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We said goodbye to Blonde Electra and Overload Generation last week after a double elimination whilst former Luminites singer Stephanie Nala was spared. This week, the remaining fourteen acts are performing songs from the 80's with Irene Cara, Whitney Houston and Simply Red amongst the artists being covered. The songs were acceptable in the 80's but will the acts' covers of them cut the mustard?

Recap and videos after the JUMP...

Jack Walton


'Straight Up' by Paula Abdul - 6.5/10 - Jack is taking on a Paula Abdul hit tonight and hoping to put his own spin on it. It starts off quite well, it sounds like it's going to be very like the Andrew Garcia cover from American Idol. Then the backing kicks in, and well to be honest he sort of gets a bit lost in the performance. I love his tone in the first verse but when he gets into the chorus, his voice sounds really thin and weak behind all that backing music and it kind of loses its' magic. Jack is good but there's definitely some pitching issues, particularly in the chorus, I kind of wish he had just kept it simple and stuck with the guitar for the entire performance because the music sort of overwhelmed him. The last part was better but the first rendition of the chorus kind of dragged it down for me. 

Stephanie Nala


'Call Me' by Blondie - 7/10 - This was originally supposed to be Chloe Jasmine's song, as revealed on Xtra Factor last Sunday but for some reason it's now in Stephanie's hands. I actually love Stephanie's whole laidback reggae vibe, it's the first time someone has done reggae on X Factor to my knowledge and I actually like it, she doesn't have the best voice and there are certainly some pitch problems in the song but I think the whole vibe of the song is amazing. I'm certain she'll be out tonight because the FB commenters seem to be gunning for and the bridge to the final chorus wasn't the strongest but I actually think she's one of the most distinctive vocalists in the competition. I do think something like 'True Colours' would have probably suited her voice better though. Simon tells her it was like she was half asleep but Louis says that she has improved a lot. 

Andrea Faustini


'One Moment In Time' by Whitney Houston - 7.5/10 - After an amazing performance last week which received rave reviews by the judges, it was always going to be difficult for Andrea to live up to the standard he had set. However, this song choice was certainly not the right way to go, it's just such a dull choice. Aside from that, I don't like this arrangement for it at all, the pace of the song seems really off as if he has lost the melody of the song. However, as dull as it is, you can't deny how talented Andrea is and for me, he sort of salvages what would have been an absolute disaster had it been a lesser singer. Simon has a point about it being a step down from last week but those massive notes towards the end were absolutely brilliant and he definitely has stage presence. Hopefully he will get a chance to show some versatility next week.

Lauren Platt


'What A Feeling' by Irene Cara - 8/10 - After doing the Foxes cover of 'Happy' last week, it's disappointing that Lauren is now doing the Drew cover of 'What A Feeling' on X Factor USA (before anyone jumps on me, I can't guarantee that Drew didn't copy it from someone else but she's the first one I heard doing it). That said, there's no denying that Lauren is a fantastic singer with a brilliant voice, I do think we've lost a little bit of her old school soul vibe since the live shows started but she's certainly one of the standouts so far. The only reason she didn't get quite as high marks this week is because I feel like the slowed down covers of upbeat songs has been done to death a little and I certainly expect to see it being done at least once more tonight. Lauren has captivating stage presence and she'll certainly go far in the competition. 

Ben Haenow


'Jealous Guy' by John Lennon - 8/10 - Ben has been ill this week. I'm aware it just looks like I'm getting slightly more generous every performance but I must admit that it does feel like the acts are getting better as the show goes on. Ben wasn't brilliant last week, the song choice let him down but this is a much better choice for him, even if I'm pretty sure the song isn't an 80's song. His voice sounds so much better on this track than last week's song, the raspiness really works and adds a bit of funk to the performance. I think the emotion isn't totally there yet but this was a really great performance and I loved those raspy notes. I have every confidence that Ben will be in the competition for a long time. 

Fleur East


'It's A Shame' by Monie Love - 8.5/10 - Fleur was over the moon with the comments she got last week. She's attempting to do everything tonight, sing, rap, dance. This isn't a song I'm particularly familiar with but I'm actually pretty impressed by how well it suits her, it's the first song tonight that I think genuinely sounds quite current rather than just sounding like a cover of an 80's song. Fleur's rapping is fantastic, we've had a few rappers over the year, mainly female ones but I actually think she's one of the best ones, if not the best. I love the staging with the giant record player, I also love how Fleur moves around the stage with ease, she doesn't come across like an X Factor contestant, she actually comes across like a guest performer. Cheryl and Louis absolutely love her once again but Mel B, although full of praise for her dancing and rapping, says that she couldn't hear her voice on the chorus calling it 'cheaty'. Not really sure where that's coming from as I could definitely hear Fleur's voice throughout and nearly all of them have used backing vocals so I'm not sure how that constitutes as cheating. All I care about is the fact that Fleur is thus far, the best performer of the night and I hope she's hear for a long time as she's one of the acts I most look forward to hearing (although Stevi comes a close second).

Stereo Kicks


'Boys of Summer' by Don Henley - 5.5/10 - The song opens with James Graham singing, a good way to kick it off as he's the best singer by a country mile. Sadly, it sort of goes downhill after that, Tom Mann sounds out of tune and out of time and when they begin to harmonize, there's at least two or three boys not quite in tune with the rest of them. I, like Cheryl feel like there are too many members, I feel uncomfortable watching them on stage as they stand in a line like some sort of awkward choir. The harmonies, especially towards the end fall a little flat and James Graham is pretty much the only thing that stops the performance from being a complete burnout. I think Louis needs to work on how they move around on stage and find a way to make eight people on stage work because right now, it's still very rusty.

Lola Saunders


'Imagine' by John Lennon - 9/10 - Girls wildcard Lola didn't give the best performance last week, I found it a bit shouty and nervy to be honest. I'm also not looking forward to this performance either as I've heard this song so many times and it rarely grabs my attention. Well I guess this is a first then, Lola absolutely smashes this song. Her voice is absolutely divine and I loved the way she sang this song, it started off absolutely beautiful and her control of her voice was absolutely spot on throughout, every note she hit was hit with perfection. An absolutely amazing performance from Lola, I wasn't expecting to really rate her throughout the competition but I thought that this was outstanding. Best act of the night so far.

Jake Quickenden


'Total Eclipse Of The Heart' by Bonnie Tyler - 4/10 - Jake got a good deal of criticism last week for a pitchy rendition of 'She's The One'. It has made him really want to impress the judges and show them that he's more than a pretty face, in lieu with the concerns raised by Cheryl last week. This is a bit of a shambles, it starts off okay but the majority of the performance is just so average, when the chorus kicks in, his voice sounds painfully thin and very pitchy. I don't think Jake's a good enough singer, considering how strong the Boys category is and I don't think he has really improved since the first series he auditioned. What bothers me about him is that I don't think he has a strong enough tone to make up for his voice being quite weak generally, his tone is just horribly weak and generic, if he makes it through after that it'll be off the back of teenage females not his voice.

Chloe Jasmine

'Fame' by Irene Cara - 4.5/10 - Chloe got rave reviews last week after her rendition of 'Toxic' by Britney Spears, this week with the theme being 80's, she's attempting to put a jazz spin on the title song from 'Fame'. This song doesn't work with this arrangement of the song at all, the song works as an upbeat song and at most as an R & B esque cover like in the Fame re-make. Turning it into a slow song just rips the melody out of it and makes Chloe's usually authentic voice sound grating. Also, was it just me or did it sound like she was singing the song to the tune of 'Unbreak My Heart' by Toni Braxton? Chloe hasn't had the best week this week I'm afraid. I just found it really pitchy and weird overall. 

Paul Akister


'If You Don't Know Me By Now' by Simply Red - 8.5/10 - Paul is taking on this Simply Red track, hoping to bring the house down with his superb voice. This is brilliant, so much better than last week's performance and he seems a lot more comfortable on stage with this sort of track. Aside from a little bit of oversinging in the start of the performance, this is pretty vocally perfect to be honest, although Lola still clinches this week for me. Paul has such a special voice and I just hope that he doesn't get lost in the shadow of the equally talented Andrea. The arrangement of the song didn't feel epic enough so I don't think there was enough fanfare to showcase his voice but a strong performance overall.

Stevi Ritchie


'Never Gonna Give You Up' by Rick Astley - 2/10 - Oh for god sake, he's still here? Don't get me wrong, Stevi seems like a top guy but he's not a singer at all and it's a bit of a joke that he's still here. It's predictable, he's probably going to be here for at least a few more weeks but the joke got old after the first week. He doesn't have enough of a quirk to his personality to be a true novelty act, he just seems like an embarrassing uncle at a wedding. He does have a likeable personality and he at least got people up on their feet unlike most of the funeral dirge covers of upbeat 80's tracks we've heard tonight, I'll give him that. But his vocals were just atrocious and he's going to start being saved over talented acts.

Only The Young


'Come On Eileen' by Dexys Midnight Runners - 9/10 - When I see this song choice, I expect it to be a complete disaster. The group themselves, too aren't particularly taken with the song choice but Louis tells them to have faith in him. This is actually genius, they do the country cover that you may remember from Lakoda Rayne doing it on X Factor USA. I love this group, they could show Stereo Kicks a thing or two when it comes to harmonies and how to move around on stage as a group. These guys are the real deal, loved the staging and thought their vocals were spot on this week. I was expecting this group to be bussed in favour of the boyband but I actually think they're Louis' best shot of winning the competition. I really hope they get the support because they're a fantastic group.

Jay James


'I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)' by The Proclaimers - 5/10 - It's like Simon listened to my comments earlier about slowing down a fast song and devised my nightmare performance. This was absolutely awful, no disrespect to Jay but this song just doesn't work being slowed down like this and he sounds so nasally on the song. Slowing it down, puts all the pressure on him as a vocalist and unfortunately, I think it exposes his voice and, like Chloe's performance, makes it sound really grating and annoying. The emotion was slightly more believable than his past few performances have been but I kind of felt like the heart had been ripped out of the performance by making it into that. Cheryl is the only one who says what I was thinking, she couldn't work out whether it was good or just odd. I personally found it odd.

Rankings

1. Lola Saunders
2. Only The Young
3. Fleur East
4. Paul Akister
5. Lauren Platt
6. Ben Haenow
7. Andrea Faustini
8. Stephanie Nala
9. Jack Walton
10. Stereo Kicks
11. Jay James
12. Chloe Jasmine
13. Jake Quickenden
14. Stevi Ritchie

Bottom Three Prediction

Bottom Three:

Chloe Jasmine
Stephanie Nala
Jake Quickenden

Eliminated:

Stephanie Nala (automatically)
Jake Quickenden (by judges)

Results




Bottom Three:

Chloe Jasmine
Stephanie Nala
Stereo Kicks

Eliminated (automatically):

Stephanie Nala

Poor Stephanie was a bit doomed in this competition, even last night when she gave an improved performance, she was given decidedly mixed feedback, and although I disagreed with Simon about her performance, he made one good point. I think Steph had sort of resigned herself to the fact that she would go tonight. It's a shame as she has a great tone and a really distinctive voice but the song choices didn't really do her any favours. All the same, she's really gracious in defeat.

Singing first is Chloe Jasmine, she's singing 'Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow' by The Shirelles. It starts off quite well then she goes way off key and sings out of tune for pretty much the rest of the song. I'm not sure what's going on here, it's a really pitchy sing-off, better than that disastrous Overload Generation sing-off last week but still pretty bad. She's not setting the standard high here for Stereo Kicks. There are some decent moments in the song but it's out of tune the majority of the time.


Stereo Kicks' time to sing for survival now with their rendition of 'I'll Stand By You' by The Pretenders. Choosing this performance as a moment to let pretty much everyone sing solo wasn't a good move because some of them (James) are great singers but then some of them (most of the rest) aren't good at all. The harmonies are probably marginally better than last night's performance but it's a pretty dire sing-off performance as well. I don't know what's going on this year? So far all the sing-off performances have been pretty crap. James is the redeeming feature of this performance, that said, the group just don't work as an eight piece. Better than Chloe but that's not saying a lot.


Cheryl sends home Stereo Kicks, backing her own act Chloe Jasmine, whilst Louis backs his boyband and sends Chloe Jasmine home. Mel B bases her decision on the sing-off and sends Chloe Jasmine home. So the last vote is down to Simon. He tells the boys that he doesn't think Louis has a clue how to mentor them but tells Chloe her sing-off wasn't good before saying that he's saving the act with the most potential as he sends Chloe Jasmine home.


Eliminated:

Chloe Jasmine

I can't find enough passion to get angry about Chloe going. She was fun, sure and I thought she might be a Katie Waissel type character who is continually saved but her final performance was very poor and although Stereo Kicks aren't much better, I think the right decision was made.

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