Week 5: The Top 6 revealed!

Alicia Keys showing everyone how to perform and looking wonderful. Funny but for a moment that could have been Cece, Watch the video. There is a strong resemblance and even Alicia misses a note or two in a live and unrecorded spot.

 

Vino v Diamond next.

I suppose it is possible that Diamond makes a complete mess of her song but she's been pretty lacking in nerves so far, always looking good and mostly getting the notes right. Vino is a good solid singer and I'm sure he'll be spot on and I'm also sure he'll give the better show in this sing-off. Unfortunately for him, unless the Teamsters make a few calls pretty damn quick (well, unless they did last night - I'm writing this one day late here in the UK, remember, trying hard to avoid any entertainment news sites or twitter for the last 24 hours and the next 20 minutes!) - it will be Diamond that survives.

I also think Britney probably has a clause in her contract that says she cannot possibly lose three acts in a row!

Oh dear, Diamond is terrible. Notes all over the place and not at all good. How on earth will Simon and Demi justify keeping her after that? No idea what the song was either. Some sort of pleading one. Britney messing up there.

Vino does his classic Trouble. He does this superbly. You can imagine that he knows this track like the back of his hand and that was a first class job.

LA, of course, votes for Vino.
Britney, of course, votes for Diamond.
Demi. The first who really has to choose. She chooses Diamond.
All down to Simon. He could make it go to deadlock but doesn't and chooses Diamond.

That's it. Vino has gone. Oh boy. Lucky Diamond.

Especially when they re-reun those two performances!

Finally, the Top 10:

Try and ignore the silly nonsense about changes.

1 Carly Rose
2 Tate
3 Emblem3
4 Fifth Harmony
5 Cece
6 Diamond

That seems about right.

Week 5 Results: Shock and awe? The sing-off pair...

Nice to see Josh Kracjik again. That will ahve given Vino some hope - and maybe some ideas for next week. Josh hasn't made it here across The Pond and I'm not so sure he ever will but he's a great act and I'm glad he hasn't let the makeover team near him.

OK. her are the safe ones:

Fifth Harmony! They're pleased. Good.
Cece!! Wow. I'm pleased but that is a big shock because who now makes the bottom 2??
Emblem3. Predictable and good.
Carly Rose. Of course. Thank goodness.

Last through is Tate.

So, it's Diamond v Vino. Oh boy, that's interesting.

LA will choose Vino but I have a feeling he'll be the only one as neither Britney nor Demi seem to like him. He is the one I'd say should go He's had a great run but was going to hit a barrier - whether it was Carly Rose, a group or everyone's Country nemesis, Tate - soon enough.

Week 5 Results - Lowest vote: the first to go is not who you might have expected..

I needed to watch the performances again. I'd been pretty critical of Diamond and very complimentary of Paige but now feel that maybe the voters will have liked Diamond enough to beat Paige, who sand superbly but that track was a bit less than it could have been second time around.

Vino was definitely the least impressive but I can't imagine his support dropping from that solid third position he's maintained to date.

No way are Carly Rose or Tate going home. Fifth Harmony were excellent but have they got the voting support? They've been behind Emblem3 all the way through so far.

So, whilst I'm afraid that Cece will be in the bottom 3, it could be Paige and Fifth Harmony that join her. Then it all comes down to who actually gets the least votes. I do think that Cece will go whatever the case as she'd lose to both in a sing-off too. Her only hope would be if she were up against Diamond, I suppose, with Paige coming bottom.

Having said that, Fifth Harmony definitely should not go home. I would vote for them against Cece, I'm afraid. So I guess her time has come. The big question is who else goes? One act, presumably, will have to go each week henceforth anyway and it may not be long before we have to start seriously wonder about Vino's chances, and Tate's.

The cruel cut is now. The act with the lowest number of votes is...

....Paige Thomas.

Glad I did the quick replay first. My guess is that her black lipstick and strange, unattractive make-over this week compared to the excellent work from earlier weeks won't have helped.

This is going to be much more interesting, and possibly shocking than I'd expected. Did I get a glimpse of Cece back in brunette? Too busy typing this to see.

Week 5 Review

There's eight really quite strong contestants now. Another double elimination?! Good grief! It's difficult to pick out who is going to get those all important next six places now, although I suppose the votes to date do give us an idea but I still feel anything can change.

Vino and Tate just don't look like pop stars to me, however well they sing, but they have amassed enough votes so far to maintain a top 3 position. I guess Cece has the most work to do and she must be feeling very vulnerable. It's not easy, looking at the others, to pick two acts that she'll have to see go in order to stay.

The Top 10 board gets displayed. Those fonts! Oh, so sad. Tonight we are also promised the Will.i.am and Britney premiere. That ought to be good, based on what the man's been doing lately. It's like he's found a second wind.

So here they go:

Diamond

I Want To Dance With Somebody
Great track. One of my favourites normally. Super start but, although there was some nice work on the way, this was not inspirational at all in the middle. She ended well, though, and if she'd had another five minutes she'd have won everyone over. That's not necessarily a bad sign and I can imagine her entertaining a crowd. Her votes this week? I'm unsure. Just too much keft me wishing I could dig out the original and play that again.

Vino

You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling
Wow. The big one. Good choice LA. At short notice too. Odd movements and style I find a bit off-putting and not exactly watchable. He didn't really take the song anywhere. Reggae?? What on earth was that all about? The backing was excellent and provided a great atmosphere and he also ended well. He's a good singer but not one of his best visuals.
Not sure about his No.3 position this week either,

Paige

Never Going To Give You Up
Good start. One of the best starts for a while and well done for that. This is an odd choice from a massive range of No 1s. I wondered whether she lost the words at one point but... this was an excellent performance, her voice was in the right range and she sounded very good indeed. There were some great breaks in there too and a nice original production. Perhaps she needed to get going a bit more but certainly her best performance so far, showing genuine talent there.

I get the distinct feeling that Demi isn't up to the mentor job and certainly not the song choice and promotion side. She's a pleasant enough judge but sometimes seems out of her depth and, whilst Paige got it right this time, it may not ahve been that much due to Demi.

That should ensure she stays. More pressure on Cece there then.

Fifth Harmony

I like these girls. All very emotional stuff with sad news about Ally's grandad. Quite a relief to see them get going with Stronger. Brilliant. I'm trying to figure out whether it was Camilla taking the lead this time. or was it Lauren again? I really should know, I know, but I just couldn't tell. Whatever, she was great and no faults at all as had been evident in all their previous performances. They're good and I can see them doing really well.

The judges weren't as generous as I think they could have been. As Simon said, I can see them in the charts. I really hope they stay. they ought to, not being anywhere near bottom two out of the four acts so far.

Carly Rose

An Adele song. Rolling In The Deep. I have been saying how smart Britney has been so far. Not this time, The lines were pretty meaningless during the first half, almost as if she was anxious to get all the words and notes right. It improved as she continued and this amazing girl finished in fine style, thank goodness, but I'm not so sure she'll be doing Adele too often in the competition.

She is truly talented but that's not her most memorable effort. No way can that be criticism in comparison to what I write about the others. I guess we're just expecting to be totally blown over every week now. I can't imagine this competition without her in it and hope her voters do actually vote and not assume she'll be there forever.

Tate

Somebody Like You
So what else can this big Country man do? We know he's got the support as even a pretty unimpressive performance last week got him second place. This song could work. He's talking of playing his guitar and 'having fun'. Hmm. I don't identify Tate with fun.

OK. Still big country. The best bit bit was the banjo playing by some other guy. A decent enough performance that his fans should love. So that's him safe then for another week.

Now you just know Emblem3 are going to do well so that means Cece needs to beat Diamond and Vino. Just figured that out. Pretty obvious really that she'll have one tough job. Whacking Vino doesn't sound even remotely possible so is there another possible target? Paige? She hasn't done so well in the votes so perhaps a Paige-Cece sing off is still on the cards? I hope not, as Paige would win that this time, I feel. So, unless Emblem3 make a complete cock-up it will take something quite extraordinarily good from the lovely Cece if she is to survive this week.

Cece

Here we go. There is a space for someone different. Good start, Voulez Vous Couchez Avec Moi? Mais oui! Stupid dress and set Too many other girls and not enough focus on her. She did a damn good job. LA may well have been right to say that she's going down (but not in that sense) fighting. Simon must have hurt with his Pack A Suitcase remark too.

We have to wait for Emblem3 while we get a glimpse of Scream And Shout from Will.i.am and Britney. That was odd and it seemed to just finish before it was supposed to. Lots of video clips of Britney and she was singing in a far lower register than seemed right. Will.i.am did his usual bit but I hope there's a lot more to that track than they showed us. All very odd. In fact I wonder if ITV2's transmission was cut short as it may not be available over herea nd we get a shot of the idiot Khloe chatting to Simon and LA walking back to his desk.

Emblem3

Yes! I'm A Believer! Good choice Simon. It did show how good The Monkees were in places but they brought in some of their own style and brightened up an otherwise bit meaningless and less than exciting performance. I think their fans will love that, though. And vote for it. It could have been fabulous but I don't think it really worked as well as it should.

LA was impressed and more or less offered them a deal. In reply they gave what was almost a 'winners' thank you speech'. Demi didn't like it. Britney wasn't sure either. Interesting. My guess is their fans will be voting big time.

Week 4: Cher Lloyd and Carly Rose performances

Here's Cher Lloyd's impressive performance from Week 4 Results show.


And the remarkable Carly Rose Sonenclar with Over The Rainbow. Maybe she should reprise this in the Final.


The UK programme needs this level of talent or there'll be no more exports. UnionJ are our last hope in that respect but they'll need to oust Emblem3 who are looking increasingly good and well-managed by Simon Cowell.

Week 4: Results

So which two get thrown out?

A recap reminds us how much Diamond is like Jessica, Tate and American idol's runner-up last year, Emblem3 seem solid, Arin was unnoticeable, Cece was a bit better than she seemed on the night, Fifth Dimension were a little more boring than last night, Beatrice's notes were a bit more off-key than last night, Vino was solid, Paige looked very strange and Carly was magnificent.

Nice to see Beatrice getting the Fix you last line in the intro and introducing the school kids as well. I don't normally like these stupid sing-a-long as they always seem a bit embarrassing and there's always someone who looks and sounds out of place but I have to go along with that one and loved to see some of the profits going to a good cause like that.

I suppose Cher Lloyd would have been one of their cheaper guests too. Strange that she's been the second most successful X Factor export across the Pond this year. She was actually 5th in the 2010 show!

First we get to know the first to go, the heavy emotion one. They have no chance. It's Arin. That makes sense, as he hasn't made a connection and been near bottom each week. He'll be fine. No big worries there.

Cher seemed really current and whoever put her song together and her make-over has done an excellent job. We remember the crooked smile and quirky nature but, most of all, how she out-performed Will.i.am in a duo round. There was also a second singer on stage - no idea who - that was very good and an ideal match. That as quite a production and should sell well in the teen market over there as well as here too if she ever gets the promotion. You watch that and then wonder just how Vino and Tate fit into this scene. I guess they don't. And with less division of their votes, they'll be around for a week or two yet.

So, now the difficult part. This could be interesting. It ought to be Paige v Cece with another of Demi's young adults going. Beatrice must be vulnerable too. It's Cece v Beatrice. That's fair enough too. Much as I love Cece, I might prefer to see Beatrice through. But let's see how they perform.

Cece put a really fine effort in with Because Of You which makes you wonder why she can't do that in the normal shows. So frustrating. I want to see her relaxed and enjoying performances, not fighting for survival all the time.

Beatrice looked just as tense if not more so. She sang White Flag so well despite the tears. Britney, again, doing brilliantly. There's something about this young girl. If she does go then I want her back again next year. The pressure, though, did get to her. Perhaps Cece will survive.

Demi and Britney support their own acts of course. It's down to LA and Simon. LA keeps Cece. Simon keeps Cece but with a warning. Beatrice breaks down and this is all very sad. One of the best new voices but she simply needs that bit more strength for such an emotional roller coaster of a show. To be honest, Cece must see this as her last chance too.

Last we get the rankings of this week's votes.

1 Carly Rose
2 Tate
3 Vino
4 Emblem 3
5 Diamond
6 Paige
7 Fifth Harmony
8 Cece

I really do hope Demi takes advice from Britney and Simon about song choices between now and next week. One more anthemic track with a low start that doesn't suit Cece and everyone knows by someone better and she's gone.

Week 4 Pt 1

Strange fuzzy tributes to start the programme. Better any day than a sing-a-long, however. Ah, it's something called 'Thanksgiving' across the Pond this week. Do they get two turkeys then? One now and another at Christmas?

Tate appears without a hat and looks quite different. Vino looks rough and tough, especially with a beard and moustache growing rapidly at a rate that doesn't seem to have applied to the rop half. Cece looking cool and pretty again. Paige also seems to have sacked the extreme make-over guys and was actually cute, not the hard girl image we've seen so far. One thing that struck me was that I couldn't tell which was Carly Rose and which was Beatrice! That's crazy. I can easily spot them, surely, but those shots fooled me.

We're going to get some dragged out soft and gooey bits as each act spends longer dedicating their performances to mum, dad or whoever than actually on the stage.

Tate
All good solid sruff again from the current vote leader, I'm Already There is a modern classic Country sound and he performed it pretty well. He did wobble a bit at the end which i guess we can put down to emotion but he seemed just a bit average this week, That's maybe being a bit harsh but the standards have been exceptional so far and he'll need to keep up there.

He will be there next week, though, for sure. Memories of Scotty's run on American Idol haunt me - and Tate seems to have zero competition and where he hasn't got the teen vote he may even more than make up for it with the older Country folk who haven't anyone else to vote for.

Nice fellow. Not exactly 'X Factor' though.

Diamond

She's looking much older than 13 and performs really well some choir-backed anthem. You Gave Me Strength or something like that. Lots of good efforts at notes and style. Quite a few missed but she gets a lot of appreciation from the judges. Diamond certainly made a good effort and is a delight to watch, very safe on stage. I still say that she needs a couple of years to refine and mature a bit and then she could be truly unstoppable.

She has struggled to win votes to date and is, indeed, only here now because Simon brought her back. That ought to win over some more supporters but I actually thought she was better last week so that might make her vulnerable. Difficult call. Let's see how the others do.

Emblem3

Sounds like a Taylor Swift number. Probably isn't. Tell Me What You Want To Hear or I'm Going To Give All My Secrets Away. Excellent and really quite professional performance. A bit commercial and gooey - something you can imagine 1D doing - but that will definitely gather in some more girls' votes should there be any left. A good solid job by a group I am sure we'll be hearing more about.

Arin

Long wait for this guy as we here in Brtitain get some silly ads for a store with models holding snowballs and throwing them either side of the camera which just doesn't work at all. Then Peter Andre telling us about yet another flaming series about his life and kids and girls and tans, As if that wasn't enough we get the dedication to his brother and more on the Normani front just to keep the girl fans interested. Chat about man love. Oh boy, get on with it, please.

The song's Enrique's Hero. One very cool song. Good choice. The only problem is he's not Enrique who is also still pretty young and desirable to his voters. This is virtually a copy with a bit of open mouth croak on the I but nothing like as good as the main man.  Nice job. Notes all there. Better than he's done so far. He'd fly through the UK contest with this but he needs far more, something special. The judges are fair and maybe even a bit harsh. You have to feel a bit sorry for him but, to be fair, he can't out sing several others in his on category, never mind others.

Cece

This girl needs another exceptional performance tonight as, despite her remarkable success last week, I reckon even she was a bit surprised. She is coming across on the screen so much better. Love the girl. Just hope and pray it works.

The Wind Beneath My Wings - the other one - but, oh dear Cece, this was very sad. She breaks down at the end in real-looking emotion. I am not so sure that she wasn't upset because she really did not get the notes at the start and even messed up midway too. Her strength was when she let go and she hit the high notes well. She could be brilliant but that was a deciedly poor version of that track, which is pretty tedious and very much overdone these days anyway.

If, as the judges assumed, and could well be the case as it is a very sad story, Cece simply was overwhelmed with emotion for her sister and having her family in the audience at last then perhaps the same public that put her in 5th place last week will save her again.

I have to wonder, though. As things stand, she'd be a dead cert to go tomorrow. I hate to say that but I can't imagine any of the others messing up enough to avoid her going. Especially as two go again this week. Coming 8th is her best hope but even that's a tough call.

Fifth Harmony

God gets the thanks from the girls. Camilla is missed out but seems to agree so it can't be a religious thing. I may have missed her tribute but don't think so as she is the strongest element and I tend to look out for her. Oh well. I'll check the recording again.

Lauren starts once again. And has trouble with those low notes again. Dinah second in I'll Stand By You. Solid. Normani 3rd. A bit thin. Ally 4th, Cool and engaging and you almost expect her to start dancinga round but this isn't that sort of track so she holds herself back.  Choir 5th. Dinah again. No Camilla spot? Strange. Quite a bit was wobbly from Lauren but that was a good version of quite a tedious track. They're talented and attractive. I would still put Ally and Camilla out front on the next number, or have Dinah do gospel big time with all four in the background. It's still just a little average and that song is a drag.

Will they get through? I think they've got a good teen vote going for them and may also have some older admirers now as they're so personable. I'd say yes, just.

Beatrice

This girl really does have to hit the vote market today. Chasing Cars is Britney's choice. She is so good at selecting tracks. If Beatrice does that well then it would stand out on this otherwise tedious track night.

Beautiful start and so natural. She's great. It went slightly wrong as she spotted her sisters in the audience and nearly broke but, unlike Cece, she got through with style. That wasn't quite a stand out but it would be very sad if she doesn't get the votes. I would keep her, definitely. She's up against the split support with Carly, though, and even a bit of Diamond, maybe. Perhaps she may need to sing off tomorrow, Hate to say that but unless there's a poor performance coming up that could be the way it goes. She won't be bottom, though.

Vino

Better with the white T shirt and he's ahd a shave of sorts. God Bless The USA  and let's support the soldiers and be proud to be American. All good patriotic, well, the ultimate patriotic number really. That was one smart choice for an emotional night. Both Britney and Demi seem to have changed their mind about him this week. No-one can argue with that trump card of a song, especially as he also did perform it well, which we shouldn't forget, after all!

Nice job, Vino. You're well and truly safe. Tell the union boys they can take it easy on the phone bosses for a week.

Paige

That's interesting. Another near break down but this time Paige showed that she could power herself out of trouble and use the emotion to move the song as opposed to the other way round. It wasn't good and she didn't look that good this week either. This was a Britney song but I didn't recognise it, not that that matters. The judges were pretty down on the song choice and not as 'understanding' as they had been with Cece.

Paige is very likely to be in the bottom 3 tomorrow. Last week she was excellent but still only just scraped through so that doesn't bode well for her. She wouldn't be my choice to leave but she may well have to fight again. She may also just have rescued Cece, although a Paige v Cece night again is a distinct possibility.

Carly Rose

Oh boy. Somewhere Over The Rainbow! Britney is amazing. This will put her at No. 1. Even before I hear it. Despite the Vino anthem. Despite everything. Perfect.

Now I have watched her performance. Marvellous. Absolutely marvellous. What else can I say?