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I won't lie, I feel like The X Factor isn't living up to normal standards, too much focus on stories and messing around and not enough singing. Apart from that, so far, there are only a handful of acts who have seriously impressed me. Last night wasn't much better than the infamous Week 2 auditions earlier in the series where even the press picked up on the serious lack of talent shown during the programme. I don't know why but for some reason, the outstanding talent appears to be few and far between. Let's hope that tonight is a bit better! Tonight the panel are joined by Leona Lewis and Nicole Scherzinger as the show hits London and Manchester!

Recap and videos after the JUMP ...

We have rocker Eddie String up first tonight, already being touted as this year's equivalent of talentless teen Frankie Cocozza from last year due to his attitude, confidence and music style. I have to say, whilst Eddie isn't vocally very good, I'm relieved to see that he is nowhere near as irritating as the aforementioned, even managing to get a little bit of a chuckle out of me when he informs Gary Barlow that they 'share a syllable'. His performance of 'Last Nite' by The Strokes definitely wasn't a vocal highlight of the competition but it wasn't totally awful, Eddie is through to bootcamp although Gary mentions that his attitude may need to be worked on, somehow I can't see Eddie going all that far in the competition to be honest, I see him going the same way as last year's other eccentric rocker David Wilding. - VIDEO

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With Eddie through, everyone is hoping to impress one judge in particular, Leona Lewis! Up next is Amy Mottram, a teenager from Essex who is very excited to audition in front of Leona who of course remains the big success story of The X Factor. She may be from Essex but thankfully she isn't quite as loud, brash or stereotypical than the normal Essex auditionees in particular Rylan Clarke from earlier in the series. She's singing 'One And Only' by Adele. It may seem like a bit of a boring song choice as Adele has been covered so many times before but Amy really puts her own bluesy twist on the song, her voice is reminiscent of Rebecca Ferguson from Series 7 and I have to admit that I'm really intrigued to see what her performances later in the competition will sound like, Amy is definitely a bit of an enigmatic character, she has piqued my interest. The judges rave about Amy's voice with Leona in particular telling her that she has a beautiful tone, she sails through to the next round. - VIDEO

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There follows a montage of young girls, all of course inspired by Miss Lewis. 17-year-old Georgia Garrett really blows me away with her rendition of 'It's A Man's Man's World', her voice may be extremely deep for such a young woman but she definitely stands out from the crowd with that tone, what a good audition, it's a pity we couldn't see more. Up after her is Charlotte Reavey whose rendition of 'His Eye Is On The Sparrow' may be very good technically but definitely lacks emotion and spark, it just left me feeling a little bored, all the same a very good audition again. Finally we have Sharon Rose who sings 'At Last' by Etta James, a bit of an overdone song by now but all the same an absolutely beautiful audition which really showcases her bluesy, jazzy tone, what an absolutely gorgeous voice Sharon has, three very solid auditions, pity they hadn't been on last night or in Week Two for a lot longer. - VIDEO

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Up next is another band, teenage boyband GMD3 may not have the most inspired name, revealing that it comes from their initials and the fact that there are three of them in the group. They're allegedly managed by the same manager as The Wanted and The Saturdays so it's no surprise that they already have quite a large fanbase, mostly teenage girls. With that said, I was expecting a little more from them than what they actually delivered with their somewhat lacking rendition of 'I'll Make Love To You' by Boyz II Men. Unfortunately, the more I listen to it, the more I hear exactly how poor parts of their performance actually was. In particular, the harmonies in the chorus and the solo parts sung by the middle member were particularly off key. However, as they're attractive to the teenage girls who watch the show, watch them sail through the live shows. *sigh* GMD3 are through to bootcamp. - VIDEO

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Another montage follows, this time with a collection of groups who maybe weren't just as deserved of a full audition, or so the producers seem to think. Misotu are quite good, if a little bit forgettable, I don't dislike them but they go in the same category as Times Red and GMD3 as 'okay groups'. Duke are definitely good at what they do but I can't stand beatboxing so they're not for me. However, District Line really impress me actually and the folk duo style is definitely very interesting as a concept, we've never had anyone in the ilk of The Pierces on The X Factor before but this is definitely a first. - VIDEO

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Another group now, another trio but it's *shock* a mixed group for a change, MK1 consist of Charlie, Will and Sim and even based on looks, I'm getting a distinct feel of 'Three Wishez' from last year's X Factor Australia. Sure enough as soon as lead singer Charlie opens her mouth and sings a beautiful rendition of Emeli Sandé's singing part of 'Read All About It', the memories of the Australian band come flooding back. Sim, the rapper of the group puts in an impressive performance of the Professor Green part of the song and the performance flows really well into the second song in the mash-up, Tinie Tempah's Written In The Stars. The only problem is that Will doesn't really feel like he has a purpose to be honest, he's a bit of a spare part and obviously I'm not alone in my thoughts as the judges reveal that they're not prepared to put the group through as they are as Will serves no purpose in the groups. Cue dramatic music and unhappy faces accompanied by a chorus of boos from the audience, did someone say panto? Eventually, Will agrees to leave the group and give MK1 a better chance to go far in the competition as a duo but not before demanding that he get 33%, I assume he means the money he thinks they're going to make off the back of the show and not the portion of pizza they give him when they stop off for something to eat on the way home. MK1 may have had to make a hard decision before getting through to bootcamp but they're easily the best group so far. - VIDEO

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Britain's Got Talent contestant Lorna Bliss is the last up tonight. For those who don't remember her, she's a Britney Spears impersonator whose raunchy routine and lack of actual singing talent didn't impress the BGT panel back in 2011 but seemingly impressed the producers as they put her into the live rounds. Obviously and unsurprisingly, she didn't impress the voting public either and was eliminated in her heat. From her pre-audition tape, it appears like she's more in it for the fame than for the music and her rendition of 'Till The World Ends' by Britney Spears isn't to many people's pleasing though her bizarre dance routine which involves giving Louis a lapdance then chasing Gary around the arena is more than a little reminiscent of Goldie from last year's show. Lorna doesn't impress the judges with her fame-hungry antics. It's a No! - VIDEO


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