And this is how the remaining 16 got on ...
Illusion Confusion
Aptly named because here we have some great guys and one very good singer, all able to cruise around and do the right thing with their legs and arms at the same time but somehow, despite looking and sounding like someone we'd be happy listening to in the car on the way to work, would people actually rush to buy tickets to their concerts and buy enough singles to compete with Adele at the top of the charts? I just felt they were neither one thing nor the other. Maybe the lead singer will audition for American Idol or something.
Tiah Tolliver
This girl could make ads for lipstick. That odd fringe was annoying and, so far, the makeover people haven't done as good a job as they might, although more recent pics I've seen do make her look a bit more special. She's someone that the audience will either love or hate and Simon has a habit of chucking people like this in on a whim, often at the expense of someone who ought to be in the Live Shows and we wish had been when his selction gets kicked out first or second week. Her track was a pretty tuneless number with a lot of hey-oh in it. Something impressed Simon who even claps. I don't remember him doing that with the others. Must have been the lipstick.
Chris Rene
It was difficult to tell whether Everyday people was being sung by him or we were listening to the backing track. Whoever it was, though, did a good job. LA Reid thinks he's, er, special, so that must mean something. I thought he was a bit weak in places but, yeah, we'll back him for a while and see what happens.
Christa Collins
We haven't seen much of this girl, although we gather that the public has heard a lot of her without knowing it from her work with Disney for more years than Rachel Crowe has been on this planet. She's talented but sounds as if she's been doing what girls do with helium balloons at parties. Her acting abilities are, indeed, as you'd expect from her CV, brilliant and that goes down well with young Enrique who seems quite taken with the lass. Whether Nicole's taken as much remains to be seen but my guess is that she wasn't. No Surprises there then.
InTENsity
At last we get to see this bunch of little boys and girls who make up this massive group. Now, you may have thought, like me, that the judges simply couldn't make their mind up about who to send home. Or that the helicopter mums, who were presumably holed up nearby at motels down the road from the judges' homes and preparing themselves for the wailing that some of the rejected offspring would kick up, were just too much for any judge, especially for judges at Boot Camp, to cope with, and stay off the anti-depressants and avoid large laywers' fees. So they'd put the whole damn bunch through. And here they were. It looked like a class of 10 year olds had been let out to play but I have to say that they produced a brilliant adaptation of the Ting Tings' That's Not My Name. Another appropriate title as I haven't the faintest idea who is who yet. They were together, even the previously annoying one, and that's a credit to Paula and team. I can see that track as it stands being a hit. They had a good time and, in just a few days only, made it work against all odds. Any parent of a 10 year old must be amazed. This was the first act of the session that had real star quality and we'll be seeing a lot more of these kids.
Marcus Canty
This guy has a great voice and presence. Spot-on notes and cool control of them all, not showing off like a couple his female competitors with tediously long, high stuff, just doing what the song needed. I can see him being a popular act and is a definite in my book for the Live Shows. A superb audition.
Tiger Budbill
Don't Give Up On Me he sang and you had to admit that he really meant that. Tiger's chock full of emotion and sings out his heart and soul into this. He thinks it's his last chance and that's a shame because it shouldn't be. He's not that old, although I suppose that huge neck and strange chin don't give him that much confidence when he looks in the mirrors. You just get the impression that he's given up on himself which is massive shame because he's damn good. Fantastic range, controlled and I should imagine writers would love to get him to perform their stuff. But there probably isn't going to be that 'market' that Nicole wants and seeing him go will be really heartbreak viewing. I was so impressed but he won't get through to the Live Shows.
Melanie Amaro
One of the early top choices to get through. She's strong, accurate but slightly uninspiring this time. I reckon she can do a lot better and is someone who you could trust on the Live Shows to bring a wow factor to X Factor as she'll break new ground with whatever she's given and surprise people with the way she interprets tracks. Simon appeared initially to have written her off but I wonder?
Rachel Crow
This is where it all began. the cheeky one. She looks and sounds like 12. This wasn't her best of performances and she knew it, to her credit. Nervous and quite wobbly on my tv but what Simon heard must've been quite different there by the pool as he described her as 'unbelievable' (in a complimentary way!). So you know she'll be there on our screens for a while. even though I felt she might have reached the end of the line for this year. But I Wanted It That Way she sang, oddly, and that's probably what she'll get 'for entertainment and ratings' value.
2 Squar'd
Now, doing Bohemian Rhapsody is not an easy task for any group but these girls did an excellent version. Another group I had hardly seen before now with a really good lead singer, especially. The others supported well and they ought to do well. Another that we should be seeing more of, if there's room in what's looking like a crowded group category. I fear tears and Paula's tears and more tears on top of them.
Tim Cifers
Here's the true Country guy, singing Dance With My Father Again. What a voice! So smooth and perfect for his genre. But is there room for him in X Factor Live Shows? He hasn't got the Scotty Factor and I have my doubts whether he'll make it, however good he is. And why is he the only one? There must have been hundreds of Country singers auditioning so it's strange that just one gets this far and we see virtually nothing of any of the others. My guess is that SYCO have said 'move on to the pop and quirkier side'. So, no joy here, Tim, however good you are.
Josh Kracjek
I was really looking forward to this guy's latest audition. That's saying something after all the acts I do watch and especially as we're still very much in the early stages. The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face was a superb choice for him and a favourite of mine since the Roberta Flack original blew me away in the 60s. So here's the scene: an idyllic beach, Nicole immaculate with shiny black hair, expensive clothes and stylish shoes, relaxing on pixel perfectly arranged furniture, listening to a bloke named Josh, unkempt in clothes he looked as if he'd slept in for a week. No makeover girl had got even close to him. Then out comes this fantastic and truly exceptional audition - and, thanks guys, we get to hear it in full. Now there is a potential winner for you.
Stereo Hoggz
I Heard It Through The Grapevine was an ideal track for these talented guys. I do have to keep telling myself that it's not an old Super 8 of The Isley Brothers with some of the set steps and tamla sound but that's probably getting cool again and Paula's reaction made it pretty obvious she wanted them through. Tight, well-matched band with one excellent lead and everyone well-rehearsed and professional. Perhaps just a little too much so but they may just have tipped 4Shore out of the competition with this.
Brennin Hunt
Nice guy, good-looking but really out of his depth now at this stage. His intro speech was over the top too, claiming that he wanted to be remembered and to be bigger than Lady Gaga. He sang OK but isn't a contender now, I'm afraid.
Jazzlyn Little
Really pretty 16 year old who was another stand out audition at the start and one of my early tips for the Live Shows. Since then, though, we've seen her descend into a world inhabited by her nerves and that may have contributed to her hardly being shown at all during the Boot Camp stage. Now, in front of Simon, after a rare glimpse of how much rehearsal help they all got there, she just manages to hold it together and delivers what I presume she didn't realise has been the karaoke number one forever and therefore the most overdone and oversung song in history. I Will Survive doesn't strike me as at all appropriate. Despite a total reworking of the song it was a crazy choice and whilst Simon was clearly looking for some reason to keep her, and if she did get rid of the nerves and got the right songs he'd be right to do so, I think he'll leave her to sort herself out a bit.
So that's that. They've all done their bit, some have done their best, others have shown us that there could be even better than their best to come. As I write this the results will be out in America and you'll know the score for the Live Shows. I just hope that the spoilers I saw are wrong. I want Drew and Josh in there, with Leroy and Marcus. The Brewer Boys and InTENsity have earned their place in the groups and probably Stereo Hoggz have beaten 4Shore. Stacy has to be there. I think we know that. I'd also like to see Caitlin and Phillip. Little Brian Bradley may be there for entertainment value along with one or two of Simon's girls but I fear he'll choose Tiah and Simone for all the wrong reasons when it should be Tora and Caitlin and Melanie joining Drew.
From here on we'll get to see what they can really do with a week to rehearse and I reckon we're in for some surprises and disappointments yet. One thing's for sure - it'll be a better first few weeks than the dismal performances by the UK contestants in the first two weeks so far (one or two obvious people excepted). And I still think drew and UK's Janet Devlin should release Bridge Over Troubled Water. Someone tell Simon I said so, please. Good TV and good for relations across the pond too.
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