The X Factor USA 2011 - The Finals

The plural is theirs, not mine. And Worcester spelled as Wooster? Really?

TEAM NICOLE SCHERZINGER
1. Josh Krajick & Alanis Morissette - Uninvited
Josh should have sounded amazing in this song, but somehow didn't. It didn't really work as a duet either, their voices didn't blend very well and there was zero chemistry. Disappointing. It's odd how one of my early favourites has slipped away gradually week after week.

TEAM L.A. REID
2. Chris Rene & Avril Lavigne - Complicated
WTF was L.A. thinking? Completely out of his vocal range, not to mention genre, his rap is what saved him. That alone speaks volumes.

TEAM SIMON COWELL
3. Melanie Amaro & R. Kelly - I Believe I Can Fly
When you have a vocalist like Melanie, why stick her with one of the big audition clichés? Her voice, however, did blend very nicely with R's, so why not take over Celine Dion's role on I'm Your Angel? It's a minor quibble, as she did a decent job. But I was expecting a phenomenal job.

TEAM NICOLE
4. Josh Krajick - At Last (Etta James)
Back to their audition songs, and Josh stripped this down nicely giving it his own acoustic vibe to match his growly vocals.

TEAM LA
5. Chris Rene - Young Homie
Proving himself to be the weakest vocalist left, Chris brings out his own song for the third time. And, I have to say, it's proving itself to be a somewhat tedious song, rather than some modern urban masterpiece.

TEAM SIMON
6. Melanie Amaro - Listen (Beyoncé)
Given that everybody (with the sole exception of her own eventual mentor Simon Cowell) spotted this performance as the one that would win the show, it's the perfect time for her to perform it again, and sealed the deal she did. And no, I don't know why I went all Yoda then.

RESULTS SHOW
"This stage is our gift to you. What you do with it is your gift to us." Nicely said, Paula Abdul.

TEAM SIMON
7. Melanie Amaro - All I Want For Christmas Is You (Mariah Carey)
Yes, Simon went with the obvious. But it was a perfect fit with a perfect vocal. Her stage performance left a lot to be desired, but fear not, she's no Rebecca Ferguson.

TEAM LA
8. Chris Rene - Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas (Judy Garland/Frank Sinatra)
Sticking to a simple piano vocal, his vocals' limits were exposed, but it wasn't entirely unpleasant. Just.

TEAM NICOLE
9. Josh Krajick - Please Come Home For Christmas (Charles Brown)
Another good fit for Josh's bluesy voice, he played it relatively straight, avoiding both bum notes and wow moments.

RESULTS
In third place is... Chris Rene! I honestly expected it to be Josh, so am happy.

RESULTS
The winner is... Melanie Amaro!

The X Factor USA - Semi Final 2011

TEAM L.A. REID
1. Marcus Canty - I'll Make Love To You (Boyz II Men)
Beginning a little off-key, his voice sounded great for most of it, but then it went all wrong on the higher notes (although, bizarrely, not the falsetto). He's a decent performer with a definite career but his time may well be up.

2. Chris Rene - I Just Wanna Fly (Sugar Ray)
An excellent song choice- he's dropped the usual bassy hip-hop production in favour of a breezy song with a more acoustic feel. His voice was great, an had fewer mis-steps than Marcus Canty, although it did lack a wow moment.

TEAM SIMON COWELL
3. Melanie Amaro - Hero (Mariah Carey)
Apparently voted for by the "Pepsi viewers", whatever they are, it's one of the reality show cliché songs, but it had an odd arrangement that changed the chords. That said, it was a nicely stripped piano vocal and her vocals have never been better.

TEAM NICOLE SCHERZINGER
4. Josh Krajick - Come Together (The Beatles)
Another obvious choice, but his voice is perfect for this, and he took the opportunities to go for it in what is otherwise a pretty tuneless, uneventful song.

Round one over, it's round two. Cue the cheesy VTs and sob stories.

TEAM L.A.
5. Marcus Canty - Careless Whisper (George Michael)
Marcus does the ballad fake-out before bursting into a thumping HI-NRG version that I actually rather liked. His vocals were better than on his first song, and he threw a few moments in there.

6. Chris Rene - No One (Alicia Keys)
Oh dear. Singing one of the worst songs of all-time, I hated every second of it. Fortunately, his particular sob story was a strong one. And he played piano.

TEAM SIMON
7. Melanie Amaro - Feelin' Good (Nina Simone)
In the VT we're promised a performance that's unexpected, brave, possibly crazy. And what we get is a carbon copy of Michael Bublé's version of this song. Fortunately, her vocals were incredible.

TEAM NICOLE
8. Josh Krajick - Hallelujah (Leonard Cohen)
Surprisingly, this was rather dull. It's not often I agree with L.A. Reid. But it was far from bad.

RESULTS
The three finalist are revealed:
Chris Rene
Melanie Amaro
Josh Krajick

Which, obviously, means we say goodbye to Marcus. And yet I can't help but feel he'll have the biggest career.

The X Factor UK 2011 - Wembley Final

TEAM GARY BARLOW
1. Marcus Collins - Hey Ya (Outkast)
An odd choice for a competition like this, given the lack of, well, singing. The falsetto was competent, but not the most pleasant sound. He did a decent job, but it's not a song that requires great vocal dexterity. Great staging though. A plane! A plane!

TEAM TULISA
2. Little Mix - You've Got The Love (The Source feat Candi Staton)
Adopting Misha B's military beats, the girls deliver a surprisingly good vocal. The arrangement did feel a little stiff, going nowhere fast, but a decent start, the girls certainly put on a show.

TEAM KELLY
3. Amelia Lily - Ain't No Other Man (Christina Aguilera)
She delivered with a real confidence and sounded incredible, especially given it's Xtina's song against which to compare.

TEAM GARY
4. Marcus Collins & Gary Barlow - She's Always A Woman (Billy Joel)
Their voices blended rather nicely, and I quite liked that Marcus was the one doing the vocal upstaging. Aww, wasn't that sweet?

TEAM TULISA
5. Little Mix & Tulisa - If I Ain't Got You/Empire State of Mind (Alicia Keys)
Their harmonies have never been better. Perhaps Tulisa deserves more credit than she gets. If N-Dubz split, she at least has a fall-back.

TEAM KELLY
6. Amelia Lily & Kelly Rowland - River Deep, Mountain High (Tina Turner)
Another great blending of vocals, great song choice too. They truly brought out the best in each other.

Blimey, these mentor duets really are rather good. All three have been flawless. I can't call it.

RESULTS
It's goodbye to Amelia Lily.

7. Marcus Collins - Higher and Higher (Jackie Wilson)
Marcus redoes his favourite previous performance. Personally, I'd have gone for his awesome INXS/Stevie mash-up. Still gagging to get my hands on that single. This was alright. Great tune, great voice, great performance. But the kind of thing that Olly did, and ended up second place.

8. Little Mix - Don't Let Go (Love) (En Vogue)
I'd have opted for E.T., but this was their best vocal previously and they did it well again. I do wish the performers would pick slightly more obscure songs like this, it'd take the karaoke element out of the show a bit more.

9. Marcus Collins - Cannonball (Damien Rice)
So the rumours were true. The exceptionally dull Cannonball has even chosen as the winner's song. And even with the trademark X Factor stop, doosh, key change... it's still dull.

10. Little Mix - Cannonball (Damien Rice)
Yay, we get to hear this snoozefest twice. Actually, Little Mix have changed it up a bit, giving it an acapella intro and tweaking the arrangement slightly. God damnit, they've done a Leon Jackson on me. Just as he unexpectedly out-performed the superior Rhydian, so Little Mix have out-performed the superior Marcus.

(Several guest stars later... Well, Coldplay)

The winner is... Little Mix.
I can't help but feel an entire nation say "whatever" before changing the channel. If they don't, they get to hear Cannonball again. Oddly, the singing continues as normal once the girls are swamped by former contestants. Hmmm...

Well, for literally the first time ever, I have no intention of buying the winner's single. Little Mix would have had a recording contract even had they come second, but Marcus? I'm not so sure. Hopefully Gary Barlow will have some sway and help him out. Let's just hope he doesn't give the same kiss of death he's given to the careers of Matt Cardle, Ronan Parke and Westlife.

See you in 2012, no doubt.

The X Factor USA - Live Show 7 - Dance / own choice

TEAM SIMON COWELL
1. Melanie Amaro - Someone Like You (Adele)
Nothing says "dance anthem" like this. So Simon's basically cheated by putting a beat over a ballad, but hey it's worked for the likes of Cascada and DJ Sammy, so why not? She has one of the strongest voices in the competition, and was more than up to the enormous task. Whilst there was little to fault, I can't help but feel the other judges are quaking a little after Simon's humongous strop last week.

TEAM L.A. REID
2. Marcus Canty - Ain't Nobody (Rufus & Chaka Khan)
Again, Marcus starts off struggling on his lower register, but puts on a bit of a performance with it. It was a little cheesy and wasn't flawless. It's the time of the competition to start jumping on any flaw.

3. Rachel Crow - Nothing On You (B.O.B. feat. Bruno Mars)
There's still something about precocious Rachel that I just can't take to, but her voice is excellent, especially given her age. Bits of it were shaky, though and I still feel she should have waited a few years.

4. Josh Krajick - We Found Love (Calvin Harris & Rihanna)
Josh and dance were never going to be a comfortable fit, and this was a strange choice of song. However, his vocals were more than up to the task, even if the timbre didn't fit the song. He did a phenomenal job with what he was given.

5. Chris Rene - Live Your Life (Jay-Z feat. Rihanna)
It was what it was. He rapped, sang a little, it felt authentic... But, whatever. I've stood up for Chris over the last few weeks, but that felt more a case of going through the motions.

TEAM SIMON
Melanie Amaro - When You Believe (Whitney & Mariah)
A predictable song choice, but again Melanie's voice is up to the task. She had a chance to really go for it in the second half and bottled it, but it's still difficult to find fault. Glad the judges reminded Simon that it was THEY that pointed out his mistake of sending her home before the live shows.

TEAM L.A.
Marcus Canty - A Song For You (Leon Russell)
A superb vocal. Simon has a severe case of sour grapes and completely missed it. Yes it was a version that had been done before, but not as much as Melanie's last performance, and definitely had the emotion every other performance has lacked. Not for the first time Simon might well have missed the winning "moment" that this series has so far lacked. *COUGH Jordin Sparks COUGH Will Young COUGH*

TEAM SIMON
Rachel Crow - Music and Me (Michael Jackson)
I much prefer this side of Rachel, however inappropriately old-fashioned it was. She proved she can deliver emotion and great vocals by just standing and singing, no cutesiness.

TEAM NICOLE
Josh Krajick - Something (The Beatles)
A more obvious choice for Josh, and one of my favourite Beatles songs. He gave it his own twist and certainly proved himself vocally. Karaoke it was not, L.A.

TEAM L.A.
Chris Rene - Where Do We Go From Here?
Singing an original song is always a risk, and this one was a little repetitive and dull, but not terrible- and he sang it well. Unfortunately, once his vocals are stripped down they don't stand up as well as the others'. But it's good to see the more vulnerable side of Chris.

RESULTS SHOW
Bottom two:
TEAM L.A.
Marcus Canty - I'm Going Down (Mary J. Blige)
A very strong vocal, lots of emotion.and yet a bit... meh.

TEAM SIMON
Rachel Crow - I'd Rather Go Blind (Etta James)
A phenomenal performance both vocally and emotionally. Okay, THAT was the "moment".

L.A. saves Marcus (obviously)
Simon saves Rachel (obviously)
Paula saves Marcus
Nicole saves Marcus to take it to deadlock.
The US public save Marcus. Oops. Rachel whines big time, Nicole bursts into tears and Simon, surprisingly, doesn't seem as upset or angry a last week. Nicole can't speak, and the audience boos at the sounding her name. She is soooooo fucking fired.

The X Factor UK 2011 - Semi Final

TEAM KELLY ROWLAND
1. Misha B - Dancing In The Street (Martha Reeves & the Vandellas)
Great to see Misha having fun! Perfect vocals, she owned that stage.

2. Amelia Lily - Ain't No Mountain High Enough (Diana Ross & Marvin Gaye)
A very good, confident performance, and a vast improvement on last week's up-tempo vocals.

TEAM TULISA
3. Little Mix - You Keep Me Hanging On (The Supremes)
Oops, Red fluffed the words there. Apart from that, they were rather good. Motown songs are pretty unbreakable, aren't they?

TEAM GARY BARLOW
4. Marcus Collins - My Girl (The Temptations)
Obviously Marcus is in his element this week, so this felt a little bit phoned in, when he should have really gone for it.

TEAM KELLY
5. Misha B - Fuckin' Perfect (P!nk)
Stripping it down to a ballad was a decent idea, but going off-key and off-melody was not. A big shame.

6. Amelia Lily - I'm With You (Avril Lavigne)
Another great vocal, although she does have a tendency to lose key/pitch ever so slightly on her otherwise impressive big notes. But this is being nit-picky in the extreme, she delivered the song with the requisite sincerity.

TEAM GARY
7. Marcus Collins - Can You Feel It? (The Jacksons)
Eek. One of Marcus's weakest vocals to date. Did he learn nothing from Rachel Crow? At least he was better than her.

TEAM TULISA
8. Little Mix - If I Were A Boy (Beyoncé)
After a few slip-ups tonight, they actually delivered one of the better vocals in the second round.

RESULTS
tbc
Who will be the three "finalists" to perform in the final? Before one is eliminated and two are left for the ACTUAL final...
#notafinalthen

The X Factor USA - Live Show 6 - Michael Jackson

It's another double elimination!

TEAM NICOLE SCHERZINGER
1. Josh Krajick - Dirty Diana.
A strange choice, as it's quite a talky song, and Josh has a great voice. Far too low for him, he clearly struggled through most of it.

TEAM L.A. REID
2. Astro - Rock With You/Black Or White. I guess.
He rapped over an MJ instrumental. Nothing else to report. And Simon, that wasn't a new hook Astro put on the end. That's how the song ends. Just usually a bit more tunefully.

TEAM SIMON COWELL
3. Drew - Billie Jean.
Simon just doesn't learn, does he? Having lost the awesome Austin Drage to this (Chris Cornell) version of this song, it doesn't make sense for a female to sing about the paternity of a child. Her voice still does nothing for me, but if you like her voice, there was plenty of it to hear, but I got no story or emotion either.

TEAM SIMON
4. Rachel Crow - Can You Feel It?
It's a song with a youthful vibrancy, and Rachel is certainly young and vibrant. However, it is completely the wrong song for her and her voice. Bits of it sounded good, but most of it was breathy.

Michael's son, Blanket looks so unimpressed by the whole thing so far that he looks like he's in a coma.

TEAM L.A.
5. Marcus Canty - P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing).
Not really the way to claw yourself out of the bottom two. He can perform but his voice suffered for it.

TEAM L.A.
6. Chris Rene - I'll Be There.
Holy crap, his grandfather wrote Rockin' Robin! It's quite a big, emotional song to pick, and he didn't quite get there, but was modern and raw in a way Astro isn't.

TEAM SIMON
7. Melanie Amaro - Earth Song.
Love how they're making out that her newly outed accent is like she's actually been outed or something. That aside, she sang the verses phenomenally well, though did leave the chorus to the backup. I liked the beefed-up arrangement though, and she's never looked better. Melanie is BACK.

RESULTS SHOW
The bottom three are revealed:
Astro, Marcus Canty and Drew.
Firstly, we lose the act with the fewest votes... ASTRO!!!!! Get in!!!! Or, rather, out. TEAM L.A. loses its first act.

The remaining bottom two perform:
TEAM SIMON
Drew - Listen To Your Heart (Roxette).
The audience wouldn't shut the fuck up throughout her performance. I'm sure they intended it as respectful. For her, it was actually quite good. For the first half, anyway. She tried to go all Christina Aguilera at the end, but only proved she doesn't have that kind of voice.

TEAM L.A.
Marcus Canty -
He certainly gave his all, his voice breaking with emotion at times, but mostly quite impressive. Absolutely dreadful song though.

L.A. sends home Drew.
Simon sends home Marcus.
Nicole sends home Drew.
Paula sends home Drew.

Simon is fucking LIVID, sending major evils to the judges. Drew falls to pieces. But it's okay, apparently Drew only entered the competition to say "Jesus loves you". Shame she only just remembered when her dreams were shattered.

So the chaff is gone, only the wheat remains, and both L.A. and Simon are an act down. I call that a RESULT.