So what did you make of last night’s X Factor – the first show of the season so far where we the audience will be voting?
Well first up I have to give some praise to stiff-as-a-board X Factor host Steve Jones, who FINALLY started to display some personality last night. Brit viewers will know that Steve can be a likable, funny presence on UK screens, but ever since he started hosting The X Factor it’s as though all vestiges of personality have been sucked out of him! Thankfully it seems that Fox took the note – and Steve was markedly looser last night – though he still has some way to go…
Meanwhile I have to be honest – pretty much every performance across the board was good, eliciting non-stop praise from the judges and making it hard for viewers at home to tell them apart. I felt a bit bombarded by last night’s episode since there were so many contestants and so much spectacle. What I needed – and wanted – was some real judgment from the ‘mentors’ which would have given the evening some much needed punctuation. But Nicole and Paula didn’t utter a single negative word all night, L.A. More >
They’re here – The X Factor USA live shows have arrived – but what did you make of all the much hyped production numbers? Any $5 million winners in the bunch?
Before I deliver my category by category thoughts here’s a few general notes:
1) Could host Steve Jones be any blander? Sure Jones looks great in a suit but I don’t think I detected anything resembling a personality during the entire length of last night’s 2 1/2 hour show. It just goes to show how valuable Ryan Seacrest is to the Idol franchise.
2) What a relief to finally hear some DIFFERENT songs on a music competition show. I’m so tired of tracks like Mack The Knife, Alone and Hallelujah being performed on Idol – so it was definitely a breath of fresh air to hear contestants taking on Britney’s Womaniser, Come On Eileen, Do You Really Want To Hurt Me and I Kissed A Girl. Sure it didn’t all work but it was good to see X Factor artists actually trying on some more contemporary songs. No Fleetwood Mac / Beatles week here!
3) I liked the Judges’ squabbling but it’s gonna get real old real fast if they don’t start criticizing More >
And the question on everyone’s lips this morning is – what the heck! Why is Simon allowed to pass through 5 acts while everyone else just gets 4…?
Of course we all know that Simon is the producer, creator and God of The X Factor, but as a judge on the show shouldn’t he be subject to the same rules as Paula, Nicole and LA?
To be fair I do understand the dilemma that Simon faced. He had by far the most competitive category, The Girls, and I think everyone felt that Melanie deserved her place in the live shows – alongside Simone, Tiah, Drew and Rachel (who I thought was heading home). But while Simon’s last minute save made for good TV – I do think it’s dangerous to bend the rules of the show at this stage and in The X Factor’s premiere US season.
I’ve been a little behind on my X Factor updates this week due to some major work deadlines (am working on multiple TV projects at the moment that I’ll be sharing with you soon!)
But even though I’m a day ‘late’ I just had to post this clip of Drew Ryniewicz and her amazing performance at the Judges House stage of the competition.
Drew has flown a little under the radar this season and is largely remembered as the 14 year old Justin Bieber fan who reworked his hit Baby in her opening audition. But this one performance has truly put her on the X Factor radar.
Roxette are a bit of a guilty pleasure for me but I have to admit I feel I’ve heard ‘It Must Have Been Love’ way too many times now! But Drew’s performance is just so good – fragile and haunted with that wonderful lilt in her voice. Some of the other contestants would have pummeled the song into submission with vocal acrobatics – but Ryniewicz’s performance was just right – still vocally impressive but also sung with real passion.
Take a look – but brace yourself for some major Simon Cowell open shirt action!
Okay everyone – it’s official! The X Factor just slammed The Voice and American Idol into the realm of second-rate talent shows.
The evidence – this week’s terrific Boot Camp episodes, which showcased a whole heap of great singing, a mini-Simon meltdown and one of the most exciting contestant reveals in a long time. If this doesn’t give the steady but slightly disappointing X Factor ratings a kick-start, I honestly don’t know what will!
Okay so Steve Jones still possesses the personality of a doorknob and the X Factor producers were on emotional manipulation overload with their backing tracks and editing (Whitney’s One Moment In Time received a well timed encore!) But I honestly think this season has such a strong batch of talent that when we get to the final 16 it’s going to be very, very hard to whittle these guys down week by week.
Next week features the famous ‘Judges Homes’ section of the contest where some of the remaining dead weight will be cut loose. But before we drop in on the Haus Of Abdul here’s eight of my favorites so far:
There were quite a few surprises on last night’s X Factor… host Steve Jones actually started to show a little personality, Paula Abdul continued to impress (she’s much more on her game here than on American Idol) and then there’s Jazzlyn, another of those auditionees who shuffle onto stage with muted personalities and then open their mouths and ‘wow’…
Jazzlyn is 16 years old… yep 16… and is absolutely terrified (which is perfectly natural and very charming). Check out her trembling hands pre-audition and her mumbled interview answers… plus Simon is pretty mean to her!
But then the music kicks in, Jazzlyn starts to sing and suddenly you can see the star power!
I loved Jazzlyn’s performance – but she absolutely has to get those nerves in check and build up some more confidence. But then that’s what The X Factor is for – taking raw talents and transforming them into ‘world stars’ as Simon says…
So what do you think? Can you see Jazzlyn making it to the live shows – or will she get eaten up by the competition?
The X Factor audition episodes are now over – nice and brief, thank you Simon – and we’ve certainly seen some pretty interesting talents over the last couple of weeks.
But it seems like Fox were saving the best for last…
Check out Tora Woloshin. She looks a bit like Lady Gaga, has her own sense of style, a lovely, sweet personality (unlike that obnoxious child rapper earlier in the episode) and plus she can sing! But most of all Tora has that mysterious ‘X factor’ that ultimately this show is meant to be all about. She absolutely tears up the stage and is the complete package… you can just see the potential in this girl.
Tora is exactly the kind of artist I love to see on shows like The X Factor and Idol – quirky, interesting and ambitious. Even the fact that she would love to own her own auto shop and build race cars is different!
I’m really hoping we get to see a lot more of Tora in the coming weeks… but what do you think? Are you a fan?
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Another great episode of The X Factor last night, which for me is already ten times more entertaining than last season’s tedious American Idol. Let’s just hope the ratings start to reflect how good the new Simon Cowell show is. Come on America – 20 million of you watched Steven Tyler stumble through 4 months of meek comments and tiresome ‘wackiness’ earlier in the year. How about a bit of love for the Factor?
Okay host Steve Jones is still not getting any better and I could have done without a few of the joke acts (especially the mother and daughter group who clearly were not quite all there) but last night’s show also gave us a few terrific acts to root for – including Josh Krajcik, who for me was one of the most wow moments of the night.
I mean seriously when greasy, disheveled Josh turned up with his kinda crazy mother (in a good way) – did anyone expect him to actually be any good?
Josh looked like he’d come off an all night bender and had had two hours of sleep and when he chose to sing the Etta James’ classic At Last, Simon’s face said exactly what we were all More >
Time to take a closer look at some of the best talents on last night’s X Factor premiere…
Being the first act on what’s probably the most hyped and anticipated TV series of the year, sure leads to a lot of expectation – but the team at Fox definitely picked the perfect choice to kick off last night’s X Factor.
Check out 13 year old Rachel Crow. She’s totally charming, has a really strong – and distinctive – voice and was a heck of a lot more real than most manufactured teen singers churned out by the likes of the Disney Channel.
Rachel took on ‘Mercy’ by Duffy and totally nailed it. I’m not a huge fan of the original song, but good on Rachel for picking an interesting choice, rather than another Mariah / Whitney / Celine ballad.
Simon’s totally right – this is exactly the kind of kid performer we should be seeing on The X Factor (and I normally loathe child singers!) And by starting the show with such a strong singer The X Factor totally placed its flag in the sand as THE show to beat!
But how will Rachel fare down the line…? Can she possibly go all the way… More >
While over here in the US we await the launch of The X Factor, over in the UK Simon Cowell‘s been super busy this week with his new game show, Red Or Black?
Touted as the most expensive game show in history, the 7 day run is costing 15 million pounds / around $24 million! Seems there’s no recession when it comes to Simon Cowell.
As you’ll see from the trailer below, Red Or Black is a game show on steroids. Aired twice a night over 7 nights, the show consists of 10 rounds, with contestants progressing to the next round if they pick the right color (duh, red or black!). The show starts at Wembley Arena with THOUSANDS of contestants who are swiftly cut down, then goes on location as the number is reduced further. A final 8 then progress to the live studio show and are whittled down to a single contestant who must then make the ultimate gamble – betting on red or black on a giant roulette wheel. If they choose correctly they’ll pocket a million pounds! In total 7 contestants over the 7 nights will stand to win a million…
