The Way They Were

This is how fans will prefer to remember Drew on her last X Factor USA night before being voted out by the judges.

Astro, voted out by the public, may need to work to restore his tough kid on the black image with this behind the scenes shot of a well-behaved lad called Brian in a gown getting a nice haircut doing the rounds!

Photo acknowledgments to THE X FACTOR ™ & © 2011 FremantleMedia North America, Inc. and Simco Limited. All Rights Reserved. ® and © FOX and its related entities.

Astro's Turfed Out. Paula and Nicole Finally Lose It Completely.

This is quite a big night with two acts going home. I would imagine that everyone except Melanie were feeling nervous and that showed as the did Man In The Mirror to kick off proceedings. Marcus sounded off at the start but got into the right set of notes eventually. I didn't notice Chris at all but have to say that Rachel was much better than last night. I have a feeling that several of them were thinking that perhaps they should have chosen that track themselves as their performance.

Results already... the first one through is Chris. Good Grief!! Second through is Melanie. Number three is Rachel. At this point I begin to lose all faith in the American voting public. Two of Josh, Drew, Marcus and Astro will be gone soon. If it's Marcus and Astro then I can live with that. But to dump either of Drew or Josh at this point would be painful.

My guess is that Josh really has let himself down badly with his Dirty Diana number and perhaps the voters may not have appreciated Drew's cut back Billie Jean as much as I did.

One of the remaining four could, of course, be the one who received the top number of votes so the next act saved is the all important name. We're kept waiting, though, as someone called Tiny Tempah does something after the ads.

It's Josh. Wow. That leaves us with Marcus, Astro and Drew. And Astro's the one to go. That's fine and not too worried about that at all. He'll be OK. Now, how are they going to choose between Drew and Marcus? regardless of what they sing, LA Reid will give his vote to Marcus and I'm pretty sure Paula will too. Nicole is the key to Drew's survival and I have a feeling she'll go with Marcus.. unless he cocks up his save song, that is. Of the two, Drew is the more likely to let her nerves get to her performance, Marcus is the least likely to hit the right notes.

Drew produced her most powerful and meaningful performance to date with a really heartfelt version of Listen To Your Heart. That ought to be difficult to beat and, despite a not-really-on intro designed to pull at Paula and Nicole's heartstrings, whatever Marcus does sing, possibly Either One Of Us is not something I can imagine many people rushing out to buy. Notes, as always, all over the place which some of the judges will regard as running or something but in reality just poor control. Drew's only possible hope is for a split vote and for Marcus to be the one with the lowest number of votes from the public. Will she get that, I wonder? So, Nicole? Can you forget that Marcus is a bit like your ex (or is he current again - one never can tell these days) and genuinely vote for the best singer and most likely to entertain in the future and appeal to music buyers?

Nicole goes for Marcus and both she and Paula go on about how Marcus moved them. Sure, they should both be moved off the show. So much for respecting the public vote or even the clear, very clear difference in the quality of the performances to night. Rubbish decision.

Simon is clearly, and very understandably irritated by the silly women's 'women's' reasons for not risking losing Marcus in what would have been a fairer resort to see who got the lowest votes. My guess is that they knew their favourite would be gone. As a result, the road is now almost completely clear for Melanie, her only credible, realistic artistic and talent-wise competition being Josh and I can only hope and trust that rather more than 16 million vote in future and ensure that they see off the disappointing three they're lumped with in what is unlikely to be an inspiring set of performances next week from 60% of the acts.

Even Astro would have been more entertaining than Chris and Marcus. And let us hope Rachel just sings.

If there'd been glitter, this could have been the final

 

Everybody seems to be talking a lot louder tonight. It's Michael Jackson night and, first, the intro announcement man has had his volume turned up and then Steve, too, seems to have his knob twiddled. We get to meet a few members of the Jackson family as well, including a strange attempt by Steve to have a conversation with Mrs Jackson. He has a mike, she hasn't so, unless you can lip read, that didn't exactly go down as the best tv ever.

The members that we might actually know, Janet and Germaine, were conspicuous by their absence and instead the lesser known Marlon, Tito and Jackie stood around on the stage for a while until the ads came.

Josh
First on and, oh dear, Josh had said that this might not be his week and, with Dirty Diana, we get a different view of the guy with a guitar. He survived the two or three minutes and tried. In a way it started to work but this was the type of performance you need to watch several times to really get. We could probably have done without his guitar playing, which wasn't brilliant, and just had him concentrating on doing something incredible, as he is capable of doing, instead.

The word 'uncomfortable' was used a lot in the reviews but, as Simon said so accurately, he had been over-produced and just did not come across as well. Definitely his least inspiring performance throughout the whole competition. He will need his fans to get on the phone. It's a bit late for this sort of risk.
♫8½ ☼7

Astro
He is so lucky to be here this week, as this is one of the few that could suit him. Black Or White, well the recognisable guitar riff from that track, was what we got with one of his own raps on top. The 'It's black, it's white' bit actually worked and there was quite a bit of excitement going on there too but it didn't work for me. I had expected him to stay a little closer to the Jackson groove; he was, after all wearing a jacket designed to hint at a Jackson link but that was as near as we really got. It won't have done him any harm, though, as it confirms that he is who he wants to be. He didn't try to sing and his progress on the show will now be entirely down to who watches the programme and votes for him. He'll either surge on or crash out - no middle course now. Demographics and all that.
♫7 ☼7½

Drew
How will Drew approach this? There's the gentle Ben type of approach or the tearful number, which I would be tempted to go for, or Simon could get her stripping bare one of the big pop hits like Billie Jean. Before she starts (or maybe while she was deciding which way to play it) it appears that Mrs Jackson had finally been provided with a mike and Steve finishes an earlier chat.

I like the way this girl fights with the increasingly annoying LA Reid. At that age she responds remarkably and with a flow of logic and the right words at the right time. That takes some doing.

It looks as though my guess of the stripped version of something was right: and it was, indeed, Billie Jean!! I really must get another job. She was brilliant, really good and sat throughout a heartfelt performance which worked and she sure made it her own. Finally, finally, LA likes it!!
♫9 ☼9

Rachel
This ought to be her week. How can she fail? Can You Feel It? Camera flicks to catch Michael's daughter not exactly leaping up and down with enthusiasm. In fact she was sort of smiling sympathetically and moving her head a little. Basically, Rachel was out of tune a lot of the time and this was a karaoke job at best. This could be her last week after that. It wasn't good and she didn't actually look good either. This, for the first time, demonstrates just how her youth and inexperience has let her down and, whilst in a few years' time she could come back and be great, for now she is simply not ready by any means for big success in the pop industry other than birthday and Christmas CDs for the little ones perhaps.
♫5 ☼6

Marcus
Well, if he doesn't nail it this week then he never will. Another act that really ought to fly through, especially driven by the disaster we had last week which nearly saw him off home early. So what does he bring us? Pretty Young Thing. That was unexpected. A very big production. Wrong. Didn't work. Didn't flow like every Jackson number does. You never want Jackson tracks to end. You couldn't wait for Marcus's wailing to end. At one point I even wondered whether he was really bothered about continuing and then we get to the 'nah na na nah' bit and it kinda recovers. But too late as he ends.

Hmm, another one who disappoints this week. My feeling is that he'll get respect for trying and, thank heavens, not repeating the disaster of last week. The vocals, though, were poor. Simon says this and gets both Nicole and Paula shouting at him. Bit like Marcus had been doing to us.
♫6 ☼7

Chris
Steve introduces us to Chris as the 'trash man' just before the ad break. Not the best idea, Steve, however well meant it might have been. At this rate, with Marcus, Rachel and Astro, even Josh perhaps, not exactly inspiring us tonight, he has a chance to sneak through despite all the odds and all my previous comments implying that he probably shouldn't have ever made the Top 17. So what's he going to make of this opportunity?

Uh, uh, ah, c'mon, uh. uh we hear. OK so he's doing a strange version of I'll Be There. Dressed in what I think must be baseball, nice American guy, clothes, you could imagine him in an 80s movie or in the background of High Street Musical. There's no doubt that he'll get some good pile of girl votes and that could make the difference between him and the other guys. It was a tedious track but better sung than he's managed before. The 'oh, ah, uh uh' bits and a bit of rap in there somewhere vaguely rescued this from being totally forgettable but it would be so disappointing if he were to get much further in this competition without ever having made that special impact on stage and instead surviving by being simply a decent looking bloke with a soft voice. He could beat Rachel, though and so has a chance of another week but, against any of the others for the judges' vote, can be really hope to survive? Put like that and I rather suspect he could be going after all.
♫7½ ☼7

Melanie
This is her big chance to take the lead in this competition. Her voice is damn near perfect and there are hundreds of tracks I could imagine her doing which would bring the house down and put some emotion into Michael's daughter's expression. World Song is too long, I suppose. OMG!! I got it right again!! Amazing. Pause to drop Simon a line asking for a job.. That was wonderful. A very big number and, at last, someone has really done justice to the guy. It was like watching the winner at a final. Immaculate tone and delivery with just one tiny exception - the end note. But even that was not the ghastly screech that we'd have had from Stacy. I would have ended it differently but, hey, who cares after the rest. Way, way ahead of everyone but Drew, and still beating her her too, Melanie has to be back next week and in the final four as we head for the semi final.
♫9½ ☼9½

So, Melanie, Drew, Josh and Marcus maybe through. That leaves Chris (the other maybe) and Rachel. I guess everyone in the States knows whether I'm right but tomorrow we here in The UK will find out.

Now, back to that e-mail to Simon...

The Wrong Two Go Home

Kelly Clarkson appears on stage within a record 1 minute of the show commencing. Wonderful. Not just a good new track but no long-winded intro or back stories or giving thanks. Uh oh... I spoke too soon. we then get mercifully short extracts from the night before. Plus a few performances but not a great deal in the fastest summary put together, presumably, on the morning after the night before. I can only imagine that the lower ratings they've been getting may have meant less ads so less time.

Steve does a lot with his finger. Each time the word one happens to arrive in a sentence up comes the single finger. No not the middle one. At the very start he gave a great victory sign to the camera to emphasise the fact that two acts are leaving tonight. That could have gone wrong. Then we get the finger swipe which is a slightly stiff and cardboard version of the Dermot O'Leary twist and slice we here in the UK are so familiar with that we'd probably have to check the channel if he didn't do it when introducing something.

We're Gonna Start A Fight sing the last nine. A bit odd and only Melanie and Rachel really seem to make much of an impression. That's all probably best forgotten.

Drew and Lakoda Rayne get dragged up onto the stage and one of them is the act with the lowest votes. It didn't take much guessing that Drew was safely through and it was farewell to Lakoda Rayne and Paula loses her last group. So X Factor USA will be creating a new solo star in a few weeks' time like American Idol has done and, indeed, as X Factor UK has been doing for many years.

Lakoda Rayne determinedly announce that it's not 'the end' and that they'll be carrying on together. That's good, although I am not going to predict that we'll see much of them in the UK unless Paula finds them a really good writer. There is space for a new girl band but they'll need more than covers to break through.

Bruno Mars puts on an excellent performance which Marcus would do well to try and emulate if he wishes to carry on as that's where it's at amongst the major section of the 2011-2 buying public.

Now we get to find out the second act to leave. It really should be Chris. But he's actually the next name called out so it's not him. Goodness knows how he's surviving. I suppose he is the last good looking(ish) guy left and gets the girls' vote. Rachel gets through, Josh and Melanie deservedly too. Marcus, Leroy or Astro? Which will be the bottom two? It's Leroy and Marcus as Astro is through!

It looks as though Marcus is paying the price for that really rubbish performance of Mama or whatever it was called last night. Well done, America, for getting that right. I suspect that SYCO decided to hang on to Astro after last week's farce and Leroy may well have been the lowest had he not produced a damn good vocal which appealed to just a few more than Lakoda Rayne effort.

You'd expect that the inevitable outcome would be for Leroy to bid farewell to the competition now. Marcus should be able to come out with a great track to show off what he is capable of doing while Leroy can only hope to impress with another well-sung but not terribly inspiring or different version of a ballad.

In fact Marcus does a ballad first, pretty well delivered but he looks uncomfortable and misses a lot of notes but it's an appealing track. Neglected ought to save him but let's see what Leroy pulls out of the same bag. We know he'll hit the notes but will he deliver the real pzazz that's needed? Don't Let Me Down is not easy - another McCartney track with notes in strange places that most people in this competition would never get right. Remarkably, Leroy not only does get almost all of them right but switches the impact of the song well and, to my mind, gives a far better performance than Marcus. That was good. A tough choice for the judges, for sure. They'd normally have decided straight for Marcus but I'm not so sure they will this time. the problem for Leroy is that he is almost certainly the second lowest on the phone votes and so deadlock would see him going home. So he needs three of the judges.

Obviously, he doesn't get LA Reid. LA does actually give a very sensible and logical reason too, not just 'cos he's his mentor. Nicole, again, supporting her act, backs Leroy. One all. Paula sends home Marcus! That took a lot of courage. Simon, I feel, prefers Leroy but decides to go for deadlock. Bad news for Leroy. Very unlucky.

Oh Dear, Emotional Thanksgiving Week...

I thought Thanksgiving was supposed to be a cheerful time but the images shown at the start were of really scared or sad people! What on earth was the logic behind that? As the show went on it seemed that only Brit Simon managed to stay in control of his emotions as we faced a tearful panel and some tedious back stories with only a couple of acts bringing any light relief.

Two to go tonight. So maybe that's why Leroy, Lakoda Rayne, Astro and Chris were looking worried.

All that happens before the first ad break is Steve offering to hang out with Simon for Thanksgiving. Not a good line, Steve. Stick to the autocue.

At last, the contestants get going. I can see all this 'giving thanks' business getting unbearable. This is something American TV is not good at. Far too syrupy and very old-fashioned.

Rachel

The flaming back history takes longer than the track! Eventually... she starts really well, despite wearing a carpet. Then she goes right out of tune on several bits of I Believe where the song goes out of the range she seems most comfortable in. The good bits did just outweigh the bad bits, to be fair, but, by this stage she needs to show that she can be better than this if she's going to make the big time and not just disappear from view after Christmas. My guess is that her bouncy, confident personality will go down well with voters, though, so she ought to be OK.
♫5½ ☼7½

Marcus

Another long back story. Another bad neighbourhood. C'mon. Let's get on with it. Or maybe not. This smoochy, uninspiring version of something that must be called Mama was awful and perhaps listening to his mum was preferable. The guy has talent but shouldn't do this kind of stuff. The runaway high notes just ran away clear out of the building and silly cut-aways of his mum waving at herself weren't good. The judges, especially Paula, seem to be hearing something totally different to what's coming through my speakers. LA Reid talking about him being one of the great singers is pure nonsense. Interestingly, Simon started a sentence "There were a few little..." only for the camera to switch to LA Reid and we never get to hear the rest. It was probably "... places where you missed notes and looked odd" but we'll never know. From the point of view of star quality, the ability to sell albums and fill places, I have to say that Marcus falls behind Rachel on that performance.
♫5 ☼7

Melanie

Oh heavens. Melanie is thanking God and does the church thing big time. No harm in that but it's all a bit much. I was expecting Simon to sneak in Hallelujah which I think would have worked really well. Instead he gave her I Am That Mountain which she did brilliantly. She is so good that I even liked it myself and it's not my normal type of music at all. Unfortunately we then get some ridiculous emotional outburst from Melanie about where she's come from and how this is the best moment of her life which spoiled things. As Simon said, though, (once Nicole had given her a hug, Steve having given up hope of restoring order), she was outstanding and certainly deserves to stay. She's a potential winner - the safe and older generation type of winner from what we've seen so far - but she could break out of the mould and be genuinely amazing if she dares. Now that would be nice.
♫10 ☼8

Chris


You do wonder sometimes if there are any people in the States who haven't been in rehab, or had parents in rehab, or nearly died, or lost their family. A rap version of Let It Be. Hmm. A lot of people don't realise that there is a huge difference between singing along to a Beatles track and actually hitting the right notes on your own. Lennon & McCartney were complex writers and Chris missed a lot of what they put on the sheet music. However, most of this was all good sing-a-long. But that's all. Chris needs to go home before he gets his hopes up too much. He's done better than most would have predicted to get this far. That performance was not the kind of thing that'll last in our memories long.

The judges seem to be on another planet with goofy gushing praise for everyone. Tonight's show is getting really tiresome.
♫7½ ☼6

Lakoda Rayne

At last some people who seems to come from a vaguely normal background and no soppy stories, just a Gran or two. These girls do look good and, once they get going, sound good too but there may have been too many wrong bits in You Belong With Me at the start for many voters' tastes. They're current and a breath of fresh air after all the gloom and God and mama. LA Reid was remarkably kind but Paula's way-over-the-top emotions seemed well out of place. Maybe she knows that they're next to go. I hope not but I guess they are vulnerable, being still somewhat short of that special star quality needed. Give them a few more weeks and a really good song and things might change. But will they get that chance with two acts going tomorrow?
♫7 ☼7

Leroy

With just his late mum to thank this was a bit easier to watch and he was sure treading on Josh's territory with In The Arms Of An Angel which he sang well and he I reckon he did himself a whole bundle of favours with this performance. LA Reid didn't think much of it but the others gushed and sobbed a lot. This is getting really boring. At the end of the day, Leroy is not a winner but he doesn't, on tonight's tracks, deserve to go just yet. This was way better than Chris and Marcus.
♫9½ ☼6½

Astro

Well, his back story was just last week's nonsense. Quite a relief, really. Show Me What You Got may or may not be the title of yet another track he's written during the week. How he manages that I don't know and all due respect to him for that. However, I think we've had enough now and this was a bit boring, tuneless and not really going anywhere. No real structure, just a  bit of a rant. Quite where he goes in this competition I don't know. Last week may have been a big hint that the voters aren't hip hop fans (with Chris getting the all important girlie votes that Astro can't hope to match). So his days may be numbered now on the competition - but certainly not as a future big selling artist.
♫5 ☼7½

Drew

Her three minute intro was all about some other 14 year old friend as, clearly, the family's all good. Skyscraper is a fabulous song and she delivered that so well. We saw some real strong verses there and you could just tell that she knew and felt this song from beginning to end and really did get into it. LA Reid was way out of line with his criticism of the song choice and it was most pleasing to see not only Simon getting genuinely angry but also Drew coming out with an excellent and controlled response that sounded intelligent and put her streets ahead of many of the others in term so of how to behave on stage. (Melanie take note. Drew has you beat in that respect.) Drew is a definite contender and had better be there next week or the show makes no sense.
♫9 ☼9

Josh

So, how many references to buritos will we get tonight? None. That's a change. He ends the show with a magnificent Wild Horses. I'm not sure that Jagger & Richards would not have preferred a bit more interpretation of the song as a whole, which they, and to a lesser extent Susan Boyle provided. However, this was a classy performance and Josh is someone I want to see in the final. He may find some of his support drifting to Leroy this week but, with a bit of good luck, they'll both still trounce some of the lesser contestants.
♫9 ☼7

As the night ends, once again we're left thanking our lucky stars for Drew and Lakoda Rayne saving the evening from dire mush and for Melanie and Josh for their sheer talent. I really do hope that this format and theme is binned for future years.

Rock Night? Well, they Got The Night Bit Right.

This was more like Picnic At Hanging Rock than anything approximating to Rock Night. Only Josh and Marcus seemed to stick to the schedule and only Josh with any real conviction. Marcus stared up rock chicks' pants and Stacy scared the pants off viewers with a dreadfully off-key act which must surely see Stacy not stay. Drew and Melanie did REM and U2 anthems pretty damn well and impressed us but not with their abilities to rock with Simon playing oh-so-safe tonight.

Rachel did the Stones and did a great version that was rock but was just wrong which was a shame but it probably doesn't matter as she'll get plenty of votes from all the people who don't care much about whether an artist means what they're singing. Astro really won the show and, if Drew, Josh and Melanie allow him to keep stealing the show, he may have won the $5 million. My guess is that he's won a contract already.

Leroy

He's the right age to have lived with real rock when it was taking off. We've Got Tonight did eventually get going but never really struck me as more than a smart ballad - which he is very good at doing, of course. The bit where he was supposed to let go and roar a bit more was a bit of a let down and at one point he glanced across at one of the backing musicians as if to check whether he was OK to sing the next line. It was a clean, well-tuned performance but nothing that anyone would rush out and buy and certainly not download. I have to agree with LA and Simon's comment "You can't win this competition." But he'll enjoy being part of the top ten, which ain't bad going when you think about it.
♫8 ☼4

Rachel

How on earth can a tiny 12 year old (OK, she's 14 but that doesn't really affect the image) sing I Can't Get No Satisfaction? Well, in terms of the notes and style, very well indeed - and it's not as easy as you'd think with some tricky low notes in there. She can put on a great act and, although it was a little bit lacking in the intensity that Sir Mick can still bring to it, she got our attention and is looking popular. My problem is that she isn't an adult and just cannot possibly deliver the emotion needed to make any sense of tracks like this. It's all wrong and I'd far rather go and watch Leroy singing this - but that's not saying a great deal either. This girl needs to have fun or, if it has to be a slow one, it has to be about something believable for her. For all that she'll sail through to the next round.
♫8 ☼7½

Chris

Everything's Going To Be all Right / No Woman, No Cry
Rock steady or reggae night? Must have misheard the intro. Oh well, never mind. Everything shouldn't be all right as this was pretty boring and just went on with the occasional uh, uhh which seems to be a prerequisite of stuff like this. I don't really know how he's managed to get this far. I', not sure about the Occupy Wall St T-shirt going down too well, either. After all, where does he think the $5 million's going to come from at the end of the day? It's time he went but there's another seven acts to follow and one of them might be bad enough to keep him doing the uh uhh stuff for another week. One who won't will be Astro who does all this far, far better - and with more style and originality by miles - and I don't see the voting public spending money on both for long.
♫7 ☼3

Stacy

It's all Coming Back To Me Now
Although you get the impression that she's a good singer, she hits a weird variety of notes on this number and it's actually quiet painful to listen to. She has an expression that's not pleasant on the eye either. The second baby in the screeched baby, baby bit was way, way off-key. Meatloaf would not be a happy man listening to that. In fact, she may well have blown her chances of getting any further.
♫3 ☼4½

Melanie

Everybody Hurts
I was worried for a moment when Simon announced that he had a very personal relationship with Melanie having been inside her home, the last word coming as some relief. This fabulous track is no rock track and Simon is certainly being very cheeky putting this on this week but (a) it's a sure-fire vote winner and (b) Melanie created real atmosphere around the words, heading even towards jazz at one point and out-gospeling Stacy briefly too. The ending wasn't good. It just stopped, neither at one point or another. In a way, because the REM track is just so wonderful and meaningful, comparisons are seldom likely to be good. and that says a lot - it has to be someone with a special talent that can take a track like theirs and make it truly great. We've seen people in the past who can do that on American Idol and X Factor UK in past years. So I was disappointed that Melanie didn't take the opportunity Simon had given her to join that small club. No problem staying another week, though.
♫8½ ☼7½

Josh

What Did I Say
The Foo Fighters number worked well for him. At last - a real rock song on Rock Night! It may not have been anywhere near my favourite rock tracks of the century but he was good. Not fantastic, but good, and will be safely through to a round where we can see him seek another special and memorable performance to match some of his better ones to date. For all that he's a potential winner.
♫8 ☼8

Astro

Every Step I Take (or whatever)
To the sound of The Police's classic backing he raps away on top and it actually works pretty well. In fact, it worked tremendously well. Well done to the little kid, showing Rachel how it should be done. LA has also managed to age him several years which can only do him a lot of good. Smart kid, smart choice. Another definite contender now but a star, come what may. I don't recall saying that in any previous competition.
♫9 ☼10

Lakoda Rayne


You Can Go Your Own Way
I didn't recognise the start of this at all and was worrying that there could be a third group going home but it did eventually turn into the highly recognisable Fleetwood Mac track. The four girls - and we got a chance to get to know a bit more about them for the first time too - looked good and sounded together and, at last, looked as though they were enjoying themselves. It wasn't great and we're still waiting for that special performance from them but, with a bit of luck (and there are several far less deserving acts to get rid of before them) they'll get another chance next week. Each has quite a sparkling personality and great natural looks and you get the feeling that each of them is itching to give it all but they hold backin order to stick to the group rules laid down. Set them free and I reckon they'll surprise us all.
♫7½ ☼7


Drew


With Or Without You
I'm really hoping for something special from Drew. It's been a pretty average night with only Astro setting the place alight so far. U2 were a rock band, for sure, although this was more of an anthem but I loved her interpretation of it. She was gentle and remained in her style all the way through. To be absolutely honest I was hoping she'd erupt and really break out at the end and show how she can be exciting and run with the tune too and make it go where it wants too instead of controlling it so much. But that was good, not inspiringly good, but good enough all the same. She'll be back.
♫8 ☼8½

Marcus

Take Another piece Of My Heart
So Marcus gets to close the show. Janis Joplin still does this like no-one else can but, in a set dressed as hell and some slinky dancers to distract him and us, Marcus put on a good show. He looked comfortable on a big stage and can easily handle that part of being a star. The voice was in tune and he did well. I just didn't believe a word of it - all just show. However, that's the business he's in and it's probably not fair to knock him for doing as he's told. The amusing thing was that, as LA described him - a PK (preacher's kid) - things like scantily clad girls don't seem to be something he was that keen on his parents watching him perform with. So when the show had him starting off by sliding on his back through the open legs of about a dozen girls wearing tiny shorts on a black set lit solely by flames you tended to forget whatever he was singing and wonder what he saw and what his parents thought of it! He'll be around for a while yet and this may just be one of those performances we don't bother about too much.
♫8 ☼8

Live Show Week 1 - Josh and Drew shine and five go home

This is where the show really takes off. People singing live and, tonight, five will be going home as LA Reid, Paula and Nicole and Simon choose their top three in each category.

Wooden Steve dons a shiny suit and looks uncomfortable on the stage. He should have brought a truck door to lean out of. Talking at what seemed about one word a minute you wondered whether he 'd get through the introduction before the first ad break. Pepsi wouldn't have been too concerned as he tells us that, as well as the $5 million, the winner will be a 'Pepsi Doll' too.

British audiences may applaud a song at the start when they recognise it as one of their favourites. They also seem to have developed the annoying habit of cheering and clapping when someone reaches a predicted high note or big point in song. What they won't do, but what happened twice tonight, is cheer and scream and clap during the gaps in a quiet, emotional number. SYCO should fine them and offer behaviour training to all those offending in that audience or, preferably kick them out or wrap up their mouths with bandages if they can't shut up otherwise.

We kick off with the boys. Nice change not to start off with Rachel.

Astro or Brian
You can make up your own words with Brian's rap and in this case it was an X factor ad which was fair enough I suppose. He didn't need to sing and was pretty credible and a good opening performance. You do have to wonder what else he can do and roll on Country & Western week as I can't wait to see what he does with Jim Reeves and Old Tige or a duet with Scotty would be fun to watch. He'll get through although, as I've said before, LA Reid should just give him a deal and give someone else a chance in this category.

Chris
He sounded and looked really quite weak in comparison. It's pretty clear to me that he's on his way out fairly early in this competition. A totally forgettable track and peformance.

Phillip
I'm A Believer??! Well, Neil Diamond will appreciate the surprise cheque in the post. This is a handsome junior Brat Pack fellow and that weird song choice took him into a different zone. It didn't work, despite the pretty girls and clever staging. He was looking and sounding good, for sure, and that should see him through.

Marcus
Certainly No Boy George this guy so doing a Culture Club number stretched the imagination a little. LA's been making some strange song choices. Marcus is a great performer, though, who should be safely through this week. He may have been wobblier than I've seen him before and nothing like as confident or competent as in the auditions. Another one out of his zone.

LA decides...
...and, sure enough, Chris goes... Oh. No he doesn't! He chooses Phillip. Good grief. He must know something about Chris that we don't.

The Groups

Stereo Hoggz
Try A Little What? tenderness? Eh? Didn't sound particularly tender to me, more like attack and shout. Putting the lyrics to one side, however, the group has an excellent lead and tight backing group. Nice, solid production should see them safely through.

The Brewer Boys
I was expecting George Michael to come out of the wings and help them with Faith. He'd like these two. I didn't. Before, they've been amazing through audtions and Judges' Homes but they could have lost it here. I feel they could still be worth a chance but much depends on what Lakoda Rayne do as you can be sure that InTENsity will be through without even seeing them. With 10 mums lurking in the background or, worse, in the audience within striking range of the judges, Paula wouldn't dare risk their fury.

InTENsity
What an inspired choice! The Clapping Song mixed with the great, and still fresh-sounding, Footloose worked excellently for them and whilst one or two sounded pretty wobbly, the girl in the red jacket took control and they finished up doing a fun and young performance which the audience loved. The annoying one also stayed out of camera sight too. Nicole called them her 'little pumpkins' which must have worried some of The Ten Mothers with Hallowe'en imminent. Astro must be relieved he didn't get the same treatment from LA Reid.

Lakoda Rayne
Wooden Steve reads from the autocue to tell us guys that we're gonna want to date them. Well we not might be able to afford to if they don't get through but I can't see us loggin on to Americanbabes dot com just yet as they perform C'mon Eileen as I've never heard it performed before. They were really very good indeed, all four excellent singers and a couple probably deserved places in the solo section anyway. Steve adds what I suspect is going to be a bookful of classic stupid comments by saying 'Thank you guys' as they go off.

Paula's decision...
...Yup, Brewer Boys go. Steve blunders into Paula's kind words to them and you begin to think that soemone needs to tell him to go too.

The Over 30s

Dexter
I Kissed A Girl?? Oh Lord, what a silly song for him. I think he was supposed to sing She Kissed A Girl but either way it would have been wrong. He's a really likeable fellow and suited his Jimi Hendrix jacket well. Yeah, let's all yell, whatever happens. Bye Bye Dexter. You've got further than you could ever have imagined.

Leroy
Good, almost note perfect and gravelly performance in a serious, calm Joe Cocker style without the arm waving. Nobody Knows. And that's true - how can he compete with all the kids dotted around the place and you do wonder whether he can really sell many records. He's safe tonight, though.

Stacy
Here was the most professional performance and she sounded and looked as if she were entirely at home on the stage. The make-up department have done a super job and this girl will be around for many weeks yet.

Josh



Wow. Forever Young. This was one cool performance - he took a big risk with virtually no accompaniment but gained everyone's admiration for one of the three stand-out acts of the evening. The audience were just so annoying with some idiots shouting out each time he paused. How on earth can you deliver anything with emotion if each time you go quiet stupid people scream. Ruined the chances of getting a good YouTube video too.

Nicole decides...
...no need to think about this one. Dexter goes. "How do you feel?" he's asked. "Confused." replies the poor bloke, quite honestly. "What's confusing you?" asks wooden Steve. Someone take him away, please. He did, however, restore a little of our respect by asking someone to look after Dexter. That was a nice unscripted touch.

Girls
Simone

Just look at the way this girl looks at Simon. Come on - how could he have resisted bringing her along? Her legs are so ridiculously long... oh, she's started singing. I'd better pay attention. Just Be Good To Me suited her and she made a valiant attempt to justify her place and was modern and certainly had appeal. She remained a bit average, though, and wouldn't last that long against such amazing competition. She'll have a tough job surviving, though, with two to go this week.

Rachel
Looking like an upside-down tartan mop you do have to wonder who made her up. Maybe Simon did. Baby Where Did Our Love Go? she sings. Little girl, you're way too young for it to have arrived. And she does seem so much like a little kid. There are younger people in inTENsity and little Brian might have sat behind her in class for all I know but, seriously, they are performing to compete with adult X Factor contestants now but she sounds and acts like someone who should be in a different show altogether. Tonight she was off key and I feel she may struggle to keep up.

Drew

What A Feeling. What a great and inspired version. Well done, Simon. This was an amazing and gently very powerful rendition of the Irene Cara number. Yes, we did wonder whether she might suddenly break into the fast version and even maybe dance and surprise everyone but she didn't and that's fine. For me, she and Josh are the ones to beat. Someone needs to control the idiots in the audience though.

Tiah
A strange, slow, too slow and Hallowe'en themed Sweet Dreams Are Made Of This which I'm not sure Annie Lennox would have recognised. She was behind the beat most of the way but came alive and caught up near the end. Not a brilliant performance. She ought to go.

Melanie
Simon can hardly send her home again! Luckily he won't need to think long about it as her fabulous control and sound tone presented I Don't Want To Hurt Anymore very well. She's got bags of natural talent and I'd love to see her in future weeks as she could have a lot more to show and will do well.

I'd send Rachel and Tiah home but suspect it'll be Tiah and Simone, with Simon, unusually and somewhat out of character, nodding towards his colleagues' views.

Simon decides...
...precisely that. Tiah isn't very surprised. the camera catches that amazingly powerful look that Simone gives Simon, though, and you really do have to wonder whether there isn't something going on there. Either that or she is one great actress. Intriguingly, and a touch opportunistically, Simone plugs her soon-to-be-released track. Its title? He Likes Little Boys. Hmmm. Why do I think she knew she was going tonight?

And so now we have the Top 12 for next week and, at last, you the American public can have your say from here on.