The X Factor UK 2013: Top 5 Perform: Jukebox & Musical Heroes!
02 December, 2013 8:41 PM
Hannah Barrett was eliminated in sixth place after landing in the sing-off for the third time in a row with Rough Copy last week despite Tamera forgetting her lyrics again. This week is the first week that the contestants get to sing two songs. They will first of all be singing songs chosen by the public, earlier this week the public were given the power to choose one of three songs for each act by voting via the X Factor app and the most popular song for each act will be their performance this week. The other theme is Musical Heroes and one act will need a hero when they're eliminated.
Recap and videos after the JUMP...
Nicholas McDonald
'Just The Way You Are' by Bruno Mars - 7/10 - Nicholas' three song choices for the Jukebox theme were all pretty dire, I wasn't looking forward to hearing any of them but I suppose that this is the least dull of the three. Nicholas has a good voice, there's no denying that but he's just so plain, there's no star quality there and again this song choice does nothing to make him any more entertaining. At times he's pretty out of tune to be brutally honest and I find him a bit shouty. He can sing but I just wish that he would control his voice more and be more comfortable on stage. I also feel like he ought to do some upbeat songs once in a while as he doesn't show enough variety.
'Greatest Day' by Take That - 6/10 - Nicholas has chosen Take That as his musical heroes, fair enough, it does strike me as a blatent attempt to garner favour with Gary but no denying that they're reasonable musical heroes. Nicholas really doesn't do a great job with this song, he's out of tune in this performance I'm afraid. He's coping better with this song performance wise, he seems to be a bit more comfortable on stage but he just hasn't got the pipes for this song I'm afraid. He misses a lot of the big notes and he spends the whole performance playing catch up with the notes. He just doesn't have what it takes to be brutally honest.
Sam Bailey
'How Will I Know' by Whitney Houston - 8.5/10 - Sam Bailey is a great vocalist, we saw that last week when she smashed the Leona Lewis song she was given. However, how will she fare with a proper performance, dancing and all? She's taking on a Whitney song but thankfully not one of the obvious choices. I must say Sam is really impressing me, she seemed very cabaret to begin with but the longer the contest has went on the more layers she has shown. She has such a clear, crisp tone and her vocals are really consistent but she also really knows how to control the stage. I really like Sam, I hope she makes it through to next week as I think that she really does have a lot of potential.
'Clown' by Emeli Sandé - 8/10 - Sam has really unleashed her potential tonight, this is another fantastic performance. She has already performed this song before but it sounds even better now. With that said, I have to admit that I do think this is less wow than the first performance. I know that the judges seem to rave about this performance more so than the first one but personally I preferred the upbeat, infectious feel of her performance of Whitney Houston's track. This is good but perhaps a little predictable and safe however there's no denying that she is very talented and I fully expect her to make it through to next week.
Tamera Foster
'We Found Love' by Rihanna - 9/10 - Tamera had a nightmare week last week when she forgot her lyrics again and was convinced that she would be in the bottom two. And despite avoiding the bottom two, Tamera is still feeling very sceptical about this week's performance, especially considering that she has to sing two songs this week. Nicole had a hypnotist in this week who hypnotized Tamera in a bid to help her to remember her lyrics. With Tamera practicing all week, will it pay off? It definitely does, this is by far her best performance in weeks, she sounds great on the song and has real star quality, it isn't my favourite song for her nor is it my favourite Rihanna song but she does a really good job and her star quality really comes through. I have a feeling that Tamera might be safe tonight, well I hope she is because she has a really good voice.
'The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face' by Roberta Flack - 8/10 - This is the song that was chosen for Tamera by the public. She wants to do it justice as it's a very emotional song, I do like this performance but Tamera has had stronger performances. Maybe it's just me but I find this song very boring, it's an emotional song but it doesn't do anything for me and I struggle to get excited when I hear people singing it. I much preferred her first performance, she connected to the emotion of the song and she had surprisingly good control of her vocals but I wasn't really blown away, a competent performance but not outstanding.
Luke Friend
'Skinny Love' by Bon Iver - 9/10 - Luke is phenomenal, he really is. I love his tone, it's edgy and unique and he has a great personality which really comes across in his performances. I would have preferred him to sing the Elbow track from the three the public had to choose from but it's still a great song. I love this performance, it's brilliant, he has such a great tone and a really quirky rock voice, this was fantastic, it was a lot edgier than the Birdy cover but it was still similar in emotional value. Luke was brilliant this week, I hope his second performance is just as good.
'I Will Wait' by Mumford and Sons - 10/10 - This is just incredible, I love the song choice, I'm a fan of Mumford and Sons and I'm a big fan of Luke's voice. There's no point in me saying the same things over and over again but simply put, this was absolutely fantastic. Luke has a great voice and is easily one of the most interesting male acts to have been on the show in years. I really hope he makes the semi-final after this, I definitely think that he deserves to because tonight he has really been in a league of his own. Both of his performances were superb.
Rough Copy
'Every Little Step/She's Got That Vibe' by Bobby Brown/R. Kelly - 8.5/10 - Finally Rough Copy show a little bit of originality. They were very lucky to avoid going home last week as their performance was poor and their sing-off was weaker than Hannah's. That said they're on the ball this week, deciding to arrange their performance by mashing up two 90's songs. They're both songs I haven't heard in years but they work together really well and it's an enjoyable performance. I do actually think they're the best they have been in weeks after this but Louis says that their vocals were quite weak at times. Why is he picking up on that when it's far less the case whereas he was giving them rave reviews when they were giving consistently below-par performances?
'I Believe I Can Fly' by R. Kelly - 6/10 - This is beyond dull, of the three songs that the public had to choose from they had to pick this one didn't they? Not only is it boring but it's overused on these sorts of shows and it's rarely done particularly well. Rough Copy have nice voices but the song does nothing to show off their personalities or even to show their urban edge, it's just a horribly mediocre performance with no star quality. Whether it was them or Gary who came up with the song for the list, it was a poor choice because this just isn't anything special. I doubt they'll be bottom two because they're bound to get a bounceback after last week but they probably should after that performance.
Rankings
1. Luke Friend
2. Tamera Foster
3. Sam Bailey
4. Rough Copy
5. Nicholas McDonald
Bottom Two Prediction:
Nicholas McDonald
Tamera Foster
Elimination Prediction:
Nicholas McDonald
Results
Bottom Two:
Luke Friend
Tamera Foster
Tamera Foster - 'The Voice Within' by Christina Aguilera - I'm sad to see Tamera here, I wouldn't have been so sad a few weeks previously because she would have deserved it but she was genuinely very good last night so it seems unfair that she escaped the sing-off when she was poor but hits it as soon as she was back on form. Regardless of what happens I think Tamera is going to be signed, she has serious potential and serious marketability, this is a good sing-off, at times her timing is slightly off but her vocals are good.
Luke Friend - 'Run' by Snow Patrol - I'm very confused to see Luke her especially. He was amazing last night, easily the best of the night in my opinion so I can't understand why he didn't get more votes than Rough Copy and Nicholas who both had a dodgy performance. He really pours the emotion into this performance, he has such a passionate performance style and really fights for it, like Tamera the vocals weren't perfect but he definitely did his best and poured a lot into it.
Nicole sends Luke Friend home and Louis sends Tamera Foster home. Sharon says that she was judging it on the sing-off and calls Luke's performance 'organic' so sends Tamera home. Gary says that it's 50/50 as both have been in the sing-off before and both were amazing so he decides to put it in the hands of the public and sends Luke home. And the public have decided that the act with the least votes and going home is.....Tamera!
Eliminated:
Tamera Foster
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