X Factor US Season 3: Top 12 Perform: 80s Night
14 November, 2013 6:49 PM
A voting glitch occurred last week, meaning that our Top 13 remains intact. Last week they performed two songs each in the hopes to making it into the Top 12. Unfortunately, one of them will be going home at the start of the show, without being able to sing the song prepared. The theme this time is 80s Night, in yet another attempt to make this show flop even harder, and then, two more acts will head home. Whose dream will be crushed? .. It's time to face the music!
Recap after the jump ...
Before the show aired, most of the song spoilers had been found on iTunes. However, one was missing. And that was Carlos'. The show really needs to start trying harder not to suck so much. Carlos was kind of a mess though, so no biggie.
Lillie McCloud
"Ain't Nobody" - 7/10
- In 1986 her stage name was Nicole McCloud, she had a single, "Don't You Want My Love" and it didn't go anywhere. "I was so close and that feeling, I think it's the thing that drives me today" she says. Kelly wants Lillie to move this week. At least she's not doing one of her sleepy songs. Poor Lillie wants to show us she can be relevant and gets stuck with this crappy themes. I felt it was too happy, as if she was faking her smile, an angrier approach would've worked better. That said, she sang her face off at the end, her delivery of the song was fun and her style is what I picture the 80s to have been like, so I guess that's good. "You are a naughty little thing, aren't you? You were making eye contact with me up there, it was kinda sexy. You made an attempt to be current and you looked and sounded like a proper singer. The end part of the song was fantastic" (Simon)
Carlito Olivero
Rion Paige
"We Belong" - 3,5/10 - Rion likes the Spice Girls. They are from the 90s. "So cute but I felt really old after that and I'm not as old as Simon" Demi says. Rion's peak was her first audition. Since then, she's proved she's actually a pretty weak vocalist. Her lower register, her higher register and everything in between. She was either flat or sharp here. A mess. "I just love how you feel the music. You are a firecracker" (Paulina)
Sweet Suspense
"Mickey" - 5/10 -
Millie, Summer and Celine - Last week was hard for them. It made them step back and look at their performance and look what they need to do to improve. Simon chose this song because it suits their personalities, it's fun. Summer loves the 80s. The backing singers were actually louder than them. Their solo lines were pretty good but my problem is that I can't really tell if they are actually singing live. The fact they are using a backtrack was pretty obvious here. "My favourite part of the whole thing was the fire to be honest. I feel like you are not working with them and their stage presence, I feel like there was low energy. I need to see you having fun. Millie, you are too focused on the dance moves" (Demi)
Tim Olstad
"Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)" - 2/10 - Someone who he watches on TV contacted him and now she's one of his friends. It's Sarah Hyland from Modern Family! Seriously Haley? Your favourite is the guy with no charisma? "The support means the world to me because this is my dream and it's what I've always wanted to do" he says. Tim's done it again! Another crappy overdone song. He's killing me. The saddest thing is that Tim actually has a great voice but he's just so boring. I really hope he's one of the two acts eliminated tomorrow. The weird girl stretching around the stage was way more interesting than he'll ever be. "The problem for me Tim, is you do have a wonderful voice but you don't have the X Factor. I watch you and the dancer once again stole the show. If it was up to me, you'd be going home this week because you just aren't growing at all" (Demi)
Khaya Cohen
"Borderline" - 9/10 - Demi wants Khaya to consider this could be her last time performing. She says that in an album you can show people the different sides of who you are but in this competition, you have to blow everyone out of the water every single week. With this song choice, Demi proved that you can still be relevant when taking on an 80s song. Khaya's take on Madonna was something I could hear right now on the radio. The arrangement was perfect for her soulful tone, making her shine from beginning to end. Not even the one note she missed at the end could deny that. This was her best to date. "We shouldn't underestimate just how good you are because I think we've discovered something really, really special, who's getting better and better and better" (Simon)
Restless Road
"Footloose" - 2/10
- Colton Pack, Zach Beeken and Andrew Scholz - Simon says this is about having fun and doing the song justice. Andrew did gymnastics, pole vaulting in high school, football. He thinks that's gonna help him help them get the right moves for the performance. Doubt it. This is awful. Torture levels of atrocity. There's no one good thing I can say about this. Simon needs to learn when to give up. At least work on their vocals! "You guys are loads of fun. Like I said, I'd be out there in front row at the concerts" (Kelly)
Rachel Potter
"Alone" - 7,5/10
- She was a silly little kid in the 80s. Kelly wants Rachel to focus on being consistent. She doesn't want to be a singer singing a song, she wants her to be sanging a song. While the song fits Rachel like a glove, it's been done so many times that I can't actually feel what she's doing. On top of that, Rachel makes it extra hard with all her Broadway theatrics. She needs to tone it down. Her vocals were great, the arrangement not so much. That big screechy note towards the end though? Scary. "There's nothing wrong with having edge and you know what, I don't think anybody else in his category really hits those notes so he wouldn't know what those sound" Kelly said, referring to Simon saying her big note sounded as she was screaming.
Ellona Santiago
"I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" - 7/10 - Demi instantly went to Whitney Houston when picking a song for Ellona. Ellona is up to the challenge but she has never pushed her safe so much. Demi needs her to nail this performance. The arrangement was kinda working before she started dancing and her voice sounded very nice. When she started moving her voice began to suffer but that was all after the girl fell and kept singing as if nothing had happened. Demi needs to do give her a slow song so she can fully focus on her vocals. Like she did at the end, that was great. "This voice is just bigger than your tiny body. You are so incredible. I love watching you" (Kelly)
Josh Levi
"Straight Up" - 8,5/10
- Paulina states the obvious. Josh wasn't even born in the 80s. She wants him to sing and dance like crazy. He reminds us that the last time he sang and danced he went home. His voice starts a little weak but he recovers pretty fast from it. The song choice was spot on, it made him sound a lot more current than it should have. Josh's incredible charisma probably had to do with that. The guy is a little pop star. His singing wasn't the least affected by the amount of dancing he gave us. He could give the mediocre Bieber a run for his money. To think Paulina sent him home! "This is proving the point were one minute we are listening to karaoke singers and then we are watching a future star. The only thing I kinda wish is that you didn't have any dancers with you in that performance cause actually you controled the stage on your own" (Simon)
Jeff Gutt
"(I Just) Died in Your Arms" - 6/10
- Right now he's got about a dollar in his bank account. "You can't raise a child on a dollar. It's a very stressful time for me" Jeff says. He's not sleeping at all. Hey! Just listen to Tim. Was it the lack of sleep or a conscious decision, his voice sounded grittier than usual and that was pleasant. Unfortunately, I can only view Jeff as a competent karaoke singer, there's no originality to his performances and until he gives us something interesting, I'll never view him as something else. Simon's comments were spot on. "Week after week you are great. It's a little bit like 'I want to be a rockstar' and what I'd love to hear is you singing a song outside of your comfort song which makes you original because I'm not gonna remember your version of that song" (Simon)
Alex & Sierra
"Addicted To Love" - 9/10 - Simon finally tells Mario that his dancing has been atrocious before introducing his final act. Simon thinks this is either gonna be amazing or dreadful. Sierra has been a dancer her whole life. She even won some titles on Irish dancing. She's not confident about her singing though. The performance starts with some fantastic acapella singing from Sierra. They are separated by a wall for most of the performance, so there's no interaction between them, yet it has a cool effect. Sierra banging on the wall in synch with the music was awesome to watch. Cool arrangement, it made them shine. The blend of their voices was joyful to listen to. Simon should sign them already. "I like you guys together, I think you could've worked the set up a little bit better. You look uncomfortable in your shoes and you can be a little pitchy. I feel that when it's more organic, that's when it really comes together" (Demi)
Ranking
- Khaya Cohen
- Alex & Sierra
- Josh Levi
- Rachel Potter
- Lillie McCloud
- Ellona Santiago
- Jeff Gutt
- Carlito Olivero
- Sweet Suspense
- Rion Paige
- Restless Road
- Tim Olstad
Bottom 3 Prediction:
Carlito Olivero
Rion Paige
Tim Olstad
Elimination Prediction:
Rion Paige
Tim Olstad
Results
Eliminated:
Sweet Suspense
Eliminated:
Sweet Suspense
Shocker! I was not expecting that. Nor was Simon. Maybe a B3 appearance but instant elimination? Probably it had to do with the fact that people couldn't really tell if they were actually singing live. It's a shame cause two of the Boys should've gone home. The girls have potential as proved by last week's save me song. If Simon doesn't continue to support them, they'll probably disband.
Bottom 2:
Khaya Cohen
Rachel Potter
Not only the show is trying to sink itself but now the public is on board too. The fact that the weakest contestants are safe without even being in the bottom 2 and Khaya and Rachel have to sing for their lives is insane. Who the fuck is voting for Tim for instance? I really want to see the result order now.
Khaya Cohen - "Don't Give Up On Me" - On XF's upside down world, the best performance will get you in the B2. Maybe people thought you had to vote for who you wanted to go home? Khaya doesn't deserve to be here, she's one of the most viable artists this year, one of the most interesting. The girl's just ready. What the fuck are the voters thinking?
Rachel Potter - "From This Moment On " - Rachel doesn't deserve to be here either. Yeah, that note was painful but the rest of the performance was pretty good. She's a professional and the fact America voted for Tim rather than her is just disgusting. She gave us an ok country rendition but unfortunately, I don't think we should lose Khaya so soon. It's sucks one of them has to go.
Eliminated:
Rachel Potter
This sucks. The fact that none of Tim, Rion, Carlito and Restless Road were in the B2 makes me angry. That means I'll have to keep watching this awful contestants while entertaining singers, like Rachel, go home. I doubt the show will return next year but at least it could've gone with a good winner. It's only hope is Alex & Sierra, Josh or Khaya winning.
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