X Factor Blog: Catch up before tonights results show (Chris Rene is still there)

While X Factor UK is being plagued by problems, X Factor US is just heating up. Last night we were treated to the theme of “movies” as contestants belted out a variety of numbers from a variety of different films…I have a slight problem with this as a theme, some songs fit the theme perfectly (Stacy Francis doing a song from The Bodyguard), some seemed like the judges had gone “I have this song in mind, find me a movie it was in” such as with The Stereo….HOGGGGZ (I feel compelled to mimic Paula’s farmyard cry everytime she refers to them).

I have a slight problem with the extended clip of the remaining finalists visiting their first red carpet event, the premier for Adam Sandler’s new movie Jack and Jill. All the gushing from the contestants about how good it was came off rather trite (or in the case of Drew who seemed to genuinely like it, and loves Adam Sandler…a little sad). I’m not interested in watching an extended plug for whatever Adam Sandler’s latest crapathon is thank you.

Once the performances were underway though it was down to business. Stacy Francis was up first with a song from The Bodyguard, but oddly enough, NOT I Will Always Love You which I was rather pleased about. She did Queen Of The Night and I actually enjoyed it, the judges didn’t seem overly keen. It wasn’t perfect but it was fun and she looked like she was having fun doing it(though please, give her a fringe next week…wow…what a forehead!). Marcus Canty followed with I’m Goin Down which we heard Jazzlyn Little (judges house finalist) do for her first audition. It was a far less entertaining performance than last week. It wasn’t bad, but I didn’t rate it that highly either.

Drew followed on with Fix You, a predictable song choice for her. She did it justice but i’ve never much liked the song. Paula awkwardly called her out on her dress saying she shouldn’t take fashion advice from Simon only to be told Drew designed it herself….whoops! Cue some hasty backpedalling from Paula. Nicole called her a “little slice of heaven”…her comments are weird. Simon seems to have this expression on his face every time she speaks now which says “enjoy it, you aint coming back next year”. Leroy Bell did justice to U2′s I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking for but i’m starting to realise that this is it for him, he comes out, he sings well, but….it all seems a tad same-same. He lacks the stage presence of some of the other contestants.

Lakoda Rayne are next and look better this week and are sounding good. Never heard the song before and it seemed like one of the odd song choices for the night (apparently from How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days…not that I remember it from that movie). The numerous backing singers seemed like an odd addition though. I still think that if they continue to grow they could have a huge career ahead of them. Astro put his own take on Lose Yourself from 8 Mile. I liked it, and I think he’s hugely talented but it didn’t seem like quite as polished as last weeks performance. Still, he’s in no danger of going home.

Melanie Amaro took on Man In The Mirror from This Is It (I disagree with using a song from what was effectively a concert movie for this theme). As always she sung it beautifully. I’m running out of ways to praise this girl. Paula said she could sing the phone book and it would be good and i’m inclined to agree. The Stereo….HOGGGGGZ however took a dive in my opinion. They were bottom two last week so they needed something better than their performance last night. It just didn’t come across very well at all. Though I do appreciate the work Paula puts in choreographing them. She was made to mentor the groups!

Josh Krajcik took on Joe Cocker this week and again, like Melanie, I can’t fault his voice, he has some serious talent going on there. I fully agree with Paula, it’s comforting. He seems destined for a recording contract whatever happens. Then we got Chris Rene…booooo. Still not winning me over Chris. He took one of my favourite rap songs last night and did it a terrible disservice. Please America, vote him out already!!

Last, but certainly not least, Rachel Crow took to the stage with what was for me, the standout performance of the night. I loved the last two weeks when she was doing her young, pop thing, but wow did she show another side of her last night. She took on Etta James I Would Rather Go Blind and she was incredible. It was hard to believe she is only 13. I can’t wait to see how good she is in 5 or 6 years time.

And so that was movie night on The X Factor. Bottom two for me were once again Chris Rene and The Stereo….HOGGGGZ (shut up Paula) but I think we’re now starting to see a divide between potential winners (Melanie, Rachel, Josh) and those who are good, but probably not good enough to win (Marcus, Leroy, Drew). Bring on the results!

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