Last auditions and the cuts start as the Top 40 decided.

These, they tell us, are the last auditions. Listening to the first bloke that's quite a relief. Everything about him is creepy. His eyes are terrifying and he even strokes Demi's hair which did not go down well at all. Great backing track, though.

Glamour is the name of a pleasant three-girl group that does get through with lots of applause. Another three girls make up Girls United and they go down well too. Demi says they're so pretty it's stupid.

Zac Beacon has a deep voice and is one of the rarer Country guys we've heard.

Wild Thingz are a couple of slightly crazy lads who get through. Santa Clause comes on and sings Stormy Monday Blues and does it very well. He's old but can sing and is through.

Victoria is, I guess, 40 but looks 27 and is in good shape. She seems to be a single mum with 8 kids so goodness knows what the husbands or fathers didn't like about her. She sings Because Of You. You want her to be good. The top notes are a bit tough for her but there is a rawness and real emotion in what she does which makes the rough edges fine. Nice audition. All eight run on at the end and whilst I don't usually like this arranged emotional stuff I thought the way she seemed genuinely surprised when the first one almost collided into her and handled the whole thing quite endearing. I don't expect she'll get that far but well done for what she has achieved today.

Oh dear. 10 years later? That must have been on American Idol, Ah, yes, Simon remembers. The guy was absolutely pathetic then. Kelly and the girls seem to know all the words and are up and dancing and trying to get Simon up to dance too. He does not want to and I can feel for him. What is it about this rap stuff that gets to the girls in the way it does? They even give him a yes. Simon as well. Unbelievable. I guess that he knows he can easily get rid of him at the next round anyway. And, to be fair, the guy was decent enough otherwise, unlike many we've seen.

That's that for auditions. Now for some cuts.

They're looking for 10 from each and I have to type fast as they read the names out to the crowds on the stage. This is so much better than the annoying group thing they used to do. It isn't that brilliant TV, of course, but they push on through pretty quickly and it's a good reminder of who's who as well.

The 10 Girls are: 

Khaya, Bree, Jamie P, Simone T, Rion P, Danie, Rylie, Primrose M, Ellona S, Ashly W
That must have been tough as quite a few talented girls remain.

The 10 Boys are: 

Carlito O, Chase, Timmy T, isiah, Tim Olstad, Al C, Josh L, Isaac T, Carlos G, Stone M

The 10 Groups (well 7 so we can expect some manufacturing!!):

Glamour, Good News, Yellowhouse Candy, Alex & Sierra, Roxxy Montana, Wild Thingz, Girls United,

The Over 25s

Lillie McCloud, Jeff Brinkman, Rachel Potter, Kristine Murrell, Victoria C, James Kenney, Allison Davis, Denny Smith, Lorie Moore, Jeff Gutt

As suspected, three girls are brought back and three Country guys and three young boys too to make the missing three groups.

So how are the mentors going to be split?
Kelly gets the Over 25s.
Demi gets the Girls
Paulina gets the Boys
Simon gets the Groups

Everyone seems happy. The Groups and the Girls especially so but that might just be because there are lots of girls making lots of noise in both categories!

More auditions: Long Island and Denver

Mario does the lengthy intro and we have to smile at the rather sad colour text overlays on the screen, Something from the 80s!

Melanie has a voice that simply has to be Country. She is a little older than average and you hope she'll be good. Titanium was not what we expected. Nor was the rubbish voice. Move on.

I don't expect much now from the Ukraine woman. Didn't get much other than a painful ear. Lots more I cannot be bothered to mention. Finally Emery comes along and seems pretty cool and capable. Do I hear boy band? He sings pretty well and there's something there. People will like him and he could easily get a big fan following. Seems a decent guy who could work out well with a bit of training here and there.

Next a girl who will be good. You just feel that she will be. 15 year old Khaya Cohen sings a boring song and not very well. Luckily for her, Simon says so. She has a second song. Ha! This will be better! I Put A Spell On You  is a great tune and she fares a lot better all right. I think the judges were well over the top but hopefully that'll keep the girl coming. She could be entertaining.




Hilarious bit about an anteater!

Now James Kenney. The Overs are pretty sparse this year and he would be a worthwhile addition. He looks nice and sounds pretty good too. He made it to Judges' Houses in Season 1. Summertime is another really cool classic and he can do it justice. Great appreciation from the crowd. The girls certainly love him and he'll make it through again. In fact with so few good Overs so far appearing this Season he may well be on our screens longer than just to Boot Camp and Judges' Houses.

Cue cute daughters on stage to say well done to daddy. Well, wouldn't you know - that's exactly what happened.

Isaac Tauaefa is a football player who can sort of sing. Chase Goehring is much better and writes his own tracks. Alison Davis has a very short T shirt. Iasabel Requena sounds similar. Isiaiah Allston too and he's a boy. The two girls also go through.

David Gray is a bit odd. He is all romantic and we learn eventually that he is there so he can propose to the next contestant, Lauren Waguespack. Now she can sing reasonably but doesn't get through. She does get proposed to on stage in front of x million viewers, though, which can't be bad.

Tim Oldstead isn't helped by the three girls asking dumb questions of an already nervous guy. He actually sings well and does well to get over his nerves. Good singer. Deserves a break. He's up against some very tough competition here but the publicity should help him immensely even if he doesn't get much further than Boot Camp. I am constantly surprised by Demi's professionalism as she managed to build in an apology for the dumb questions and reviewed his performance really succinctly and with great grammar and continuity. She's smart.

Wesley loves Kelly. Whether that helps his singing remains to be seen. Quite an embarrassing moment when he gets all hot and bothered but eventually he moves back to the stage and there is something about his style that is quite good. To be honest, he'd be better if he wasn't so worked up but that was a good effort. Demi is so spot-on when she calls him creepy. He had better behave less creepily next.

Celine Polenghi is confident at 16. Difficult song. she didn't perform it well but the judges clearly see something special there.

Bree Randall is cute. She is confident and has a great stage presence and attitude. A lovely looking girl who can perform. Nice.

Primrose Martin purs a lot of effort into a Jesse James number and gets another set of four yesses.

Summer Reign looks cool and sings reasonably well but has lots of stage presence and glamour that will carry her through in one way or another. There are a lot of girls doing well.

Ricky Clark Jnr does the Usher look. He is also in love with Kelly but not as creepily as the previous guy. Slightly off-key but he has a good way of performing and appeals to the crowd. Simon is right about his voice and the girls also disappoint him. Looks like he was not expecting that. Kelly did a cool job comforting and guiding him. Quite impressed with that.

Lorie Moore is a professional footballer. We've had a few people from the sports world this time. She is a good singer. Not sure she has any X factor but deserves to get through as much as many who have already.

This has been a very average set of auditions and none strike me as potential winners. We'll see some in the Live Shows and perhaps they'll spring to life or find something special between now and then. Hope so.

A strange couple. Second Hand High is a duo. The girl talks a lot. The song goes well and gets quite a few people up on their feet, including Kelly. I can see that being a hit. The duo were rubbish but they can write for sure.

This week's show ends with a clever mock-up of Kelly, Demi and even Simon performing the track.

It's Charleston and South Carolina Time

So Simon, Demi, Kelly and Paulina have another couple of gigs in search of someone to entertain us between now and Christmas.

Big, really good-looking all American boy is first up. I wonder if he's one of those 1 in 4 that believes the World was created in 7 days. Andrew Scholtz can sing in tune but he's just sort of average to listen to. Demi is spot-on in her first comments and that was brave for a 21 year old girl who must have fancied him. Simon gets him to do another number and he turns round a Good Ol' Country track and gets 4 yesses after all.

If that was set up then it was cleverly done as the guy did look temporarily at a loss when asked for a second number. That might have just been him trying to remember what he'd been told to do while the cameras weren't running just before, of course.

Blake Shankle is another hugely attractive lad but he can't sing as well as the previous guy at all and sort of mangles all the words at the end. I am sure the audience must have been signed to stay quiet as no-one made any noise at all and that can only have been in response to production team holding up 'NO NOISE' boards. He is pretty upset to get four noes,

Lucretia Harrris is dreadful. Brandy looks and sounds awful. It looks like it doesn't get any better for some time. Later, with Paulina missing through sickness, things continue.

Ellona Santiago sings Wings by Little Mix. Lots of energy and a strong, if slightly frantic, performance. She reminds me very much of Jessica Sanchez so she'll be through and may come 2nd. Ah! We learn that she's the second survivor of InTENsity to make it through - 'the one in the red jacket' that Simon had picked out in Season 1. He appeared genuinely not to remember her and I didn't either although the name did seem familiar and I must look through my reviews to see if I'll find her! You would think that that would have been prominent on the slips the judges get about the candidates.


Stone Martin is a young teen. We haven't seen many of them this year. A cute little boy that the little girls will all fall in love with. He does Little Things quite well. Cute. I think he'd be better in a year or two, though. Could be a difficult decision. No, all of them put him straight through, no messing. Great name. I feel for the poor fellow, though, as I am sure he'll be told to come back another year somewhere along the way, accompanied by tears.

Ashly Williams. Big build up. Well worth it as she performs the anthem I Will Always Love You perfectly, Not bad for a simple audition with a mic and a backing track. Very few get that track right first time from start to finish. That has to be one of the best auditions this year - and a good stand out for all three Seasons. Obviously through. Cue Hallelujah which reflects the success of Alexandra Burke on to the slightly similar-looking girl and then cue her family to run on. Bit staged but OK. This is X Factor, after all.

Hollywood, Charleston auditions produce some new favorites

Hollywood. LA. This set of auditions starts with glamour, glitz and girls that look as if they should be on TV shows.

Two sisters kick the show off. I had a feeling they were going to be not so good but I hadn't expected them to be that bad. Cats wailing. No-one applauds. They're pleasant enough girls but simply can't sing.

Josh Levi has lots of charisma and sounds great. At 14. He could be so popular - and he can certainly perform and hit the right notes. Excellent. The judges love him and we'll be seeing plenty more of this young fellow. Far better than Astro and whoever made it through as a member of InTENsity one year and then came back as a solo but whose name escapes me. Arin.



Drama Drama. Five smart-looking girls. That was not so good, though. Another group that looked good but sounded old was Forever Young. Another group actually sounded very good with an older Drifters-style lead singer but we only get the briefest glimpse. I liked them! But Simon puts them all down as old fashioned and the word gets out before the next group take the stage.

Three guys. AKNU, I think. They look old fashioned and sing Valerie which didn't seem a good start (Simon hates the song) but... can they dance! Wow. The crowd absolutely love them. They are so together - as often only brothers can be. Seriously, they are damn good. I have to agree with Simon - theirs is one of those auditions that you look forward to watching again. Carly Rose Sonenclar, Drew Ryniewicz and Janet Devlin have been some that have had a similar immediate impact. And, yes, there could be a Motown revival that guys like this might lead. Perhaps Simon will just give them an album deal and forget the competition as they're kinda out of place here.



Paulina returns for the next part of the show. They're in Charleston, I think. Seems more Country than LA! Brandie Love is the first up. She seems confident and cheery. One very noisy piano seems to drown her out and some heavy-handed Elton wannabee ruins the track completely. I _think_ she's pretty good and very watchable too (unlike many!) but the sound is not right for us TV viewers. Perhaps it's OK in the studio there as the audience and judges seem well content. I like this girl. I don't think we've had someone in this style yet. In fact, there's been no Tate at all so far or Willy or anyone vaguely Country. That will have to change, of course. Maybe we'll see them tonight.

Milly Thrasher. Great looks and voice. Nice personality from the few seconds we get to see. Timmy Thames looks cute with his long locks and bright attitude. He flies through as do a few others I can't catch the names of. This place definitely has a completely different 'look' to the LA scene.



Vincent. Long Island guy comes with some big ugly guys. He cannot sing at all. This could get nasty, If he wasn't tough on the street before then he's going to have to be when he goes back.

Carlos Guevara is cute and wears a woolly hat. He's got Turrets syndrome and that gives him a nervous thing. If he can sing he'll be through as he ticks all the sympathy boxes. He actually does really well and deserves to be through. He'll be a contender, for sure, wait and see. You read it here nearly first.



Cue lots of people organised to jump all over him after he gets 4 yesses. Come on production team - that was a little bit too manufactured!

Chloe J and CJ next. Chloe is big. Hilarious intro as we learn why the guy isn't dating the girl. I fear for this pair. Rightly so as the big one gets going. CJ's not so bad actually. I like the backing track. There's a highly cringe-worthy scene where the big one gets all over Simon. I had to look away.

Malie Delgado comes from Alaska. Nice girl. Good singer, I think. We get two seconds. She's through. Lots more through

Colton Pack is from West Virginia. I knew a girl from West Virginia and think I saw her in the clip. He'd better be good with the whole of the village watching in the wings. He sings something called Hick Town. Well, that'll be him on the show then as we've not seen any other Country singer who is also a beach lifeguard. He is fine. A bit boring but he'll be reliable and good TV.

Back to California it seems. No Simon. Danny Guymer is an old looking 15. She is very clever. House Of The Rising Sun. Excellent. Interesting girl who feels her music and is just naturally talented. And clever. Fabulous.

Jeffrey Adam Gutt is back. Simon says to Kelly that he was good and should have made the finals. The little unshaven bit looks odd, as does the massive tattoo on his arm and there is something unsettling about his look generally. In another Production Team wonder, the judges don't like the track he did and Simon is disappointed, asks if he has another track to demonstrate. So he does Creep and does it pretty well. And gets through, of course. I think we knew he was going to get through. Cue cute little boy to run on stage.

Every older male singer needs a cute little kid to run on stage.

Auditions Week 2 Pt 1

Huge crowds in Denver. Unfortunately they pick someone dreadful to start with. Simon's wearing glasses. Don't think I've seen them before. The useless girl appeared not to know who he was. I find that pretty hard to believe - probably some production team idea. Surely no-one will have queued in that massive crowd and not had some discussion or watched some stream of the show and heard about Mr Cowell. Oh well.

Another awful chap follows. No Scotty this boy. A classic Miss America next but she's no good either. More acts follow and still the awful stuff comes. By now, a lot of viewers must have turned off!

Rylie Brown is 15. You kinda know she'll be good. She forgets the words and is exceptionally nervous for a while then, much to everyone's relief, pulls it back and does well. Bags of applause and, at last, someone reasonable. She does whine a bit but is worth hearing again and we'll see how she gets on. I think most of the compliments were due to how poor all the rest had been.

Jeffrey's rugged and anyone with a Doggy Day Care business is likely to do well with Kelly. He's a mature, gruff-voiced fellow who sounds like the chap who used to have a pony tail / mullet and who's name escapes me now. That's the only trouble - he seems a little old fashioned. Great voice, though and nice personality and I can see him doing well. He also did a good Joe Cocker impression now I think of it.

Jocelyn is an annoying woman. You hope she's bad. Attitude. Yuk. Simon actually walks her off the stage which was quite a nice touch really. A bit set up, I feel, though.

Rachel Potter sounds interesting. A fabulous audition with a performance of Queen's Somebody To Love that was new and excellent. I think we will be seeing a lot more of her for quite some time. That set a standard for others to try to meet.



Next is an annoying guy Jorge Pena who wants to serenade the ladies and does get painfully over the top with his banter. To be fair he's better than the Spanish chap on Idol and the Chinese fellow who made the Live Shows last year. The audience was strangely quiet after he'd finished and that was a bit odd. He does get through but I don't see him getting far with one of the girls as a mentor. Or Simon, for that matter. He called Demi 'Woman' which got him into trouble but actually it wasn't as bad as it may sound now - one of those remarks that are almost impossible to justify afterwards but, if you were there at the time and heard it in full context, it was OK. It will probably haunt him forever, though.

Simone gets a big cheer. Must be local. Funny little thing, isn't she? says Simon to Demi as Simone gets read to start. He had previously asked her if her parents were happily married which was quite bizarre but no-one commented on that. The girl seemed a lot older than 19 and sang Mustang Sally like a 40 year old. Quite well and very confidently. Easy listening. I'd put her through but I don't see her as a star. The crowd go mad for her which is so nice to see. I'm guessing this is another day as they all say that hers was the best audition of the day. Not so sure about that.



Now, back to the abnormal. Russell is a bit weird. hey try to stop the music but it carries on and so does old Russ. It must have been pretty obvious but he takes his warbling all the way through. The judges are pretty kind. Demi thinks that Simon would sound like Russell. Kelly gets the microphone and we nearly get to hear Simon sing. He would need a massive amount of courage to go for that but the way the girls are setting him up he'd almost be better off going with it, albeit briefly!

Adverts interrupt the flow. Probably designed that way. He gets away with a warble. That will never be aired he says.

This is a long show. 90 minutes in and still going. Next up three sisters from Detroit Roxxy Montana who haven't told their parents they are here. They better have done by now because we'll be seeing more of them soon and probably live too!

A little screechy for my taste. Simon thinks Temperance (great names!) has the strongest voice and gets them to do another track. Quite impressive and a natural blend there. Simon says that, apart from the groups he's put together, they're potentially the best group there's been. Not so sure about that either. I am disappointed to see him going down the 'best there's been...' route.

Al Calderone is a cheerful boy with a hunky supportive Mr America dad who looks like he ought to be carrying a rugby ball or a baseball bat maybe. He sings Sarah Smile and does it quite well with a great smile of his own. He'll get through. Lots of charisma but I don't rate his singing that highly. He's been put right up high with all those compliments but I have a feeling there'll be tears at Bootcamp or, even more emotionally, Judges' Houses perhaps.

Denise Weeks says she sings in the suburbs. I think that should have been subways. We were all expecting her to be brilliant. She was very nervous. Simon asks her to sing without the backing track. What a difference. Hmmm. Another planned affair? Oh well. She was quite good and, of course, goes through.

Season 3 Starts! Week 1 Review Pt1

Simon Cowelland and Demi Lovato are joined by two new judges, Kelly Rowland and Paulina Rubio as we get Season 3 under way. Melanie Amaro and Tate Stevens may have had some impressive contracts as winners in Seasons 1 and 2 but we haven't seen much of either in the UK Will this be the year when USA picks someone who can break here like so many of ours have done there? Let's see.

Carlito Olivero is first on screen singing “Stay” byRihanna. The producers certainly found a confident and likeable person to start with - although how many had been on before him we'll never know.

Sally Hessnice follows. Oh dear. This is dreadful and you have to wonder what the point is in showing this. It's one of the things that does annoy me but I suppose there is a mass of viewers who even prefer the amusing bits. What worries me is the power of those viewers later when it comes to deciding who survives. But that's another matter.

As if that wasn't enough, we now get a pile of rubbish. And people wonder why the ratings weren't so good? Big mistake putting the rubbish on at such an early stage.

Lillie McCloud rescues the show with an excellent performance of“Alabaster Box” by CeCe Winans. Now that was mature and very professional. She'll be around for a while. At 54, but looking nothing like that old, and with a Diana Ross smile, hair and overall look, she could be very popular indeed. Like Simon, I had not heard that song before. Demi wants to bet all her money on that girl and wants the over 25s!

I can see her making the Live Shows all right but I'm not so sure how she'd handle the more modern stuff. Thereagain, neither Tate nor Melanie did so perhaps it doesn't matter!

Alex and Sierra do “Toxic” by Brittney Spears. They do look a bit like clean, God-fearing people who believe the Earth is flat or, at least, was actually made in seven days. Performing, though, they are really good - the girl's voice is fabulous and the guy matches her superbly. Their transformation of the song is quite remarkable and makes so much sense now. Great. It may be that that is all they can do like that but it'll be fun to find out.

Rion Paige sings the wonderful “Blown Away” by Carrie Underwood. Big build up for this quirky girl. Well deserved - she was genuinely excellent. Spot on performance and the judges were very impressed. This girl will surely be around for a long time this series.

Great first instalment. Hope they can keep that standard up.

Friday 8pm ITV2

At last! We should get a chance to catch up with the auditions for Series 3. If all goes well, we should be just a day or two behind the States once the series gets going properly.

Otherwise I shall have to watch it on-line somehow.