X Factor, Saturday 8pm, ITV
Posted by Michael Baggs
Everything changes when X Factor hits the live shows. This is the point which separates the men from the boys - or to be more specific, separates the Danyl Johnsons from the Rikki Loneys.
Last night’s show celebrated the work of Robbie Williams - the first of the series’ big name acts to men tor the 12 hopeful finalists. However, the live show was remarkably Robbie-free as only a handful of contestants sang songs by the former Take That star.
Rachel Adedeji opened the show with a solid performance of his ‘Let Me Entertain You’, before former strippers Kandy Rain turned out an impressive cover of Robert Palmer’s ‘Addicted To Love’. The foursome’s performance sparking an early clash between the judges as Dannii and Cheryl attacked the girls’ provocative costumes while Simon and Louis celebrated the flesh flashed.
Essex lad Olly Murs and Rikki Loney struggled to make an impact with their covers of ‘She’s The One’ and Amy Winehouse’s ‘Back To Black’ before Dagenham mum Stacey Solomon’s rather wonderful take on Coldplay’s ‘The Scientist’ was the first standout performance of the night. Having already charmed the nation with her personality, Stacey’s natural sparkle and stunning voice seems certain to see this girl reach the latter stages of the competition.
Miss Frank were typically flawless on their performance of soul classic ‘Who’s Lovin' You’ before Jamie Archer turned out a rather flat rendition of T-Rex’s ‘Get It On despite the band, dancers and huge set supporting his performance. Sixteen-year-old Lloyd Daniels tackled Justin Timberlake’s ‘Cry Me A River’ with a performance that was slightly awkward but which will no doubt have struck a chord with the more maternal viewers.
Lucie Jones (who felt the need to remind us, for the umpteenth time that she is just a girl from a small town in Wales) stood out as one of the show’s strongest singers with her performance of Leona Lewis’s ‘Footprints In The Sand’. The girl’s got a great voice and looks good, but the star potential is yet to shine through.
Now. John & Edward. Facebook ‘hate’ groups, national newspaper campaigns to force them off the show, even boos from the studio audience - it’s staggering that so many people have rallied such venom towards two teenage boys. True, their vocals were the weakest of the night but their performance of Robbie’s ‘Rock DJ’ was the evening’s most entertaining and was reminiscent of the glory days of previous finalists, Same Difference.
Joe McElderry rounded off the under-25 boys’ category (mentored by Cheryl Cole and by far the weakest category of the season) with a stage-school performance of ‘No Regrets’. His voice is great, but perhaps far too suited to musical theatre for X Factor success.
Danyl Johnson closed the show with a staggering cover of ‘And I Am Telling You’, (made famous most recently by Jennifer Hudson). The strongest performer of the night, Danyl would be the year’s sure-fire winner if it weren’t for his on-stage arrogance which could all too easily prove his downfall and as Louis Walsh warned him: "You need to become more likeable - you haven’t won the competition yet." The last thing the voting public want is to have their winner served up to them in week one - we’ll make our own judgements, thank you very much.
