X Factor UK 13: Top 8 Report Card

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 8 after the jump!

They stood up for Honey G. Again. I feel like that's enough to be said about how the night went.

MATT TERRY (BOYS)

"I'm Your Man"

Predictable. Don't get me wrong, it was a typical Matt Terry performance (with a lot of cheese sprinkled in). It was pitch perfect. I thought the choreography was a bit too Grease for me, and not in the good way. What kind of world do we live in where Louis is the only judge I agree with? I appreciate the fact that Matt was begging for some criticism in his clip package. He's not going to grow throughout the competition if the judges keep calling him the best every single week. B+

SAM LAVERY (GIRLS)
"I'll Stand by You"

Poor girl. You can tell she's really trying, but something just isn't adding up. Her pitch was absolutely all over the place, and once again it sounded like the song was swallowing her whole. There's just something that's off about the tone of her voice and I can't put my finger on it. At this point, I'm just going to call it and say that her Judges House performance was a one off and she's already peaked. Such a shame! C

HONEY G (OVERS)

"Jump"

I don't think anyone wants to try and rap like that. D-

RYAN LAWRIE (BOYS)

"Twist and Shout"

Remember when I compared him to Olly Murs? The first half of the performance, he kind of reminded me of Olly Murs after he's taken a percocet. Don't get me wrong, I thought this was one of his best performances so far (but that's not saying much). I actually loved him jumped all over the place towards the end, when he actually tries, he has a lot of charisma. The vocals weren't half bad, either! B

4 OF DIAMONDS (GROUPS)
"Hold On"

They sounded lovely together, actually. By together, I meant together. I thought their harmonies were beautiful but their solos fell a little flat for me. They just come off as very generic. When I think of them, I think of the blonde, the light brunet, the one with the bangs and the other one I didn't know was in the group until two weeks ago. Better than last week, though. It seemed more authentic. B-

SAARA AALTO (OVERS)
"Sound of the Underground"

This woman is absolutely bat shit and I love every second of it. Those a capella runs she did before the production kicked in were out of this world. My only issue was that the costumes were low key cultural appropriation, and they didn't have to be. The production was pretty stellar, however, and her voice was fantastic the whole way through. A-

EMILY MIDDLEMAS (GIRLS)
"What Makes You Beautiful"

And just like that, we're back to 'eh'. Like literally all of her live performances before last week, on paper this should have been perfect. Like Sam, there's just this hollowness to her voice that isn't working for me. The arrangement was beautiful and the production was absolutely breathtaking. Her vocals were alright. B

5 AFTER MIDNIGHT (GROUPS)
"Say You'll Be There"

Oh my gosh, the groove, the funk, yes! The arrangement was absolutely stellar! I think my favorite part about them is that they don't need to do back flips around the arena to be great. Their vocals are genuinely good (for the most part). I don't know what it is about Kieran but I'm absolutely obsessed with the tone of his voice, it reminds me of a young Stevie Wonder. Don't ask me why. 5 After Midnight also just oozes with natural charisma, I was grooving with them the entire performance whether they were standing up on that box, sitting down or grooving on the ground. A

RANKINGS:

08. Honey G D- (Last week's position: #9 // +1)
07. Sam Lavery C (Last week's position: #7 // +0)
06. 4 of Diamonds B- (Last week's position: #8 // +2)
05. Emily Middlemas B (Last week's position: #1 // -5)
04. Ryan Lawrie B (Last week's position: #6 // +2)
03. Matt Terry B+ (Last week's position: #5 // +2)
02. Saara Aalto A- (Last week's position: #2 // +0)
01. 5 After Midnight A (Last week's position: #4 // +3)

My bottom 3: 4 of Diamonds, Sam, Honey G