This is where X Factor USA separates from X Factor UK. No Judges' Houses. Whereas UK have a Six Chair thing to determine the Top 24, with 6 in each category going to Judges' Houses and then 3 to Live Shows, here the 10 get whittled down straight away to 4 in one go, with 16 making the Live Shows.
I like the idea of 16 making the Live Shows.
Victoria is the mother of 8, separated from her husband, who looks quite young and put across lots of excellent feeling in her last audition. She kicks off this heavy-emotion-laden programme very well. She is so expressive, although to a large extent brilliant song choice helped once again. If she isn't still on one of the 4 seats at the end then the others will have to be so good. So she'll get a seat to start with. Kelly confirms that.
This seat business, just as in the UK show, certainly makes good TV, bringing lots of emotion and audience reaction into the two hours.
Kristine is next and is someone I do not remember. She looks like Madonna. An interesting take on Britney's Oops I Did It Again. She seemed pretty professional to me but doesn't get much support from the girl judges. In a sense, Simon was right to have the three girls from the point of view of how the programme comes across but he is getting outnumbered by them and their slightly less knowledgeable view of the market and individuals' potential.
Jeffrey Gutt has one powerful voice. Cut last year, he may make it this year but I am now sure yet if he is getting all the notes he needs. Amazing Grace is one of those anthems that just work and he sure made it count so he'll get a seat in the Overs, making it three of the four already. Soon, someone has to be disappointed.
Next is Rachel, the dark-haired bar tender girl who is pretty strong and Country-wise which there could be a space for. She is sadly quite off key a little more often than we want her to be. I like her a lot but, despite all the high note efforts, she doesn't quite make it in my book. She is honest enough to admit that is was not so good when Demi said it was kinda rough. Mario gets more involved now, by the way. Rachel gets a seat as Kelly fills them all and now she'll have to start losing people.
Lorie Moore is the football girl. She has a good tone but this is not her night as her breathing lets her down and notes go as astray if not more so than Rachel's did. If she replaces on it won't be for long and I am not so sure she will anyway. Oh dear, Lorie does some high school speech thing and gets a space. Kristine is out.
Allison Davis is beautiful but got a 'No' from Simon originally. She has the look but she's doesn't go down well with the crowd. She tries the Lorie trick but it doesn't work. She was more 'modern' than the others so far but probably wouldn't have fared well.
Jeff Brinkmann is the one with the husky, Dylan-esque mixed with Michael Bolton, voice. He's in tune and sounds excellent. Not a winner but deserves a seat over Lorie and Rachel. He actually kicks Victoria out. I wouldn't have done that, says Simon to her as she leaves.
Santa is a nice chap. Denny Smith sings along with The Midnight Hour and does it pretty well but it is a karaoke performance and I don't see him surviving many of the Live Show rounds or have a real market to appeal to. Other than by being a pleasant granddad figure. Louis Walsh would have him in the Live Shows in a UK show but no, Kelly isn't going to substitute anyone for him. A good speech. They're all doing speeches now. But Santa has to go home. Simon asks if she is crazy but, this time, she's got it right. I am pretty sure that Simon is liking the way the programme is appealing to the crowd so much more than before.
James Kenney is up next, Another nice chap. He has the advantage of doing really well in his auditions and writing his own stuff too. He starts very wobbly. Lean On Me is another anthem of a song. He is all over the place but his Matt Damon looks will get him a seat for all that. He could be so much better as well so may be worth the risk. Demi says he killed it but I am not so sure I agree with her meaning. The others all seem to have totally got it so I can only imagine that they have different sound going on there. Looks a bit like David with the beard that one American Idol a few years back. Yup, he's in. Lorie or Jeff B have to go. It's Jeff B who only gets to sit for a few minutes.
Lillie McCloud is the act that almost everyone loves so I think we can take it that each of the four will be dreading finding out which falls at this last hurdle to make way for Lillie. It has to be Lorie, doesn't it?
Lillie is 54 and is the spitting image of Diana Ross. She must be doing tribute act work, surely. She comes on stage with the ball gown dress and sings a big number that starts with A Chair... is just a chair. I don't know the song but that's a performance we'll all remember as it simply blew every single other one out of the water!
She is obviously very much in. And Lorie is very much out. Lots of upset there. Rachel and Jeff look extremely relieved,
So that's the four Over 25s in the Live Shows. If Lillie carries on like that she could go quite a long way but I can see all four being solid and reliable.
Now it's Demi's turn with the girls. This could be very tough and I do hope she has already had a good chat with the others and basically made her mind up or it could be very confusing. Six of these girls have to go.
Bree is first. I'm Glad You Came was odd in places but she is pretty professional. Kelly doesn't think she did well. The audience didn't think much to that. Nor to Paulina agreeing with Kelly. Simon thought the voice was wrong and Demi, very smartly, recognises that Bree wouldn't stand a chance against the Overs that are selected. She could return, I think, and would be better no pleading on stage. She gets a seat. I think Demi was a bit incorrect when she said You're in my final four!
Khaya has been impressive so far. She is excellent. Far better than Bree and, of the two, she will survive for sure. At 15, great potential. Just the problem of her ability to understand just what on Earth she is singing about. Great audition. She's through, period.
Jamie Pineda ha quite a harsh spoken voice that can be tiring to listen to. Singing, she's quite sweet and she is actually right on most of the notes but it is a bit bland. As the song proceeds she does some Spanish in the hope of appealing to Paulina more. There's Ellona, though, who can also do that. Demi tells her she's in her final four, misleadingly, but Jamie gets a seat for now.
Ashly Williams looks good and auditioned brilliantly. She has the look of someone who could be a star. There's a lot of emotional stuff about her mother and you wonder about some guy in a prison somewhere watching the programme. But that's that. Back to her singing, this time she tends to rush a bit and loses some of the interpretation but then seems to lose it completely before just about bringing it back again. She's popular. She's quite good but I don't know whether she'll make it. She's really up against talent. Oh dear, Demi puts her 'in her final four' too.
That's the end of the programme and we have to wait for the next one to see who else makes it through and, of course, to learn Paulina and Simon's choices.
I like the idea of 16 making the Live Shows.
Victoria is the mother of 8, separated from her husband, who looks quite young and put across lots of excellent feeling in her last audition. She kicks off this heavy-emotion-laden programme very well. She is so expressive, although to a large extent brilliant song choice helped once again. If she isn't still on one of the 4 seats at the end then the others will have to be so good. So she'll get a seat to start with. Kelly confirms that.
This seat business, just as in the UK show, certainly makes good TV, bringing lots of emotion and audience reaction into the two hours.
Kristine is next and is someone I do not remember. She looks like Madonna. An interesting take on Britney's Oops I Did It Again. She seemed pretty professional to me but doesn't get much support from the girl judges. In a sense, Simon was right to have the three girls from the point of view of how the programme comes across but he is getting outnumbered by them and their slightly less knowledgeable view of the market and individuals' potential.
Jeffrey Gutt has one powerful voice. Cut last year, he may make it this year but I am now sure yet if he is getting all the notes he needs. Amazing Grace is one of those anthems that just work and he sure made it count so he'll get a seat in the Overs, making it three of the four already. Soon, someone has to be disappointed.
Next is Rachel, the dark-haired bar tender girl who is pretty strong and Country-wise which there could be a space for. She is sadly quite off key a little more often than we want her to be. I like her a lot but, despite all the high note efforts, she doesn't quite make it in my book. She is honest enough to admit that is was not so good when Demi said it was kinda rough. Mario gets more involved now, by the way. Rachel gets a seat as Kelly fills them all and now she'll have to start losing people.
Lorie Moore is the football girl. She has a good tone but this is not her night as her breathing lets her down and notes go as astray if not more so than Rachel's did. If she replaces on it won't be for long and I am not so sure she will anyway. Oh dear, Lorie does some high school speech thing and gets a space. Kristine is out.
Allison Davis is beautiful but got a 'No' from Simon originally. She has the look but she's doesn't go down well with the crowd. She tries the Lorie trick but it doesn't work. She was more 'modern' than the others so far but probably wouldn't have fared well.
Jeff Brinkmann is the one with the husky, Dylan-esque mixed with Michael Bolton, voice. He's in tune and sounds excellent. Not a winner but deserves a seat over Lorie and Rachel. He actually kicks Victoria out. I wouldn't have done that, says Simon to her as she leaves.
Santa is a nice chap. Denny Smith sings along with The Midnight Hour and does it pretty well but it is a karaoke performance and I don't see him surviving many of the Live Show rounds or have a real market to appeal to. Other than by being a pleasant granddad figure. Louis Walsh would have him in the Live Shows in a UK show but no, Kelly isn't going to substitute anyone for him. A good speech. They're all doing speeches now. But Santa has to go home. Simon asks if she is crazy but, this time, she's got it right. I am pretty sure that Simon is liking the way the programme is appealing to the crowd so much more than before.
James Kenney is up next, Another nice chap. He has the advantage of doing really well in his auditions and writing his own stuff too. He starts very wobbly. Lean On Me is another anthem of a song. He is all over the place but his Matt Damon looks will get him a seat for all that. He could be so much better as well so may be worth the risk. Demi says he killed it but I am not so sure I agree with her meaning. The others all seem to have totally got it so I can only imagine that they have different sound going on there. Looks a bit like David with the beard that one American Idol a few years back. Yup, he's in. Lorie or Jeff B have to go. It's Jeff B who only gets to sit for a few minutes.
Lillie McCloud is the act that almost everyone loves so I think we can take it that each of the four will be dreading finding out which falls at this last hurdle to make way for Lillie. It has to be Lorie, doesn't it?
Lillie is 54 and is the spitting image of Diana Ross. She must be doing tribute act work, surely. She comes on stage with the ball gown dress and sings a big number that starts with A Chair... is just a chair. I don't know the song but that's a performance we'll all remember as it simply blew every single other one out of the water!
She is obviously very much in. And Lorie is very much out. Lots of upset there. Rachel and Jeff look extremely relieved,
So that's the four Over 25s in the Live Shows. If Lillie carries on like that she could go quite a long way but I can see all four being solid and reliable.
Now it's Demi's turn with the girls. This could be very tough and I do hope she has already had a good chat with the others and basically made her mind up or it could be very confusing. Six of these girls have to go.
Bree is first. I'm Glad You Came was odd in places but she is pretty professional. Kelly doesn't think she did well. The audience didn't think much to that. Nor to Paulina agreeing with Kelly. Simon thought the voice was wrong and Demi, very smartly, recognises that Bree wouldn't stand a chance against the Overs that are selected. She could return, I think, and would be better no pleading on stage. She gets a seat. I think Demi was a bit incorrect when she said You're in my final four!
Khaya has been impressive so far. She is excellent. Far better than Bree and, of the two, she will survive for sure. At 15, great potential. Just the problem of her ability to understand just what on Earth she is singing about. Great audition. She's through, period.
Jamie Pineda ha quite a harsh spoken voice that can be tiring to listen to. Singing, she's quite sweet and she is actually right on most of the notes but it is a bit bland. As the song proceeds she does some Spanish in the hope of appealing to Paulina more. There's Ellona, though, who can also do that. Demi tells her she's in her final four, misleadingly, but Jamie gets a seat for now.
Ashly Williams looks good and auditioned brilliantly. She has the look of someone who could be a star. There's a lot of emotional stuff about her mother and you wonder about some guy in a prison somewhere watching the programme. But that's that. Back to her singing, this time she tends to rush a bit and loses some of the interpretation but then seems to lose it completely before just about bringing it back again. She's popular. She's quite good but I don't know whether she'll make it. She's really up against talent. Oh dear, Demi puts her 'in her final four' too.
That's the end of the programme and we have to wait for the next one to see who else makes it through and, of course, to learn Paulina and Simon's choices.
No comments:
Post a Comment