X Factor (UK) 2016

didn't realise that Honey G has been doing this for years: http://jamsphere.com/reviews/honey-g-proves-to-have-surpassed-the-concept-of-gender-as-a-styling-to-influence-an-album

FFS what a shitshow - victormeldrew.gif doesn't even begin to cover it.

Absolutely gutted.

Four of Diamonds are so dull. They look like a group of shop assistants who've been forced to sing at the end of a long day's work.

Who on earth is voting for SLavery? What a dreadful voice she has.

I feel really sad about Relley leaving tonight. I liked her from her audition in 2013 and was really pleased to see return this year. I know they barely gave her any airtime before the live shows but she did Shackles on week one I thought she was going to go far. That was my favourite performance this year by a long way. When she did Ain't No Sunshine last week and was dressed up like she was 40 I knew how disposable the producers thought she was. She was high in all the polls and seemed to have a good following. It's weird that they have spent the last two weeks trying to make Gifty seem way more likeable when Relley came across as really down to earth and was well liked within the show (Rylan said how incredibly nice she was on Xtra Factor tonight). I think if she'd had a more up to date song she could built on that underdog narrative. On Xtra Factor they were saying how she wouldn't be going back to that cleaning job, but realistically how well is someone who came 10th on series that no-one really cares about going to do in the music industry? My heart sank a little bit.

Anyway, I don't mind Saara and I still think there's something about Gifty but it's back to my usual feeling of wanting the rubbish people to leave as apposed to actually supporting anyone. It was nice to have someone I was rooting for, for a few weeks there. It takes me back to the Cher Lloyd/Little Mix eras when the show was really worth watching.

Fright Night (chosen by the *completely random* jukebox oh it it Halloween on Monday WHAT A COINCIDENCE) - horrifying or nauseating?

Saara is my favourite now i think

I've only been watching this year's series intermittently, so I don't know if this has been much discussed on the show, but I only found out recently that Saara has twice competed to represent Finland at Eurovision, appearing on the Finnish equivalent of A Song For Europe ("Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu") and finishing second both times

2011 entry, "Blessed with Love": https://youtu.be/Ym4DA4CFKkw

2016 entry, "No Fear": https://youtu.be/-nva8C2yVRk

Saara was the only one that stood out tonight in anyway. Judging by how it's gone for my previous favourites (Sada Vidoo and Relley C) she'll be out tomorrow.

Emily and Matt are clearly being pushed for the final two which would be a final as thrilling as Sam Bailey vs Nicholas McDonald.

Gifty has been such a disappointment. I thought she had something about her in the audition stages but her performances have all been really weak on the live shows. To be fair, she has had appalling song choices.

5 After Midnight really are such a disaster. The contrast been their vocals when they sing individually and when they sing together on the chorus (with help from the same backing vocals that helped One Direction every week) are extremely noticeable.

Struggling to remember much about any of the others.

1) Gifty Louise - it's Week 4, she really needs to start pulling ahead of the pack and that performance didn't really do that. The potential's there but it's not being realised. The usual reason with XF contestants is the song choices, but not this time. I can't put my finger on what's missing though.
2) Matt Terry – an unsecured hollering mess with none of the menace of either the Screamin' Jay Hawkins or Nina Simone versions. He reminds me of Danyl Johnson without the ego.
3) 5 After Midnight – so “putting your own twist” on this song means trying to sound like Michael Jackson over a backing track that tries to sound as much like the original record as possible? After their performance Dermot referred to them as '5 After 11' because LOL clocks going back tonight. So much shitty filler and joeks from him tonight.
4) Honey G – 'Men In Black'. OK this really has to end now. She's like the Go Compare opera singer.
5) Ryan Lawrie – he's singing in a completely different voice, trying to sound like the original record. Also they've styled him very differently this week. They did that with Aiden in 2010 and he was voted off that week.
6) Sam Lavery - an out of tune / out of time mess.
7) Saara Aalto – 'wacky foreigner' schtick still in the VT. Everyone's really straight in Finland? Uh-huh. WE KNOW TUOMAS.
8) Four Of Diamonds - VT tries to do a crash job of making them relatable by featuring their mothers. The first half of the song was a bit ropey but the second half was good if a bit impersonal.
9) Emily Middlemas - the beginning was good but it didn't really go anywhere. There was a bit where I thought it would kick up into high gear but it didn't.
I've got no idea who might be in the bottom three tonight, although I'd like it to be Honey G, Slavery, and Ryan.

Haha, is Ryan going to be saved from that bottom two every week until the final? Amazing. Wonder how long they'll keep that flash vote going for?

Ridiculous result. Gifty has been a massive let down but she was still so far ahead of most of the others. Her reaction was quite something. I've never seen anyone look so angry on the show before. She's going to slagging off the show before the end of the next week.

She was quite calm on "Good Morning Britain" just now.

just caught up myself and bloody hell that was uncomfortable viewing.

(the X Factor results show, I mean)

The look of rage was something, but she seemed to pull it back together for the Xtra Factor - thanking Simon, praising Four of Diamonds.

(fwiw, it's a shame she went - at the very very least she should have had a couple more weeks while we got shot of Honey G and Ryan - but despite her talents something wasn't quite working,)

It's weird that Nicole and Sharon didn't really give reasons why they were sending Gifty home. They usually do that. Maybe they couldn't be bothered trying to hide that they were following orders from producers.

My favourite moment of the night was Ryan's embarrassed facial expression as he got through. I'm not convinced he even wants to be there anymore. He clearly hated every second of the Backstreet Boys performance on Saturday. The week before he was all, "I want to just go out there and be myself. Just me and my guitar". I'm actually starting to feel sorry for him despite him being one of the worst contestants to ever make the live shows.

The first time Ryan was saved by the app vote his expression was "WTF? really?", now it's a more resigned "whelp, GBP are stupid".

I haven't really been paying attention properly but have we established whether Honey G is

a)someone who is genuinely into hip-hop but who seems a bit incongruous
b)a comedy routine that isn't actually funny
c)someone who is genuinely into hip-hop who appears to have been directed down a novelty route?

Not overly surprising to me that Gifty was in the bottom 2 when she was made to sing Fifth Harmony rarities every second week, but eliminating her when the other option was to keep Four of Diamonds seems especially dimwitted.

I don't think Ryan will go home until he's been in a sing off with his girlfriend sadly

was to *bin Four of Diamonds I should say

Keeping Four of Diamonds in over Relley C and Gifty was such a strange move. From the judges reactions to their live performances, it didn't make any sense that they would send either of them home, especially Nicole. I know the judges probably have no say in who they have to vote off but they did a really bad job of trying to hide it this year. Four of Diamonds knew they shouldn't have got through, as did everyone else.

They have obviously had been hoping that Ryan would be out the last couple of weeks. I bet they're desperate to get rid of that flash vote. They did something similar in 2013 when they got rid of the bottom three after a few weeks when things weren't going their way. I don't think they could get away with doing it this year.

Ugh not Saara performing in yellowface the week I decide to become invested in her!

Sam was really horrendous tonight, surely she's out this week

A really poor week all round, imo, I didn't take even fleeting enjoyment from any of them. Sam in particular, yeah, that was hideous.

1) Matt Terry – with the styling and song choices it's like they're methodically going through all the possible solo male singer readymades. This week was George Michael. A reasonable version of 'I'm Your Man' but something was missing. He sang and danced but didn't seem invested in the song, like he'd been told to sing that song but didn't really care for it personally.
2) Sam Lavery – nice to see Rebecca Fergusson in the VT. Sam's performance was a plodding trudge compared to the original (by The Pretenders not Girls Aloud which was a cover). Also her voice seemed to go to shit during the second verse.
3) Honey G - it's an insult that the first 'rap' act on XF (aside from the singers who have incorporated rap into their performances like Misha B and Cher Lloyd) is someone doing this as a comedy act.
4) Ryan Lawrie - the 'poor me' VT does him no favours. If this is “leaving everything on that stage” then he didn't have much to start with. He did try to engage with the audience a bit more this week, although it took the shape of slapping the hands of the front row of the audience in a totally spontaneous choreographed way. Every week he just looks more awkward and more like he wished he wasn't there.
5) Four of Diamonds - harmonies were better this week. They sound about as interesting as The Corrs though.
6) Saara Aalto - Toyah Wilcox meet Bjork with some yellowface thrown in. The arrangement and backing track didn't give her anything to push against and didn't back her up. At times it sounded like Saara's voice by itself in a giant aircraft hanger that she couldn't quite fill.
7) Emily Middlemas - the staging was a bit modern Eurovision, I was reminded of the Swedish guy who performed with the stick figures.
8) 5 After Midnight - nice to see them take a bit more control over their song choice. The arrangement was pretty good and their singing was much better this week. Best performance of the night for me, which really surprised me as I thought they'd been a bit crap the past two weeks.

More than ever, song choice seems to be the make-or-break decision that determines who gets voted off. It wasn't like that in previous years - bad song choices didn't used to get an act in the bottom two if they could 'make it their own' (groan).

Matt Terry - Totally agree that something was missing. It's such a catchy and upbeat performance but he managed to make it all seem so bland and lifeless. Marcus Collins did the exact same performance of this in 2011. He was a much better performer than Matt. Matt actually gives me Eoghan Quigg vibes, even down to the annoying faces he pulls when he's getting praise.

Sam Lavery - I kind of love how rubbish she is. They just don't pick up on it despite weeks of terrible vocals. Who is voting for her?

Honey G - I can honestly see her in the final now.

Ryan Lawrie - I was laughing at them forcing Ryan to read his bad Twitter comments in front of the camera. I remember when they did that to Jessy from Little Mix. She sat their crying as she read about people were calling her ugly. These producers are ruthless! His performance was a slightly better attempt at covering up how much he hated it than last week. I kind of want him in the final as the producers are doing everything they can to get rid of him. It's coming close to Christopher Maloney levels.

Four of Diamonds - They have zero chemistry or stage presence. I'm still holding it against them that Relley C was kicked out.

Saara - Yeah, this wasn't as good as it should have been. It's a classic song but not one that would show her vocals off. She'll be in the bottom three tonight. She'll probably be kicked out over Four of Diamonds as that seems to happen to anyone I'm slightly invested in.

Emily - Last week was the sign that she is now the favourite with producers. Diana Vickers, Janet Devlin and Abi Alton didn't get there, I think Emily will. It's a shame that every performance is exactly the same.

5 After Midnight - They seem to be back in favour after the last two weeks. I'm still so amused at how different their voices sound when they sing individually and when they sing together. At least three of those guys cannot sing in tune. They are getting One Direction/Stereo Kicks levels of help in the chorus.

This series is really starting to drag. 2013 will always be the weakest year but this is coming close.

Four of Diamonds, in addition to having virtually no stage presence, have the same problem I have with Little Mix - their individual voices all sound very similar. 5 After Midnight at least sound like three different people when they sing individually.
Bottom three prediction: Four of Diamonds, Saara, Ryan (who gets saved by the app vote again). I would lean more towards FoD being voted off rather than Saara. She was a bit shit this week, but the group have never really got going apart from a brief bit of 'Lady Marmalade', which was weeks ago.
I just re-read the 2013 thread and couldn't really remember much about that series apart from 'arsey' (Rough Copy). They're still going, but their current website is a link to iTunes overlaid on top of their old website.
Final three prediction: Matt, Slavery, Honey G. Ryan will place 4th. I can see him continuing to get saved by the app vote unless the producers find an excuse to can it.

I really don't know who they would save out of Saara and 4 of Diamonds. I think they're probably both seen as being totally disposable.

I think they'll take away the app vote before Ryan gets that far. He'll probably do as well as Lloyd Daniels and Sam Callahan. That's the level he's at.

2013 is the year they really tried to make Tamera happen. She was decent but they kept giving her dreary ballads and she forgot her words a number of times. Sam Bailey, Nicholas McDonald and Luke Friend is probably the worst final they've had since the first season. The only reason I'd put that first season about 2013 is because it had Rowetta on it. Haha, Arsey anthems will always be funny as will, "If you believe in God make some noise" as they got voted off.

I think the final three will be Matt, Emily and Honey G. 5 After Midnight will probably just miss out. I think they were aiming to dampen Matt's support last night putting him on first with that song choice.

OK I think it's going to break down like this:
7th - either Saara or Ryan
6th - whoever is left out of Saara or Ryan
5th - 5 After Midnight
4th - either Slavery or Emily
3rd - Honey G
2nd - whoever is left out of Slavery or Emily
1st - Matt

Song choice really a big decider this year. Matt is less affected by it because he can turn his hand to a wider range of styles, Honey G because her act is beyond the usual 'you sang/didn't sing that song with the requisite amount of emotion/soul/funk/whatever'. One more bad song choice will see Saara go. Ryan's run out of steam, such that he really had any in the first place. 5 After Midnight are really hit or miss - there are flashes of brilliance amongst the mundanity when they apply themselves like an actual band, although maybe with FoD gone Louis will meddle too much and they'll lose that. I feel that the same people are voting for Slavery and Emily, so the vote is split between them. Once one of them has gone, the other will get 2nd place. I don't think the app vote is going to provide any more upsets (Ryan would have been out in week 2 or 3 if it hadn't been there) and it's last function might be to help decide if it's Slavery or Emily who gets into the final.

I'd say 5am will outlast slavery - I'm guessing there's a north eastern power base for her, but that can only do so much – and maybe they'll nip ahead of Honey G too, but otherwise that seems about right.

Emily might fall back into the pack with DISCO next week, but the syco-powers seem to want her for the final.

There are plenty of disco songs that would suit Emily's voice - 'Love Don't Live Here Anymore' springs to mind. It's 5 After Midnight that might come unstuck. Their performance this week was the best out of the eight remaining acts and also their personal best of the series. But if Louis meddles and tries to make them into the Bee Gees they'll fall flat.
I've got this funny feeling that Saara's going to go full-on 'I am genius' and have a crack at 'I Will Survive', which will be a mess. The problem is that although she has a good voice, she doesn't have a clear musical vision, it's mainly centred on wanting people to like her. Misha and Cher didn't care whether or not people liked them and consequently were free to make the right choices that suited them and showcased their talents in the best light.

I'd say 5am will outlast slavery

If they can make it through the bramble patch that is Disco Week and put in an outstanding performance the week after that, then I agree. But if the theme for the week after next is 'Louis Loves' then they're scuppered because Louis' song choice will be head-down-the-toilet terrible. Remember this is the judge who kept getting Wanger to do joke songs week after week.

I'm predicting things to go slightly differently.

7. Ryan
6. Saara
5. Slavery
4. 5 After Midnight
3. Honey G
2. Matt
1. Emily

The only order I'm really not sure about is Honey G and 5 After Midnight. I'm not sure who the producers will more invested in getting into the final.

I don't think the producers care either way. Whichever of the two gets through to the final 3, they're disposable as the final is Matt vs Emily. 5 After Midnight have only been together six months and they're a long way from being JLS or even the next Wand. If they don't screw up the next few live shows, Syco might hole them up in a rehearsal studio for a year to develop them a bit. Honey G is in an even more precarious position - she's not the next Keith Lemon and even if she was that's not Syco's area anyway.
I would place Emily 2nd because she's not as interesting as Vickers and also that Dido-esque style of singer isn't as popular as it was when Vickers was on XF. Matt's more contemporary - he's in the same slightly retro pop area that Olly Murs and Bruno Mars occupy, so kickstarting his chart career is going to be quicker.

Saara's not doing 'I Will Survive', but without spoiling anything, someone else is. Also Ryan's song choice is just laughable. Honey G: with this song maybe maybe this is the week that people say "OK joke's over this shit isn't funny anymore".

She's doing Yoko's "Walking on Thin Ice"

If we're going to limit Honey G to singers and rappers wearing sunglasses, then surely she needs to cover this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsE6ZD9c_zE

(better quality)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clg9AziTfI4

Or maybe the intro music to the 1984 series of The Lenny Henry Show. At least then Louis can legitimately say "you remind me of a young Lenny Henry".

'Stay into the black, stay out of the red, nuthin in this game for two in a bed'

Oh, hang on...

Saara was the best by a mile this week. Shame that she was on first and her VT was yet more of the depressing, let's laugh at the foreigner narrative.

How is Sam still there? It's amusing that they put the bottom three on from last week first. I guess we know who the targets are. I think Sam will be in trouble tomorrow.

They got rid of the flash vote this week. Bye Ryan. Still no sign of his beloved acoustic guitar.

5 After Midnight continue to be carried by their backing vocals. Sounded like another arsey anthem to me.

Matt Terry seems to get a little more bland each week. He just has nothing interesting about him as a performer or as a human being. All he has is those high notes which are not as impressive as he thinks.

Emily doing Wishing On A Star was one of the worst performances of the season so far. It was completely flat and really exposed how thin her voice was. To give her credit, I loved that she dropped Simon in it at the end saying she was bored of standing still singing ballads. Louis telling Simon that he was playing safe was a weird moment where he gets something right.

Honey G seems to get the last spot on the show every single week. I could really see her winning this now.

They did disco week on the 2013 series. They didn't have Sister Sledge but they did have Chic opening the show. Some of the song choices that week..

Sam Bailey - No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)
Luke Friend - Play That Funky Music
Tamera Foster - Wishing On A Star
Abi Alton - I Will Survive
Rough Copy - September

They're really not trying at all this series are they? I wonder if they used exactly the same staging and outfits too.

I just watched Luke's performance of 'Play That Funky Music' and it was 'better' in the sense that you could hear his voice compared to Ryan's attempt last night. Although I think this was also the week that they tried to make look 'sexy' and only succeeded in making him look like a sleazy leering creep. But at least there's the possibility that the costume department kept those gold boots, so maybe Honey G could wear them.

1) Saara Aalto – Sharon's whole “towns vote for people” idea was totally bogus and desparate. A bit of an anonymous performance that just avoided being shouty.
2) Sam Lavery – passable as a mid 2010s cover. She didn't sound convinced though.
3) Ryan Lawrie – he sounds like a slightly off par Olly Murs. The backing singers were doing a lot of the heavy lifting during the choruses. Although it's a sign of how bad Ryan has been that that was probably his best performance of the series so far.
4) 5 After Midnight – they seemed to get swamped by the arrangement in the first song, but the second song was better. Just like the Rough Copy version they needed a lot of help from the backing vocals.
5) Matt Terry – he does a competent job but his performance really has that slight 'Saturday night TV' performance disconnect. It did get more focused towards the end but we've never got a clear idea about what he's trying to put across. He's another of these XF singers who can technically sing but has no drive to really say something and will just sing whatever's put in front of him.
6) Emily Middlemas - her voice was too floaty on this, like it didn't have enough contact with the song. She's right that she can't keep doing 'standing still ballads'. But if people are voting for her then Simon might not want to change things around. I wonder how much the judges are told about the previous week's voting? I'm of the opinion that they shouldn't be told anything at all - apart from the relative position of the bottom three/two which they find out anyway - so as to avoid them playing it safe particularly in song choice.
7) Honey G – VT: when you're saying that Robbie Williams, not the greatest rapper, has inspired you, what does that really say? Robbie's new album is titled 'The Heavy Entertainment Show', but this whole series is squarely in the light entertainment category. Honey G performing the N-Trance version of the song was probably the best option. This was actually her best performance and her performances are improving, but still it's a comedy act and needs to be off XF ASAP.

Bottom two prediction: Saara (hardly anyone's voting for her as evidenced by Sharon's desperate attempt to drum up support) vs Ryan (he's getting better but he's now the weakest singer - not counting Honey G).

(and given that Ryan's improved this week while Saara really hasn't, I think the judges will vote off Saara)

5 After Midnight looked so awkward dancing to September. It was like when you go to a party but you're not drunk enough to throw yourself into it.

I think Sam will be in the bottom two tonight. Probably her and Ryan. I wonder if last night's negative comments for Emily were the producers trying to get that Ryan and Emily bottom two that they've been dreaming of since the beginning. I think Saara might sneak through to next week. She got the best reaction of the night with 5 After Midnight.

I've always assumed that Emily and Matt will be in the final two but now I'm really not sure if both of them will be able to beat Honey G and 5 After Midnight. I could see a shock with Matt. Remember when Eoghan Quigg was the favourite to win in 2008 and he won the vote every week until near the end when he came third? Having said that, they had Alexandra and JLS that year. Matt is more of an Eoghan or Marcus Collins. He can sing and has a pop star look, but it's all too cheesy and dated. He has no story at all. I honestly think the producers might be happy with a Honey G win.

Sharon really is terrible at sticking to her script. Her reason to eliminate Sam, “it’s only because he’s been in the bottom so many times”.

Just result though it somehow also seems like a failure in that they missed the opportunity to finally get rid of Ryan.

Movie Week.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_X_Factor_(UK_series_13)#Week_7_.2819.2F20_November.29
5 After Midnight are basically shafted with their song choice - it requires good harmony singing to pull off and they haven't got a chance of managing that. Ryan bizarrely might not be in the bottom two this week as I feel that he can make a fair fist of his song and it might actually be mildly entertaining even if they make it a carbon copy of the original in staging, choreography and arrangement. Matt is on shaky ground with his selection as even the original is shite so there's not even anything solid to push off from. Despite the comments about 'standing still ballads' Emily's performing... another standing still ballad. Saara is doing her usual big remote song and she'll be in the bottom two because she's not really communicating anything and she's not got the old XF fall-back position of being relatable. Honey G is doing the usual comedy rap and the prospect of her being in the final and maybe even winning looms ever larger - I get that same shifting/falling feeling I got in the run up to the EU Referendum / US Presidential Election.

Also Matt had a real rabbit-in-headlights look last night.

Ikr. So how's he gone favourite again?

It was hilarious during the 'Purple Rain' duet when Nicole came out and took the "honey I know I know I know" line right off him, and totally relegated him to a backing singer for the rest of the song.

Extremely niche news, but hints on social media appear to indicate that Chanal (auditionee in 2016XF) has replaced Frankee as a third member of small-time British pop/R&B trio M.O.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrYKjs286zQ