Disclaimer: The thoughts expressed in this post are subjective and clearly biased. I am not affiliated with ITV, X Factor or Syco! Recap of the Top 7 after the jump!
And just like that, it feels like the show is finally starting to begin! Let me start this by saying that Honey G's gotten standing ovations 5/7 weeks we've been at the live shows. I'm not saying that standing ovations have meant absolutely anything prior to this week, but it was almost comical seeing at least 3/4 judges standing up after every single performance. That being said, nearly the whole show was actually pretty good! After losing Relley, Gifty (and, I guess, Sam -- that was just a shocker last week), I never thought we'd be at this stage and have me enjoy watching the performances! But let me end this by saying that they gave Honey G another standing ovation. All four of them. Simon needs to be committed.
"Jailhouse Rock"
Where is his hair? Where are his consonants? Haha. This wasn't a bad performance in any means of the word. It was expected, it was everything Ryan's been doing for the past few weeks. The forced grit to his tone, the random tugging at his jacket throughout, the constant motion -- yet boring movement around the stage, and the crossed are pose at the end. He's just painfully generic on a season full of goof balls. C+ On the plus side, I paused the video and got this. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
"My Heart Will Go On"
There's a lot of talk from the judges that 'you have to be interesting'. While calling this a show that looks for talent, it's also a show that prides itself for being different for finding contestants that are able to hold your attention while they sing for you. You have your Honey G's, who can put on an entertaining mess on stage and you have your Emily's, relatively good, but boring, singers. Saara came full circle tonight. Everything about this performance was perfect. The staging was beautiful, the mood was haunting, she looked amazing and her voice was other worldly. The last half gave me goosebumps. She's been able to capture (most of) our hearts with her crazy antics week after week, but she genuinely was able to show off her voice tonight. There were no distractions, just her being an amazing, captivating singer. A
"Try a Little Tenderness"
That was a lot in just three minutes. I'm not saying it wasn't entertaining. It was fun to watch and I thought they were about as charismatic and interesting as they've always been. I thought the melody of the song became a little muddy as soon as they got off the platform, Nathan sounded like he was either being auto-tuned or prerecorded, the rap was really random, Jordan and Kieran were doing runs like they were preparing to run against Bolt at the Olympics, and then came the dance break with all of that thrusting. All. Of. That. Thrusting. I thought it was a nice way of reinventing the song a little bit to modernize it but my head was spinning by the end. B
"Writings on the Wall"
I'll admit it, I spend a lot of my time complaining about how boring Matt is. I give him credit for his voice every time, but sometimes I forget just how good of a singer and how compelling he can be. The control he displayed in his voice was absolutely exquisite. His falsetto was there for a lot of the performance, but it felt less obnoxious as it has been feeling these past few weeks. Instead of doing a bunch of runs for the hell of it, it felt like the song was taking him there. I haven't seen him this connected to a song in a while and it made for a much more believable and pleasant viewing experience for me. Welcome back, Mattie! A
"It's Like That"/"Gettin' Jiggy wit It"
I don't know how or why she's still here, but you have to admit that little train trick they did at the beginning was pretty clever. Also, the judges stood up for this. D
"It Must Have Been Love"
Every week you can count on the judges to stand up for Honey G, get up on your feet with 5 After Midnight, Nicole declare her love for Matt several times throughout the show and Emily to depress you. I have to say that this week, her and Simon struck gold. Sure, it was nearly the same thing she's done every single week since the live shows have started but this was different somehow. It's funny, when Emily's sitting down and staring into the camera as if her heart had just been torn out of her body her vocals finally go somewhere for me. I didn't hear any major pitch issues in this song, it was haunting in a compelling and gutting way that we haven't felt from her in quite a while. You'd of thought Ryan dumped her right before she came on stage to perform this. Haha. A-
RANKINGS:
06. Honey G D (Last week's position: #7 // +1)
05. Ryan Lawrie C (Last week's position: #5 // +0)
04. 5 After Midnight B (Last week's position: #1 // -3)
03. Emily Middlemas A- (Last week's position: #6 // +3)
02. Matt Terry A (Last week's position: #4 // +2)
01. Saara Aalto A (Last week's position: #2 // +1)
05. Ryan Lawrie C (Last week's position: #5 // +0)
04. 5 After Midnight B (Last week's position: #1 // -3)
03. Emily Middlemas A- (Last week's position: #6 // +3)
02. Matt Terry A (Last week's position: #4 // +2)
01. Saara Aalto A (Last week's position: #2 // +1)
My bottom 2: Ryan, Honey G
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