LOUISA JOHNSON
I'm really glad she didn't sing Lady Marmalade. Not only would it have been almost the same performance as last week (an upbeat song from about 30 odd years ago that contained her singing her ass off, but over singing the tune to death) but it also would have been such an obvious song choice for her (Patti Labelle/Christina Aguilera). Rita was spot on in choosing a different song for her because, honestly, the over singing gets old very quickly and I think after last season we're allowed to call a good singer with nothing else to offer the "Andrea Faustini syndrome." She worked the stage last week but I just felt her vocally straining herself was way too over the top and she couldn't get by on an excessive amount of runs and high notes. But she's tied for the best voice in the competition and the public is behind her so she can do whatever in the hell she wants to do. The beginning of the song felt a little like "God Only Knows" as she stood there just singing and kind of smiling but also emoting a strong feeling. The beginning of the song was also extremely very well controlled and not as over the top as I was expecting. She once again, by the chorus, was doing run after run and belting the rest of the song. I can't complain because it fit the song so well and she's so flawless at making you feel something when she performs. It felt like she was breaking free of all the constraints and finally being herself and as she begun to tear up I got goosebumps. It was very reminiscent of Jessica Sanchez' rendition of "And I Am Telling You." You knew she could sing the song in her sleep. You knew that she would absolutely crush it vocally. But during the song there's this sort of intensity you didn't expect and it was as if she let out every bit of emotion she's had in her body for the whole week and left absolutely everything she had on the stage. Simon was spot on. Last week it felt like she was just belting for it. This week it felt like she had vocal intent and every note she hit was for something, for some particular amazing reason. It was a beautiful moment to be able to witness. 9.5/10
MONICA MICHAEL
The moment I saw the clip of her from last week and Simon telling her that the song wasn't her, I knew Monica was going to give us Monica this week. I knew that she was going to come out and remind us why we fell in love with the gritty, relatable presence she has been showing us throughout her entire run on this and last season of the show. It was so great seeing her back in her element with the academy. She was meant to sing a different song this week but do to the tragedy in Paris her song was changed out of respect. We've seen her do this song already so I was immediately excited to hear what she would add to it because I didn't love it when I first heard it. This time around I thought it was better than when she originally did it the first time. It was also amplified by the fact that last week was not very good, or good at all arguably. Monica felt like Monica again. Immediately picking a song for a "street girl" as she called herself last week when you hear that she's doing a song from Empire you immediately think this is the perfect choice for her. I liked how she was playing to the audience and less to the cameras. Her hand movements were still a little much but at least she wasn't getting all 50 Shades of No Way like she was last week. Her little head shake at the end was hilarious and not in the intended way. Simon was very right to say that the song change was a blessing in disguise because she connected with the song, you could see it on her face and she didn't need the glits and the glam she just needed a black outfit and her swagger. Her vocals were very shaky in parts, but Monica isn't a perfect vocalist and it's fine. The effect of the performance trumped the vocals and I completely agreed when the judges told her that changing the song not only reflects on her character and her respect for what's happening, but it also combats a true artist. To knock out a performance that she spent less than a day getting together was truly impressive and gets her extra points. 7.5/10
LAUREN MURRAY
She's doing One Last Time this week! I was clearly upset when she didn't do this song last week so I was extremely happy to see that her song change was to this! Like Monica, due to the theme of her original song, it was switched around to show respect to the tragedy happening in Paris these past few days. She's so much fun to just watch. Seeing her being so much fun in her clip package is just so great. I got a few cackles, the first was when the dentist was operating and she was just being so bubbly and when she answered the phone "...Yeah, it's Lauren Murray, from the X F...yeah!!!" so cute! I think that the version (stripped back to just a piano) was absolutely gorgeous because it allowed us to actually listen to the lyrics of how beautiful this song really is. I'm more listening to the beat and Ariana hitting these crazy notes than I am paying attention to how beautiful the song is lyrically and it got me to pay attention to it. Last week I picked on her vocally because she didn't seem to believe in herself and that's where her vocals fell short because she didn't have enough confidence so the first half of the song that was more intimate didn't feel like it was good enough. Her situation flipped around this week because I thought that at the beginning she sounded absolutely gorgeous and when she begun belting I thought this was going to be her moment on the show where she proved to me how good she is (not like I need much convincing) but she tried to hit a note ("Takes you home") and it sort of ruined the performance for me. She also fell off pitch during the last phrase. Overall the performance would have been perfect had she hit those two notes because, while last week she did a similar type of intimate feel, I thought that she was actually able to pull it off this week. Her "thank you's" at the end of the song are so cute as well. 8/10
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