The X Factor - live show 4 - Rock

1. Joe for Cheryl.
"Don't Stop Believing"
The best voice didn't quite kill it tonight, but it was a case of chalk and cheese, so the boy did well.

2. Lucie for Dannii.
"Sweet Child O' Mine"
The other great voice was a bit off this week, but she gave it her all and the judges were happy.

3. Danyl for Simon.
"Don't Wanna Miss A Thing"
The first verse of this was excruciating, he forgot the lyrics several times... I don't know what Simon's hearing- Dannii was spot on. However, that said, there is something about him I Iike- he doesn't deserve such public hatred.

4. Lloyd for Cheryl.
"I Kissed A Girl"
He can't sing a note, bless him. Dreadful. He doesn't deserve such public support, even if he is Welsh.

5. Stacey for Dannii.
"Somewhere Only We Know"
Nice arrangement. Vocals patchy as always, but some great bits.

6. Jamie for Simon.
"Rocks"
Still don't get what this guy's doing here. More sub-par copycat karaoke, but because it's Simon's act it's fine. But it's not. Far from the worst tonight, however, and easily his best performance to date.

7. Rachel for Dannii.
"One"
Surprisingly good. A few patchy bits, but her best performance so far.

8. Jon & Edward for Louis.
"We Will Rock You"
No you won't. By any definition.

9. Olly for Simon.
"Come Together"
Hate this song, but good performance.

My choice for bottom two - Lloyd and Danyl. Yes, both worse than the twins this week. Just.

-- Posted from my iPhone

The X Factor - Live show 3 - Big band week.

1. Olly Murs for Simon.
"Bewitched"
Nicely performed, nicely sang. Nothing spectacular, but he should be safe.

2. Lloyd Daniels for Cheryl.
"Fly Me To The Moon"
Totally out of his depth. Loved the backflip- "look at the dog, look at the dog", or South Park's Chewbacca defence.

3. Miss Frank for Louis.
"That's Life"
The rap actually didn't sound as out of place as it should have, but unfortunately some of the singing was. I just don't get these girls.

4. Rachel Adadeji for Dannii.
"Proud Mary"
A definite improvement, though I preferred the first half. I do hope she gets the public vote this week.

5. Jamie Archer for Simon.
"Angel In Harlem"
U2 is big band? Nothing above mediocre here, as always. I actually agree with Louis on this.

6. Stacey Solomon for Dannii.
"When You Wish Upon A Star"
Patchy vocals again, yet still elegant and likeable.

7. Danyl Johnson for Simon.
"Feeling Good"
The vocals were not great, but the peformance was. I'm starting to get sick of the sight of that tongue. Enough with the big notes already. Concentrate on the other ones for a change, they're not sounding good.

8. Joe McElderry for Cheryl.
"Sway"
Perfect vocals, as always. He doesn't quite have the performance side down, but gave it a good go. Still the favourite, surely.

9. Lucie Jones for Dannii.
"My Funny Valentine"
Sultry and sophisticated, note perfect- best of the night. She's back in the game! Glad Cheryl finally got it. Simon's a twat, he just doesn't get classy. This is Jordin Sparks's "I Who Have Nothing" all over again.

10. Jonathan & Edward for Louis.
"She Bangs"
Love that Buble critiqued their dancing. Nothing constructive could be said about the vocals, other than "stop". Louis brought out the tired Zig and Zag argument again. Yawn.

My selection for the bottom two:
Twins and Miss Frank. Lloyd and Jamie weren't great either.

The X Factor (series 6) - live show 2 - Diva week

No Louis this week, but can't say I'm missing him.

1. Lucie Jones for Dannii.
"How Will I Know"
Oops someone forgot the lyrics! Good covering though. Very disappointing performance. Patchy vocals, juvenile dancing... Only Cheryl seemed to notice but starting to get suspicious about her motives.

2. Olly Murs for Simon.
"Fool In Love"
Confident performance made up for the just-about adequate vocals. He's safe. Despite the seriously bad hair.

3. Miss Frank for Louis.
"All The Man That I Need"
Patchy, but some really good bits. Some really bad bits too. The solo bits just don't work.

4. Rachel Adadeji for Dannii.
"If I Were A Boy"
Not the most memorable performance, though the key change was pretty poor. Except for that, rather good.

5. Joe McElderry for Cheryl.
"Where Do Broken Hearts Go"
Perfect. And yet quite bland. Easily the best in the competition.

6. Danyl Johnson for Simon.
"I Didn't Know My Own Strength"
Bad song choice, Simon. No-one knows this song here and it's not great. Sorry but not one of the best tonight.

7. Lloyd Daniels for Cheryl.
"Bleeding Love"
How to make a great song sound tedious. Still, a pleasant surprise after last week's car crash. Instead of "taking responsibility", why didn't Cheryl say it sounded good? She obviously didn't think so.

8. Jonathan & Edward for Louis.
"Oops... I Did It Again"
They certainly did. Genuinely jaw-dropping. This show has lost its last shred of integrity.

9. Rikki Loney for Cheryl.
"Respect"
K. A. R. A. O. K. E.

10. Jamie Archer for Simon.
"Hurt"
Started brilliantly. Then went all Simon-Cowell-pleasing. At least we now know he CAN sing if he chooses to. Arrogant fucker though. It wasn't as good as he obviously thought it was.

11. Stacey Solomon for Dannii.
Patchy, but mostly good. I'm liking Stacey despite myself.

My selection for the bottom two:
Twins and Lloyd. Again.

Private Practice (season 3)

As a fan of Grey's Anatomy, I've had a mixed relationship with Private Practice. I really resented the fact that its pilot was used as an episode of Grey's, and found the characters extrememely irritating.

As the first season progressed, very little changed. I warmed to Pete and Violet, and have really liked Taye Diggs since movies "How Stella Got Her Groove Back" and "Go" over a decade ago, but still wasn't warming to the show.

However, the infamous writers' strike cut the first season short and I felt that I wanted to give the show a fair chance at redemption. And my patience was indeed rewarded. The second season catapulted the show into another league, and soon became better than its parent show (see my Grey's Anatomy blog for more details).

The finale of the second season was truly gripping, with a devastating cliffhanger. So now that all the shows are returning, this is the one I've been most anxious to see.

The X Factor (series 6) - live show 1

Turns out it's idols week, not just Robbie songs. So Kandy Rain's idols are Robert Palmer...? Okay...

1. Rachel Adadeji for Dannii.
"Let Me Entertain You"
Rave reviews, but left me wanting. Very heavy on the backing vocals.

2. Kandy Rain for Louis (boo!).
"Addicted to Love"
When singing in unison, they actually sounded pretty good. The first girl has a good voice. Harsh comments from the female judges, but they made a point. If you want to make people forget you were strippers, don't dress like strippers. If you're proud to be strippers, then just say so.

3. Olly Murs for Simon.
"She's The One"
A good job for such a medocre song, but what was up with the hair? Not as confident a performance as I'd expected, but it's early days and I think he's here for a while yet.

4. Rikki Loney for Cheryl.
"Back to Black"
Done in a jazzy style, Simon was right when he said it fell flat. Hope did a better job last year with that song and that says a LOT.

5. Stacey Solomon for Dannii.
"The Scientist"
Interesting to hear this sung by a woman. It certainly sounded unique, and in a good way, if not flawless.

6. Miss Frank for Louis (boo!).
"Who's Loving You"
Formed especially for the competition from three female rejects, this was a brave choice after Shaheen's amazing version on BGT and Jacko's memorial. Needless to say, they came up short by comparison. Bad job Louis, they're better than this. The judges liked it though. Loved Simon's bookends comment!

7. Jamie Archer for Simon.
"Get It On"
The afroman's voice just wasn't up to this. Having to resort to bellowing to get an audience's attention does not a good performance make. Again, the judges liked it. Go figure.

8. Lloyd Daniels for Cheryl.
"Cry Me A River"
The first of two Welsh hopes tonight. Oh dear. He won't see November. I don't know what the judges saw. Maybe I'm just in a bad mood. Louis obviously has a thing for blonds.

9. Lucie Jones for Dannii.
"Footprints in the Sand"
The one whose audition I saw in person, and easily the best vocalist in the competition. Love that she could sing it without having to belt it. Then belted it. Don't know what Simon heard. Actually agreed with Louis, even if our motivations were very different.

10. Jonathan & Edward for Louis (BOOOOOO!!!!).
"Rock DJ"
The Irish twins everyone's been talking about for all the wrong reasons, and boy did they live up (or down) to expectations. Bye, guys.

11. Joe McElderry for Cheryl.
"No Regrets"
Great song, an unexpected choice, and well performed. Very good vocals, definitely the strongest male voice.

12. Danyl Johnson for Simon.
"And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going"
The most memorable audition of the early shows, the guy with the eyes straight out of the drug driving advert ends the show. Odd choice of song to put it mildly, but he did a great job. Best of the night, what a note to end on. Literally. Was it my imagination or did Dannii just out him?

My selection for the bottom two: Jon & Edward (obviously) and Lloyd.

Who was? Kandy Rain and Rachel.

Who left? Kandy Rain. Ridiculous.

Incidentally, on the live show, Robbie's performance was bloody awful, Alexandra's was good, but poorly mimed. Swizz.

Heroes

I'm a relative newcomer to Heroes, only getting into the series (from the start) this year. I had tried twice before to get into this show, but both times I had given up by episode 4.

The first problem I had was with how they chose to start the story. Volume 1 is called Origins, yet this is not what we get. We see characters testing their special powers, not discovering or obtaining them.

However, the biggest hurdle I faced was Ali Larter's character, Nikki. She would look in the mirror at a different version of herself nodding and smiling mysteriously, with no explanation as to what the hell was going on. I didn't feel intrigued to find out, I felt irritated at being forced to wait so long for an explanation so I could at least follow what I was watching.

Little was I to know it was only an episode or two away, so the third time I was determined to make it through at least the first season- and was eventually glad that I did. Great characters, nicely interwoven stories, fabulous special effects, and some interesting ideas.

Season 2 was unpopular with fans, but I was fine with it. It was the first half of season 3, aka Volume 3: Villains, where the show started to lose me.

The biggest problem this time was Arthur Petrelli. Nothing against Robert Forster, I love him in Jackie Brown. It was the way his character only served to undermine Angela, who by now was revealed as something of a secret puppet master. Suddenly she was relegated to the role of wife to the puppet master. Fortunately, he was killed off, and Sylar was allowed to step forward as the true villain of the show once more.

By the start of Volume 4, Fugitives, I was up-to-date and kept waiting week by week like everyone else. Step in podcasts 9th Wonder and 10th Wonder to keep me excited between episodes (and beyond). This coincided with a vast improvement in the show, as the cast was streamlined and the story was refocused, giving Angela her chance to finally tell her story.

So here we are at the shortened series 4, aka Volume 5: Redemption. Here's hoping they live up to the title, given the show has lost a lot of respect (not to mention viewership) after the first season became a phenomenon.

The X Factor

Now that the auditions and boot camp are over, and the live shows are about to start, this seems the perfect time to reflect on the situation so far.

Firstly, me. I'm a big fan of these shows. Popstars, Pop Idol, American Idol, Fame Academy, Britain/America's Got Talent, even World Idol. I watch every episode (with a few early exceptions) and buy the music. Last year, for the first time, I stopped watching. Why? Two words; Louis Walsh.

For me, the most talented vocalist was clearly Austin Drage. The first time he was in the bottom of the public vote, Louis voted out the competition, desperate to keep his only remaining act in. The very next week, Louis did the same thing to Laura, and there was a public outcry- it was even raised in Parliament. This was the last straw for me too, and the unthinkable happened. I stopped watching.

The only reason I saw the finale was because it was on while I helped my mother trim the Christmas tree. What a debacle it was. Eoghan Quigg was still there...? Alexandra's breakdown in front of Beyonce wasn't moving, it was embarrassing.

Fortunately, the very shrewd Mr Simon Cowell knew that the song of the moment was Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah. Thanks to Jason Castro's performance of this song on American Idol, the Jeff Buckley version had recently shot back up the American charts, and it was making appearences in auditions and performances here in the UK too. X Factor winner Alexandra Burke took her big ballad version all the way to the coveted Christmas #1, selling over 1 million copies, making it the most successful X Factor single ever. Even Jeff Buckley was propelled to the Christmas #2. Even writer Leonard Cohen himself went on to have his first ever UK top 40 hit as a performer with his own original version. And all because of The X Factor.

This year we have seen various songs re-enter the charts thanks to the show's auditions, and this is only set to continue as we move to the live shows. Tonight they sing Robbie Williams songs, as does the man himself, and Alexandra debuts her new single.

A couple of months ago, I was given the opportunity to see the auditions for myself, live in Cardiff. Amongst these was Lucie, now in the top 12 as part of Dannii's group of girls. And boy, is she good.

Dannii and Cheryl have both picked wisely for their categories, and Simon had the toughest decision, though I would have made different choices to him. He opted for the three most likely You Tube auditions rather than the three best singers. And as for Louis, he's plumbed deeper than even his own depths with the Irish twins. Surely (PLEASE!!!!) we lose them first tonight.

It's looking like a good year, with some great talent in at least 3 of the 4 categories. Let's just hope the useless judge doesn't fuck it all up again this year.

-- Posted from my iPhone

Forthcoming TV updates

Now I'm back from holidays and the big US TV season has started, not to mention The X Factor, there's a lot of TV I'll be watching, and have already
made a start. I'm not sure what form the blog will take from here, but hopefully I'll get around to blogging about them very soon. Watch this space!

TV shows most likely to be covered:

Bones (season 5)*
Brothers & Sisters (season 4)
Curb Your Enthusiasm (season 7)*
Desperate Housewives (season 6)*
Dollhouse (season 2)
Flash Forward (season 1)*
Gary Unmarried (season 2)*
Ghost Whisperer (season 5)
Grey's Anatomy (season 6)*
Heroes (season 4)
Home Time (series 1)*
House (season 6)*
How I Met Your Mother (season 5)*
How Not To Live Your Life (series 2)*
Hung (season 1)*
Medium (season 6)
Modern Family (season 1)*
Private Practice (season 3)
Smallville (season 9)*
So You Think You Can Dance (season 5)
The Big Bang Theory (season 3)*
The Mentalist (season 2)
The Vampire Diaries (season 1)*
The X Factor (series 6)
True Blood (season 2)*

*indicates show/season I haven't started watching yet