It is the second week of the auditions and with the new panel settled in it is time for some more acts to hit the stage.
We start at London’s O2. After Gary Barlow’s rather serious speech about how he wants to find a world-class artist, we are presented with Johnny Robertson, a 45-year-old camp single man who wants to be as big as the queen of camp Lady GaGa. Singing At Last by Etta James, he has, what has now been coined the ‘Susan Boyle effect.’ He dazzles the judges with a no more than decent performance. Unfortunately for Johnny, I cannot help but thinking that if he looked like an artist, he would have been going home with a different answer. Tulisa sums it up perfectly saying he had the ‘shock factor.’ He receives four yeses and breezes into to the next round.
Staying in London, we go straight into a ‘normal’ performance. However, what happens is far from the norm. Half way through the song there is a proposal, which is accepted much to the delight of the panel, even though I cannot help but agree with the judges that she seemed more thrilled with the four yeses they gave her than the proposal itself!
After this, we are introduced to Derry, a 20-year-old male from Croydon, who has a bit of a crush on Kelly. Singing Usher’s Can You Help Me, his performance is not perfect, but he clearly has something. Not only is his performance way about average, he sings it acapella. Wowing the judges and the audience he receives four thumbs up, and even gets a kiss from Kelly. He quickly makes his exit, happier with the kiss than the fact he is going to boot camp.
For the first time in X Factor history, the search has come to Liverpool, where all the judges are optimistic that somebody amazing is not too far away. A rather bubbly Mark who is 21 from Liverpool bounds onto the stage convinced he is the next big thing, however this is not the case! The first thing he does is miss his cue and from there it gets worse. He sings every note of Only Girl in the World by Rhianna well out of tune.
Next on the stage is Craig Colton 22 from Liverpool. He tells the judges that he got his parents tickets for the audience and told them that he could not go because he had to work. Singing Hiding My Heart Away by Adele beautifully he takes control of the stage. In my opinion, he is one of the best performers this series by far and therefore one to watch in the competition.
As we are in Liverpool, the home of the Beatles, and all the new judges are from groups the pressure is on. After a strenuous search through a bunch of poor excuses, including the rather comical Duos, we come to The Keys, a harmony group performing Aloe Black’s, I Need a Dollar. Instead of a ‘typical’ performance, they add a bit of harmony and rapping to the song, much to the delight of the panel, and receive four simple yeses.
This week’s final act is Misha Brian, who is 19 from Manchester, singing Respect by Aretha Franklin. Changing the song completely she gets off to a rather slow start but quickly gets everybody on their feet. Adding a bit of rap, she reminds me and probably the rest of the viewing population of Cher Lloyd except she can both sing and rap. She receives four well deserved yeses, and without a shadow of a doubt, this girl should be in the live finals.
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