This week, being
Rock Week, has seen the contestants come out guns ablazing trying to do their utmost in performing the quintessential of music - Rock.
Joe McElderry performs Journey's Don't Stop Believin'He's emerging to be the front runner certainly, like I mentioned last week. Very very consistent, good vocals, in fact this time, there's some power in his voice which is quite unexpected from him. He did a pretty good rendition of a Journey song. Journey was huge in the late 1970s, even into the 1980s, and this very song Joe sang was their signature song. It is also the top-selling catalog track in iTunes history, at more than two million downloads (says wiki). And certainly, to do justice to such a huge song, would take some guts, lots of talent and a little luck, and I believe he had them all. To digress, Simon said something midway of Cheryl's comments, something about having to sit straight and she was quite puzzled. I think it had something to do with her (horrid) dress, two fans? covering her boobs? Like what?? But it really got me laughing - both the comments and the dress.
Lucie Jones with Sweet Child O' Mine by Guns 'N RosesLikewise, who would have expected Lucie to being singing Sweet Child O' Mine. Yet another Californian rock band, with a huge rock staple (in my opinion). The judges were comparing her to Avril Lavigne and with that rock chick make up, she certainly did look the part, and bore some resemblance to the Canadian Grammy Award nominee. While I wasn't blown away by her performances, unlike some of her previous ones, she did make an impression in that she could sing more than just ballads or pop songs. There was conviction in her voice, you knew she was trying her best, and of course, nothing needs to be said about her vocals - it's one of the best in the competition - just whether she can sing a rock song the way it should.
Danyl Johnson singing Aerosmith's I Don't Wanna Miss A ThingI was pretty taken aback when Simon mentioned something about Danyl being the most hated contestant and it being on the British papers/tabloids. I mean yes, he may seem cocky, but most hated? I guess people just need someone to hate, to take the brunt of the criticism, like in most competitions. But certainly, it's pretty obvious that he didn't come back stronger from his bottom two finish, like Rachel did, twice over too. For me, I didn't really like his first half, which was pretty much his own version of the Aerosmith song. It sounded odd and contrived. And there was something different in his eyes, I don't know. I mean if you asked me to choose, I would rather his cocky confident self (where he wouldn't rein himself in), versus a more subdued version of himself. Plus, this is Rock Week. Reining himself in would do him no good! That said, it's a real pity that he had to sing so damn well for his first audition and after that, every single time he performs, he's going to be benchmarked against that, and find himself falling short in the voters' eyes. A real pity and I'm resigned to the fact that he's prolly gonna be dropped soon.
Keane's Somewhere Only We Know sung by Stacey SolomonShe nailed it. Definitely. I think this is her best performance to date, and yes, to agree with them, she finally MOVED. oh my. She's MOVING, what Simon called a miracle. I daresay this could be the best performance for this round. Totally loved it, she gave a little of her own spin, she got the emotions flowing, basically, she nailed it. This is what she should be like, full of spunk and confidence. And yes, move more please. If not, moss is gonna start growing. The banter between Simon and Louis is really hilarious, it's really funny to see them at each other.
Jamie Archer with Rocks by Primal ScreamSimon: Jamie, I promise you this. This is nothing more than mind games, you were terrific tonight.
Yet another retort to Louis' comment that Jamie wasn't original at all. And again, cue hilarious moment when Cheryl says something about there being no rock week in the history of X Factor, and when Simon has a contestant whose roots are in rock, suddenly there's a rock week. To which Simon asked if she meant he did it on purpose, and she replied with a straight face, "Oh no, not at all, not at all." I love them as judges, it makes watching the comments really fun.
On to his performance, being in his element, I'm pretty sure he did well. No, I correct myself. He DID well. Superb stage performance (don't see how the pole dancing fit in though), check. Rock star personality, check. Nothing to fault so I don't know what Louis was griping about.
Rachel Adedeji singing U2's OneNow this time, it's Dannii and Simon. HAHA. I respect Rachel a lot. Being beat down in the first two weeks - by being in the bottom two - she came back fighting, came back even stronger. She's got the R&B/Soul voice, quite powerful and can suitably convey raw emotions. It was quite a good song to give the soul twist to it. Kudos to her. On a side note, this batch of final contestants seem to be very very very good to me, brimming with a lot of talent. They're all pretty much neck and neck in the race, but some are definitely slightly ahead of the others.
Olly Murs with Beatles' Come TogetherChest hair! HAHAHA. "Is that your move or Simon's move?"
The judges themselves pretty much about summed up everything there is to Olly. A really really talented contestant, he not only has the vocals, he's got the moves to match. At this point in time, I really don't know who I see in the final squaring off against each other. It has come to the point, that it pains to see anyone being dropped off the show. That is how good each of them are. EXCEPT for the twin horrors. How are they still in the show!?!?!?! I'm really hoping they get booted out this round, I can't stand them.
