Firstly I must have a large rant about the idiocy of Louis Walsh. Does he have to ruin everything? We all know he is rude, arrogant and brainless but he seem se to have fallen to new depths of stupidity. Surely it was not just me expecting the two 16-yr-old boys in his group to be among the most popular singers of the whole competition? Either of them would be loved by the target X-factor audience (ie. grannies and soppy mums) and even I thought they were pretty good and smiley little James was especially cute. It just seems completely absurd not to put them through, as they’ve already built up a strong audience following and are perfect for the competition. The only benefit of this is that Louis has far less chance of winning now.
So, now I’ve got that off my chest (not that I will ever truly get over it!), I will give my opinions on the actual choices for the final 12 (not 9 this year, so either it’ll go on longer or they’ll do double vote-outs).
16-24 Category:
Philip:
This is the boy I am most annoyed about. His way of singing really annoys me and I bet he’s only through cos he’s Irish. I have nothing against Irish people if the yare good but in this case he doesn’t appeal to me at all. He doesn’t seem as nice as any of the other boys from the final 7 and isn’t as good as them either.
Song he should sing: anything covered by Westlife.
Nicholas:
I was particularly surprised at Louis putting this guy through as, despite his age (being 16 was too young in the case of James and Trevor, yet 17 is perfectly fine – nothing to do with him looking older I’m sure) and being a million times cooler than any of Louis’ current acts, excluding GA, who I know he doesn’t have much to do with now anyway. Nicholas is the one act on this programme who could do well and have that elusive and (according to some snobby types) utterly necessary credibility if launched as a non-X Factor act. As an X Factor entrant he’s already far lessened his chance of success or credibility, but without it he probably wouldn’t be anywhere near the music industry so I guess this is the chance he has to take. The only way to get Nicholas through the show without ruining his coolness will be to let him sing exactly what he wants to – meaning no cheesy, typical talent show songs. Only the cool, soulful numbers (some Motown but nothing too comedy, as some Motown songs are a bit silly despite their aceness) and perhaps a few modern r’n’b songs (John Legend perhaps?) to show where he would fit in the music industry. He could be so easily ruined, especially with the terrible luck of having Louis as his judge.
Song he should sing: John Legend – Ordinary People
Chenai:
I would have rather neither of the girls in this group got through as I didn’t find them appealing at all, but I suppose if I had to pick I would have gone for Chenai. I find her face annoying but she can sing well enough and her personality isn’t too offensive, so we shall see.
Song she should sing: Sam Brown – Stop
Shayne:
Despite his absolutely horrible name, this boy is probably my favourite of the group. He is very cute and popstar-like, although perhaps a little too Timberlake-esque. Still, that leaves plenty of opportunity for self-referential *N Sync singing! I just hope he doesn’t do songs too obvious as I can imagine he might. I expect at least one Will cast off. Ain’t No Sunshine, maybe? Light My Fire is too obviously Will, but ANS is exactly where I see this guy (who name I refuse to write any more than necessary!) going.
Song he should sing: Savage Garden – To The Moon & Back