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X Factor UK 2014: The Room Auditions - Episode 4
13 September, 2014 7:24 PM
Published by Kevin Mc Stravock
We're down to what is apparently the last episode of room auditions already, yes, allegedly it's straight on to arena auditions next week after just four episodes of rooms. Not sure what the idea is with that but anyway, as we reach the final episode of room auditions, who will shine?
Recap and videos after the JUMP...
Up first tonight is Kerianne Covell, a sales advisor in a shoe shop who reveals to the judges that she couldn't get the day off to audition so she just had to be put down as AWOL. As she launches into a surprisingly strong rendition of 'One And Only' by Adele, the judges are blown away with Simon telling her that has an 'effortless' talent. After getting four yeses, Simon asks Kerrianne to put him on the phone to her boss and he leaves the manager a message telling them that she would like her job back in the short term but she will probably never speak to them again if she makes it through. Brilliant. Kerrianne is through to arenas.
It seems like Kerrianne gets the day off to a great start as a succession of strong talent follows with Geoff Mull, who previously auditioned last year the first male of the day to get through to arenas, impressing the judges with his own song 'Better Man'. He has a good voice and the song is pretty good although I'm not sure that he's the best we've seen in his category.
Lauren Lovejoy strides into the audition room next, comparing the judges to animals, most notably saying that she pictures Louis as a seal to the amusement of the other judges. She has quite a heavy throwback thing going on with her beehive and sings 'Why Don't You Do Right' by Peggy Lee. She's okay, not as good as similar artist Chloe Jasmine and nowhere near the standard of previous blues singers like Rebecca Ferguson but it's enough to get her through to the next round.
Teenager Stevie Tennet is the next auditionee to face the judges, he takes on 'I Won't Let You Go' by James Morrison and does a pretty decent job of it although I'm having the same problem with him as I did most of the other teen lads that have been montaged so far, they all sound the exact same, strumming guitars singing fairly inoffensive music, he's good but I don't see him as a winner. He also gets through with no problems.
Up next is the zany, Italian born Starlight who sang her own song 'Discipline' but not before basically insulting Louis and Simon by bringing gifts for the girls, announcing 'I'm a female person'. She's absolutely bonkers and doesn't have a note in her head, waving her bum at Simon and saying 'Up Yours' when he says no before storming out only to return again and sing 'I Will Survive', also pretty badly. Unsurprisingly, she gets four resounding no's.
As if the nutcase quota hasn't been reached, Dr. King, real name Adam is up next and he also comes with his own original song which he is ready to perform. His song 'Who They Want' can easily be applied to the judges and the person they want is certainly not Adam.
The Overs category is shaping up pretty well so far and hoping to add to the talent is the next auditionee, Raign. Otherwise known as Rachel Rabin, Raign is a singer/songwriter, Cheryl asks her why things haven't been working out for her to which she replies 'Oh they are working out for me' before arguing with Cheryl that Sia only had her first hit one and a half years ago (she didn't, her first hit was Take Me For Granted in 2000). Let's just say Raign doesn't exactly get the judges on side before she starts singing, Cheryl especially seems bemused by her over the top personality. As she begins to sing 'Clarity' by Zedd acapella, it's not good news for the singer as the judges aren't impressed. Her voice sounds flat on the song and it's a little on the boring side. Louis and Mel B are willing to give her a chance despite her bizarre personality but Simon says she didn't impress him enough to which she says 'Sorry' telling Cheryl that Simon is the one she wanted to impress the most because he's 'the most important person on the panel' prompting a miffed Cheryl to immediately say 'No.' To be honest, although I think Cheryl seemed against her from the start (asking her why she wasn't signed as she's around the same age as her seemed a little rude), I get why she rejected her as the audition wasn't great and she didn't come across well at all. However, Raign isn't taking No for an answer and she bounces back into the audition room begging Simon to let her sing her own song 'Don't Let Me Go'. The difference the change in song choice makes is extraordinary, this song of hers is really great, it's quite leftfield and unique but has a really edgy, Sia-esque feel to it actually. Her vocals sound 100x better and she connects with the song a lot. Simon really enjoys the song and puts her through, to Cheryl's dismay with the Girls Aloud member saying that she's 'not likeable at all'. I'm not bothered about likeability at this stage, Kitty Brucknell had quite a marmite personality but remains one of the most talented Overs to have been on the show, likewise James Arthur wasn't particularly likeable but gave some amazing performances. Raign is through to the arenas, I think she's one to watch.
Also impressing the judges is another female over, Janet Grogan who sings 'I Can't Make You Love Me' by Bonnie Raitt, a bit of an audition classic by now but she sings pretty well and forms an emotional connection with the song so she's another good over to add to what is shaping up to be a surprisingly young, and talented group of Overs this year!
Scottish hopeful Emily Middlemas gives her own spin on Cher Lloyd's song 'Want U Back', it's a decent audition and a nice cover of the song but I'm not seeing anything to make me jump out of my chair from this girl. I think there are stronger girls already through but we will see what awaits us later in the competition, she gets four easy yeses.
Simon thinks he recognizes the next contestant Lizzy Pattinson, she claims that he wouldn't but I'm not sure if that's entirely true as Lizzy is the older sister of Twilight actor Robert Pattinson so maybe that's why she looks familiar to the music mogul. Anyway, her rendition of 'Feels Like Home', by Chantal Kreviazuk. It's pleasant but not showstopping and I do think there have been stronger overs so far (Helen Fulthorpe, Chloe Thwala, Jay James and Raign have all impressed me more). Lizzy gets through to the arena auditions.
Fish and chip shop worker Michael Rice (with a name like that he should be working in a chinese takeaway) is up next and says that he wants to be able to ditch the batter and fryers in favour of singing. He's not very confident but he delivers a strong audition, singing 'I Look To You' by Whitney Houston with surprising ease. Despite being young, he has a really strong voice and a lot of power, whether he gets far in the competition remains to be seen but he's through to the arena auditions anyway.
Fitness instructor Kayleigh Manners hails from Yorkshire, immediately getting Mel B onside before she begins to sing 'Stay With Me' by Sam Smith. I really like her voice actually, she has a very strong identity as an artist and quite a distinctive voice, she could be the X Factor's answer to Tracey Chapman perhaps. The judges really like her and are full of praise for the singer, I definitely think she's looking like a potential contender for the later stages of the competition.
The final act of the room auditions is yet another familiar face, Jake Quickenden who made it all the way to Judges' Houses in 2012 before being sent home by his mentor Nicole. He's back and he hopes to impress the panel with a rendition of 'All Of Me' by John Legend. He plays it on guitar but sings it in quite a strange, chirpy style which really doesn't work leading to Mel B stopping the performance and telling him to focus. And then, in a not at all contrived way, he is more or less asked if he has a sob story, with Simon asking him if there's anything that has happened him that he can use to channel emotion into his performance. He reveals that he lost his brother to cancer a while back, if I recall correctly his brother was ill at the time of his audition in 2012. Anyway, he sings 'Say Something' which I'm beginning to go off due to the number of people covering it. His cover of it is fine but I don't really think he connects with the emotion of the song that brilliantly, it's a sad song in the first place and I don't think he added anything to it really. He gets great feedback and he's certainly talented but I'm not entirely sure that he's distinctive or really memorable enough to win. We'll see how he gets on later in the competition.
So that's all the room auditions over! I have a feeling we're going to see more talent introduced to us at the arena auditions next week but so far, I haven't been that wowed by the acts shown. Raign is my favourite Over, Lola Saunders is my favourite Girl, Paul Akister is my favourite Boy and Only The Young are probably the standout group so far. We shall see how things change when we get to the end of the arenas.
It seems like Kerrianne gets the day off to a great start as a succession of strong talent follows with Geoff Mull, who previously auditioned last year the first male of the day to get through to arenas, impressing the judges with his own song 'Better Man'. He has a good voice and the song is pretty good although I'm not sure that he's the best we've seen in his category.
Lauren Lovejoy strides into the audition room next, comparing the judges to animals, most notably saying that she pictures Louis as a seal to the amusement of the other judges. She has quite a heavy throwback thing going on with her beehive and sings 'Why Don't You Do Right' by Peggy Lee. She's okay, not as good as similar artist Chloe Jasmine and nowhere near the standard of previous blues singers like Rebecca Ferguson but it's enough to get her through to the next round.
Teenager Stevie Tennet is the next auditionee to face the judges, he takes on 'I Won't Let You Go' by James Morrison and does a pretty decent job of it although I'm having the same problem with him as I did most of the other teen lads that have been montaged so far, they all sound the exact same, strumming guitars singing fairly inoffensive music, he's good but I don't see him as a winner. He also gets through with no problems.
Up next is the zany, Italian born Starlight who sang her own song 'Discipline' but not before basically insulting Louis and Simon by bringing gifts for the girls, announcing 'I'm a female person'. She's absolutely bonkers and doesn't have a note in her head, waving her bum at Simon and saying 'Up Yours' when he says no before storming out only to return again and sing 'I Will Survive', also pretty badly. Unsurprisingly, she gets four resounding no's.
As if the nutcase quota hasn't been reached, Dr. King, real name Adam is up next and he also comes with his own original song which he is ready to perform. His song 'Who They Want' can easily be applied to the judges and the person they want is certainly not Adam.
The Overs category is shaping up pretty well so far and hoping to add to the talent is the next auditionee, Raign. Otherwise known as Rachel Rabin, Raign is a singer/songwriter, Cheryl asks her why things haven't been working out for her to which she replies 'Oh they are working out for me' before arguing with Cheryl that Sia only had her first hit one and a half years ago (she didn't, her first hit was Take Me For Granted in 2000). Let's just say Raign doesn't exactly get the judges on side before she starts singing, Cheryl especially seems bemused by her over the top personality. As she begins to sing 'Clarity' by Zedd acapella, it's not good news for the singer as the judges aren't impressed. Her voice sounds flat on the song and it's a little on the boring side. Louis and Mel B are willing to give her a chance despite her bizarre personality but Simon says she didn't impress him enough to which she says 'Sorry' telling Cheryl that Simon is the one she wanted to impress the most because he's 'the most important person on the panel' prompting a miffed Cheryl to immediately say 'No.' To be honest, although I think Cheryl seemed against her from the start (asking her why she wasn't signed as she's around the same age as her seemed a little rude), I get why she rejected her as the audition wasn't great and she didn't come across well at all. However, Raign isn't taking No for an answer and she bounces back into the audition room begging Simon to let her sing her own song 'Don't Let Me Go'. The difference the change in song choice makes is extraordinary, this song of hers is really great, it's quite leftfield and unique but has a really edgy, Sia-esque feel to it actually. Her vocals sound 100x better and she connects with the song a lot. Simon really enjoys the song and puts her through, to Cheryl's dismay with the Girls Aloud member saying that she's 'not likeable at all'. I'm not bothered about likeability at this stage, Kitty Brucknell had quite a marmite personality but remains one of the most talented Overs to have been on the show, likewise James Arthur wasn't particularly likeable but gave some amazing performances. Raign is through to the arenas, I think she's one to watch.
Also impressing the judges is another female over, Janet Grogan who sings 'I Can't Make You Love Me' by Bonnie Raitt, a bit of an audition classic by now but she sings pretty well and forms an emotional connection with the song so she's another good over to add to what is shaping up to be a surprisingly young, and talented group of Overs this year!
Scottish hopeful Emily Middlemas gives her own spin on Cher Lloyd's song 'Want U Back', it's a decent audition and a nice cover of the song but I'm not seeing anything to make me jump out of my chair from this girl. I think there are stronger girls already through but we will see what awaits us later in the competition, she gets four easy yeses.
Simon thinks he recognizes the next contestant Lizzy Pattinson, she claims that he wouldn't but I'm not sure if that's entirely true as Lizzy is the older sister of Twilight actor Robert Pattinson so maybe that's why she looks familiar to the music mogul. Anyway, her rendition of 'Feels Like Home', by Chantal Kreviazuk. It's pleasant but not showstopping and I do think there have been stronger overs so far (Helen Fulthorpe, Chloe Thwala, Jay James and Raign have all impressed me more). Lizzy gets through to the arena auditions.
Fish and chip shop worker Michael Rice (with a name like that he should be working in a chinese takeaway) is up next and says that he wants to be able to ditch the batter and fryers in favour of singing. He's not very confident but he delivers a strong audition, singing 'I Look To You' by Whitney Houston with surprising ease. Despite being young, he has a really strong voice and a lot of power, whether he gets far in the competition remains to be seen but he's through to the arena auditions anyway.
Fitness instructor Kayleigh Manners hails from Yorkshire, immediately getting Mel B onside before she begins to sing 'Stay With Me' by Sam Smith. I really like her voice actually, she has a very strong identity as an artist and quite a distinctive voice, she could be the X Factor's answer to Tracey Chapman perhaps. The judges really like her and are full of praise for the singer, I definitely think she's looking like a potential contender for the later stages of the competition.
The final act of the room auditions is yet another familiar face, Jake Quickenden who made it all the way to Judges' Houses in 2012 before being sent home by his mentor Nicole. He's back and he hopes to impress the panel with a rendition of 'All Of Me' by John Legend. He plays it on guitar but sings it in quite a strange, chirpy style which really doesn't work leading to Mel B stopping the performance and telling him to focus. And then, in a not at all contrived way, he is more or less asked if he has a sob story, with Simon asking him if there's anything that has happened him that he can use to channel emotion into his performance. He reveals that he lost his brother to cancer a while back, if I recall correctly his brother was ill at the time of his audition in 2012. Anyway, he sings 'Say Something' which I'm beginning to go off due to the number of people covering it. His cover of it is fine but I don't really think he connects with the emotion of the song that brilliantly, it's a sad song in the first place and I don't think he added anything to it really. He gets great feedback and he's certainly talented but I'm not entirely sure that he's distinctive or really memorable enough to win. We'll see how he gets on later in the competition.
So that's all the room auditions over! I have a feeling we're going to see more talent introduced to us at the arena auditions next week but so far, I haven't been that wowed by the acts shown. Raign is my favourite Over, Lola Saunders is my favourite Girl, Paul Akister is my favourite Boy and Only The Young are probably the standout group so far. We shall see how things change when we get to the end of the arenas.
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