.

Danyl Johnson – “I Didn’t Know My Own Strength” – In VT prior to performance Whitney & Clive say he missed the melody…here’s hoping he doesn’t revert to his bad habits and does this song justice! Ok, he did do it justice with a very emotional rendition of the song but I felt the first few lines were a little bit flat. Hmmm.

BOYS

Rikki Loney – “Respect” – I don’t really know what to think of this song. I love the Aretha version and just how diva-tastic is. I feel that Rikki’s version is too meek and mild. That high note though…I wasn’t expecting THAT. Overall…not feeling much. Sorry Rikki. Must try harder…

Lloyd Daniels – “Bleeding Love” – Acoustic version, quite different to Leona. I’m quite ashamed to say I actually like this version. Lloyd has never been the best singer of the Boys but he was much better this week than he was last week. He still struggles with higher notes though. Cheryl’s tears make me wonder if she knows this could spell the end for Lloyd?

Joe McElderry – “Where Do Broken Hearts Go?” – Another of my favourite Whitney songs (ok, I’ll admit…I love them all!) Joe has a lovely quality to his voice and he is such a little cutie. A lot of vocal gymnastics in this song and difficult key changes. He completely nailed it and never fails to impress me. Looking forward to seeing more of him in future weeks.

My favourites from each group this week:

Girls – Lucie Jones

Boys – Joe McElderry

Over 25s – Jamie “Afro” Archer

Groups – Miss Frank

The show opened with an announcement from Dermot that Louis would not be appearing on tonight’s show due to the tragic death of Boyzone star Stephen Gately. Simon sent his condolences but said the show must go on.

Tonight we were treated to our first group performance of “I Gotta Feeling” by the Black Eyed Peas – The Over 25s started off out of tune but the rest of the group brought it back to where it should be. They all looked like they were having fun which was good.  I feel it is  a little bit of a strange song choice because tonight won’t be a good night for one act. Who has sung for the last time on the X Factor stage?

Alexandra Burke then gave a performance of her new single “Bad Boys” – very catchy! I’m loving her new hairdo. Flo Rider came on for a few seconds to rap too. Great performance. Was there any need for as many male dancers though? Not that I’m complaining, I’d have as many as possible too! haha.

Dannii made an apology regarding her comments about Danyl last night and said that it was meant as a joke and with no malice. Fair enough, but it still wasn’t a relevant comment to make.

Robbie Williams then made his  first comeback performance  and I have to say I’m not very impressed, the song wasn’t very good. Yes he is a great performer but his vocal ability isn’t anything spectacular. A bit of a let down in my opinion.

Oooooh the lines are now closed. Drum roll please…

In no particular order, the first through is…

JOHN & EDWARD!!!!!!! NO WAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!! Ok, I’ll give up writing this blog now!

No, I won’t. I’ll keep going. Gutted at that result though.

Lucie Jones

Lloyd Daniels – oh dear this doesn’t look good…

Jamie Archer

Rikki Loney

Stacey Solomon

I reckon Kandy Rain could be going…

Danyl Johnson

Joe McElderry

Miss Frank

It’s now between Rachel, Olly and Kandy Rain

Final act definitely safe is…

Olly!!

Bottom two this week are Kandy Rain and Rachel

Rachel “Nobody Knows” – Extremely emotional performance. My heart goes out to her, she doesn’t deserve to be in the bottom two singing for her place in the competition.

Kandy Rain – “Fighter” – Terrible vocal performance from them all of them, although Coco (the blonde one) didn’t sing any solo parts. At least the one with the cat ears hairdo had her hair down tonight. Get them out!  Rachel at least has some talent!!

The judges votes are:

Louis (even though he isn’t there) – Kandy Rain to stay

Dannii – Kandy Rain to go

Cheryl – Kandy Rain to go

Simon – deciding vote – I reckon he’ll say Rachel to send it to public vote.

Yes, I was right, that’s 2 votes each.

DEADLOCK!

The act with the fewest votes from the public and heading home tonight is…

KANDY RAIN!

I’m reasonably pleased with that, I wanted John & Edward to go but Kandy Rain were next in my list of least favourites.

**On next Saturday’s show – Cheryl Cole will perform her debut solo single and there’s the first British TV performance in years from Whitney Houston! Ooooooh I can’t wait to see that!**

First of the live shows. This week’s masterclasses are held by Robbie Williams.

GIRLS

Rachel Adedeji – “Let Me Entertain You” – She did well and didn’t look too nervous. Her overall look was very Rihanna. Shame – she should try and get her own identity. I feel this was the wrong song for her as she has a good voice and proved this in previous shows, yet this song did not show her vocal ability in the slightest.

Stacey Solomon – “The Scientist” – This girl is completely hyper, VT of her has me exhausted! She talks at 100 miles an hour and I have one thing to say: “breathe girl, breathe!!!” Stacey does have an absolutely fantastic voice and took on quite a tough song. I think she’s a fantastic contestant but she grates on me when she talks.

Lucie Jones – “Footprints in the Sand” – My favourite from the start, she has always had a really impressive voice. However, when I realised she was singing this song I was nervous for her. I’ve attempted this song myself and know how tough is to sing, especially the high notes. She started off very understated with an emotional performance, hit most high notes, didn’t overdo it and most importantly gave me goosebumps. Fantastic!

GROUPS

Kandy Rain – “Addicted to Love” – The ex-strippers. They looked like strippers. Their singing was ok but nothing special. The girls said in the VT prior to their performance that their stripping days are in the past and they want to move on from that, yet they appeared on stage wearing next to nothing.

Miss Frank – “Who’s Loving You?” – All three girls have fantastic voices individually but I feel they haven’t gelled too well as a group yet and they seem to be competing by trying to outsing each other. Miss Frank are still the best group by far, however, it is a very weak group this year.

John & Edward – “Rock DJ” – I.CAN’T.STAND.THESE.BOYS! Cocky little eejits that they are. They had a big entrance but can’t sing in the slightest. I feel sorry for the people who were refused the chance in order to let them into the final 12. I feel they were only chosen by Louis due to them being Irish and hope these boys are the first out, they are talentless and irritating.

OVER 25S

Olly Murs – “She’s the One” – His first audition was fantastic but he hadn’t made much of an impression on me since. I feel this song was the best I’d heard him sing, he toned it down a bit and it was a good vocal performance.

Jamie ‘Afro’ Archer – “Get It On” – Jamie looks like a throwback to the original era of this song especially with his afro and the scarf tied around his waist.  He did, however, put on a fantastic performance and I enjoyed it. I want to see him do something a bit different next week though. One trick pony?

Danyl Johnson – “And I Am Telling You” – The man with the best first audition who didn’t impress me too much afterwards due to overdoing songs and making them unrecognisable. This song was definitely a big risk but Danyl started it in a very understated manner which was a nice change.  He then came into his own in the 2^nd verse and the end of the song was show-stopping. The audience loved it and I think I may be warming to him again. Dannii made a reference to his sexuality in her comment and I feel this was completely unnecessary. Let the backlash begin!

BOYS

Rikki Loney – “Back to Black” – Very soulful vocal. Good performance. He started off without but ended up with a hat on, it seems to be his trademark look.  I really enjoyed his vocal and as he’s the only Scot in the competition obviously I’m rooting for him. His determination is admirable too. Third time lucky.

Lloyd Daniels – “Cry Me a River” – The youngest contestant in the show; his nerves were extremely visible. He overdid the vocals, adding in notes where they didn’t have to be. He was nervous about high notes and decided not to do them, which was the best thing for him to do as he would have been more comfortable with it. It didn’t make his performance any more impressive and I feel he really needs to up his game to be able to compete with others in the show.

Joe McElderry – “No Regrets” – Great vocals and looks like a little heart throb.  Brilliant performance. He is very young but made this performance look easy and his vocals were effortless. At first I thought Cheryl had added him because he was a Geordie but I see now that she’s not like Louis and that Joe is there because he deserves to be.

My favourites from each group this week:

Girls – Lucie Jones

Boys – Joe McElderry

Over 25s – Danyl Johnson

Groups – Miss Frank

From tonight on, I will be posting regular X Factor blogs – definitely on Saturday nights for the performances and Sunday nights for the results. There may be the odd blog mid-week depending on any breaking news from the show.

Hope you enjoy and don’t forget to comment!