The X Factor contestants came out ready to rock at this week’s performance show.
Young Men Society kicked things off with their take on the Run DMC and Aerosmith classic “Walk This Way.” These guys have set such a high bar in previous weeks, so I felt a little let down by this. The vocals got patchy in places, which is something we haven’t seen from them before. But they always entertain, so I can forgive them a few pitch problems.
Christina Parie brought things back to the naughties with her take on “Gives You Hell.” She nailed the attitude and the vocals, but I was a bit torn on the song choice. Luke Jacobs raised my expectations when he announced the contestants would be singing “classic rock songs.” This is hardly a classic, and when you consider the history of rock music it’s a pretty dodgy choice. Perhaps such a contemporary song helped Christina relate to it, but I would have loved to see a song with a bit more cred.
Speaking of songs with cred, Andrew Wishart brought us the Cheap Trick hit “The Flame.” But this was about more than simply choosing a great song. For the first, and hopefully not the last, time in the competition I really felt it. It’s one thing for him to feel connected to a song, but it’s another very special thing for him to make us feel that connection. That was incredible.
And then we had Johnny Ruffo. In a way I felt a bit sorry for him taking the stage after Andrew. It only exposed just how lacking in emotional heart his version of “Here Without You” was. It was pitchy, but to me that lack of conviction was much more disappointing. I didn’t believe he was longing for anyone.
Three Wishez gave their best performance of the competition with Linkin Park’s “Numb.” Finally there was the unity they should have had all along. They worked as three equally important elements creating something really special tonight. More of this please.
For some strange reason Mel B decided Jacqui Newland needed to do Rihanna’s “Shut Up and Drive.” Rihanna? For rock week? Really? I suppose it was one of her rockier numbers, but when you consider everything else out there this was disappointing. Having said that, her vocals were better than we’ve seen (although still not perfect), and she also performed it better than we’ve seen. But after being in the bottom two, two weeks running, I think she really needed to knock our socks off, and I’m not sure she did that.
I was most excited to see what Reece Mastin would pull out tonight, and he didn’t disappoint me with his take on Aerosmith’s “Dream On.” He didn’t quite get the high note just right, but it didn’t matter. No guts no glory. He took on a beast, and while I’m not sure he slayed it, it still gave me shivers. He could have taken on something simpler and nailed it, but this was much more interesting. This kid’s a star.
Audio Vixen took on the Easybeats classic “Good Times.” I really enjoyed this. It didn’t have a lot of flash and frills, but it was refreshingly honest. Frankly I think the performances often get overshadowed by production on this show, so I appreciated the down and dirty rock-ness of it all. This was a whole lot of fun.
Declan Sykes stripped things back with David Bowie’s “Life on Mars.” I’m not sure whether everyone at home’s going to get it, but I loved this. However I really felt the camera work let him down. I really wanted to be closer to this, to see his face, but I felt we were kept at a distance to some degree.
Mitchell Callaway closed the show with The Choirboys “Run to Paradise.” It’s probably the best vocal performance I’ve seen from him, but part of me feels the song sort of carried him. It wasn’t bad, but also wasn’t quite the closing number I’d hoped for.
It’s easy to suggest Jacqui Newland will be in the firing line again. With two weeks in that bottom two it seems she doesn’t have the fan base, and I can’t imagine her performance tonight won her any new devotees. Who else do you think will find themselves in the bottom two?