I'm combining the Groups and the Overs for two reasons. One, they have the fewest acts in the competition and when you combine them they match what I would write for the girls/boys. Two, the judges have been horrible this week. Not to the contestants but to each other. Half the time I had to cringe because they were either shading each other down to their bones (Cheryl, which was actually sort of funny to watch) or were just being completely childish (see: Nick, Simon and Rita). So I've decided to write an article about them.
GROUPS:
Cheryl is doing a fantastic job with her category this year. Cheryl, what? Maybe I spoke too soon because when I saw her doing Reggie N Bollie's choreography I wanted to jump in with them. Taking anything I've already said about her on this blog so far, she's by far the most genuinely sweet judge of the lot and it looks like it would be fun to have her as a mentor. The groups overall improved over last week and were fun to watch. Let's get more into detail below:
REGGIE N BOLLIE
MY GOSH ARE THESE TWO THE BEST. Maybe it's their accents, maybe it's the fact that they're almost smiling, maybe it's the fact that they looked like they were opening the VMAs this week with their mash up "Cheerleader/What Makes You Beautiful", I just think the world is their oyster and they're the pearl (H2O: Just Add Water reference, love you if you got that). I have to admit that at the beginning their vocals sounded awful and the harmonies that sounded wonderful in rehearsal sort of collapsed. But man, when I tell you it didn't matter and these guys (metaphorically) had me up on my feet and dancing (literally) it didn't matter. And I cracked up looking at Liam Payne being randomly present in the audience was funny to watch. They did steal the show energy wise. MASH IT UP MASH IT UP MASH IT UP BOOM. I really want to see them sail through to next week it was so much fun to watch! They're vocals could use some tightening up, but otherwise their overall performance was amazing to watch and they brilliantly mashed two of the most popular songs of the last few years up together. 7.5/10
4th IMPACT
Damn. They're so cute, I hate it. I have to admit that their staging was brilliant. I loved seeing the subway cart open up and have then just standing their looking like they'll steal your man and eat your grilled cheese sandwich and look you in the eye. Their choreography didn't look like they stole it from an Ariana Grande performance this week and by the time they hit the chorus doing that robot walk I was dancing in my seat. I would have love to see this in person. The harmonies were a tad bit better but I can't accurately measure it because by the time the chorus popped in I could barely hear them. When I said their harmonies were terrible last week, Cheryl, I didn't mean that you should turn the track up so loud that I couldn't hear them at all. Not that I'm complaining too much because they were doing their screeching thing towards the end and if I had heard them it would have ruined an otherwise very solid performance for me. 7/10
OVERS
ANTON STEPHENS
"He can't just sing ballad after ballad after ballad." If this is the end result, bitch yes he can. This was awful. I didn't want to dance I wanted to cringe. Cheryl Fernandez-Versini's face throughout his entire performance gave me endless life. Especially at the end when she had no idea what to say. Everything from the choreo with him thrusting and trying to give us James Brown during the "All About That Bass" segment was border-lining on uncomfortable. He was running around the stage during "Bang Bang" like he lost his keys (which he did in a way, because what were those vocals?). I usually am so annoyed by Cheryl but her facial expressions were literally me:
Mind you, these all come from different shots from the camera. She stayed looking like she saw Godzilla mating with Justin Bieber. I also have to note how hard it is to criticize Anton when he's such a pleasant guy to see, personality wise.When he had the exchange with Cheryl and said, "You don't want to change this, though, right?" And begun to crack up, it was so cute and I loved it and I love him but this performance was just awful. 3/10
MAX STONE
Max Stone is a shining light on this competition. I don't want to call him a dark horse because it would be offensive to call him that when he's clearly establishing himself as a front runner with two amazing performances back to back. He is to Simon Cowell what Sam Bailey was to Sharon Osbourne in season 11. A standout in a lackluster group. He doesn't just give you vocals every week, but he also gives you a vocally passionate performance every time you see him. His face may stay the same every time he performs, but it's cool because the tone of his voice makes up for it. I'm not going to even fathom what Nick and Rita said to him because they were clearly just trying to get Simon back for bashing their contestants earlier in the night. Cheryl kept it classy (this time). I was a little excited when he said Somewhere Over the Rainbow was played at his aunts funeral, not because I'm a bitch but because it would have been an amazing emotional moment for him. It's not his style. That's just not the type of guy he is and I think everyone needs to know that it's not as easy for some to completely open up all their wounds and let the world in like others do with ease. We can't all be Demi Lovato. Love her, but we can't. I do think the random people playing the instruments around him and just bobbing their heads were a little redundant. I guess it's different for the judges because they have to see the whole performance and they aren't granted the privilege of all these different angles and closeups but they didn't really distract me as much as Nick and Rita wouldn't shut up about. Max Stone's vocals are gorgeous, man can he sing! I thought there was nothing short of brilliance throughout his mash up. The songs complimented each other in a way you wouldn't expect them too. They share similar themes of hope and they blending extrordinarly well in with his ukele. The chord progression after he transitioned into "What a Wonderful World" was magnificent. This was probably my favorite performance of the night. 9/10
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