Give X Factor A Chance - Live Shows 1

As of today, GivePopAChance! will be giving you our take on the week to week triumphs and tragedies of the UK X Factor's live shows. We'll be sharing our thoughts on the performances, judges' comments, the winners and losers each week and finally offering up a weekly ranking of all the contestants from Win to Bin.

Despite somewhat mediocre 2013 Auditions, Boot Camp suddenly showed an inundation of talent out of the blue that hadn't been represented in the first stages. But cut forward to the first week of live shows, and we're missing the stunning voices of Paul Akister, Ryan Mathie, and Zoe Devlin, and instead watching the foundation-lathered faces of Sam Callahan and Luke Friend grinning at us as each week. So basically, business as usual at X Factor headquarters. 

Saying that, with the stunning pipes of the Over-25s and a couple of way-above-par boybands overshadowing the surprisingly weak boys and girls, this year boasts no clear front-runner. However, despite this promise, the opening live weekend of X Factor UK 2013 gets off to a shaky start.

- SATURDAY NIGHT - 

The judges dress weirdly for a start, Sharon and Nicole looking like curtains and Gary looking like a sad divorced man on the pull without a tie, and they end up bring more cringe-factor than the contestants. Sharon is overbearing and excruciatingly camp, Gary still has the appeal of a wet fish and Louis is as clueless as ever. Caroline Flack hosting a painful backstage segment doesn't help matters (probably to get her cougar-claws into Sam C and Kingsland). 

Nicole's melodramatic and inappropriate comments luckily still provide some entertainment, and despite their total inability to give decent feedback to contestants, Sharon and Louis' friendship is strangely heartwarming, and even amusing. Thank God for Dermot though, whose subtle digs at the judges and the programme itself keep proceedings at least slightly grounded.

An X Factor 80s Night surely sends a collective groan across the UK, suggesting predictable choices from Louis and Sharon, at least a dozen songs you wish would just stay in the 80s, and tough weeks for some contestants whilst totally suited for others. However, as the night progressed, some of our favourites let us down, and those we'd written off re-introduced themselves in a brand new light. Read what Joe Copplestone thought of the contestants below, with marks out of ten for song choice, vocal and performance.

HANNAH BARRETT

Hannah played it safe

Hannah is X Factor producer's dream contestant - a constant crier with a sob story but an upbeat nature, who we're constantly reminded is only 16. The girl's likable and talented, but never struck me as anything particularly special. However, on 80s night, there's no denying a deep, husky, black voice like hers is ideal. Tina Turner's "What's Love Got To Do With it" is a safe choice, perfectly in Hannah's range; she knows it and Nicole knows it. So although she performs pitch perfectly and confidently, I don't really know anything more about Hannah's capabilities than I did before.
SONG CHOICE - 8
VOCAL - 8
PERFORMANCE -  6

NICHOLAS MCDONALD

Nicholas didn't pull it off

Nicholas was adorable early on, but in week 1, singing a song written 12 years before his birth, his lack of experience is glaringly obvious. Louis tops himself with an appalling song choice, which is ruined further by a dreadful production. A token big note shows off the potential in Nicholas' voice, but otherwise, Spandau Ballet's silky ballad "True" doesn't work for him at all, trying to force a crooner out of a quiet teenage boy. Don't even get me started on the 80s prom night car crash going on around him. God help the boys with Louis at the helm.
SONG CHOICE - 3
VOCAL - 6
PERFORMANCE -  3

MISS DYNAMIX

**GIVEPOPACHANCE'S BOTTOM TWO**

Ms D. lacked personality

The token chucked-together band of 2013 have got 'Kicked out week 3' written all over them. The producers seem to have decided to uncomfortably manipulate one of the member's pregnancies into a sort of anti-sob story, and then chuck her into a high octane performance of "Jump". Awkward. The performance itself isn't great. Pre-recorded backing vocals drown out the girls and any personality in their voices. There is little difference between this version and Girls Aloud's version, except GA's cover probably has more character. Nicole's comments about the 'Glee Factor' were bang on. 
SONG CHOICE - 3
VOCAL - 4
PERFORMANCE -  5

SAM BAILEY

**PERFORMANCE OF THE WEEK**

Sam stunned the judges

There's no doubt Sam Bailey is incredible. She looks gorgeous with her make-over, has a totally humble nature and could sing the phone book to a standing ovation. Robbie Williams' observation that she has little commercial appeal is sadly accurate, but for now it's just a joy to hear her sing. Even Sharon couldn't balls this up, and gives Sam the perfect song to show us what she can do. Performing after 3 artists with all the usual X Factor minimum requirements -potential, youth, back story, blah blah blah - Sam's "The Power Of Love" eclipses them all with just a vocal. One of the best X Factor performances in memory. 
SONG CHOICE - 10
VOCAL - 10
PERFORMANCE -  10

SAM CALLAHAN

Sam's voice was strained

Sam Callahan's position in the final 12 shows just how far a baby face and good arms will you in a singing competition. However, his first live performance stands out as distinctly below-par, and it might be time to pull out a different kind of big guns. To his credit, he does a pretty good Bryan Adams impression, and has clearly worked hard to pull off singing "Summer of '69" whilst bouncing around the stage, but his voice is strained and shaky. His fan base in the audience also seems to be limited to a group of about ten screaming girls at the front - maybe he hasn't got the female support that the X Factor producers think he has.
SONG CHOICE - 6
VOCAL - 4
PERFORMANCE -  7

KINGSLAND

Kingsland played to their strengths

There's great chemistry between the Kingsland boys, and the group have chosen great songs for themselves so far. Saying this, one wrong song choice could crush them. So it's probably wise that the boys sing the energetic, crowd friendly and vocally undemanding "I'm Your Man". It's a safe song choice, and the boys' laddish chemistry, probably their biggest strength, allows them to pull it off. 
SONG CHOICE - 7
VOCAL - 6
PERFORMANCE -  7

SHELLEY SMITH

Shelley played it straight

Only Sharon would've put Shelley Smith through. I'm glad she did, because regardless of her X Factor success Shelley has a career ahead of her as an entertainer. Which is why I was apprehensive at the prospect of "Serious Shelley". There is no serious Shelley - she's got 'Cabaret' and 'West End' written all over her - so by taming her fun side, this wasn't as entertaining as it could've been. It perhaps even damaged the power of what could've been a great vocal. As it was, Shelley, the least anonymous performer in the world, came off a little cruise ship. Off on a tangent  how long do you think Louis' been sitting on "Shelley, you gave it some welly"?
SONG CHOICE - 7
VOCAL - 7
PERFORMANCE -  6

ABI ALTON

Abi was a revelation

I didn't 'get' Abi before Saturday night. To me, her voice was the vocal equivalent of a leaf falling off a tree. "She's sweet", I thought, "but we already have Birdy". However, Abi's performance of "Living On A Prayer" was a revelation. Her voice broke out of its shell, and I finally saw a glimpse of what everyone else saw. Even the bum notes, previously uncomfortable, now sounded human. Maybe it was the ambitious song choice, maybe it was the pressure of live shows, but Abi showed us something interesting I'd not seen before from her - some real passion.
SONG CHOICE - 9
VOCAL - 7
PERFORMANCE -  9



LORNA SIMPSON

Lorna wasn't pitch perfect

Lorna described herself as an underdog in the competition, and although it's a bold claim to make about oneself, with Lorna, its totally accurate - spectacular vocals, anonymous persona. Taking on Whitney Houston was perhaps slightly over-zealous of Lorna - slightly shaky beginnings did lead to some incredible upper range flourishes, but pitching wasn't as perfect as it needed to be for a song this size. On a tanjent, I still think she looks like Rachel Adedeji's bigger sister, although no one agrees with me.
SONG CHOICE - 9
VOCAL - 7
PERFORMANCE -  8



TAMERA FOSTER

Tamera failed to impress

Until the final 12 was announced, I honestly thought Tamera was one of Miss Dynamix. "Ain't Nobody" seems like a safe choice, but her voice is still slightly shaky. I personally just don't get what makes Tamera special. I remember her forgetting the words to "I Have Nothing" and screeching like a cat straining to hit high notes, and here there's no screeching but there's no soul or fireworks either. Someone enlighten me?
SONG CHOICE - 6
VOCAL - 5
PERFORMANCE -  6

LUKE FRIEND

**GIVEPOPACHANCE'S BOTTOM TWO**

Luke was out of his depth

Unwashed hair will get you through to the final 12 of the X Factor guys, you've seen it here first. Luke seems like a great kid an' all, but for a song as dark and emotional as "Every Breath You Take", 17 year old Luke is way out of his depth. He didn't butcher the song per se, but I actually got angry when the arrangement doubled in tempo. I blame Louis for ditching two incredible but slightly chubbier singers for a weaker singer who, every week, will be asked if he's washed his hair yet. I would love to have heard Paul Akister sing this song.
SONG CHOICE - 2
VOCAL - 4
PERFORMANCE -  5



ROUGH COPY

Rough Copy showed their passion

I wasn't sold on Rough copy initially, finding them a bit schmaltzy and try hard, but I was won over by this performance. Although not the strongest vocalists, the trio are surely the most passionate act in the competition, and this comes through on the big stage more than ever. Their harmonies are sometimes off, but the last one in their performance of "In The Air Tonight" was electric.
SONG CHOICE - 8
VOCAL - 7
PERFORMANCE -  10

- SUNDAY NIGHT -

I'm not a fan of the new 'Flashvote' on the Saturday night. It unnecessarily complicates the elimination process, and humiliates one contestant. In this case it was poor Shelley, although the revelation is not unexpected.

On the Sunday itself, we are 'treated' to the typically awkward group performance, followed by even more awkward performances from off-season pop stars, punctuated with quips and time-killing from Dermot, who has become a pro at hosting a show where very little content is stretched out over an hour. This sunday featured an appauling performance from Ellie Goulding, whose meek, flat live vocal was hilariously mullered by oppressively loud backing vocals. The icing on  the shite-cake was Goulding scrambling for a lifeline to convince Dermot she'd actually watched the show.

The bizarrest X Factor opening night booking ever, Cher's performance was thankfully downtempo, and thus relatively cringe-free, and even impressive at points. It was begging for one of the judges to go "what you need to remember is this woman is SIXTY EIGHT YEARS OLD!" It even managed to produce a rare moment of poignancy when Cher offered the advice to contestants "just don't believe the word 'no'", advice that inherently goes against everything the X Factor stands for.

The whole show could easily be whittled down to the 10 minute sing-off, it's the only thing the audience really cares about. In this first week, Shelley was an obvious choice for the bottom, an act who probably has very little left to show. On the plus side, she's probably already shown enough to get her a role in a West End show. It's an absolute crime that she was joined by Lorna in the bottom two, but given Lorna's anonymity, this is also not unexpected.

Shelley sang the best we'd ever heard her sing, her usual cartoon sassiness replaced with a fierceness as she belted out "One Night Only". This was a genuinely convincing "Serious Shelley", and it was a knockout that probably saved her place. When Lorna took to the stage, she once again showed off her range, but still couldn't dodge the odd pitchy warble. 

Shelley and Lorna were in the bottom two

As Nicole finally chose to save Shelley, securing Lorna's fate, you could tell up until 120 seconds prior, she had fully expected to send Shelley home. Say what you like about Shelley, Sunday night's performance proved she's a fighter. That's the best thing about 
the live shows - anyone can surprise you.

However, the unfortunate two were upstaged by a seemingly/definitely battered Mrs O, in probably the highlight of the otherwise tedious Sunday show. I wonder if someone had to remind her which of her acts left the next morning?

- Joe Copplestone, 14/10/13