tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-42595331014939617972024-03-05T23:38:07.732-03:00Mu$ic i$ the Doorto the $oulMDShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15697194336579071720noreply@blogger.comBlogger1510125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4259533101493961797.post-45515180500390518952015-04-28T13:18:00.001-03:002015-04-28T13:18:14.577-03:00The Voice of Ireland: Season 4 - The Final<img alt="Photobucket" src="http://i1234.photobucket.com/albums/ff414/mdssblog/The%20Voice%20of%20Ireland/TheVoiceofIreland.png" /><br />
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It's finally the final, last week saw two of my favourites, Denise Morgan and John Bonham leave alongside John Sheehy and Helena Bradley-Bates leaving Team Kian with no finalists for the second year in a row, and Team Rachel with two. Tonight the four finalists will sing two songs in order to compete to be crowned The Voice of Ireland. So, who will win? Soul man Patrick? Smooth voiced Kieran? Passionate Emma? Or maybe quirky Sarah?<br />
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<b>Recap and videos after the JUMP...</b><br />
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<b>'Hideaway' by Kiesza - 9/10 - </b>I think Emma probably has a better voice than Kiesza does to be honest so not totally sure about this song choice for her but it's nice to see her taking a risk, even in the final. Right enough, this certainly isn't as good as last week's amazing performance but it's still a bloody great performance. Emma has a really light, mellow tone which works on this kind of track but I would have preferred to see her singing something by an artist with a similar sort of feel to their voice. I think she would have smashed 'Breathe Me' by Sia but this was still good, the pacing was slightly off in the runs after the chorus but vocally, I can't really fault this and I've no doubt that her second performance will be fantastic.</div>
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<b>'This Woman's Work' by Kate Bush - 10/10 - </b>Emma's reprising her audition song for her 'Favourite Performance'. It was between that and the Bell X1 song she covered in the knockouts for me but Emma has been that consistent that any of her performances would fall under that category. This is pretty incredible, that song is so hard to do justice to because your control has to be flawless otherwise you'll just bomb on the high notes. Emma's vocals are faultless on this song, not only that but the emotion she conveys with the song is on the money. For me, she should be The Voice because as talented as Patrick, Sarah and Kieran are, I don't feel like they, well the boys at least, are particularly unique. Emma's voice has such a distinctive quality to it and for me, if the show hopes to find someone who can sell records, not just here in Ireland but outside of it, that person is Emma.</div>
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<b>'She Will Be Loved' by Maroon 5 - 8/10 - </b>This is where I have a slight issue with Kieran, I feel like he's been performing the same sort of songs week in, week out. This song reminds me a little of his 'The Script' performance, vocally Kieran is rarely anything less than flawless but in terms of performance and individuality, it's where he falls down. This is a brilliant performance, don't get me wrong but there's nothing about it that makes it stand out from the hundreds of other very good covers of this song that you will find on You Tube. I don't necessarily think it's Kieran's fault that he perhaps hasn't really stood out, I think the song choices have been too safe. Vocally, he has been fantastic but I do think Emma and Patrick are more deserving.</div>
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<b>'Together We Cry' by The Script - 8.5/10 - </b>This is definitely the right song choice for his best performance as it's the first one that actually made me pay heed to Kieran. In fairness to Kieran, he moves around on stage like someone who knows what he's doing, he has the ability and this is a very good performance as always. I love that this vocal is tinged with a hint of soul but as I said earlier, setting himself apart from other singers is the drawback with Kieran. I don't think his individuality as an artist is quite there yet but it's a really solid performance, one which I can't really fault otherwise. </div>
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<b>'If I Were A Boy' by Beyoncé - 9.5/10 - </b>Woah, Sarah hasn't had the most straightforward journey in the competition so this really came out of nowhere. Vocally, this is hands down the best I have heard from her throughout the entire competition, everything sounded effortless, I loved the little quirky edge she gave to the song and she just came across so much more confidently than she has in her previous live performances. The high notes, which I expected her to struggle with are made to sound so easy, credit where credit's due, Sarah did a great job with this song. My only slight criticism is that she holds onto the end of every note a little but that aside, brilliant performance.</div>
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<b>'Who You Are' by Jessie J - 9/10 - </b>This is her best performance aside from that amazing performance earlier. I loved Sarah's take on this song because I felt that she meant what she was singing, she didn't just sing the notes of the song, she sang the lyrics and gave it heart. Vocally, this probably isn't as strong as her previous vocal but that isn't to criticize this as there's very little wrong it it. Sarah has really pulled it out of the bag tonight, these are definitely the two strongest performances that she has given in the competition and I wouldn't be too annoyed if she were to win, though I don't see it going to anyone other than Patrick tonight.</div>
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<b>'Man In The Mirror' by Michael Jackson - 9/10 - </b>If this had been based purely on the performance up to the part where the gospel choir came in, it would have been a 10/10 perfect performance. The song suited him to a tee and I love how powerful soul voice on the song but when the choir kicked in, he was drowned out to a certain extent. I think a choir is a very effective addition to a song like this because it works well with the whole style of the song but in terms of the performance, I just found that it made it harder to actually hear Patrick's voice. That being said, his talent is undeniable and I fully expect him to win it tonight because he hasn't really put a foot wrong in the competition.</div>
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<b>'Mama Knows Best' by Jessie J - 9.5/10 - </b>Patrick is pretty flawless vocally, he's definitely the strongest singer of the four remaining though I think the final has been on the whole a very close call between all four of the singers. This was definitely the right choice for his best performance, it was absolutely the performance of his that I enjoyed the most. I love the energy behind his vocals and I'm impressed by how much of a performance he puts on. I also like the conviction in his vocals, this song needs a bit of character and he inserted that into the performance perfectly. This is closer than I expected it to be but I still think Patrick is the most likely winner.</div>
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<b>4th - Kieran McKillop</b></div>
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<b>3rd - Sarah McTernan</b></div>
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<b>2nd - Emma Humber</b></div>
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<b>1st - Patrick Donoghue</b></div>
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<b><span style="color: lime;">4th </span>Place - Kieran McKillop</b></div>
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<b><span style="color: blue;">3rd</span> Place - Sarah McTernan</b></div>
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<b>And the <span style="color: red;">winner</span> is............</b></div>
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<b>Patrick Donoghue</b></div>
Kevin Mc Stravockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03436048199177267455noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4259533101493961797.post-72818376269192328222015-04-21T16:45:00.003-03:002015-04-21T16:45:36.978-03:00The Voice of Ireland: Season 4 - Semi-Final!<img alt="Photobucket" src="http://i1234.photobucket.com/albums/ff414/mdssblog/The%20Voice%20of%20Ireland/TheVoiceofIreland.png" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Segoe UI', Calibri, 'Myriad Pro', Myriad, 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br />
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We're down to eight acts, two on each team so tonight will see us finally find out who the finalists for 2015 are. Each act has just one last chance to prove why they deserve a place in the final and the coaches are powerless as it's fully down to the public to decide who gets through. The top four acts, regardless of teams will make it through to the final meaning we could well see two whole teams being knocked out tonight.<br />
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<b>Recap and videos after the JUMP...</b><br />
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<b>'Sugar' by Maroon 5 - 8/10 - </b>John was saved by his coach last week over his fellow Team Una member Niall O'Halloran. Niall probably had a stronger voice but John had been stronger in the live shows, so I agreed with the decision. This is good, I think I prefer it to last week's performance but at the same time, it isn't as strong as his performance during the live knockouts. Due to the fact that John's voice is quite high, the falsetto parts didn't have the same wow factor that the original song. Aside from a few pitchy parts in the chorus, his vocals were generally alright but it just didn't stand out as much as 'Firework'.</div>
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<b>'Weak' by Skunk Anansie - 9/10 - </b>Denise had an absolutely amazing performance last week with her unique swing take on a Natasha Bedingfield song. This song came a little bit out of nowhere as I expected Bressie to want her to continue to go down the blues/jazz route but it surprisingly works really well. I adore this song and Denise nails it, it's only when you see her doing tracks like this that you realize what a strong voice she actually has. Denise has been one of my favourites throughout the contest because she hasn't played it safe every week. Bressie has challenged her, given her songs that she wasn't necessarily comfortable with but she has taken them and put her own spin of them. Skin has a really unique voice but Denise's rendition of the song was surprisingly great. Aside from perhaps a few too many runs at the end, it was another fantastic performance from Denise. I'll be so disappointed if she doesn't make the final.</div>
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<b>'I Earned It' by The Weeknd - 7.5/10 - </b>This is a hard one to score because it was very much a performance of two halves. The opening was quite flat and it took her a while to find the correct pitch of the song. However, once she got into the song, I actually really started to enjoy it. Sarah isn't the strongest singer in the competition, she has certainly struggled with her pitch at times but she's one of the more unique vocalists in the competition and I love the intensity of this performance. The vocals definitely could have been much better but it's the first performance since her blind audition where I actually felt that she was engaged with the song, this darker style definitely suits her better than the slowed down club tracks she has been given a lot of recently. I really like Sarah as a performer but at the same time, I will be annoyed if she gets through over someone like Denise who killed it tonight as vocally, there were clear issues.</div>
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<b>'Welcome To The Jungle' by Guns N Roses - 9.5/10 - </b>There's only so many times he can lurk around the 9 mark but this was very close to getting the perfect 10. I literally cannot think of a single bad thing to say other than I wish he had went for the run in the 'bring you to your knees' line. The commitment that John puts into his performances is unrivalled. I'm slightly worried that John's consistency will work against but surely they wouldn't not vote for him after that performance?</div>
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<b>'Give Me Love' by Ed Sheeran - 8.5/10 - </b>I've said it a lot this series about him but Kieran's improvement over the course of the competition is definitely worth noting. Again, this was relatively faultless, slightly pitchy in the first verse perhaps but nothing outstandingly bad. Emotionally, I actually felt that he connected with the song a lot more than he has with previous performances. Where I'm stopping short is that I don't feel that his voice is as unique as some of his competitors. His vocals are strong but his song choices have all been quite safe choices, I've been waiting for Rachel to take him out of his comfort zone and she hasn't done that with him. All the same, it's hard to criticize someone for being consistently good and this was probably his best performance to date.</div>
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<b>'You're The Voice' by John Farnham - 9/10 - </b>As much as I want to sit here and criticize the fact that she's singing yet another pre-90's song, in fairness to Helena, this is easily her best performance in the show by a mile. I don't even particularly like this song but it's perfect for her, she has such a pure voice. Vocally, she's in the top three with John and Patrick for sure and I'm glad that we're finally getting the chance to see that, this song was so much better for her voice than the last couple of songs. I have to give her credit, to sing this well whilst in the final stages of your pregnancy is commendable, I've been half expecting her to go into labour on stage, who knows what will happen if she makes the finale?</div>
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<b>'What Kind of Man' by Florence and The Machines - 10/10 - </b>She's done it, I can't hold back any more, the first perfect performance of the series goes to Emma. After last week's slightly duff song choice, Emma is back to her best with this fantastic performance. I can't think of a better song for her voice, she had it all, the intensity, the incredible tone, the natural charisma on stage. Emma is one of the best contestants we've ever had on The Voice, I was slightly worried that she may only be able to do intense indie ballads but this shows that she's able to nail a higher energy performance too. I know I've said it a lot tonight but I will be fuming if she doesn't make the final after that performance.</div>
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<b>'Ain't Nobody' by Chaka Khan - 8.5/10 - </b>8.5 for Patrick seems like a low score but this is actually my least favourite performance of his. I really like the soul in Patrick's voice and he definitely had plenty of it in this performance but I just felt that he didn't really get into the performance as much as some of the previous songs. Vocally, there's no denying that he's one of the best in the competition but this didn't have the same wow factor that previous performances have had. If we were basing it on consistency I would probably be inclined to want Patrick in the final but based on tonight's performances, it's a hard one to call.</div>
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<b>Who Should Go Through:</b></div>
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Emma Humber</div>
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John Bonham</div>
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Denise Morgan</div>
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<b>Who Will Go Through:</b></div>
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Emma Humber</div>
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John Bonham</div>
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Patrick Donoghue</div>
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Sarah McTernan/Kieran McKillop</div>
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<b><span style="color: #f1c232; font-size: large;">Results</span></b></div>
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<b>Eliminated:</b></div>
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Denise Morgan</div>
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John Sheehy</div>
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Helena Bradley-Bates</div>
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Woah, I was certainly not expecting John Bonham to go home, it just shows that being brilliant doesn't always guarantee that you will get through, consistency can end up counting against you. Rachel's two acts getting through does seem a little annoying considering that they were two of the weaker acts tonight but I don't think anyone had a bad performance so to speak so it was never going to be an easy one to call. Poor Kian loses both his acts before the final for the second year in a row. I'm gutted for Denise as well who has been fantastic.</div>
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Kevin Mc Stravockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03436048199177267455noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4259533101493961797.post-24002807860581834412015-04-16T11:29:00.006-03:002015-04-16T11:29:58.882-03:00The Voice of Ireland: Season 4 - Quarter Final!<img alt="Photobucket" src="http://i1234.photobucket.com/albums/ff414/mdssblog/The%20Voice%20of%20Ireland/TheVoiceofIreland.png" /><br />
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So after three weeks of <strike>pointless</strike> live knockouts, we're at the quarter-final stage of the competition. The remaining twelve contestants will battle it out in their teams for the public votes. The act with the most votes on each team will proceed through to the semi-finals and each coach will then decide which of the remaining two on their team to take through and who to send home.<br />
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<b>Recap and videos after the JUMP...</b><br />
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<b><span style="color: red; font-size: large;">Team Rachel</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Paddy Kennedy </span>- 7/10 - 'Pencil Full Of Lead' by Paolo Nutini</b></div>
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Security guard Paddy impressed coach Rachel last week with his rendition of a Sam Smith song so this week he's taking on Paolo Nutini. Again. I'm not sure why he's doing a song by an artist he has already covered, it does seem a bit of a lazy choice but anyway. This song is very quick and pacing is everything, I think he's maybe slightly off timing at points but it's a relatively solid vocal. That said, I'm not a big fan of his voice on this song, I know Paolo also has that raspy quality to his voice but there's something very bluesy about Paolo's voice on the original and that is missing from Paddy's rendition of the song. It's a decent cover but I'm just not so sure that it totally worked for his voice.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Kieran McKillop </span>- 8/10 - 'Mirrors' by Justin Timberlake</b></div>
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Kieran has impressed me a lot since the live shows began. I didn't really rate him in the initial audition but his voice has improved a lot, again this is a really strong vocal, I don't enjoy it just as much as the last performance just because I don't think it was a very distinctive original performance but it was a very strong rendition of the song. My only concern with Kieran is that I'm not totally sure that his voice is particularly unique but I can't fault his vocals.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Sarah McTernan </span>- 8/10 - 'What I Did For Love' by David Guetta feat. Emeli Sandé</b></div>
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First of all, this is so much stronger than the last two performances she has given, which haven't suited her particularly well. I'm still waiting for her to do something as amazing as her audition but this was a good performance, I loved Sarah's tone on this song and vocally, there wasn't an awful lot wrong with the performance. Again, something I mentioned last week is creeping up again but the backing singers didn't sound right on this performance at all. When it kicked into the chorus they actually drowned Sarah out so someone needs to turn their mics down a little and again, their voices just didn't blend together particularly well.</div>
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<b>Kieran McKillop</b> tops the votes for Team Rachel, she picks <b>Sarah McTernan</b> to go through to the semi-final meaning that we lose Paddy Kennedy tonight. Based on tonight's performances, I have to agree with the decision Rachel made. Paddy has progressed in the competition but I feel like Sarah and Kieran are that bit stronger.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Kayleigh Cullinan</span> - 7.5/10 - 'Freewheel' by Duke Special </b></div>
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I think I've made my opinion quite clear on some of the song choices Bressie has made for his female contestants this year. In fairness, I prefer this to her U2 song choice in the knockouts but I still wish he had just allowed her to go for something more natural for her voice. The arrangement of this song is a little monotone at the start but I quite like it, that being said, the higher parts of song still aren't high enough for her voice and she ends up sounding quite squeaky on these notes. I love Kayleigh's voice, she's a really good singer but I don't think forcing her into these kinds of songs has benefitted her really. All the same, for the most part it was a solid performance.<br />
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<b><span style="color: red;">Emma Humber </span>- 8.5/10 - 'Play Dead' by Bjork</b></div>
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Emma's performance in the knockout rounds was up there with the best live show performances from all four seasons in my opinion. This isn't quite as strong, but then again, she did set the bar very high for herself. That being said, I still really like this song, I love the atmosphere the track creates, it's very tense and gothic and Emma once again captures the emotion of the song perfectly. Vocally, I really enjoy it too, the song isn't the most exciting in the world though so it's a step down from her last performance. All the same, I fully expect that she'll be here in the semi-finals as she's a brilliant singer.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Denise Morgan </span>- 9.5/10 - 'These Words' by Natasha Bedingfield</b></div>
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This is an absolutely brilliant song choice, when I first saw what she was covering, I thought Bressie had went mad. Thankfully it's actually a very clever jazzy cover of the song. I've never heard this song being covered like this before but Denise's amazing bluesy tone makes this a breath of fresh air. I love the atmosphere the song creates, it has such a retro 1920's feel to it, it's also the first time I'm seeing how massive Denise's range is. She goes for notes that I didn't think she had it in her to hit, some of her runs remind me a little bit of Jessie J's voice actually. This was a brilliant performance, the runs, the bluesiness in her voice and her commitment to the performance all really impressed me.</div>
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<b>Emma Humber</b> wins the public vote and <b>Denise Morgan</b> is her coach's choice to go through to the semi-finals. Kayleigh had a great voice but Emma has been so consistent and Denise was absolutely incredible tonight so again, the right call from their coach.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Patrick Donoghue </span>- 9/10 - 'Only Love Can Hurt Like This' by Paloma Faith</b></div>
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I think it would feel weird giving Patrick anything less than an 8 or 8.5 because he's so consistent vocally. I don't think he knows how to sing out of tune, all of his performances have been pitch perfect. I know it feels hypocritical me saying this when I didn't like Bressie pushing Kayleigh out of her comfort zone but I do sort of wish Una would surprise us with something a bit less predictable. It's not that I have an issue with Patrick singing these songs as he's amazing at them, and it does at least give us an idea of what his album would sound like but I worry that because he's so bloody consistent, people might get bored. I'm not saying give him Black Sabbath, but I would be interested to see him singing something by someone other than a powerhouse female. All the same, that's his place in the semis booked.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">John Sheehy </span>- 8/10 - 'Hold Back The River' by James Bay</b></div>
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John had a breakthrough moment last week with 'Firework', it was his best performance by far. This wasn't as good, it's not that he isn't a good singer, he, like Patrick has a really big range but if you're going to sing a song like this, I think you need a little bit of grit. Vocally, this was fine but I think there were a few too many vocal acrobatics, it lacked the authenticity of the original, I didn't really feel a connection with John during the performance. Vocally, it was very impressive but I would have preferred for him to hold back (no pun intended) a little on the song. All the same, he's a really strong singer.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Niall O'Halloran </span>- 7/10 - 'Love You Like I Can' by Sam Smith</b></div>
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Again with using the same artist that Niall has already covered, it does seem a little unimaginative. Niall's voice is huge, much like his competitors but he has a bit of a habit of oversinging, he throws too many runs and too much power into the song. If he waited and did it just in the higher notes, it would be phenomenal but he has a habit of oversinging most of the song. I preferred this to his Ellie Goulding cover and the latter half of the song was very good but overall, I feel like his habit of oversinging adversely affects the way he connects with the songs he sings.<br />
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Unsurprisingly, <b>Patrick Donoghue</b> is the public's choice to go through to the semi-finals. Una decides to give <b>John Sheehy</b> the second place in next week's show, meaning that Niall O'Halloran is heading home. Unfortunately, I think Niall and Patrick appealed to similar audiences and Patrick had a stronger performance tonight.<br />
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<span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b>Team Kian</b></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Fionn Gardner </span>- 6.5/10 - 'Up' by Olly Murs feat. Demi Lovato</b></div>
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Fionn is one of the artists I don't feel has benefited from his coach's song choices, his first audition was brilliant but since then I feel like the choices have been too poppy and have lacked that slight edge his first audition had. I really didn't like this song choice for him, for starters it doesn't sound right with just one singer on it considering that it was originally a duet. Vocally, he is a little wobbly, particularly on the high notes. I'm also not keen on the arrangement of the song, there's something just a little off about the way the song is arranged and I personally just didn't feel that it suited Fionn's voice particularly well. If he had been given something like James Vincent McMorrow, Passenger, even something by the likes of Two Door Cinema Club, I think he could have been really good tonight.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Helena Bradley-Bates </span>- 7.5/10 - 'River Deep, Mountain High' by Tina & Ike Turner</b></div>
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Why is Kian incapable of giving her modern songs? Helena has a fantastic voice but I'm getting a bit bored of hearing her singing classic songs we've heard covered loads of times. Vocally, this is probably my favourite performance of hers since the blind auditions and she looks a lot more confident on stage than she has in previous weeks but I do think she could do with singing something a little more contemporary just to take her out of her comfort zone a little bit.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">John Bonham </span>- 9/10 - 'Stand By Me' by Ben E. King</b></div>
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When the song first started, I wasn't sure that I was going to like it but as it kicked into the chorus, I was blown away. This is a fantastic song choice, nice to see John doing something different and putting his own spin on a song we wouldn't expect to hear him singing. He nailed the notes, it didn't have quite the same wow factor as last week's performance, mainly because it was a much more stripped back song but all the same, John definitely deserves to make the semi-final, if not the final.<br />
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<b>John Bonham</b> tops the votes, whilst it's <b>Helena Bradley-Bates</b> who gets Kian's vote to take her into the semi-finals. So Fionn Gardner leaves Team Kian tonight.</div>
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Kevin Mc Stravockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03436048199177267455noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4259533101493961797.post-81619001223408832992015-04-11T09:51:00.002-03:002015-04-11T09:51:48.930-03:00The Voice of Ireland: Season 4 - Live Knockout Rounds 3<img alt="Photobucket" src="http://i1234.photobucket.com/albums/ff414/mdssblog/The%20Voice%20of%20Ireland/TheVoiceofIreland.png" /><br />
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Anyone who has been reading my recaps throughout this season of The Voice will probably have a good idea of my thoughts towards the new live knockout rounds introduced this series. So as we approach the final knockout round of the series, let's hope the best four at least make it through so the mass elimination of 24 acts in the space of three acts hasn't been for nothing.<br />
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<b>Recap and videos after the JUMP...</b><br />
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<b><span style="color: red;">John O'Grady </span>- 7.5/10 - 'Hush' by Deep Purple </b></div>
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I kind of feel like Bressie has done his male acts a disservice this series when it came to song choices. He has played to their strengths but given them quite clichéd karaoke song choices. This was a nice enough vocal from John and he seemed to be enjoying it but the song choice was just very lackluster. I feel like he needed something which he could put his own stamp on, this felt too similar to the original. Of the three tonight, I think John's style is probably the least commercial but he could have easily blown the other two out of the water with a really clever song choice which he could have put his own spin on. Vocally, it was pretty good but the song choice just didn't wow.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Kayleigh Cullinan </span>- 8/10 'Every Breaking Wave' by U2 </b></div>
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I'm not a massive fan of this song choice for Kayleigh either. I know I was complaining about John's song being too close to the originaly but I don't think someone should be pushed into doing a song like this just so Bressie can be like 'You put your own spin on it'. The song didn't really suit being slowed down as much as it was and vocally, it sounded like it was slightly too low for Kayleigh. You're probably at this point wondering why I've scored her higher than John then. Even though I didn't love the song for her, Kayleigh committed to the performance far more than she did in the Battle Rounds. I actually felt emotion from her and she's probably in the top three vocalists of the series. I don't think this was her best vocal performance but the emotion she injected into her performance made up for it.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Ashley Loftus </span>- 7/10 - 'Live Forever' by Oasis</b></div>
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Ashley has been really good to this point but I think she sort of lost her sparkle tonight. Again, I'm not sure about this song choice for her, I don't get why Bressie is obsessed by giving his girls lesser known songs by 90's bands, however great they are when there are dozens of great songs that Ashley could have nailed. Vocally, she was a bit flat at the start but it was the lack of conviction that was the main drawback for me. She needed more fire, more passion, the vocal didn't really go anywhere and I sort of felt that she lost her spark. Ashley is probably more down Bressie's route in terms of artistry but I think Kayleigh had the better performance tonight.<br />
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Bressie brings <b>Kayleigh Cullinan </b>through to the quarter-finals. Based on tonight, I fel that it was the right decision. John probably gave the better vocal but there was nothing outstanding about the performance and I felt that Ashley didn't give the emotion we're used to seeing from her.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Amy Hansard </span>- 6.5/10 - 'Price Tag' by Jessie J</b></div>
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I don't know what's up with the song choices tonight, this is another very random one. Amy's problem in the battle rounds was her performance ability so giving her an upbeat song which is very much about performance seems like such a random decision. I don't think this was a great song choice for Amy, vocally she was a little unsteady, the nerves definitely appear to have kicked in. It wasn't great, I feel a bit sorry for Amy as she's young and if she had been given the right song, she had the potential to really wow us but this wasn't strong enough to see her through to the quarter-finals, I fear.<br />
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<b><span style="color: red;">Paddy Kennedy </span>- 7.5/10 - 'I'm Not The Only One' by Sam Smith</b></div>
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Kudos to Paddy for doing something different with the song, for the most part I thought this arrangement of the song was pretty good actually. The problem I have with Paddy is that his husky tone, whilst nice for a while, soon gets quite grating. It also restricts his range significantly, when he shifted into the higher parts of the song, singing with that husky quality made it sound like he was really straining to reach those notes. I think when it comes to the higher part of the song, simplicity is key and he would have been better just stripping it back and going for the notes. This is probably his best performance to date but there's still things he needs to iron out with his voice.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Gemma Lomax </span>- 9/10 - 'Naughty Girl' by Beyoncé</b><br />
This isn't my favourite Beyoncé song by a long shot but it's nice to see her not singing the usual 'Listen' we're used to hearing on these shows. In fairness to Gemma, she hasn't been a standout for me in the previous stages but this is by a country mile the best performance so far tonight. She's the only act tonight who has properly moved around the stage and still managed to sing in tune for the entire performance. I get the impression that Rachel favours Paddy more than she does Gemma but for me, her voice is so much stronger and to take a Beyoncé song and do it justice takes some vocal chops. One thing though, the backing singers were awful, literally so terrible, we could really have done without that. I'm not taking that away from the score though as it's not really Gemma's fault.<br />
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Rachel takes <b>Paddy Kennedy </b>through to the quarter-finals. Although he has improved a lot from his first audition to now, I still feel that Gemma was by far the strongest performer on Team Rachel tonight.<br />
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<span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b>Team Kian</b></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Ciara Monaghan </span>- 7.5/10 - 'Cool Kids' by Echosmith</b></div>
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Originally entered as a 2FM wildcard, Ciara had a rather rocky battle round performance after Kian walked out on her and her battle round opponent Karla during rehearsals, frustrated at their lack of progress. Her biggest drawback in the competition has been her lack of confidence which has reflected in her performances. Again, this is Ciara's best performance to date, she did a pretty decent job with it, and looked so much more comfortable on stage than she has in previous performances. The only real drawback I found was that her timing was a little off with the band, probably due to nerves and although it was vocally great, it was missing a little of that distinctive quality to her voice that we saw in the blind audition, it felt a little too similar to the original.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">John Bonham </span>- 9.5/10 - 'Run To The Hills' by Iron Maiden</b></div>
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Woah, was not expecting this at all. John has been great so far but Kian's track record with rock singers previously hasn't exactly been gleaming (just look at every single song choice he gave Shane McLaughlin in Series 2). This was absolutely amazing, the vocals, the stage presence, everything about this was fantastic. John is such a natural on stage and tears through the crazy notes on this song with ease. If I were to say one thing, it would be that now we have seen what John is capable of doing with classic rock tracks, I'd like to see him doing something that isn't perhaps as well known. I'm not saying give him some obscure Scandi metal track but we've seen how he can nail classic tracks that most people will be familiar with, it would be nice to see him singing something that isn't perhaps as widely known. Great performance all the same, if John doesn't get through, Kian needs sacked.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Caoin Fitz </span>- 6.5/10 - 'Night Changes' by One Direction</b></div>
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Oh Caoin, for some reason this year he hasn't had the same magic as he did last series. His blind audition was quite pitchy and the beginning of this song is very flat. I don't like this song choice for him, it's really dull and doesn't really have much progression. His vocals sort of picked up later in the performance but he was considerably weaker tonight than his two teammates. I feel like Caoin should have aimed more towards the style of last year's performances, it kind of feels like he lost his spark this series. It wasn't a good song choice for him, so I'll give Kian a bit of flack for that but vocally, it wasn't up to scratch either. A shame really as I was so excited when I heard Caoin had reauditioned but I was just waiting for something as good as 'Made Of Stone'.</div>
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Kian unsurprisingly picks <b>John Bonham</b> for the quarter-finals. Without a doubt the right choice, John was fantastic tonight.</div>
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<span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b>Team Una</b></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Evan Cotter </span>- 5.5/10 - 'Bad Bad Leroy Brown' by Jim Croce</b></div>
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This was...unusual? In all seriousness, I don't know what possessed Una to give him this song because it was just a horrible song choice to give anybody, it's like something you would hear a farmer sing at karaoke in a small rural pub. Evan, although not my style, definitely had something in the blind auditions but this didn't work. Vocally, it was just alright, the American twang he sang with, just sounded really put on and strange. The arrangement wasn't great and the choreography was absolutely bizarre, he didn't look comfortable on stage and the whole thing was just baffling. I literally don't know what to make of that, Evan seems a great guy and he definitely has talent but this choice just didn't display it in any way.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Kelley McArdle </span>- 7/10 - 'Everywhere' by Michelle Branch</b></div>
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This song choice came out of nowhere, I never expected to hear it used on The Voice. It's a great track but it just seems unusual to hear a song that barely made it into the UK Top 20 about 14 years ago being used. The positives, this was better than her battle round performance for sure, vocally it was definitely more consistent but I still found it a little under par. She didn't really own the song, and again the transition between her rap verse and back into singing was a little shouty. Kelley has definitely made progress in the competition but I'm not sure that it's enough to take her through to the quarter-finals.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">John Sheehy </span>- 8.5/10 - 'Firework' by Katy Perry</b></div>
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John is another act I haven't really rated in the competition so far, his higher voice can be polarizing and I've sort of found myself on the side that wasn't so keen on it. Thankfully, he appears to have toned it down a little for this performance and I actually find myself really enjoying this. Vocally, this is the strongest of Team Una by a clear margin, his restraint impresses me as it's very easy to overdo this song and he hits every high note with ease. This is a really strong performance by John, I'm extremely impressed.<br />
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Una completes her quarter final line-up by taking <b>John Sheehy</b> through.Kevin Mc Stravockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03436048199177267455noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4259533101493961797.post-9840590284177705262015-04-01T22:10:00.000-03:002015-04-11T09:52:27.829-03:00The Voice of Ireland: Season 4 - Live Knockout Rounds 2<img alt="Photobucket" src="http://i1234.photobucket.com/albums/ff414/mdssblog/The%20Voice%20of%20Ireland/TheVoiceofIreland.png" style="background-color: white; border: 0px currentcolor; color: #444444; font-family: 'Segoe UI', Calibri, 'Myriad Pro', Myriad, 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br />
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Last week saw Patrick, Helena, Kieran and Emma make it through to the quarter-finals after the first third of the contestants battled it out in the knockout rounds. Tonight, twelve more contestants will perform with just four of them (one from each team) making it through to the quarter-finals in a fortnight's time.<br />
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<b>Recap and videos after the JUMP...</b><br />
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<b><span style="color: red;">Fionn Gardner </span>- 8/10 - 'What I Like About You' by The Romantics </b></div>
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Fionn has been one of the standout contestants from Team Kian this year after his coach told him that he was a potential winner following his blind audition. This isn't a revolutionary song choice but it's a solid performance by Fionn. Fionn has a bit of an edge to his voice but I find this a little pedestrian, I would have liked him to do something quite leftfield, a song by a quirky girl perhaps as he has quite a quirky voice himself. That said, of the three performing on Team Kian tonight, I think he's probably the most marketable.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Pat Fitz </span>- 7.5/10 - 'Thinking Out Loud' by Ed Sheeran</b></div>
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Pat's experience shows in his confidence on stage but I kind of feel that his years as a professional singer have given him a few bad habits as well. When it comes to a song like this, the beauty is in its' simplicity and it sounds far better being sung purely and from the heart. For me, as talented as he is, Pat threw in too many runs and took away from the emotion of the song. Vocally, it was strong but in terms of the emotion, there was something missing there, I just felt like he didn't connect with the lyrics of the song so much. A very good vocal but the emotion was somewhat lacking.<br />
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<b><span style="color: red;">Kate Purcell </span>- 7/10 - 'Sweet About Me' by Gabriella Cilmi</b></div>
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I was concerned about Kate after the battle rounds where she was landed with a really poor song choice. This is slightly better but it still doesn't feel quite right for her. This song is quite a sultry, bluesy song and I feel that Kate's charm is in her storytelling ability. She can tell a story with her voice and something stripped back with real feeling and emotion would have suited her a lot better than this song. It was a decent effort but the song doesn't really stray much from the melody, it's lacking a moment.</div>
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Kian brings <b>Fionn Gardner </b>through to the quarter-finals.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Sarah McTernan </span>- 7/10 - 'Ghost' by Ella Henderson</b></div>
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Sarah is one of the favourites due to her standout blind audition, her battle round didn't measure up quite as much and to be honest, I still don't think she has topped that initial performance. Her timing seems a bit off at the beginning and it sounds like she's too low for the song. I like her tone, it's what makes her stand out but on a song which thrives on the power in Ella Henderson's vocals, I feel like her quirky tone isn't best suited to the song. She has a good range but I feel like her voice has other strengths which this song didn't really do justice to, I would have preferred something like 'Holding Onto Heaven' by Foxes or 'Only Love Can Hurt Like This' by Paloma Faith that embraced her quirky tone.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Paul Taylor </span>- 8/10 - 'Father and Son' by Cat Stevens</b></div>
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Paul had never performed in front of a big crowd before his first audition where he sang his heart out. He has the opposite problem to Pat Fitz, vocally the start is a little flat but he does in fairness get into his stride with the song. However, there's no teaching anyone what Paul does with this song, he absolutely immerses himself in the emotion of the song and connects with it brilliantly. I spoke earlier about storytelling voices and this is what Paul has, as Bressie puts it, he's able to tell a story with his voice and I love that aspect of his performances. I'm not sure if he has as much room to progress as Sarah but that was a really strong performance. He's like the male equivalent of Sally Barker from last year's Voice UK.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Cian O'Melia </span>- 6.5/10 - 'Blame It On Me' by George Ezra</b></div>
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It's hard to pinpoint what it is about this performance that doesn't totally register with me. Cian has a decent voice and a nice Irish folksy twang but even though the style of the song should work for him, it's a sort of middle of the road performance. Cian's issue up to this point has been his performance and I still feel that he lacks the charisma and stage presence that would have given this song a bit more gravitas. Vocally, it's not bad, there are a few flat notes but it's the performance I've more of an issue with. He sings the song but I don't feel like he really engages with the feeling behind it, a bit like Pat, it's a bit singing by numbers for me. There's not enough personality or feeling in his performance.<br />
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Rachel chooses <b>Sarah McTernan</b>. This was tough because they all had problems but I do think that Sarah has the most potential and has been stronger up to this point.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Ken Murphy </span>- 6/10 - '20th Century Boy' by T-Rex</b></div>
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It's hard to know what way to take Ken, I mean he's certainly entertaining and memorable but as a vocalist, it doesn't really work for me. He definitely has talent but there's too much running about and dramatic stage antics which distracts from his voice. I mean as part of a tribute band to some of the classic 70's and 80's rock artists, he would be good but his voice sounds too put on, it doesn't come naturally and in terms of producing original music, I feel like that's where he would struggle. As an entertainer, he's very good but he's not the voice of Ireland for me.<br />
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<b><span style="color: red;">Denise Morgan </span>- 8.5/10 - 'Ten Story Love Song' by The Stone Roses</b></div>
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I don't think this is Denise's best performance by a country mile, but it says a lot that it's still easily the strongest performance of the night so far. I would place the blame with the song choice as I'm not sure that it suited her voice brilliantly. I think the song had a slightly limited ranger for her voice so she sounded a bit sharp on those higher notes. However, I feel like she immerses herself in the song, and actually shows a different side to what we've seen from her so far. I love her tone and the celtic feel that she gives this song, which is weird because she's not even Irish herself. I would love to hear Denise singing a bit of Alabama Shakes or Nerina Pallot.<br />
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<b><span style="color: red;">Laura Enright </span>- 6.5/10 - 'Four Five Seconds' by Rihanna, Kanye West & Paul McCartney</b></div>
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This was just a bad choice straight up, Laura has been brilliant up to this point but this song just seemed to be totally unsuited to her. It should have been alright but she oversang it, particularly in the bridge about a minute and a quarter in and it didn't feel like the same singer we heard in the blind auditions. What I loved about Laura was her individuality, she really put her own stamp on 'Hey Ya' but this didn't have the same feel to it at all. It was just a straight up cover and because her vocals were so exposed, they just didn't hold up. I'm disappointed for her because she has an undeniably great voice but it wasn't her best.</div>
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Bressie picks <b>Denise Morgan</b>. She was definitely the strongest singer tonight.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Nicola Lynch </span>- 6/10 - 'Fancy' by Iggy Azalea feat. Charli XCX </b></div>
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Weirdly, what has been the thing which has made Nicola stand out from the other singers to this point is what sort of done her in tonight. The band sort of mangled that song, the backing just sounded really weak and there was just no real ambiance or atmosphere to the performance. Add to that, Iggy Azalea is a very good female rapper and to me Nicola, as talented as she is, just can't hold a candle to her. So by performing arguably her most recognizable track, she was putting herself under a lot of pressure. I just don't feel that this performance really held up, it felt a little stilted and awkward, the song just didn't really work for this show.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Niall O'Halloran </span>- 6.5/10 - 'Love Me Like You Do' by Ellie Goulding</b></div>
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This is so frustrating, again, just like Laura I feel like Niall's song choice has served him badly. The song is beautiful but firstly, it doesn't lend itself well to being cut down to 90 seconds or so. Secondly, it sounds like he sang the song in the wrong key the whole way throughout because there was no real progression in his voice. Ellie's voice soars in that higher part of the song but whether it was the arrangement or the key the song was in, it didn't sound right for his voice. Niall's one of the strongest singers in the competition but this was not his best performance by any standards. I'll give him credit for his control but it just didn't work.<br />
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<b><span style="color: red;">Chloe Wilders </span>- 7/10 - 'Blank Space' by Taylor Swift</b></div>
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Again I don't feel that the arrangement of the song really worked. There was definitely a lack of progression in the song, the arrangement made it sound like it doesn't really go anywhere when it does actually. Vocally, if Chloe had sang for the entire song like she did in the last 30 seconds, I think it would have been much stronger, the backing singers coming into the song sounded particularly rough. I love Chloe's tone so much but I don't think this was the best song for her, some of Taylor Swift's earlier material which has a much stronger country flavour would have suited her a lot better, even something like 'Born To Try' by Delta Goodrem would have worked out pretty well for her in my opinion. Then again, nobody in Team Una has had a particularly strong night and I happen to think Chloe was probably the best of the three tonight.<br />
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Una chooses <b>Niall O'Halloran</b>. This was a decision I think everybody saw coming as he's a great singer but I fear Patrick and him will split the votes. He didn't have a great night tonight and I feel if it had been purely based on tonight's performances, Chloe should have been put through. The knockout rounds format definitely hasn't benefited Team Una, if either of the two she sent home last week had been on this week they would have made it through with ease.</div>
Kevin Mc Stravockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03436048199177267455noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4259533101493961797.post-87132046737038841902015-03-24T19:51:00.000-03:002015-03-24T19:51:55.764-03:00The Voice of Ireland: Season 4 - Live Knockout Rounds 1<img alt="Photobucket" src="http://i1234.photobucket.com/albums/ff414/mdssblog/The%20Voice%20of%20Ireland/TheVoiceofIreland.png" style="border-image: none; border: 0px currentColor; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">After three series, The Voice of Ireland is finally following its' counterparts in introducing the knockout round stage. However, there's a twist as the coaches will be making their decisions live. For the next three shows, three contestants from each team will perform for their coaches with their coaches deciding there and then which act to take through to the quarter-finals.</span><br />
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<strong>Recap and videos after the JUMP...</strong><br />
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<strong><span style="color: red; font-size: large;">Team Una</span></strong></div>
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<strong><span style="color: red;">Shauna Nolan <span style="color: black;">- 8/10 - 'Bang Bang' by Jessie J feat. Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj </span></span></strong><br />
<span style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;">Shauna has a nice voice but to this point she has had pitch issues in her performances. This is probably the best she has sung in the competition, I'm not a fan of the band's arrangement of the song, it cheapens it a little but vocally, this is definitely a decent performance. The only thing I find is that when she's hitting the high note of the song, she changes key too many times before hitting it so it doesn't have the same impact. That said, it's an impressive performance all in all. </span></span><br />
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<b><span style="color: red;">Kathleen Mahon </span>- 8.5/10 - 'Whole Lotta Love' by Led Zeppelin </b><br />
Kathleen is one of my favourites in the competition, she blew me away in the Battles and I was delighted to see Una steal her. This song is a bit of an out there choice for her but I have to say, she definitely does it justice. At the start I feel that her voice is being slightly drowned out by the music but as it comes into the chorus she grabs hold of the song and absolute nails it. As Bressie says, she has a moment towards the end when she goes for the high notes that just grabbed me. Knowing who is coming next, I don't hold out for Kathleen making it through but this was great.<br />
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<b><span style="color: red;">Patrick Donoghue </span>- 9.5/10 - 'Mama Knows Best' by Jessie J</b><br />
In the words of Kelly Rowland, who knew he could do uptempo....ow. This was pretty hard to fault, Patrick's talent is undeniable and he absolutely nails every run in this song, which is an impressive feat considering how massive Jessie's range is. I'm particularly impressed by how Patrick delivers the performance, I felt that was where he may fall down but he totally delivered the performance. His presence and his voice are pretty much second to none in this competition and it's beyond obvious that Una won't be sending him home after that.<br />
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Una chooses <b>Patrick Donoghue</b> to take through to the quarter-finals. All I can fault is the format of the knockout rounds. If you're going to kick six people out of the teams then at least put them all on stage together and let the coach take the best three through. Given the performances I saw tonight, there was an argument for any of them getting through so it'll be very annoying if the remaining six acts all sing poorer than Kathleen or Shauna did.<br />
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<b><span style="color: red;">Helena Bradley-Bates </span>- 8/10 - 'I Want To Know What Love Is' by Foreigner</b></div>
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The curse of Kian's song choices strikes again. I know Helena sung an 80's power ballad in her blind audition but that didn't mean her song choices should be confined to that for the rest of the process. There's no denying Helena's talent, vocally this is pretty perfect but it's very hard for her to put her own stamp on something that we have seen and heard ad nauseum. A very strong vocal performance but I personally fear that he's going to stick her into this very confined range of songs, like he seems to do with every powerful female singer on his team.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Colm Conlan </span>- 8/10 - 'Angel Of Small Death and the Codeine Scene' by Hozier</b></div>
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Again with the uncreative song choices from Kian, Colm sang Hozier in the blind auditions, it's a little bit early to be giving him another Hozier song surely. Actually, to give Colm credit, this is by far the best performance he has had in the process. His blind audition was quite flat, his battle round was a bit of a disaster but this was pretty great actually. If I had to give some slight criticism, I do feel that his vocal was too similar to the original song, which isn't necessarily a bad thing considering how good Hozier's voice is. Overall, he's pretty much on par with Helena, her being the better vocalist, him having more potential as an artist.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Chris Brady </span>- 7.5/10 - 'Dear Darling' by Olly Murs</b></div>
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What's with everyone having their best performance on the first live show? This was so much better than Chris' battle round performance. I actually feel like he had the most distinctive vocal of the night so far with this, vocally there were definitely a few pitching issues but overall, it was a very good performance. I feel like he sort of got drowned out in the second rendition of the chorus but just like Colm, he has came on leaps and bounds and if the format had been the same as last year for the live shows, I honestly don't know who would go home.</div>
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Kian picks <b>Helena Bradley-Bates</b> to take through to the quarter-finals. To be honest, I think she's the least distinctive of the three artists who performed tonight but vocally, she has definitely been the most consistent. Chris and Colm were both great though so fair play to them, I won't bother venting about the format again but you can understand my frustrations when everyone so far has been at least B/B+ standard.</div>
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<span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b>Team Rachel</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: red;"><b>Ellie-May Bopp</b> </span>has withdrawn from the competition for personal reasons. (According to her Facebook, she was ill and couldn't even perform in rehearsals so unless it looked like an illness that wasn't going to go away, I don't get why someone else couldn't have been drafted in?) So it's between two acts on Team Rachel for the first spot in the quarter-finals.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Kieran McKillop </span>- 8.5/10 - 'Together We Cry' by The Script</b></div>
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Kieran is another artist I haven't to this stage really rated and to be honest, this performance sort of came out of nowhere for me. It was pretty similar to the original version, right down to there being a bit of a similarity in Danny and Kieran's vocals but in all fairness to him, this was by far his strongest vocal. He still needs to work on putting his stamp on the songs he sings otherwise he'll run the risk of seeming like a very good karaoke singer but that last high note was pretty fantastic. </div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Shannon Doyle </span>- 7/10 - 'Lips Are Moving' by Meaghan Trainor </b></div>
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This is a tricky one for me, the vocal was better than I expected it to be but I was still disappointed by this performance. I feel like it needed a little more energy and a bit more backing support for Shannon to lift it because it kind of felt lifeless. I mean, what was with the organ sound coming through in the arrangement, the song needs a lot of energy and that for me was lacking. Shannon's vocals definitely improved as the song went on but I'm going to put it down to poor song choice, or at least poor arrangement of the song because the performance needed something to lift it and I feel like that dragged Shannon down a little.</div>
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Rachel picks <b>Kieran McKillop</b>. Based on the two performances tonight, it was the right choice.</div>
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<span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b>Team Bressie</b></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Emma Humber </span>- 9/10 - 'Eve, The Apple of My Eye' by Bell X1 </b></div>
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This was an absolutely stunning song choice for Emma, such a gorgeous understated song and this was the first performance of the night to give me goosebumps. Emma has this effortless ability to immerse herself in the song and absolutely nail the emotion of the songs she sings. Vocally, there were two moments in the song where she was slightly pitchy but it could easily be overlooked when she was able to lose herself in the song like she did. For me, she's the one with the most potential to be a success after the show, I'd be keeping an eye on her.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Dean Arthur </span>- 7/10 - 'The Way You Look Tonight' by Fred Astaire</b></div>
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No, it's not a new addition to the show, Dean's surname appears to have been changed for some reason, having been known as Dean Forrester in the earlier stages of the competition. There's no denying that Dean has a great swing voice, he's very much in the vein of the classic swing singers but I kind of felt that this was too pedestrian. There was nothing about it that stood out from every other swing/big band singer out there and I kind of felt like the charm and charisma of artists like Fred Astaire which is why they were so successful was missing from this performance, it needed a little more on the performance side of things. All the same, by any standards,this was a good performance.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Sasha Sangari-Smith </span>- 9/10 - 'Piece Of My Heart' by Janis Joplin </b></div>
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This is why I'm so mad at this silly format change. This was an absolutely phenomenal performance, Sasha just came out from nowhere and tore the stage up, that opening note was fantastic and the attitude, the movements on stage, everything was pretty brilliant. Janis Joplin is not an easy artist to do justice to but Sasha was up there with the best performances of that song I have seen. It's a travesty that one of her or Emma has to go home because they were in the top three performances of the night and the fact that one of them will be going home when they may well have performed better than the six other acts in Team Bressie is frustrating.</div>
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Bressie picks <b>Emma Humber</b>. He's totally justified in taking her through because whilst Sasha definitely had the stronger vocal, Emma's stage presence and tone give her an edge over the rest of the contestants. However, I'm going to say it until I'm blue in the face, at least five of the people who were sent home tonight could have justifiably been put through based on their performances. On a side note, I'd say that's easily the best live show ever on the whole, there were literally no performances I could describe as bad. Let's hope the rest of the series is as strong.</div>
Kevin Mc Stravockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03436048199177267455noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4259533101493961797.post-48732144138239388202015-03-03T16:45:00.005-03:002015-03-03T16:45:39.708-03:00American Idol: Season 14: Top 12 Girls Perform<div style="text-align: justify;">
<img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1234.photobucket.com/albums/ff414/mdssblog/American%20Idol/americanidolbanner.png" /><br />
A new season of Idol is finally upon us. Well, it's been for a few months but, who's counting anyway? The field is already whittled down to 24 contestants, who will be performing in two groups, boys and girls, and next week, 8 people will be packing their bags. Aaron will be writing this recaps, at least until he gets bored and I've to do them myself. Haha.</div>
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<b>Recap and videos after the jump ...</b> </div>
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<a name='more'></a><b><span style="color: red;">Lovey James</span> - "Love Runs Out" by OneRupublic - 7/10</b><br />
Lovey has been one of my favourites since her audition and Hollywood, especially 'All About That Bass'. This is another strong performance from her, although not my favourite. It's still pretty strong though. The judges seem to love it too, saying it was a good start. I hope she makes it through.<br />
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<b><span style="color: red;">Adanna Duru</span> - "Rather Be" by Clean Bandit and Jesse Glynne - 7/10</b><br />
I actually really like this. The start was the best she sounded in the competition. When it kicked up, I agree with Harry, it did become slightly out of control. Still a great performance. This is the first I actually liked from hers. I wouldn't be surprised if she makes it through, but I do worry she might not.<br />
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<b><span style="color: red;">Alexis Gomez </span>- "Gunpowder and Lead" by Miranda Lambert - 6/10</b><br />
Her first solid performance in a while. The vocals were great, and the performance was overall good, but she does tend to bore me a bit. She kind of does the same thing all the time, which was the reason why I found this a tad boring. She might get through, but I don't see it.<br />
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<b><span style="color: red;">Joey Cook</span> - "Somebody Like You" by Keith Urban - 7.5/10</b><br />
Ugh, how corny is it singing one of the judges songs? But this is pretty interesting, in a good way. I'm actually kind of liking it. She took the country twang out of it and made it kind of quirky. She has her squeeze box with her again. She gets a standing ovation from Keith. I see her getting through.<br />
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<b><span style="color: red;">Katherine Winston</span> - "Safe & Sound" by Taylor Swift - 8/10</b><br />
I love her. Usually singers like her bore me but there's something that attracts me to her. She's one of my favourites. This song suits her to a tea and pulls another consistent performance. The judges liked it, and I really hope she makes it.<br />
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<b><span style="color: red;">Shannon Berthiaume</span> - "Who Knew" by P!nk - 3/10</b><br />
I'm not really liking this to be honest. After her 'Piece Of My Heart' performance from the house of blues round, I was a fan. But this changed my opinion. It was really flat if I'm honest, although I do like her tone. I really don't see her making it now.<br />
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<b><span style="color: red;">Loren Lott </span>- "Note To God" by Jo Jo - 5/10</b><br />
She's one of my least favourites to be honest. I don't know what it is but her voice just sounds too nasally and fake. This was a tad boring as well. I did like her some way in the past, especially 'Skyfall'. I'm losing interest in her. I don't really see her going through, but I wouldn't be surprised if she did.<br />
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<b><span style="color: red;">Shi Scott</span> - "Umbrella" by Rihanna - 3/10</b><br />
I don't understand why she made it over some of the other girls. She's trying a bit too hard. I don't really like this, its a bit to forced and I find her too confident, on the verge of cocky. The judges seem to like her. I don't see her making it at all really but she could surprise us.<br />
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<b><span style="color: red;">Maddie Walker</span> - "Love Gets Me Every Time" by Shania Twain - 7/10</b><br />
I was really annoyed when she was sent home, so I was over the moon when they actually reconsidered their decision. I love a bit of country, so I really love this. There always seem to be a huge vote for country singers every year so I hope she gets that vote. This was one of her best, just under her cover in Hollywood. I really hope she'll make it.<br />
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<b><span style="color: red;">Sarina Join Crowe</span> - "Mamma Knows Best" by Jessie J - 9/10</b><br />
I love this. Sarina was one of my favourites since the auditions and I was annoyed that she got very little airtime during Hollywood. This performance just matched her other Jessie J cover from the house of blues. The judges love it. She is definitely one of the best in the competition. She'll get through, 100%. I'm confident about it.<br />
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<b><span style="color: red;">Jax</span> - "Bang Bang" by Cher - 8.5/10</b><br />
Jax is definitely my favourite in the competition. She is pretty consistent every time. This is no exception. The song suits her to bits. I love her quirky voice, which makes her performance's just that little bit interesting. The judges seem pretty sure she'll be here next week and I definitely agree. She needs to make it far, she has to.<br />
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<b><span style="color: red;">Tyanna Jones</span> - "Lips Are Moving" by Meghan Trainor - 8.5/10</b><br />
She's been one of the judges favourites, and mine for that matter. This was a very entertaining performance from Tyanna. The vocals were great too, and the judges say she's insanely talented. She topped all her performance's there. She'll have no trouble making it through.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: orange;"><b>Rankings</b></span></span></div>
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<b>1 - Sarina Joi Crowe - 9</b></div>
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<b>2 - JAX - 8.5</b></div>
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<b>2 - Tyanna Jones - 8.5</b></div>
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4 - Katherine Winston - 8</div>
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5 - Joey Cook - 7.5</div>
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6 - Lovey James - 7</div>
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6 - Adanna Duru - 7</div>
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6 - Maddie Walker - 7</div>
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9 - Alexis Gomez - 6</div>
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10 - Loren Lott - 5</div>
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11 - Shannon Berthiaume - 3</div>
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11 - Shi Scott - 3</div>
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<b>Want to go home :</b> Shi, Shannon, Loren, Alexis</div>
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<b>Think will go home :</b> Shi, Shannon, Loren, Alexis</div>
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MDShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15697194336579071720noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4259533101493961797.post-45417277311789323702015-03-03T16:45:00.003-03:002015-03-03T16:45:29.686-03:00American Idol: Season 14: Top 12 Boys Perform<div style="text-align: justify;">
<img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1234.photobucket.com/albums/ff414/mdssblog/American%20Idol/americanidolbanner.png" /><br />
A new season of Idol is finally upon us. Well, it's been for a few months but, who's counting anyway? The field is already whittled down to 24 contestants, who will be performing in two groups, boys and girls, and next week, 8 people will be packing their bags. Aaron will be writing this recaps, at least until he gets bored and I've to do them myself. Haha.</div>
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<b>Recap and videos after the jump ...</b> </div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Adam Ezegelian</span> - "I Wanna Rock" by Twisted Sister - 6/10</b><br />
I never really liked Adam in the competition, he reminds me too much of Caleb Johnson (and that's not a good thing). This is actually alright for him, although not spectacular. It sounds a bit shouty. It was slightly better than most of his performance's so far, so I guess that's a good thing<br />
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<b><span style="color: red;">Michael Simeon</span> - "How Am I Supposed To Live Without You?" by Michael Simeon - 6.5/10</b><br />
What on earth possessed him to pick this song??!! I've been a Michael fan from the very start, but I've seen him pick better song choices, like 'Classic' for The House Of Blues round. The vocals were great though, which made me kind of like the song, even if it was overall a bit boring.<br />
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<b><span style="color: red;">Savion Wright</span> - "Hey Soul Sister" by Train - 7/10</b><br />
Savion has been pretty consistent throughout the competition. He pulls another great one here, although not my favourite from his. I honestly hate that song, but take that out of the equation and you have an overall strong performance. I still think he has yet to top his audition, and his 'Get Lucky' performance from Hollywood. I think hell get through, and get far for that matter.<br />
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<b><span style="color: red;">Mark Andrew</span> - "The Weight" by The Band - 6/10</b><br />
Mark has been really under the radar throughout the competition, and unfortunately this performance didn't really make him stand out. Yes, it was a good performance, great vocals, but I'm pretty sure I, and probably other people too, will forget about him by tomorrow. He is likable though, but I don't see him getting through.<br />
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<b><span style="color: red;">Trevor Douglas</span> - "Best I Ever Had" by Gavin DeGraw - 4/10</b><br />
I like Trevor, but this wasn't great. This song should have suited him perfectly but it was all over the place I'm afraid. His voice started to crack a little during the performance, which was very off putting. I loved all of his performances so far, but this wasn't at all amazing. A shame really, as I was a fan of his. Unfortunately, I don't see him getting through after that.<br />
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<b><span style="color: red;">Clark Beckham</span> - "When A Man Loves A Woman" by Percy Sledge - 8.5/10</b><br />
Finally, a perfect song and an almost perfect performance. Clark has been a stand out in every round, and he just proved why. If it hadn't been for the wobbly glory note, it would have gotten a 10, but still a really strong performance. He must get through after that surely.<br />
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<b><span style="color: red;">Rayvon Owen</span> - "Jealous" by Nick Jonas - 8/10</b><br />
I'm actually really surprised. He never really stood out to me, but this was quite good actually. Very slick, very smooth, very sexy vocals. This one topped all of his performances so far. Based on this, he should get through, but based on popularity, I'm not sure, maybe, maybe not. We shall see.<br />
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<b><span style="color: red;">Daniel Seavey</span> - "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz - 5.5/10</b><br />
Daniel's playing the mandolin for this performance. It was going well up until about half way, were it started to go down hill. Like Trevor, his voice starts to crack, like it has been for a while. Overall, not as good as I was hoping for. I hope he still gets through but I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't.<br />
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<b><span style="color: red;">Riley Bria</span> - "Homeboy" by Eric Church - 5/10</b><br />
I don't know what it is, but there is something I don't like about Riley, maybe it's the fact that he got through over one of my favourites, Ricky Hendrix. This was very bland and a tad sleepy, all of which I expected from him. He just doesn't grab my attention as much as the others do. He should still go through due to the country vote unfortunately.<br />
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<b><span style="color: red;">Quentin Alexander</span> - "I Put A Spell On You" by Sceamin' Jay Hawkins - 9/10</b><br />
Oh okay. Not what I expected at all from Quentin. I love this!!!! Really strong performance from him today. Again, like may others, I never really liked him, but I may change my mind if he keeps giving performances like this. He should have no trouble making it through.<br />
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<b><span style="color: red;">Nick Fradiani</span> - "Thinking Out Loud" by Ed Sheeran - 8/10</b><br />
Nick, who I loved from the start, gives yet another strong performance. He's one of my favourites from the boys. He does a great job on one of the most overplayed songs I know, which was the only reason why it didn't get a higher mark. I think he'll get through, and he could get very far if he does.<br />
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<b><span style="color: red;">Qaasim Middleton</span> - "Uptown Funk" by Mark Robson and Bruno Mars - 6/10</b><br />
Very entertaining, Love the song, love the dancing. BUT, the vocals were seriously lacking. They weren't as strong as they usually are, which is unusual for Qaasim. He'll get through I think but only because it was entertaining. I still think he could be a front runner, but he'll need to work on the vocals.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: orange;"><b>Rankings</b></span></span></div>
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<b>1 - Quentin Alexander - 9</b></div>
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<b>2 - Clark Beckham - 8.5</b></div>
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<b>3 - Rayvon Owen - 8</b></div>
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<b>3 - Nick Fradiani - 8</b></div>
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5 - Savion Wright - 7</div>
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6 - Michael Simeon - 6.5</div>
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7 - Adam Ezegelian - 6</div>
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7 - Mark Andrew - 6</div>
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7 - Qaasim Middleton - 6</div>
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10 - Daniel Seavey - 5.5</div>
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11 - Riley Bria - 5</div>
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12 - Trevor Douglas - 4</div>
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<b>Want to go home :</b> Mark Andrew, Riley Bria, Trevor Douglas, Adam Ezegelian</div>
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<b>Think will go home:</b> Mark Andrew, Trevor Douglas, Daniel Seavey, Michael Simeon</div>
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MDShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15697194336579071720noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4259533101493961797.post-89117227331889927692015-02-24T14:48:00.000-03:002015-03-24T19:53:00.592-03:00The Voice of Ireland: Season 4: The Battle Rounds!<img alt="Photobucket" src="http://i1234.photobucket.com/albums/ff414/mdssblog/The%20Voice%20of%20Ireland/TheVoiceofIreland.png" style="border-image: none; border: 0px currentColor; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">So after seven episodes of blind auditions, we're finally down to the Battle Rounds. The coaches must pair their acts off and make them battle against one another for a spot in the live shows. Luckily for those who are rejected by their coaches, each coach has the opportunity to steal one act from another team. So let the first week of the battle rounds commence.</span><br />
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<strong>Recap and videos after the JUMP...</strong><br />
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<strong><span style="color: red; font-size: large;">Team Bressie</span></strong></div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Dean Forrester </span>vs <span style="color: red;">Aoife Smith </span>- 'The Lovecats' by The Cure - Picks Dean</b></div>
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I love this song choice for these two, this was the choice for an amazing battle last year on The Voice UK and I think it has the potential to create another magic moment. It's a pretty good vocal battle, I don't think either of them have the same magical bluesy tones that the singers on the aforementioned battle had but it was good. It was missing a little light and shade, their voices didn't really go anywhere with the song. All the same, it was a solid battle, I think Dean's vocal was stronger and more distinctive.<br />
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<b><span style="color: red;">Ashley Loftus </span>vs<span style="color: red;"> Jolene Burns </span>- 'Magic' by Coldplay - Picks Ashley</b></div>
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Two of Bressie's quirky girls are going head to head now on this recent Coldplay hit. I love the song and these two are two of the strongest female vocalists on Bressie's team in terms of tone. It's an interesting song choice and I'm liking the stripped back feel to it, it works better because they're both quite nervous singers so it adds to the intensity of the performance. Ashley sounds great on the song, she has a very strong voice but it's Jolene who surprises me, her tone feels slightly richer and her upper range sounds exquisite on the song. It's a tough one but I was slightly edging towards Jolene although I can see why Bressie picked Ashley also.<br />
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<span style="color: red;"><b>*Steals Sasha Hatam-Smith from Team Kian*</b></span><br />
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<b><span style="color: red;">Kenneth Usher </span>vs <span style="color: red;">John O'Grady </span>- 'Riptide' by Vance Joy - Picks John</b></div>
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Love this song choice, one of my favourite songs of the last year. I wouldn't necessarily have paired these two singers together as they strike me as being quite different from each other but perhaps in this case the contrast will work well? I'm definitely more into Kenneth's delivery of the song, John has a good voice but I find his style rather theatrical and he oversings what should be quite a stripped back, acoustic song. Kenneth's voice probably isn't as technically strong as John but I enjoy hearing his husky tone on the song, I'm disappointed that he was sent home.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Russell Hogg </span>vs <span style="color: red;">Ken Murphy </span>- 'Get Off Of My Cloud' by The Rolling Stones - Picks Ken</b></div>
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Whilst I can acknowledge that vocally this was actually really rather good, I didn't particularly enjoy this performance myself. There's something about Ken's style that just irks me a little, the whole zany stage style just feels really forced to me and I much preferred Russell's more straight up rock delivery of the song. I sort of feel on a show called 'The Voice', Bressie picked Ken more for his personality than his voice, Russell's blind audition was much better than Ken's and I also feel like his vocals were stronger here.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Catherine Hughes </span>vs <span style="color: red;">Laura Enright </span>- 'The Universial' by Blur - Picks Laura</b></div>
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Catherine and Laura both got four chair turns in their blind auditions. This, of course isn't Catherine's first time getting to this stage of the competition, she made the Battle Rounds on Team Jamelia last series but didn't get to perform her battle because she went into labour early on the day of her battle. So hopefully this time the battle actually takes place. It does and what a great battle it is. I know Bressie has got some stick for his song choices in the past but this is an absolutely brilliant battle round performance, it has to be said. He really brings out the best of both performers with this song, they each bring something different to the table but it's Catherine's soothing celtic tone which really impresses me. Their vocals soar on the song and I totally disagree with the other coaches' views on the song. This was fantastic, I am however really gutted to see Catherine go home, even more annoying is the confusing editing which makes it look like she could have been stolen whereas people who went to the filming have confirmed that all of the coaches' steals were gone when this battle was filmed.<br />
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<span style="color: red;"><b>*Steals Kayleigh Cullinan from Team Una*</b></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Denise Morgan </span>vs <span style="color: red;">Hannah Stockwell Quinn </span>- 'No Rain' by Blind Melon - Picks Denise</b></div>
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Former Voice UK contestant Denise and Hannah both got all four coaches turning in their first audition. Why has Bressie paired his four strongest contestants together out of interest? It makes zero sense considering that some of the other pairings have been significantly weaker, it just means that we're most likely going to lose one of these two talented ladies. I'm not totally sure of the song choice, it's nice but it doesn't really go anywhere. That said, they both have fantastic voices, Hannah probably has the technically stronger voice but Denise's tone and performance ability really shines in this battle. Again, just like the last battle, it's pretty much neck and neck between these two, I'm glad that Denise gets through but gutted for Hannah, again I can't understand why nobody chose to steal her, what are they waiting on?<br />
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<b><span style="color: red;">Chloe Wilders </span>vs <span style="color: red;">Emma Humber </span>- 'We Don't Eat' by James Vincent McMorrow - Picks Emma (Una steals Chloe)</b></div>
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This is an absolutely fantastic song choice for these two girls, Emma did a great cover of 'This Woman's Work' in her initial audition whilst young mum Chloe wowed with a Jason Mraz cover. This is such a storytelling song and both of them have captivating stage presence, Chloe's country twang and powerful voice is beautiful to listen to whilst Emma has a much more vulnerable, tender voice and gives a really sincere cover of the song. This is without a doubt my favourite battle of the series, the song suited both of them to a tee and they each added something totally different to the song. I expected Bressie to pick Emma but it was only right that Chloe was given a second chance as her vocals were also stunning. Great result. In my opinion, the winners of the last three battles on Team Bressie should make his quarter final line-up.<br />
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<b><span style="color: red;">Chris Brady </span>vs <span style="color: red;">Adam Cummins </span>- 'I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing' by Aerosmith - Picks Chris</b></div>
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I don't really remember either of these guys' first auditions if I'm being honest, there's quite a few samey male vocalists and sadly these two both sort of fell into that category for me. Not a fan of this song choice, it's a pretty dated choice and I'm not sure why you would decided to give it to two singers with very limited voices because it really exposes their voices. They did the best with the song that they could but how can you expect to give two singers with relatively small ranges a song which is normally belted out, it needed someone with a massive vocal range who could absolutely belt the big notes out. There were pitch problems on both sides but I slightly preferred Adam's interpretation of the song. Overall, it was a pretty dreadful song choice for both guys though.<br />
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<b><span style="color: red;">Sasha Hatam Smith </span>vs <span style="color: red;">John Bonham </span>- 'Animal' by Def Leppard - Picks John (Bressie steals Sasha)</b></div>
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Interesting pairing and a pretty great song choice, I had a feeling that Sasha might be a bit of a rock chick so it's nice to see her getting the chance to just belt this song out. After such a tame arrangement of another rock classic earlier for two of his team, it's nice to see Kian just letting these two absolutely belt it out. The song is clearly better suited to John as this is where his strength lies, but I'm really impressed by Sasha, she does a fantastic job of the song and really nails all of the tricky notes. John was in his element with this song and as a result, deserved to go through but I'm glad that Sasha got stolen by one of the other coaches. Both Una and Bressie try to steal Sasha but she decides to join Team Bressie meaning she's through to the live shows.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Kate Purcell </span>vs <span style="color: red;">Rebecca Kelly </span>- 'Torn' by Natalie Imbruglia - Picks Kate </b><br />
Bit of a strange song choice this, it probably suits Kate better than Rebecca but I would have personally hoped for something a little bluesier. This wasn't great to be honest, both of them had pitching issues but Kate was generally stronger than Rebecca. Rebecca sounded very nasally in the song and I felt got swallowed up a little when they were singing together. Moments like this make me really question Kian as a coach to be honest, it just feels like a really lazy song choice.<br />
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<b><span style="color: red;">Kathleen Mahon </span>vs <span style="color: red;">Fionn Gardner </span>- 'Some Nights' by Fun. - Picks Fionn (Una steals Kathleen)</b><br />
Finally we actually see a really good battle in Team Kian and a smart song choice for his two contestants. These two were a real surprise, I liked both of them in their blind auditions but wouldn't have thought of them straight away when I was thinking of contestants through to the Battles Stage. Actually, although I love Fionn, there's something so captivating about Kathleen during this song choice, she just radiates enthusiasm and her voice sounds great in this performance. I expected Fionn to make it through and I'm happy for him but I'm delighted that Una stole Kathleen because I think she's a real dark horse in the competition, she has a fantastic voice.<br />
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<b><span style="color: red;">Stuart Bond </span>vs <span style="color: red;">Helena Bradley Bates </span>- 'Free Bird' by Lynyrd Skynyrd - Picks Helena</b><br />
Not sure on this song choice, it's a little dated for my liking even if it is a timeless rock track. Helena has a really powerful voice but I actually think Stuart has the better tone for the song. Before taking to the stage, Helena reveals to Kian that she's pregnant and due to give birth before the live shows end. It's deja vu for Kian who previously had Kellie Mongan in his team in Series 2 who was heavily pregnant by the time the live shows came around. In the actual battle itself, it's very close but although I love Helena's powerful rock voice, Stuart's tone is surprisingly great, he really improves on his blind audition and I actually loved his voice in this performance. It's Helena who gets the place in live knockouts however.<br />
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<b><span style="color: red;">Karla Chubb </span>vs <span style="color: red;">Ciara Monaghan </span>- 'Wide Awake' by Katy Perry - Picks Ciara</b><br />
There's a first for the series as Kian walks out on these two girls during the second day of rehearsals, frustrated at the lack of practice they have been doing overnight. Whilst I can't blame him, their struggle is mostly due to the totally unsuitable song choice he has given them. This song has quite a big range and neither of them are particularly powerful singers, Ciara is stronger than Karla but it just feels like a bad song choice, something that didn't require quite as much power, perhaps Team by Lorde would have fitted them far better than this. The battle honestly isn't great, Ciara is definitely stronger but neither of them are vocally brilliant. I'd put most of the blame with Kian for the song choice to be honest but it was definitely the right decision, Karla's quirky tone came across too forced on the song.<br />
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<b><span style="color: red;">Jo Petit </span>vs <span style="color: red;">Colm Conlon </span>- 'Wrecking Ball' by Miley Cyrus - Picks Colm</b><br />
Singer turned trainee music producer Jo and singing farmer Colm are the final pairing on Team Kian. A bit of a left-field song choice this but I think it's a risk that could well work for them. Jo is a bit apprehensive to begin with but as rehearsals go on, he begins to feel a little more comfortable with the track. Neither of them sound great on the song to be honest, their voices crack way too much during the performance, Jo has more raw potential than Colm in my opinion, I think he has less bad habits than the latter. Kian made a mistake in allowing them to do arrange the runs in the latter half themselves though because to be honest it just sounded a bit of a mess. Colm's tone is unique but he's constantly hitting bum notes. I'm kind of surprised that he made it through over Jo though neither were great.<br />
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<span style="color: red;"><b>*Steals Pat Fitz from Team Una*</b></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Kieran McKillop </span>vs <span style="color: red;">Patrick Donoghue </span>- 'You Give Me Something' by James Morisson - Picks Patrick (Rachel steals Kieran)</b></div>
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This is the most obvious battle result of the night, Patrick's voice is massive and although it's pleasing to see Kieran improving quite a lot on his blind audition, Patrick's deep, soulful tone absolutely cements his rightful place in the live shows. I was actually impressed to see how much better Kieran sounded in this battle than on his first blind audition where I wasn't that impressed by his voice. That said, Patrick reminds me a lot of Ash Mitchell from The Voice UK, his voice is just SO strong and sadly Kieran is just no match for him on this song. He not only can sing fantastically but he really harnesses the emotion of the song. I'm glad Kieran gets stolen by Rachel though as he had improved a lot.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Nicola Lynch </span>vs <span style="color: red;">Rachel Murphy </span>- 'Roar' by Katy Perry - Picks Nicola</b></div>
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This is probably the most closely matched battle so far in terms of vocal ability, I would probably put Nicola and Rachel at similar levels in terms of talent. For me however, when it comes to it, Rachel's voice absolutely soars on this song, she just takes the song on and does it justice, her voice sounds so pure and effortless. I like Nicola's quirky tone but at times she overdoes it with the runs and tricks and they can get a little tiresome. I feel on technical merit, Rachel deserved to get through, she definitely had the stronger vocal. I can see why the coach chose Nicola because she certainly has a distinctive voice but for me, Rachel was better on the night.<br />
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<b><span style="color: red;">Sinead Hansard </span>vs <span style="color: red;">Kelley McArdle </span>- 'Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)' by Kelly Clarkson - Picks Kelley</b></div>
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This is the second absolute clunker of a decision that Una has made. It was fairly obvious who sounded better during this performance, I enjoyed Kelley's first audition but she was quite weak during this battle, Sinead had a much richer and stronger tone and definitely sang the song better. I'm not sure what has possessed Una to kick out two of her strongest female singers (Rachel Murphy and now Sinead) because although Kelley is good, like Nicola I find her voice quite thin and a little grating after a while.<br />
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<span style="color: red;"><b>*Steals Kathleen Mahon from Team Kian*</b></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Shauna Nolan </span>vs <span style="color: red;">Shannon Doyle </span>- 'Heart Attack' by Demi Lovato - Picks Shauna Nolan (Rachel steals Shannon)</b></div>
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Una's next all-female pairing is Shauna and Shannon, she made two stinkers of decisions with her last two all-female battles so hopefully she doesn't repeat form with this. Shauna is a lot more comfortable with this song than Shannon, who is happy with it but doesn't quite have the same vocal capacity as Shauna who powers through the high notes with ease. This is a pretty good performance actually, the start is a little pitchy on both girl's parts but they seem to get into the performance and actually both deliver very strong vocals. For me it was Shauna who really delivered the performance although I was pleasantly surprised by Shannon's tone, it was really nice on this song. I loved that little falsetto she did towards the end as well, both of them deserved to get through, there is certainly room to improve for both of them as they were flat at points but it was a good performance.<br />
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<b><span style="color: red;">Niall O'Halloran </span>vs <span style="color: red;">Kayleigh Cullinan </span>- 'I'll Be There' by The Jackson Five - Picks Niall (Bressie steals Kayleigh)</b></div>
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Another battle of the four chair turns, I'm not sure why the coaches are pairing all their four chair turners together because surely that means they're getting rid of some of their stronger artists? Anyway, I do think this is a pretty good pairing as both of them have similar styles, they're quite soulful singers with massive ranges. Clichéd song choice, I would have loved to hear them doing something like 'Remember Me' by Daley and Jessie J. This is a step down from their first auditions, Niall sounds a little flat at times and Kayleigh, although vocally probably the more consistent one just clams up and delivers practically no emotion. They're easily amongst the top singers technically in the contest but I don't think this was a great performance at all, Kayleigh's voice starts to go a little flat in the lower parts of the song but her upper range is superb. Unsurprisingly, Bressie steals her having raved about her at the blinds, I do think there have been better battle round performers who weren't stolen but Kayleigh's talent is undeniable, Niall is great too.<br />
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<b><span style="color: red;">John Sheehy </span>vs <span style="color: red;">Pat Fitz </span>- 'Love Runs Out' by One Republic - Picks John (Kian steals Pat)</b></div>
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Yoga instructor John and former You're A Star contestant Pat are facing off on this One Republic track. I don't really like this for either of them, it becomes very pitchy particularly in the second half of the song and the transition between the falsetto parts and the rest become very sloppy. I kind of feel that this song needs a bit of rasp to make it work, that's why the original is so good and Pat has a slight hint of that in his voice, John's voice is a bit nasally for my liking if I'm being honest. That said, there's a part of the song where Pat goes off the melody so I can understand where Una was coming from. To be honest, I wasn't massively in love with the song for either of them, I personally prefer Pat's voice because I find John's a little irritating at times but it wasn't a great song for this pairing.<br />
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<b><span style="color: red;">Mark Joyce </span>vs <span style="color: red;">Evan Cotter </span>- 'Eleanor Rigby' by The Beatles - Picks Evan</b></div>
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I actually had forgotten both of these guys so I was sort of shocked that Una paired them together as opposed to pairing them with some of her strong singers as they sort of strike me as battle round fodder. Una originally gives them 'Superhero' by The Script but they're both struggling with it so she changes it to this. Not a great change to be honest, the song literally goes nowhere so it's the most anti-climactic battle ever, there's absolutely no atmosphere because it's just not a battle type song at all. Evan certainly has a stronger voice, Mark's tone feels a little forced and I just think he has a much more limited voice than Evan. Not a particularly strong performance, I don't know that I can see Evan making it past the live knockouts if I'm being honest.<br />
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<span style="color: red;"><b>*Steals Chloe Wilder from Team Bressie*</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: red;"><b>*Steals Kieran McKillop from Team Una*</b></span><br />
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<b><span style="color: red;">Sarah McTiernan </span>vs <span style="color: red;">Tara Gannon </span>- 'Everything's Changing' by Sigma feat. Paloma Faith - Picks Sarah</b></div>
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This seems like another fairly obvious result as Sarah was one of the clear standouts in the blind auditions. This is actually kind of pitchy on both parts, I love Sarah's tone but the way she does her runs, her voice tends to wobble a little. I like Tara's deep, soulful voice but it's a similar story, she does sound a little pitchy and her voice cracks a bit. Both girls have good moments and weaker moments in the song but I just slightly prefer Sarah's tone, she does need to watch that she doesn't go off pitch though as they both sounded off towards the end. I think it's the right result however, I did notice an improvement in Tara's voice but thought Sarah was the overall stronger singer.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Caoin Fitz </span>vs <span style="color: red;">Paddy Kennedy </span>- 'Purple Rain' by Prince - Picks Paddy (Kian steals Caoin)</b><br />
This is a strange song choice for a battle, it doesn't feel very much like a battle song and I'm not sure that it really works. They basically sing it like two solo singers, each singing their own part with a small section where they sing together and I'm a bit underwhelmed. Caoin does it better than Paddy who still has the habit of singing from really deep in his throat causing his voice to crack a little. It's not a terrible performance but it's not a particularly great one, I'm sort of surprised that Rachel picks Paddy as I felt that Caoin's vocals were stronger but good to see Kian give him another shot, especially considering that this is his second time in the Battle Rounds where his coach hasn't picked him.<br />
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<b><span style="color: red;">Amy Hansard </span>vs <span style="color: red;">Ronan O'Healey </span>- 'Human Nature' by Michael Jackson - Picks Amy</b><br />
Considering that her sister has been eliminated by other coach Una, hopefully Amy fares slightly better with Rachel. Again, I'm not loving this song choice for them, seems I really can't be pleased this season. Just like Kate vs Rebecca, both of them are quite pitchy, I'm going to blame it on the song choice but nerves may take a factor too. Amy sounds slightly better than Ronan who I feel was quite out of tune throughout a lot of the song. They had a good rapport on stage but the song just didn't translate well into a battle performance, the deciding factor for me were the higher notes towards the end which Amy hit and Ronan simply didn't go for, overall it was a weak battle but I would have chosen Amy also.<br />
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<b><span style="color: red;">Cristin Nolan </span>vs <span style="color: red;">Paul Taylor </span>- 'Jackson' by Johnny Cash and June Carter - Picks Paul</b><br />
This is probably the best pairing and song choice Rachel has made so far. Country girl Cristin is paired against Paul, who reveals that he is currently living in his car with his only source of comfort being his two dogs, he busks on the streets then returns to sleep in his car at night. I actually really enjoyed this performance, Cristin improved a lot from the first audition and Paul surprised me with how much he really owned the role in this song. It's the first battle where I feel that they really gel as a duo and have fun with it, the coat thing was a little cheesy but we all love a little cheese. Paul has something that vocal lessons can't teach you, he just has music within him and emotion is so effortless with him. His blind audition was a highlight of the series so far for me, I'm delighted that he makes it through although credit to Cristin who was also really good.<br />
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<b><span style="color: red;">Ellie-May Bopp </span>vs <span style="color: red;">Leanne Power </span>- 'Just Like A Pill' by Pink - Picks Ellie-May</b><br />
18-year-old leaving cert student Ellie-May and 29-year-old Leanne (pronounced Lann-e) are a very well matched pairing, they both have quite left-field voices and both have very distinctive styles. I think this song is actually a decent choice for them but Leanne appears to be struggling with her nerves in the rehearsals, feeling like she doesn't stand a chance against Ellie-May. Vocally, I don't think there's a lot between them but Leanne just seems to be holding back so much. When it comes to the actual battle, Ellie-May has been having throat problems leading to her voice cracking a little during the song. To be honest, Leanne was probably vocally better on the song but Ellie-May definitely gave more in the performance aspect of the song, I feel like Leanne was still holding back a bit emotion wise which is a shame as I loved her first audition.<br />
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<b><span style="color: red;">Cian O'Melia </span>vs <span style="color: red;">Malcom Urquhart </span>- 'Bonfire Heart' by James Blunt - Picks Cian</b><br />
Actually for once it's not vocals that are the big problem with a battle, both of these guys are pretty decent actually apart from when they sang together and sort of just sang over each other. What's lacking big time with this performance is...well the performance itself. They look so awkward on the stage and just kind of stand in the one spot. It's probably nerves but they don't look comfortable on the stage at all. I preferred Cian to Malcom based on his voice, I loved the little falsetto bits he did and thought he was that bit stronger overall.<br />
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<b><span style="color: red;">Gemma Lomax </span>vs <span style="color: red;">Brian Dunne </span>- 'Always' by Bon Jovi - Picks Gemma</b><br />
Rachel sets this song to the worry of Brian who feels like the high parts of the song are way too high for him to reach, whereas it's the lower bits of the song that Gemma is struggling with. Seeing her acts struggling, Rachel changes the notes slightly and lowers some of the higher parts of the song. It does sort of take away from Gemma's moment to shine as it sounded like she was nailing those parts in rehearsal but Brian manages some pretty decent falsetto notes. That said, Gemma is most definitely the stronger singer here, she powers through the song with ease, I agree with Bressie that she didn't have as much of a chance to shine with the song being lowered to suit Brian. The parts towards the end were a little shouty but Gemma definitely had the stronger voice.<br />
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So that's the battles <b>OVER...</b> Join us next week when the live knockouts will begin. This year, each coach will whittle their nine acts down to just three to take through to the quarter final. I'm not sure how I feel about that, I quite liked how we saw a lot more of the acts than we do on the UK version so it'll be a big change but I'm open minded.Kevin Mc Stravockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03436048199177267455noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4259533101493961797.post-88302237673490074712015-02-23T08:57:00.000-03:002015-03-02T18:57:48.925-03:00The Voice of Ireland: Season 4: Blind Auditions 7<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: "Segoe UI", Calibri, "Myriad Pro", Myriad, "Trebuchet MS", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: small; font-stretch: normal; margin-bottom: 0.8em; padding: 0px;">
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Final blind auditions show of the series and the coaches are now filling up the last few places on their teams. To be honest, if you ask me they have two many places to fill as the more the show has went on, the more I've felt that some acts have gotten through as filler rather than because they were really strong. With not many spaces left, who will convince the coaches to turn tonight?</span></div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Evan Cotter </span>- 1/4 - 'St Brendan's Voyage' by Christy Moore - Joins Team Una</b></div>
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Evan isn't a big fan of modern music and prefers this style of music which is why he has went for The Voice which is more open to other styles of music. He has a pretty nice voice but he's not exactly going to set the charts alight is he? This style definitely still has a following but it's a very distinct following and it doesn't really suggest that he would have a massive fanbase if he were to win. The show is yet to find someone who is capable of selling a load of records or finding success outside of Ireland and with his style, I fail to see Evan being one to combat that. Nice voice though, just not my style.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Doireann Learmont </span>- No Turn - 'Little Talks' by Of Monsters And Men </b></div>
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This is a tough one, I should have loved this as I love this song but Doireann's voice didn't have the quirky charm that I'm used to hearing with these sorts of songs. It was also weird because this song is usually sung as a duet and it did sound quite strange her singing it on her own. With a song like this as well, cutting it down into 90 seconds or so doesn't really allow it to shine so she didn't have any wow moments, the song sort of just went on and then finished. It's a shame but I don't think she showed the best of her voice with the song choice.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">John Bonham </span>- 4/4 - 'Immigrant Song' by Led Zeppelin - Joins Team Kian</b></div>
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Holy crap this guy is great, he has an absolutely insane voice, it's not often proper rock singers audition for The Voice as they probably see it as a little bit too tame for them but John has a superb range and a hell of a falsetto. I'm not surprised that everybody turned, despite the weak backing by the band, John's voice sounded superb on this song, I'm slightly concerned that he chose Kian because Kian has made an awful lot of blunders with rock singers in the past but maybe he'll surprise us with John?</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Rebecca Kelly </span>- 1/4 - 'Don't Know Why' by Norah Jones - Joins Team Kian</b></div>
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Rebecca only has 3% vision so being on The Voice is even more difficult for her as she won't be able to see if any of the coaches have turned. She has a very nice voice, this is a slow, bluesy song and she gives a good rendition of the song. It's not my favourite blind audition this series, it's a little safe but I definitely see some good potential there and can understand why Kian decided to turn around for her.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Sean McGrath </span>- No Turn - 'Amnesia' by 5 Seconds Of Summer </b></div>
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Unfortunately Sean's nerves totally take over this performance and it's extremely pitchy. There are glimpses of his voice and he does appear to have a nice tone but unfortunately the pitch is everywhere and his tuning is just way off. This song needs either a load of emotion or just absolutely perfect vocals and he delivers neither sadly. It was obvious that he was really nervous but sadly it was just way too pitchy for any of the coaches to even consider turning.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Hannah Stockwell-Quinn </span>- 4/4 - 'To Be With You' by Mr. Big - Joins Team Bressie</b></div>
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Hannah is absolutely amazing, this is a completely flawless audition, love the song choice and absolutely love her delivery of the song. She has a really bluesy and effortless voice and just sings the song perfectly. I have a feeling Hannah could be a big contender, she's certainly the standout of the final blind auditions and with Bressie as her coach, there could be some very interesting performances to come, as long as he doesn't give her something horribly left field that just doesn't suit her.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Fionn Gardner </span>- 3/4 - 'High Hopes' by Kodaline - Joins Team Kian</b></div>
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I wasn't expecting much when I heard that he was singing this song as I've heard it being sung a lot by now but wow Fionn took me by surprise. This was outstanding, it was a very simple, back to basics, faithful cover of the original but he absolutely nailed it. The emotion was on point, it was delivered with sincerity and he nailed all the falsetto parts of the song, I loved all the little inflections in his voice, Fionn is another really strong contender, his voice has the potential to be as good as the likes of Steve Garrigan, I could imagine him fronting a Kodaline/Two Door Cinema Club esque</div>
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<b>*Team Kian is full*</b></div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Chloe Wilders </span>- 1/4 - 'I Won't Give Up' by Jason Mraz - Joins Team Bressie</b></div>
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I love how I was going on about how the coaches shouldn't have so many spaces in their teams and then three acts come along in a row and prove to me how high the standard is towards the end. Chloe does an absolutely awesome job of this song, there's a bit of a country twang to her voice but there's also a lot of power, she absolutely nails the key parts of the song, I actually feel like she has a bit of a Miley Cyrus feel to her voice, I could definitely picture her performing 'Adore You' or another of Miley's stripped back songs. Chloe is the last act to join Team Bressie, which is looking like a really strong team for definite.</div>
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<b>*Team Bressie is full*</b></div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Paul Taylor </span>- 1/4 - 'This Year's Love' by David Gray - Joins Team Rachel</b></div>
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Paul has had a tough time in the past year or so and hopes that The Voice will give him a chance to have a fresh start. You can tell by listening to him that he has been doing this for a long time, he just has such a rich, raspy tone and delivers the emotion of the song with ease. I'm really glad someone gave him a chance as he absolutely nailed the emotion of the track and I think he could be The Voice Ireland's equivalent of Sally Barker who made the final of the UK series last year. Shows that it's never too late to enter The Voice.</div>
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<b>*Team Rachel is full*</b></div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Sionan Murphy </span>- No Turn - 'Black Roses' by Claire Bowen </b></div>
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I really don't know what more Una was expecting? As Kian said, it's going to be hard for either of the last two to be much better than that? Loved the song choice and thought Sionan did a great job with it, it's shameful that Una didn't turn, she was better than some of the acts already in her team but unfortunately auditioned at the later stages where she was relying on just one coach to turn around. I hope for Una's sake that she doesn't end up regretting that.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Mark Joyce </span>- 1/4 - 'Last Request' by Paolo Nutini - Joins Team Una</b></div>
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I'm really not getting where Una's coming from tonight because I thought the singer before this guy was much better. Mark has potential but oversings this song quite a bit, add to that, for me he sounds identical to quite a few of the male vocalists already through to the battles and I'm not exactly sure why Una decided to go for this guy over Sionan. What does this mean for the last auditionee then?</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Chloe Murphy </span>- No Turn - 'Warwick Avenue' by Duffy</b></div>
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The editing tonight has confused me so much, she appears to be the last auditionee of the night so did she audition after Una had already filled her table? Therefore was it not grossly unfair of them to allow her to audition knowing that all of the coaches already had full times? Or were the coaches allowed to turn and have a three-way battle if they really wanted? I'm not sure, the editing is really confusing but I thought Chloe was pretty good and it's a shame that she didn't get through.</div>
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Okay so I'm really running out of things to say to introduce these recaps but it's the sixth week of some average singers and some really quite good singers singing some songs in front of famous people in spinny chairs and the teams are filling up fairly well but look below to see some singers singing and some famous people turning more chairs.</div>
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<b>Recap, videos and famous people turning chairs after the JUMP...</b></div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Mary Porter </span>- No Turn - 'Sexy And I Know It' by LMFAO </b><br />
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I'm kinda bored of this arrangement of the song even though it's a million percent better than the original song. For those of you who aren't familiar with it, this is the Noah arrangement of the song which has been performed on pretty much every Voice series by now, and was also performed on The X Factor UK by James Arthur. Vocally, Mary has a decent voice but it's a little bit pitchy at times and I think her voice lacks that little bluesiness that a cover like this demands. She's really talented but I don't know that this song was necessarily the right choice, all the same a pretty good performance.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Kathleen Mahon </span>- 2/4 - 'Folsom Prison Blues' by Johnny Cash - Joins Team Kian</b><br />
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Kathleen is taking on one of my favourite songs so no pressure there. I have to say I actually really like her voice on the song, I'm used to hearing males singing it with a little bit of grit but Kathleen has a great bluesy tone. Her voice soars on the song, the arrangement isn't great but her tone really carries it and she has one of the most distinctive female vocals I think we've heard this series. There's a bit of a Fiona Apple likeness in her voice and style but there's also something very fresh about the way she performed the song. Kathleen's one to keep an eye on for sure.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Catherine Hughes </span>- 4/4 - 'Demons' by Imagine Dragons - Joins Team Bressie</b><br />
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Catherine is one of two Series 3 returnees (more on the other one later). She is also one of only two people to have made the Battle Rounds in her series but have been unable to participate in her battle round. In Catherine's case, heavily pregnant, she went into labour before she had the chance to perform her battle against Laura-May Lenehan who was automatically put through to the live shows. Her opponent actually went on to finish in a very respectable 3rd place, so who knows what may have happened if Catherine had participated in the battle. This is very different to her first blind audition but I love the change, she still has a very soft understated style but this is more folksy whereas her Series 3 audition felt much more country. This is absolutely stunning, incredible song choice and her voice just soars over the very soft, understated arrangement of the song. This is probably up there with my favourite blind auditions this series, possibly one of my favourite blind auditions of this franchise. Catherine is a serious contender.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Ciara Monaghan </span>- 1/4 - 'From Eden' by Hozier - Joins Team Bressie</b><br />
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2FM wildcard Ciara actually divided opinion amongst the 2FM judges but thanks to one of the presenters feeling very strongly in favour of her, Ciara got a shot at turning the chairs around. Her voice is rough around the edge but I love her tone, she has such a deep, raspy female vocal, sort of reminiscent of Becky Hill a little but with a real Irish folksy feel to it. I love this song and the fact that she totally loses herself in it and I'm kinda surprised more coaches didn't turn. Ciara has such a great voice, she definitely needs work on shaping up technique but she has such a clear, unique tone and she's totally different to everyone else we've seen so far. The other coaches could be kicking themselves.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Graham John </span>- No Turn - 'Chocolate' by Snow Patrol </b></div>
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Graham certainly has a very distinctive, unique tone but I'm not sure how much I love it, it sounds very nasally on this song. It's not the best performance, whether it's the sound of his voice or he's nervous, most of the song sounds a little flat. Unfortunately, with the standard being relatively high tonight, I just don't think Graham was strong enough.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Kieran McKillop </span>- 2/4 'I Want It That Way' by The Backstreet Boys - Joins Team Una</b></div>
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Kieran's song choice is a classic but I find his voice a little plain for my liking. I sort of prefer someone who can put their own stamp on a song and really own it and unfortunately I just don't feel that Kieran's rendition of the song particularly stands out from any other covers I have heard of that song. Particularly towards the end, his voice sounded a little flat and I was left slightly disappointed with the performance overall.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Caoin Fitz </span>- 2/4 - 'Budapest' by George Ezra - Joins Team Rachel</b></div>
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You might recognize Caoin from last year as he made the Battle Rounds on Team Bressie where he was unfortunately dumped in favour of Kedar Friis-Lawrence. He's back for a second go, it will be interesting to see if Bressie turns for him again and/or recognizes him. This is a much nervier performance than the two songs he did last year and unfortunately I'm not quite as taken with this performance as I was expecting to be. His tone is nice but his voice is a little pitchy and he's quite difficult to hear at times. Nevertheless, he gets two turns out of it.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Precious Okpaje </span>- No Turn - 'Lost' by Coldplay</b></div>
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I can't make sense of why nobody picked Precious, this performance was a lot better than some of the performances we have seen tonight that some of the coaches have turned for. It's great to hear a soulful cover of this song and he has one of the nicest tones I have heard this series. I really cannot understand why none of them picked him, he was a really strong singer with a great tone and although the song perhaps didn't get really go anywhere, I'm disappointed Precious isn't through.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Jayde Stanley </span>- No Turn - 'Me And My Broken Heart' by Rixton </b></div>
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Seriously what is going on with the coaches tonight? Another really strong performance and a really strong singer not getting through, I loved Jayde's light, clear tone. She had great control of her voice and seemed aware of all the little runs and tricks in the song. I absolutely loved her performance of the song, it really doesn't make sense that she didn't get through after that performance. I'm not sure what's holding them back.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Ken Murphy </span>- 2/4 - 'Kiss' by Prince - Joins Team Bressie</b></div>
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I'm fully convinced that someone has spiked the coaches' drinks now. After two very talented singers were rejected, Ken comes on and performs this song, largely out of tune and gets through, right? He's definitely a fun act with a lot of energy but if they're going to nitpick at acts who sang in tune, why did Bressie and Kian then turn for Ken, especially as the last part of the song more or less just consisted of him screaming. Technically, Rachel turned too but not out of free will, Bressie pressed her button. It's disappointing to see two very talented singers were rejected bearing in mind the performance we just saw.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Cristin Nolan </span>- 1/4 - 'Telescope' by Hayden Panettiere - Joins Team Rachel</b></div>
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Cristin's country tone is very impressive, I'm not a massive country fan normally but I do quite like her tone. There are definitely parts of the song where she sounds off key but I quite enjoyed it on the whole. Cristin is automatically in Team Rachel which is looking to be a very versatile team, will be interesting to see how she fares in the battle rounds.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Annie Powderley </span>- No Turn - 'It's Good To Be Alive' by Imelda May </b></div>
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Imelda May has an amazing rockabilly/blues feel to her songs and has so much natural energy, unfortunately Annie doesn't have the ability to recapture that sort of energy and I find the performance a little lackluster. She has a decent voice but I'm not totally sure about how well it fits this song, she would perhaps have been better with something slower as it's the pacing that feels out of sync a little, Annie unfortunately doesn't make it through to the battle rounds.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Gemma Lomax </span>- 1/4 - 'Ugly Heart' by G.R.L - Joins Team Rachel</b></div>
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Originally from England, Gemma worked on a cruise ship as an entertainer for a few years before settling over in Ireland with her boyfriend who is from here. She has a pretty strong voice, this is a great song but quite a vocally demanding one, especially those high notes and she really does do them justice. Bar a few bum notes in the middle of the performance, Gemma gives a fairly pitch perfect rendition of this song. It was a really good performance, not surprised Gemma made it through.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Shauna Nolan </span>- 3/4 - 'Love On Top/I Want You Back' by Beyoncé/The Jackson 5 - Joins Team Una</b></div>
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A very brave song choice this, one of these songs alone is tough but mashing them up with each other adds to the difficulty. I love the slow, bluesy feel to the initial song, stripping it back and placing the emphasis on her tone was the right move but the transition into the second song is a little...messy. It's not bad by any means but it definitely doesn't sound as smooth and slick as the first song. With the change in pace, her vocals also sound shakier, I enjoy the creativity of the mash-up and her vocals were for the most part good though.</div>
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Kevin Mc Stravockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03436048199177267455noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4259533101493961797.post-21609258169799841122015-02-05T15:27:00.000-03:002015-02-05T15:27:06.486-03:00The Voice of Ireland: Season 4: Blind Auditions 5<img alt="Photobucket" src="http://i1234.photobucket.com/albums/ff414/mdssblog/The%20Voice%20of%20Ireland/TheVoiceofIreland.png" /><br />
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Fifth Blind Audition show now, we've some very strong artists through with Una being the coach with the most acts in her team having been relatively trigger happy in the early stages of the auditions. With quite a packed team already, will having less spaces than some of her fellow coaches affect her chances this week?</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Ashley Loftus </span>- 4/4 - 'The Blower's Daughter' by Damien Rice - Joins Team Bressie</b></div>
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Ashley comes from a small fishing village, she has previously struggled with confidence so auditioning for The Voice is a big step for her. Ashley has had a tough life, her dad died when she was younger and then she had to face coming out gay to all of her friends and family. She says that she thought people would react badly but was surprised by how accepting people were towards her. She has a really nice, whispery tone, her voice is very vulnerable and breathy. I love the way she loses herself in the performance, her nerves are evident but for some reason that's half the charm of the performace. She gets a four chair turn, it's pretty obvious who is the perfect match for Ashley, Team Bressie it is.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Elaine Ryan </span>- No Turn - 'New York' by Paloma Faith </b></div>
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Elaine's decision to go on The Voice is a bit of a last ditch attempt before she emigrates to find work abroad with her boyfriend. So the coaches aren't only deciding whether to put Elaine through, they're basically deciding if she will leave the country. Her voice is nice, she has a nice rasp to her voice and she definitely has a good voice, the problem is there's nothing about her to seperate her from some of the females who have already gotten through. I'm disappointed for Elaine but I think it was pretty much just a case of not standing out, as Bressie says there was nothing wrong with the performance, it just didn't wow them. Bressie was a bit annoyed that she didn't get through though.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Paddy Kennedy </span>- 3/4 - 'Candy' by Paolo Nutini - Joins Team Rachel</b></div>
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Security guard Paddy's affiliation with The Voice stems back to Series 1 when he was working in The Helix as the show was being filmed. However this is the first time he has plucked up the courage to audition. Paddy has a slight speech impediment which affects his confidence a little bit but when he sings you can't hear it. Paddy's voice is pretty good, nice raspy tone though I agree with Bressie that as the song went on, he started to oversing the song. The three other coaches had already turned so he maybe just got carried away, he definitely started straining towards the end. Oddly, despite turning for him, Kian criticizes him a bit for oversinging which is a valid point. Nevertheless, Paddy is through, there's definitely some room for improvement but he has something.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Cheryl McCullagh </span>- No Turn - 'Because The Night' by Patti Smith</b></div>
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American girl Cheryl has probably come farther than any of the other auditionees having flown over from America especially for this audition after her father saw an advertisement for the show whilst over for a wedding in Ireland. Not sure why she didn't just audition for The Voice US but she's hoping to get through with this song. It's quite an unusual song for a young girl to sing but she definitely does it justice. That being said, we're told she goes to the actual Fame School in America and you can tell by her delivery of the song, it's polished, perhaps overly-polished to the point where it comes across a bit too theatrical for my liking at least. Great voice but I can understand why Cheryl didn't get through though the coaches were gutted when they turned around.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Malcom Urqahart </span>- 1/4 - 'Baba O'Riley by The Who (Pearl Jam version) - Joins Team Rachel</b></div>
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Scottish born Malcom, now living in Cork is a rocker at heart and plans to stick to his roots with this blind audition. I really enjoy this performance actually, I love his tone, he has a great raspy rock voice but he also has light and shade in his voice. I think he's one of the strongest males in the competition thus far, great performance. I'm kind of surprised that Bressie or Kian didn't turn but Rachel is impressed with the soul Malcom has in his voice and snaps him up for her team.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Sinead Hansard </span>- 1/4 - 'Waves/Hideaway' by Mr. Probz/Kiezsa - Joins Team Una</b></div>
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It's a bit of a family affair for Sinead today as her sister Amy is also auditioning (see below for her audition). They've always been into music, mainly due to the musical influence running in their family, their uncle is Glen Hansard of The Frames. She starts off doing Waves which is nice but doesn't exactly grab me but as soon as she switches into the Kiezsa song, I'm hooked, very creative mash-up and Sinead has a great voice. She has a very rich tone, I have a feeling Sinead will do well.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Korey Power </span>- No Turn - 'Rude' by Magic </b></div>
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Music student Korey is a big fan of boybands and has been influenced by successful bands such as Westlife and One Diection. His take on this Magic hit is alright but he seems nervous and the performance is quite pitchy as a result of this. I don't think he's quite ready yet, his voice sounded a little thin on the song and as Una said, he did have quite a boybandy voice. There's something there but Korey isn't quite strong enough yet.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Amy Hansard </span>- 2/4 - 'Problem' by Ariana Grande feat. Iggy Azalea - Joins Team Rachel</b></div>
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Now it's the turn of Sinead's sister Amy to take to the stage. After watching her sister get through, Amy is even more determined to make it through. I like her voice, it's quite fragile but there's definitely something there although I wasn't quite sure about the way she sang the chorus. That said I do think she has a very good voice and I like her tone, it's fairly unique. Surprised to see Bressie turning as this isn't usually the type of singer he goes for but I'm not surprised when she picks Rachel as her coach. So the two sisters are on seperate teams, wonder who will get further?</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Finbarr Humphries </span>- No Turn - 'The Man' by Aloe Blacc</b></div>
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Finbarr has been a gigging musician for quite a long time although he has had a tough time having developed alopecia in 1995 which caused him to lose his hair. He's a very strong singer in fairness, you can tell that he has been performing for a long time because he's a real professional and his voice can't really be faulted. There's almost a country twang to his voice on this song which adds an interesting element to the performance. I'm disappointed that Finbarr doesn't get through but perhaps the song choice just didn't grab the coaches enough.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Emma Humber </span>- 3/4 - 'This Woman's Work' by Kate Bush - Joins Team Bressie</b></div>
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Emma says that she's going to put a modern spin on this classic Kate Bush song, whatever that means. I actually love this, it's such a tough song to sing but Emma certainly has the lungs for it, she actually does a really good job with it, very strong vocals and a really quirky tone. She reminds me a little of Gabrielle Aplin, she has that similar sort of breathy, folksy tone. Great performance, the fact that she was able to restrain her vocals rather than oversinging the song was impressive. One of the best blind auditions so far I think.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Aimee Canavan </span>- No Turn - 'Ghost' by Ella Henderson</b></div>
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Aimee is taking on quite a tough song, Ghost was one of the standout hits of the year and Ella Henderson has an excellent voice. Not totally sure about the band's arrangement of the song, it sounds a little bit unusual, Aimee has a very nice voice and definitely shows that she's capable but for some reason she didn't really push herself to do the big notes which were really the money notes in the song. Tough task but unfortunately Aimee just didn't seem to stand out enough on this song.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Kate Purcell </span>- 2/4 - 'We Found Love' by Rihanna - Joins Team Kian</b></div>
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Kate probably has more experience than a lot of other auditionees having been singing professionally for most of her life. She wants to give The Voice a try because it appeals to singers of all age groups and she'd like to give it a shot. Unfortunately just prior to her audition she picks up the flu which has affected her voice a little. Even with a slight touch of the flu, I can hear Kate's beautiful voice very easily. Her tone is very clear and soothing, she has a bit of an Eva Cassidy vibe going on. I've said before that I'm not often keen on slowed down versions of dance songs but Kate has such an enchanting way of performing. She completely loses herself in the performance and has such a breathy tone. Great performance.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Niall O'Halloran </span>- 4/4 - 'Lay Me Down' by Sam Smith - Joins Team Una</b></div>
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2FM wildcard Niall was actually entered into the wildcard process by his mother, he has had an interest in music for a long time but it wasn't until his mum entered him that he finally had the courage to give it a try. Well this is absolutely awesome, Niall has such a soulful tone, he surprises me a lot actually as I didn't expect him to have such soul in his voice, it's a bit nervy but when he shifts into falsetto, the performance really takes off. He completely loses himself in the performance and really expresses the emotion of the song. He's a very polished performer but not to the point where it sounds over-rehearsed or theatrical. Niall is a real frontrunner in this competition for sure.</div>
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<br />Kevin Mc Stravockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03436048199177267455noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4259533101493961797.post-16306936607345255622015-02-05T15:24:00.000-03:002015-02-05T15:24:10.301-03:00The Voice of Ireland: Season 4: Blind Auditions 4<img alt="Photobucket" src="http://i1234.photobucket.com/albums/ff414/mdssblog/The%20Voice%20of%20Ireland/TheVoiceofIreland.png" /><br />
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It's the fourth week of the blind auditions already and the teams are starting to fill up, Rachel's and Bressie's teams in particular are shaping up very nicely so there'll be more button pressing and more blind auditions tonight.</div>
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<b>Recap and videos after the JUMP...</b></div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Chris Brady </span>- 3/4 - 'Make You Feel By Love' by Bob Dylan - Joins Team Kian</b></div>
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Chris is here with his brother, mother and girlfriend, he's taking on this Bob Dylan classic as famously covered by Adele a few years ago. He has an interesting tone, it's definitely pretty listenable, there are certainly some pitching issues in the song but it's a solid audition which I certainly can think was good enough to get through. I'm not sure that he's as distinctive as some of the other indie-folk singers auditioning but a strong enough performanceto get him through the blind auditions.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Luke Dunleavy </span>- No Turn - 'You And I' by One Direction </b></div>
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Teenager Luke is clearly really nervous and his nerves show in his audition, I'm not sure that this was the right song choice for him as it doesn't really have any 'wow' moments to show off his voice and it wasn't a great audition if I'm being honest. There's definitely some potential there but I agreed with the boyband comparisons, he's still very young and his voice is quite raw, I don't think he has found his niche yet and once he can get something that makes him stand out from the crowd he'll be flying.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">John O'Grady </span>- 4/4 - 'Crosstown Traffic' by Jimi Hendrix - Joins Team Bressie</b></div>
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This is great, I was actually expecting John to do something really poppy for some reason so it's a pleasant surprise to hear him doing something as cool as this. He has a great voice, it's a little bit blues rock with a little hint of funk in it also. I love John's style, it's really individual and unique and he's definitely someone I can see going far in the competition. There's so many different artists I can imagine him taking on, the number one being the likes of The Black Keys. I'm really excited by John as an artist.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Khanyah Mabija </span>- No Turn - 'Rock With You' by Michael Jackson</b></div>
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Another one who's affected by nerves, he has a good voice and there's definitely some talent evident but I just feel that his nerves affect him. The performance lacks consistency, he hits some notes on the money then misses some other notes completely. Khanyah unfortunately doesn't get through, he showed potential but it just wasn't a strong enough rendition of the track.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Nichola Lynch </span>- 2/4 - 'Umbrella' by Rihanna ft Lil Mama - Joins Team Una</b></div>
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This is an interesting spin on the song, Nichola does the Lil Mama rap during the song, it's a much edgier performance of the song. Nichola has a really good voice, it's a nice rendition of the song and she has a lot of potential. I'm not crazy about the Americanized twang to her voice but she shows that she has a lot of talent with this performance. I'm intrigued to hear more from Nichola, she's a good singer.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Russell Hogg </span>- 1/4 - 'Devil In The Girl' (Original Song) - Joins Team Bressoe</b></div>
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Russell is performing his own song for the blind audition, it's a really good track actually and he has a fantastic voice. I love the rasp to his voice, he has a great rock voice with a killer tone, there's a little bit of a bluesy feel to it but I can also just imagine him absolutely tearing through a killer rock song. Russell's potential is huge, I can't wait to see what else he can do, he's another very strong talent joining Team Bressie.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Ellie-May Bopp </span>- 2/4 - 'My Favourite Game' by The Cardigans - Joins Team Rachel</b></div>
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RTE 2FM wildcard Ellie-May Bopp is hoping to continue the streak of success for the wildcards with this rendition of a Cardigans' classic. I love her tone, she has quite a rich tone which works absolutely brilliantly on this song, another very intriguing quirky girl to add to the list of strong artists we've seen so far this series. Ellie-May reminds me a little of Shannon from Series 2, she has a strong, distinctive tone. Really excited to see what Rachel can do with Ellie-May, really strong song choice combined with a great tone.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Chloe Donnelan </span>- No Turn - 'Dog Days Are Over' by Florence And The Machines</b></div>
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I think Chloe picked the wrong song choice, Florence has such a natural, effortless voice and it's almost impossible to measure up to her, unfortunately although Chloe has a good voice, it doesn't feel as effortless, in fact I almost feel like she's trying too hard to sing this. It feels over-anunciated and the emotion doesn't really feel natural. Chloe has something but it just doesn't really hit me with this song and I can see why Chloe doesn't get through. </div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Sonia Traynor </span>- No Turn - 'Everytime' by Britney Spears </b></div>
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Sonia picks a really tough song to sing for her blind audition, this track is extremely hard to perform, if your vocals aren't perfect it will show as they're so exposed. As a result, although Sonia has a really nice voice, her voice doesn't translate effortlessly into the song, it sounds a little flat at times even if her higher range is pretty strong. I think if she had picked a different song, Sonia may have had a better chance of getting through but with the standard being so high, it was always going to be tough. </div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Karla Chubb </span>- 1/4 - 'Videogames' by Lana Del Rey</b></div>
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Karla Chubb is next to take the stage, she's taking on this pretty well known Lana Del Rey track. It's quite a slow song, probably not the most interesting song choice but Karla does have a pretty good job in fairness. There's not a 'wow' moment within the song as such so I'm not totally bowled over by Karla's performance. She can definitely sing but I'm not so sure that she has star quality, she seems very nervous which probably affects her performance, interested to see what Kian does with her in the Battle Rounds.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Mike Staunton </span>- No Turn - 'Let's Stay Together' by Al Green</b></div>
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Mike has a pretty great voice, he sings this pretty well, I do like his soulful tone but you can definitely detect the nerves in his voice. Although vocally it's a good performance, he holds back quite a bit and doesn't really give the performance his all. I liked his voice but Mike's nerves were definitely what held him back during the performance.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Rachel Murphy </span>- 2/4 - 'Chandelier' by Sia - Joins Team Una</b></div>
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Rachel's auditioning today despite having quite a sore throat, she's been at the doctor who has prescribed her antibiotics. Combine that with the song choice and it's nothing short of amazing that she manages to sing this as well as she did. This song is so tough to sing, there are so many high notes yet she actually does a really great job of it. If this is what Rachel can do with a sore throat, she has massive potential.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Adam Cummins </span>- 3/4 - 'Last Request' by Paolo Nutini - Joins Team Kian</b></div>
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A very impressive audition from Adam, I like his tone even if he does sound quite similar to the original artist. That said, who's complaining about somebody sounding like Paolo Nutini whose voice is incredible? Adam has a very intense stage style and really loses himself in the performance. I think he could be a very interesting performer although I'm worried about him being on Team Kian as Kian generally isn't great with acts with a distinctive style.</div>
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Kevin Mc Stravockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03436048199177267455noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4259533101493961797.post-32541046517531562952015-02-05T15:21:00.000-03:002015-02-05T15:21:11.032-03:00The Voice of Ireland: Season 4: Blind Auditions 3<img alt="Photobucket" src="http://i1234.photobucket.com/albums/ff414/mdssblog/The%20Voice%20of%20Ireland/TheVoiceofIreland.png" /><br />
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Last week saw Denise Morgan swap The Voice UK for The Voice of Ireland by joining Team Bressie. As we approach the third set of blind auditions, the coaches will be going all out to find the best talent for their teams. Who will shine and who will fall short?</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Pat Fitz </span>- 1/4 - 'Higher and Higher' by Jackie Wilson - Joins Team Una</b></div>
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Pat is no stranger to talent shows, he was in You're A Star a few years ago (basically the Irish version of Pop Idol) but that's quite a while ago and he wants to give the talent show circuit another crack of the whip by auditioning for The Voice. He has a really good voice in fairness, I'm not a massive fan of the song choice, it's a little cheesy but he hits every note and his falsetto is flawless when the song shifts into a higher register. It looks like nobody is going to turn until Una turns towards the end of the song. Pat has a lot of talent, with good song choices, he's definitely a strong contender.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Ryan Hegarty </span>- No Turn - 'Fisherman's Blues' by The Waterboys </b></div>
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I'm kinda surprised nobody turned for Ryan, I thought he had a very good voice and I liked this song choice a lot, it wasn't your standard run of the mill song choice and showed off his tone nicely. The only thing I can think of is that they maybe thought his rendition was too similar to the original, he had a fantastic voice though and I think he could have been a favourite of mine, there was something very Damien Rice/Glen Hansard about his voice. A shame but the standard seems higher than it has ever been before.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Aoife Smith </span>- 1/4 - 'Mr Brightside' by The Killers - Joins Team Bressie</b></div>
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The standard of today's show is so high, I absolutely love Aoife's voice and it's nice to see her doing something different with the song. I'm not usually massively keen on slowed down acoustic covers of songs but her bluesy voice is so smooth and makes me fall in love with this rendition of the song. There's definitely a Norah Jones esque velvety quality to her voice, I'm really glad Bressie turned for her. I think Aoife has a lot of potential and I'm interested to see how she will fare in the battle rounds, definitely one of the most unique and interesting artists so far.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Tara Gannon </span>- 1/4 - 'Let's Stay Together' by Al Green - Joins Team Rachel</b></div>
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Tara has a very impressive tone, I like the husky feel to her voice, there's a bit of an old school soulful feel to her voice, there's a little bit of a Tina Turner resemblance vocally there. She sings with a lot of power, unfortunately nerves mean that there are a few bum notes here and there but it's not a bad performance at all and she has some serious potential for sure. She reminds me a bit of one of the contestants from a few years ago, Niamh Armstrong who had a similar, albeit slightly softer soul voice. </div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Nicole Campbell </span>- No Turn - 'All The Man That I Need' by Whitney Houston </b></div>
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Again, another very talented singer being rejected, the standard has most definitely stepped up this series, particularly this show. There's very little I can pick up on bar her nerves kicking in towards the end of the song (probably her really wanting to get through) and her voice cracking a little but it's testament to her talent that she was able to sing a song as difficult as a Whitney track so well. Tough luck, maybe she can try again next year.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Kenneth Usher </span>- 3/4 - 'Autumn' by Paolo Nutini - Joins Team Bressie</b></div>
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I absolutely love this song, and Kenneth has a really good voice, I love his tone, it's quite bluesy, not dissimilar to Paolo Nutini's voice actually but with a bit of a Glen Hansard sort of feel to it. He's very nervous, you can tell that as his voice sort of warbles a little bit but I have a feeling that he could go far in this competition. Bressie's the best choice for him, he has proven adept at mentoring artists of this kind of style whereas Kian has largely flopped with quirky male vocalists and we haven't seen the girls in action yet. Well this episode really is producing some great talent, isn't it?</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Leanne Power </span>- 1/4 - 'Dark Horse' by Katy Perry - Joins Team Rachel</b></div>
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The latest of the 2FM wildcards is Leanne Power who wildcard pannelist Ruth Scott passionately speaks about saying if she was in one of the chairs, she would get whiplash she would turn that quickly, I really like Leanne's voice and how she manages to perform the song, it's a great performance. I would have loved it if she had hit the high notes when it started into that part of the song. All the same, I'm really glad Leanne makes it through to the Battle Rounds.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Orly Dentos </span>- No Turn - 'Smooth' by Santana feat. Rob Thomas</b></div>
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Filipino Orly has the moves but his voice unfortunately wasn't just as strong as what we have seen so far. His style was maybe a little too karaoke for the show, the song choice probably didn't help matters, nobody turned and to be honest I had to agree with them, I'm just not sure that he's strong enough for the show.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Kayleigh Cullinan </span>- 4/4 - 'How Will I Know' by Whitney Houston - Joins Team Una</b></div>
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19-year-old Kayleigh has had a tough couple of years, she was bullied when she was younger which became so serious that she was savagely attacked leaving her with almost no sight in her right eye. She has a connection to one of the coaches, her mother used to drive Bressie's tour bus and he kept checking up on her after hearing of the attack. She's singing the Sam Smith arrangement of this Whitney classic and nailing it. Kayleigh has a really great voice and has a really captivating stage presence. It's no shock that the whole panel turns around for her but I am surprised that she doesn't pick Bressie after revealing the connection between them. All the same, Team Una it is.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Danny Fitzpatrick </span>- No Turn - 'Sky Full Of Stars' by Coldplay </b></div>
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It's a tough crowd for Danny as his rendition of Coldplay track 'Sky Full Of Stars' fails to win over any of the coaches. He has a good voice but the performance didn't really register with me, it felt a little anti-climactic, there was no real moment within the song and I think nerves sort of affected his performance. If we hadn't already seen so many strong male singers, I think one of the coaches may well have turned.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Jo Petit </span>- 2/4 - 'Georgia On My Mind' by Hoagy Carmichael and Stuart Gorrell - Joins Team Kian</b></div>
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Jo manages to get two of the coaches on side with his rendition of 'Georgia On My Mind'. He has an impressive soulful voice, definitely some serious talent there. Not my favourite audition to date, there were certainly some shaky notes but I really like Jo's tone, he could most definitely be a contender in the Battle Rounds as I have a feeling that he has quite a lot of experience under his belt.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Fabia Marsella </span>- No Turn - 'The One That Got Away' by Katy Perry</b></div>
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Fabia unfortunately fails to get the judges turning with her rendition of this Katy Perry track. I think she has a fairly good voice and she sang the song well but it didn't lend itself to being cut to 90 seconds long, in fact she seemed to cut out parts of the song rather randomly and that's what made me a little bit unsure. I do think she had the talent but the song choice just didn't really do her any favours.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Stuart Bond </span>- 3/4 - 'Feeling Good' by Nina Simone - Joins Team Kian</b></div>
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Stuart has a good voice, I'm a bit bored of hearing this song being sung on talent shows but he does give a very impressive rendition of it. I can't fault his voice but it's not the most captivating performance of the night nor I don't think his voice is quite as unique as some of the other artists we heard tonight. That being said, Stuart is definitely talented and I'm interested to see how he fares in the Battle Rounds. He joins Kian's team.</div>
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Kevin Mc Stravockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03436048199177267455noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4259533101493961797.post-28066312573214965342015-01-19T19:07:00.002-03:002015-01-19T19:07:48.179-03:00The Voice of Ireland: Season 4: Blind Auditions 2<img alt="Photobucket" src="http://i1234.photobucket.com/albums/ff414/mdssblog/The%20Voice%20of%20Ireland/TheVoiceofIreland.png" /><br />
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Last week saw a return for The Voice of Ireland as Kian, Bressie and new coaches Una and Rachel fought it out for the best singers from the country. Tonight the search continues as more singers try to get those chairs spinning with two ex-auditionees returning for a second time. Will it be second time lucky for either of them?</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Shannon Doyle </span>- 2/4 - 'Big Girls Don't Cry' by Fergie - Joins Team Una</b></div>
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Shannon is a hairdresser but her true ambition has always been to forge a career in the music biz so here she is trying out for The Voice. She describes her mother as her biggest fan but will any of the four coaches rival that position? She has a pleasant voice, quite a sultry tone which is very smooth on this song but of course the moment everyone is waiting for is when it shifts into a higher register. Okay it's pretty solid, the girls both turn and she sort of loses control a little but it's still a decent performance and she certainly shows promise. I'm inclined to agree with Bressie that she slightly lost control of her voice after the girls had turned but I think she has the talent, it's just whether the coach she chooses will be able to bring it out of her. I think direction might be a problem as at the minute I fear she could fall into the trap of just being given generic pop tracks by any artist, something that tends to happen to a few of the artists every year, nothing wrong with standard pop but I find that if they can find a direction and can show a bit of originality, they tend to do better on this sort of show. A solid start for Shannon.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Helena Bradley-Bates </span>- 3/4 - 'Alone' by Heart - Joins Team Kian</b></div>
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You only think auditioning for the show is tough but imagine turning up to your audition having buried your mother just a few days before. That's reality for Helena who, sadly, lost her mother a few days before this blind audition. Having already applied to be on the show long before and knowing how much her mum was behind her, Helena decided that she would go ahead with the audition in memory of her mum. This is a pretty great performance, it might be a bit of a cliché song but she's absolutely nailing it. 80's power ballads aren't easy songs to sing, that's why so many talent show contestants seem to fall flat when they take them on but Helena has a great voice. She's definitely a rock style singer and she nails every note here. The potential with Helena is massive, I do worry somehow that Kian may give her clichéd songs that make her come across like a pub rocker but he was very passionate in his appeal to get Helena on his team so I think he sees a lot of potential in her. As he said 'there's nothing wrong with an old-fashioned belter' and if we're talking raw technical ability here, Helena has pushed herself straight to the top of the pack with that audition.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Laura Enright </span>- 4/4 - 'Hey Ya' by Outkast - Joins Team Bressie</b></div>
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Laura's passion for music was fuelled when she started university in Galway and started busking out on the streets of the city. She says that she's vastly outnumbered by guys when she's out busking as significantly more males do it than females. As soon as I hear the acoustics kick in and realize what she's singing I'm expecting to hear the Sara Blasko cover which seems to be the style quirky girls tend to aim for. However, she's not doing the same arrangement, this one is similarly stripped back but her enunciation and runs make it very much an original take on the song. She has a really great tone, it's very soulful, she might have a guitar in hand but she's not a quirky girl as such, her voice is actually very powerful and I have a feeling Laura could be very versatile in this competition. There's little bits of her voice, some of the runs she does which remind me a little of Ella Henderson so I'm intrigued to see how she'll do. Bressie has found himself a very strong contender in Laura, he better not mess it up.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Eddie Carey </span>- No Turn - 'Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)' by Edison Lighthouse</b></div>
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Eddie says himself that he has quite an old school taste in music, mainly because he grew up listening to his dad's taste in music which was very much based around classic Irish artists like Phil Coulter. His song choice probably reflects that somehow and although he actually sounds better than I was expecting him to, it's a fairly middle of the road performance. I do like his voice but the song choice and his sort of lackluster performance ability (nerves maybe?) just don't allow him to stand out. I feel he needed to really give it an extra 10 or 20%, it sort of lacked energy and passion but he definitely has a good voice. I think with a better song choice and maybe a bit more passion or enthusiasm in his performance he could make it through in a future series.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Cian O'Melia </span>- 2/4 - 'Way Back When' by Kodaline - Joins Team Rachel</b></div>
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Cian (not the coach, that's spelt with a K) describes himself as having taken the wrong path when he was younger. Having had no education and no qualifications as a consequence, he didn't make the right choices but he found himself back on the right path and music is something he's keen on delving into. He has a good voice, most definitely, I like the song choice and I like his falsetto, there's a bit of a James Blunt vibe to his voice. I think he could have given it slightly more emotion as it did feel a little vacant but he's a good singer and I like his tone. There's definite potential there and I'm glad he didn't pick Kian as that would have led to all kinds of confusion (and bad jokes).</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Brian Doyle </span>- No Turn - 'Sing' by Ed Sheeran </b></div>
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You may recognize Brian from Series 1, he auditioned way back in 2012 when Bryan Kennedy was a coach (much as we try to suppress that memory from our minds) and had a panic attack after his nervous rendition of Your Song. Brian said that his first audition has played on his mind ever since and he finally feels confident enough to try again. This time his nerves are still very evident, his voice shakes a bit throughout the song but he definitely looks more comfortable on stage than he did last time when he spent most of the song looking at the ground. I don't think this was the right song for him, Ed Sheeran songs are hard to sing well and this one requires a lot of natural rhythm which Brian doesn't appear to be able to grasp in his rendition of the song. Sadly nobody turns but Bressie and Kian both recognize him and remember his audition vividly when he refreshes their memories. Everyone praises him for giving it another try, fair play to him, it's not easy getting up there after having a bad experience and as they said, he will most definitely have inspired a few other people just by being there. Maybe it'll be third time lucky for Brian.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Mikaela Bonner </span>- No Turn - 'Pumped Up Kicks' by Foster The People </b></div>
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Donegal girl Mikaela's audition comes after a traumatic year for her and her family. Last Christmas, her mother was extremely ill and very nearly died. After nearly losing someone so close to her, Mikaela decided that she would stop making excuses and try to make her dreams of a career in music a reality by signing up for the show. Love this song, Mikaela has a really nice tone and she's a very strong singer, it's definitely a little shaky to begin with but as she gets into it, her confidence seems to improve and so too do her vocals. I like Mikaela, I was half expecting someone to turn but she could definitely do with a little more confidence. Bressie tells her that he thinks she has a really strong voice and advises her to go out there and seek out producers who could help her put her voice on record because he thinks that is the best route for her.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Brian Dunne </span>- 1/4 - 'My Love' by Justin Timberlake - Joins Team Rachel</b></div>
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Brian was encouraged to audition by his dad who wanted to help him boost his confidence. I like this, I like his tone and the stripped back arrangement of the song even if I think the original track is pretty perfect. It was a little plain perhaps, it sort of felt at times that he needed to inject a bit of personality or something into it but he definitely has something there, he just needs a little bit more confidence, which getting through to Battle Rounds should offer him. He has an original tone even if the way he performed the song maybe didn't show it off in the best manner. I don't think doing acoustic covers of chart hits is necessarily the way to go for him, I'd like to see him doing something in his folksy sort of style, a Hudson Taylor track would be perfect for him.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Denise Morgan </span>- 4/4 - 'If You Love Me Say You Love Me' (Original Song) - Joins Team Bressie</b></div>
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Denise isn't a total stranger to the format, she hasn't auditioned for the show before but she has however appeared on its' UK counterpart The Voice UK (which coincidentally kicked off last weekend on BBC1). She was on the first series of the show and made it to Battle Rounds on Team Tom before she was knocked out. She says that being on the show gave her a bit of a confidence boost after giving birth to her son. If she hadn't said about her Voice UK history, I think you would probably have struggled to make the connection because she sounds totally different here. Her original track is fantastic and she has such natural artistry. I love the whole retro 50's blues feel of the song, I see a bit of a Nerina Pallot, even Paloma Faith feel to her style. She has improved so much since being on The Voice UK, easily my favourite audition so far this series. I absolutely loved this, it was fresh and as Bressie (I think) pointed out she has such a clear direction, she knows who she is as an artist and it'll make her coach's job so much easier (as long as they don't try and go against that). She properly grills the coaches asking them to name a song they would give her. Bressie is the only one to actually come up with anything, waffling something about Roy Orbison which seems to be enough for Denise. I just hope she doesn't go the same way as Ciara, my personal favourite from Team Bressie last year. Word of warning for Bressie if he's reading this blog (pfft...as if), don't mess it up.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Aoife Cremin </span>- No Turn - 'Still Into You' by Paramore </b></div>
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Aoife is the second of the 2FM wildcards to audition for the show, she was picked for her effortless voice which is displayed by a very impressive rendition of 'Riptide' by Vance Joy which we hear. Sadly, song choice absolutely kills her in the blind auditions, picking this song doesn't work for her, she has quite a melodic, sweet voice and this song feels a bit too angsty and agressive for her. You sort of need a bit of a grit in your voice to do this and it just didn't work for her, the performance lacked substance and her voice sounded a bit weak on the song. It just goes to show that song choice can make or break you, if she had sang Riptide I think she'd have sailed through. It was a bit flat at times, a shame as she definitely had potential.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Miranda Thornton </span>- No Turn - 'Can't Rely On You' by Paloma Faith</b></div>
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Miranda is a professional singer who is well used to the entertainment circuit having performed across Ireland, Europe and even in Las Vegas. She also entered Eurosong twice trying to represent her country. I think being a professional singer can have its' pros and cons and sadly it went against her today, she has a nice voice, I hear a bit of a country tone come through but having performed professionally, she has picked up a few bad habits and sadly she oversings it a little making it feel a bit cabaret. It also didn't help that the band kind of butchered this track, it cheapened the whole feel of the performance and I just couldn't get into the song hearing it being played like this. I'm not totally pinning the blame on the band here but the sound quality on this version of the voice isn't particularly great if you compare it to its' UK and US counterparts and with this song, it was the dealbreaker for me.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Dean Forrester </span>- 1/4 - 'Jump' by Van Halen - Joins Team Bressie</b></div>
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Dean auditioned in Series 2 where he was criticized for performing an old fashioned style song, not necessarily a fair critique if I'm honest but ah well. Since auditioning, he has tried to work on making what he does sound a bit more contemporary. So he's doing a swing version of an 80's rock song. Right. No, in fairness to Dean he's doing something different so fair play even if it's not a totally original take on the song, Paul Anka having done a swing version of this back in 2005. He definitely has something there, he has a pretty good swing voice, I'm not entirely convinced that his voice is 'wow' but he has improved a lot since his audition in Series 2. Bressie likes it and as the sole coach to turn becomes his coach. Dean has talent, I'm interested to see where he'll go next.</div>
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<br />Kevin Mc Stravockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03436048199177267455noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4259533101493961797.post-67117455733814757962015-01-11T16:05:00.004-03:002015-01-11T16:05:54.168-03:00The Voice of Ireland: Season 4: Blind Auditions 1<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The Voice is back for a fourth series with new faces in the spinning chairs. After Dolores 'It's A Six' O'Riordan decided not to return for a second series and with Jamelia unable to commit to a third year as a coach, former S Club 7 member Rachel Stevens and Una Foden from The Saturdays are joining Bressie and Kian to find the voice of Ireland. Bressie took the crown for a second year last series after his act Brendan McCahey triumphed. So as the four coaches take their seats for the first time this series, what talent awaits them?</span></div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Patrick Donoghue </span>-4/4 - 'Red' by Daniel Merriweather - Joins Team Una</b></div>
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Patrick wants to go for The Voice due to the fact that nobody will judge him on anything other than his voice, having sustained burns in a fire when he was younger. He has a very powerful, soulful voice, almost a male belter. Vocally, he reminds me a little bit of Sam Smith, he also has a similar feel to his voice to former X Factor champ Joe McElderry, he's definitely a talented guy with a lot of potential, at times I felt that his tone was lacking a little but I reckon Patrick is bound to go far.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">John McCormack </span>- No Turn - 'Just Wanna Dance The Night Away' by The Mavericks</b></div>
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John is a singer/songwriter, he's also a father to fourteen kids who Kathryn gets him to name, and fair play to him he manages it. His song choice doesn't really help him, it's a bit of a crooner classic which sounds very dated now and although his voice isn't terrible, it's definitely not good enough to go up against other singers, I feel that his style is too dated to stand a chance on a show like this.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Kelley McArdle </span>- 3/4 - 'Everything In Between' (Original Song) - Joins Team Una</b></div>
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Kelley got into singing a few years back when she was going through a tough time, being bullied at school and her parents splitting up. She has written her own songs and she's auditioning with one of these original tracks, which includes a bit of a rap in it. This is an interesting song actually, it has a very poppy feel to it, not dissimilar to some of Taylor Swift's more recent songs, she has a bit of a Cher Lloyd or Avril Lavigne feel to her, I really like the track and the rapping provides a nice edge, I think she could go very far in the competition.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Ronan O'Healey </span>- 1/4 - 'The Lazy Song' (adapted) - Joins Team Rachel</b></div>
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I say he is singing 'The Lazy Song' but it's pretty much a totally different song to the faint tune of the original, this song is quite humourous commenting about his experience on The Voice and begging the coaches to turn around. Well it's certainly an original way to grab their attention. It's hard to judge his voice much on this type of song but I sort of like the feel of his voice, it won't be until we see him getting serious and singing another song that we'll really be able to judge his voice.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Ashley Cully </span>- No Turn - 'Sweet Nothings' by Calvin Harris feat. Florence Welch </b></div>
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I love her song choice, it's one of the best dance tracks of the last few years and Florence Welch has an incredible voice. I actually really like this girl, she has a great tone and although it's obvious that she's nervous, I think she does a great job of this track. It's a shame that nobody turned around for her as I think she had great potential but I do agree that she really should have gave the chorus a little more power, that was the only thing that I felt the song lacked. </div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">John Sheehy </span>- 3/4 - 'Bette Davis Eyes' by Kim Carnes - Joins Team Una</b></div>
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John is a yoga instructor, he says that he would choose Kian if all of the coaches turn for him and warns that he has a very unique voice. From the first note, it's clear what that is as John's voice is in fact extremely high, he almost sounds quite feminine on the song. I'm not sure about his tone, it's interesting but I have a feeling we might get a little tired of it after a while. That said, he powers through the song with ease and his technical ability is pretty undoubted. Everyone but Bressie turns and all of them seem surprised when they see that he is a guy, with Kian and Bressie both convinced that he was a woman. It'll be interesting to see whether he still sounds as feminine in further rounds when the coaches can see his face.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Colm Conlan </span>- 1/4 - 'Sedated' by Hozier - Joins Team Kian</b></div>
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Colm is the first of the RTE 2FM Wildcards, yep that's running again this year. This is where the radio station pick five acts who hadn't initially applied to audition and enter them into the blind auditions stage. Their success rate is pretty high considering that last year's winner, Brendan was initially a 2FM Wildcard. They have picked Colm Conlan, a farmer as the first wildcard, he has a very interesting style and I like his tone but I'm not sure about the way he's singing this song. It starts off very flat and a little nasally, picking up slightly when it shifts into a higher key, it's clear that his higher register is where he feels most comfortable so I would suggest Kian tries to pick songs which target this. As the song went on, it definitely sounded a lot stronger so I do think Colm could be one to watch.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Megan Ring </span>- No Turn - 'Ironic' by Alanis Morissette </b></div>
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Megan is massively into her music and says that she plays pretty much every instrument under the sun, initially starting with a humble guitar. Taking on such an iconic track is a risk but I actually think she's doing a pretty good job of this track, it is very faithful to the original but that's not necessarily a bad job. I think as it went into the chorus, she wasn't as strong and her voice started to shake a little but it wasn't a bad job by any means and I'm actually quite surprised that nobody turned around, she has a lot of potential.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Sarah McTernan </span>- 4/4 - 'Who You Are' by Jessie J - Joins Team Rachel</b></div>
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Now after the coaches banging on about people not truly feeling the emotions of the songs they were singing, Sarah comes along and gives a masterclass in delivering an absolutely amazing performance. This was easily one of the most passionate blind auditions I have seen on The Voice of Ireland, I love the way she sings and the tone she has. It really adds to the emotion of the song and the fact it started off very fragile then the power kicked in coming up to the chorus really made me believe the emotion. It wasn't flawless but I completely believed every word she was singing and was invested in the performance, easily the strongest one so far.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">James Bermingham </span>- No Turn - 'Ain't No Stopping Us Now' by McFadden and Whitehead </b></div>
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James is a professional George Michael tribute act but he won't be singing any George Michael songs today for he wants to be able to establish himself as an artist in his own right, without any comparisons. Not sure about this song choice, it's a bit of a karaoke pick, not something I would choose myself and I don't know that I see him standing a real chance in the latter stages of the competition. It's fun but it's not a series winning performance and unfortunately I'm right as nobody turns. I did hear the George Michael in his voice to be honest.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Jolene Burns </span>- 1/4 - 'Prayer In C' by Lily Wood & The Prick and Robin Schulz - Joins Team Bressie</b></div>
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I really like her voice, she has a really cool vibe and her tone is great. She's definitely nervous but I actually thought the nerves made the performance better, the fact that it wasn't polished made it feel so much more raw and I just felt that it was a really refreshing take on a great song. I think Jolene is one to watch, Bressie can be hit and miss with his acts but he had a very strong team of quirky girls in Series 2 and I think he could certainly do something interesting with Jolene's voice.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Sasha Hatam Smith </span>- 2/4 - 'Burn' by Ellie Goulding - Joins Team Kian</b></div>
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I'm not too sure of this performance initially, it's not the norm to see relatively powerful singers taking on Ellie Goulding songs as you associate her music with quirky girls but this is a really interesting take on a good song actually. I like her voice on the song and she has an interesting husky tone which I think will be interesting in the future rounds. I can see a lot of potential with Sasha, not my favourite audition tonight but there's something interesting about her.</div>
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Kevin Mc Stravockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03436048199177267455noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4259533101493961797.post-56715726251248924572014-12-19T13:29:00.002-03:002014-12-19T13:29:41.483-03:00X Factor UK 2014: Top 3 Perform: The Final<img alt="Photobucket" src="http://i1234.photobucket.com/albums/ff414/mdssblog/X%20Factor%20UK/banner.png" /><br />
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The last of Cheryl's girls, Lauren Platt left the competition last week in a tense sing-off with Andrea Faustini leaving us with three acts in the grand final, Fleur East and Ben Haenow for the Overs and Andrea for the Boys. Mel B is apparently ill so has been (oddly) replaced with former judge Tulisa but Simon, Louis and Cheryl are here. By the end of the weekend, Sam Bailey will have a successor.</div>
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<b>Recap and videos after the JUMP...</b></div>
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<b><span style="color: red; font-size: large;">Ben Haenow</span></b></div>
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<b>'Demons' by Imagine Dragons - 9/10 - </b>This is an amazing song choice for Ben, I was hoping he would do something like this or 'America' for his winner's single to be honest but doing it as the finale opener is also a smart move as it's definitely an epic enough track to open the show. Vocally, the first verse is a little under but then again I'm not sure how singing in a box affected the acoustics. Once it got into the chorus, he absolutely nailed it and his raspy voice was at home, tearing through the song with ease. This is one of Ben's strongest performances to date, he's not my preferred winner (more on that act later) but I wouldn't be disappointed if Ben won either because I think he has a great voice, I just wish he could have done more stuff in this vein as I feel some of his song choices have been a little tame.<br />
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<b>'Thinking Out Loud' with Ed Sheeran - 8/10 - </b>This performance is a decent, if not AMAZING duet. Ben seems a bit nervous, which is probably quite understandable considering that he is duetting with one of the biggest artists of the moment. Ed sounds great on this, Ben's voice isn't as well suited to the song but I much prefer this rendition of the song to the first time Ben sang it where his voice was just too rough and rocky on the song. He sings it slightly softer this time around. A solid duet from Ben and Ed there, I'd say Ed's popularity alone will have done him a favour.</div>
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<span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b>Andrea Faustini</b></span></div>
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<b>'Feeling Good' by Nina Simone - 7/10 - </b>Having been in the bottom two twice now, I'm fairly certain Andrea will be finishing in third place and this song choice didn't persuade me otherwise. It's a very obvious song choice for him, perhaps a little dull considering how Fleur and Ben have been given very current songs that haven't been performed much on talent shows but are recognizable enough to go down well. The performance got better as it went on but it felt like he was swallowed up by the huge performance somewhat. Whether it was his microphone or just the way he was singing it, at times it was really hard to hear him and it lacked that extra impact to really nail the performance. Consdering the arrangement, he needed a little bit more conviction and I didn't feel like it was a final performance, it felt a little nervy.</div>
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<b>'Ghost' with Ella Henderson - 8.5/10 - </b>This was a lot better than I was expecting to be actually, having Andrea sing with Ella Henderson wasn't a duet I was expecting to hear but they both have fantastic voices and despite both having big voices, this duet works surprisingly well. I really like Andrea's solo part of the song, his voice sounds really good on it, I much prefer his rendition of the song to Paul Akister's performance of it in Week 1 which was a little forgettable. Ella sounds incredible, obviously, but she doesn't make Andrea pale in comparison like some celebrity duets can end up doing *cough* Christina Aguilera screaming over Rebecca Ferguson *cough*. A solid duet from Andrea there but I will be surprised if he finishes anywhere higher than 3rd place.</div>
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<b>'Can't Hold Us' by Macklemore feat. Ryan Lewis - 10/10 - </b>Fleur comes in on the side of a motorbike, talk about entering in style. The whole thing just feels so fresh and so polished, I love Fleur's rapping, it's only when you hear her that you realize how average previous rappers like Cher have been in terms of rapping ability. The whole thing just feels so much like she's already an established artist performing at an awards ceremony or something, she's such a polished and confident performer and really nails the energy of the song. I loved her take on this song and it's a really good start to the final for her, Fleur and Ben have been the most consistent performers of the series so it's only fitting that they were also the two best of the final, they need to make the second night.</div>
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<b>'Beneath Your Beautiful' with Labrinth - 8/10 - </b>Fleur was delighted to be told she would be duetting with Labrinth as this song, originally a duet with Emeli Sandé is one of her favourite duets of the past few years and she has always wanted to work with Labrinth. If anything lets this performance down, it's actually, surprisingly Labrinth's vocals as he doesn't sound as good as he usually does. I really like his voice but he sings part of it out of tune, Fleur actually sounds surprisingly great on the song, her voice is a little strained at the beginning, perhaps nerves but she soon gets into the performance and I think her and Labrinth sounded the best together and had the most natural chemistry on stage. She sounded particularly great in the last 30 seconds or so, I loved seeing her stripped back and this was another really impressive duet. For the slight vocal misses, I'd put it on par with Ed and Ben's duet.</div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">1. Fleur East</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">2. Ben Haenow</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">3. Andrea Faustini</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Eliminated:</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /></b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Andrea Faustini</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b style="color: #f1c232; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Results</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: red; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">E</span>liminated (in third place):</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Andrea Faustini</b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Right result here, Andrea is a great singer with a fantastic voice but he was too inconsistent compared to the other two and didn't just have quite the same stage presence or performance abilities that Fleur and Ben have. He's undeniably a great singer, will be interesting to see how he fares post-show.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: red;"><b>Night 2</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: red;"><b>Ben Haenow</b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>'Man In The Mirror' (Live Show 6) - 10/10 - </b>I wouldn't have personally picked this as my favourite performance of his, I preferred 'Highway To Hell' and 'Jealous Guy' but it was a pretty good performance and anything I had against the performance the first time has been smoothed out this time because this is absolutely faultless. Ben's tone is his best asset and he really makes it key in this performance, it's what makes this cover stand out from all the other countless Michael Jackson covers we hear every year on the show. I love the stripped back element of this song, it's perfect for Ben, whatever happens tonight, personally I reckon Ben will probably win it, I think we've got a pretty great top two and Ben would be a deserving winner.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: small;"> <b>'Something I Need' by One Republic (Winner's Single) - 8.5/10 - </b>This song feels like it was tailor made for Ben, Ryan Tedder has a sort of rasp to his voice and the whole feel of the track is like it's just made for Ben. I have to admit that Ben has grown on me over the course of the competition and I really like his voice for the most part. He delivers this song with commitment and passion and he does it justice, vocally it is a little shouty particularly in the final rendition of the chorus but overall, he absolutely nails it. The song itself is the only thing that holds it back, I love One Republic but this isn't their best song and I would have preferred something a little bit more epic, like Secrets. Aside from a bit of oversinging towards the end, great performance, I have a feeling Ben will win this.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>'Uptown Funk' by Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars (Live Show 9) - 10/10 - </b>I loved this performance so much last week, it was without a doubt the best performance of the series and although performing the same song two weeks in a row seems odd, it was so magical and had such an incredible reaction that it makes sense to let her sing it again. What it locks in surprise element this time around, it makes up for in an even bigger, extended performance which proves why Fleur has been such a great contestant. She's not going to come out and sing Whitney Houston ballads in a ballgown, nor is she a massive belter with Mariah esque capabilities but her sheer stage presence and versatility, being able to go from an all-singing and all-dancing huge number to a more humble, stripped back performance shows that she has the credentials to do really well in the charts. She's the one I would keep an eye on once this show is over regardless of whether she actually wins, she has something special, this was brilliant. Performing this song last week propelled her to number one on iTunes and prompted Mark Ronson to push the release date of the song forward (he's now number one in the charts) so it's clear that there's interest in her.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>'Something I Need' by One Republic (Winner's Single) - 9/10 - </b>I'm disappointed that they gave her the same song as Ben as it's clear that the song was picked with him in mind, not so much for Fleur. However, I'm pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this rendition of the song, there's something fresh about her delivery of the song, it has a slightly different feel to it than Ben's which is in many ways more faithful to the original. I would have loved to hear her doing something like 'Feels Like Coming Home' by Jetta or a Janelle Monae track but this is a really good song, she gives it a bit more life than Ben did and overall, I think she made the stronger impression on me with the track. That last section was fantastic, I would love to see her doing well after the show and I feel that she will even if she doesn't win tonight.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Ben Haenow</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Not a totally surprising result, not my personal preference but I'm not annoyed to see Ben succeeding either as he has been very strong throughout the show and I do feel that Fleur is a cert to do well regardless and is likely to benefit from not being the winner. I'm interested to see how this year's contestants will fare after the show, I think Fleur, Lauren and Andrea will all get record deals. How Ben will fare compared to previous male winners remains to be seen.</span></span><br />
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Kevin Mc Stravockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03436048199177267455noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4259533101493961797.post-26907579459881482912014-12-13T15:34:00.000-03:002014-12-13T15:34:03.666-03:00X Factor UK 2014: Top 4 Perform: The Semi Final<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: 'Segoe UI', Calibri, 'Myriad Pro', Myriad, 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 0.8em; padding: 0px;">
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black;">Would you believe we're nearly there? It's the ninth live show and there are just four acts remaining. Only one more act is going to miss out on the final next week. Tonight they'll all be singing Christmas songs (why could they not have saved that for the final?) and a song to get them to the final? Who will miss out, Cheryl's girl Lauren, Mel's boy Andrea or one of Simon's overs, Ben and Fleur?</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>'All I Want For Christmas Is You' by Mariah Carey - 8.5/10 - </b>Giving Fleur a song by Mariah Carey seems like a big ask but I think she's the only act remaining with the performance ability to pull a song as iconic as this off. Vocally, she obviously sings it very differently to Mariah, not having the same belting ability (although if recent appearances are anything to go by, Mariah can't either). I actually enjoyed it a lot more than I was expecting to, okay it's not going to go down as her best performance but it's still pretty great, I actually think her vocals are steadily improving week on week. She pulled off some very nice notes and I continue to enjoy her falsetto voice. Aside from a little vocal strain in the second verse, it was pretty great. A strong start for Fleur. She gives the judges presents, nice way to butter them up there Fleur.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>'Stay Another Day' by East 17 - 9/10 - </b>This is such a stunning song choice for Lauren, the recent Live Lounge cover of it by Rae Morris has reignited my love for the song and this arrangement is just beautiful. I know Lauren can at times be a bit dull but I just love her tone. There's definitely some bum notes in this song but this is easily the most emotion I have seen her convey throughout the competition. I think it's beautiful, it would have been higher had her voice not cracked at the high note near the end. I expect Lauren will probably be leaving us tomorrow night unless one of the other three cracks but I think it's a shame as this was a really beautiful performance, so passionate. I disagreed with the lukewarm judges' comments.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: red;"><b>Ben Haenow</b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>'Please Come Home For Christmas' by The Eagles - 8/10 - </b>This was a really boring song choice for Ben, I really like that raspy tone of his and the first 30 seconds or so if it was great. Whilst it was overall good, I think he was badly served by a dull song. The track doesn't really go anywhere and the chorus in particular actually makes his voice sound a little nasally. I like Ben and I like the performance but I wouldn't say I love it. I think if he had been given a song with a little more impact it would have been even better but the standard so far tonight has been pretty good and Ben did continue that.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: red;"><b>Andrea Faustini</b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>'O Holy Night' by Josh Groban/Mariah Carey - 7.5/10 - </b>It's so frustrating listening to Andrea because there's no denying his talent but he really doesn't use his voice right. This could have been perfect if he had just known the beauty in simplicity. There was way too much vibrato going on and to be honest it ruined what would have been an otherwise fantastic performance. The Mariah Carey vibe is certainly there because she's someone else who vastly overuses vibrato in songs. It shows his voice off, sure but it just detracts from the overall performance because it makes it sound like vocal gymnastics. Nobody, at this stage has put in a bad performance but this could have been a lot better with a little less warbling.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Round 2 - Get Me To The Final</b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>'Story Of My Life' by One Direction - 7/10 - </b>Aah, this is so frustrating, just when she could have had a big moment, she's given a really dull One Direction song. I know Cheryl was probably hoping to appeal to One Direction fans with this but I thought this was a massive step down from the first performance. The whole thing just sort of passed by me, there was no real impact. Vocally, it was good but I didn't get any sort of feeling from it, it was a really bland song choice for Lauren and not the right track to get her to the final. I think she'll most definitely be in the bottom two tomorrow night but I wouldn't be annoyed if she made the final as she definitely has talent, I just don't think this song was great for showcasing it.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>'Uptown Funk' by Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars - 10/10 - </b>This has been a dramatic week for Fleur after a last minute song change was made upon Simon stumbling across this song. It hasn't even been released yet but he felt so strongly about it that he urged Fleur to change her song from 'Superbass' by Nicki Minaj to this meaning she had just over 24 hours to learn a whole new routine and song. If this is what she's capable of doing in just a day, I can't begin to think of how incredible it would have been if she had all week to rehearse it. Aside from the odd backstage scene where she answered a phonecall from her 'mum', this was easily the best performance of the entire series...by a mile. The whole thing is just fantastic, it flows perfectly, her voice sounds great, I'm actually getting a bit of an MJ vibe from the whole thing, it felt like it had the energy and impact of a Michael Jackson song. I don't know how he did it but Simon absolutely hit the target with this performance, it was perfect for her, not really vocally challenging that it would be compromised by a big dance routine but it still impressed me vocally as well as performance wise. Simon calls it one of the best performances he has ever seen on any talent show. It's certainly up there with the great performances The X Factor live shows has had. If Fleur doesn't make the final, it'll be a crying shame.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: red;"><b>Andrea Faustini</b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>'Wrecking Ball' by Miley Cyrus - 8.5/10 - </b>I wasn't sure about this song for Andrea as his lower range isn't what he's known for and the first part of the song is all about being able to sing comfortably in your lower range. I'm actually surprised how well he handles it and unsurprisingly, as soon as it goes into the power notes, he's in his element. This is actually a considerably more enjoyable performance than the first song, he feels a lot stronger in this track and for once I feel that he delivers emotion. Sometimes Andrea can be a bit of a closed door when it comes to conveying the emotion of the songs but I'm really impressed by this. It's rather outstanding. Bar a bit of dodgy intonation towards the end, this is a strong performance by Andrea. I do think he'll join Lauren in the sing-off though as I just can't see Ben or Fleur being there.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: red;"><b>Ben Haenow</b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>'Hallelujah' by Leonard Cohen - 8/10 - </b>This should be an outstanding song choice for Ben that suits him down to the ground but I don't think it's as flawless as I was expecting. In fairness to him, the emotion is great, he's an act I feel has bottled it up a little and hasn't really connected with the audience when he has been singing but for once I actually feel some emotion coming from him and for that I have to give him credit. The actual performance, is vocally a bit shaky if I'm being honest. The first verse aside, there are a number of wobbly notes and the last part feels slightly off key but I do really like Ben and think he has a great voice. He connected with the song and I think his tone was perfect, it wasn't vocally the best he has given but it was a pretty great performance. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">2. Ben Haenow</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">=3. Andrea Faustini</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">=3. Lauren Platt</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Lauren Platt</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Andrea Faustini</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Eliminated:</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Lauren Platt</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Andrea Faustini</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b>Lauren</b> sings 'There You'll Be' by Faith Hill, this is another strong sing-off performance for her. Lauren always seems to pull it out of the bag in the sing-off which makes me think that song choice has let her down in the actual performances. This isn't quite as magical as last week's sing for survival but it's still an outstanding performance, I doubt she'll be staying tonight but it has put her in strong stead regardless.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Andrea</b> takes on 'Who You Are' by Jessie J for his place in the final. Maybe this is the reason why he doesn't often do contemporary songs and tends to go more for the classic ballads. From the build-up to the chorus it becomes a shouty mess rather than being all about the emotion. I know Jessie J is known for belting but she at least shows some subtlety in her performances, this is way too screechy, it's what I don't like about Andrea, when his range takes over and he just proceeds to scream most of the song. Lauren definitely won that sing-off.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Mel B backs her own act but praises Lauren, telling her that she has had her 'peak moment' but promptly sends <b>Lauren Platt </b>home. Cheryl is also right behind her act and sends <b>Andrea Faustini</b> home. Louis says that they're both great singers but backs the one he has championed more which is obviously Andrea, sending <b>Lauren Platt</b> home. Finally, to Simon, who acknowledges that Lauren was better in the sing off but says he's saving the act who he thinks has been more consistent throughout the competition, he chooses to send <b>Lauren Platt </b>home meaning Andrea joins Ben and Fleur in the final.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Lauren Platt</b></span></span></div>
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Kevin Mc Stravockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03436048199177267455noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4259533101493961797.post-44690123726991717522014-12-06T16:51:00.000-03:002014-12-06T16:51:37.709-03:00X Factor UK 2014: Top 5 Perform: Jukebox Week<img alt="Photobucket" src="http://i1234.photobucket.com/albums/ff414/mdssblog/X%20Factor%20UK/banner.png" /><br />
Last week saw the final double elimination of the series as Only The Young and Stevi Ritchie said goodbye. With just two weeks until the final, it's jukebox week where the acts are singing one song as chosen by the public and one song as chosen by a celebrity special guest. So who will be singing their swan song tonight?<br />
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<b>Recap and videos after the JUMP...</b><br />
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<span style="color: red; font-size: x-large;"><b>Round 1 - Celebrity Choice</b></span></div>
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<b>'Come Together' by The Beatles (as chosen by One Direction) - 9/10 - </b>One Direction picked this song for Ben as it seems like an obvious choice for him apparently. I'm not sure whether that's a good thing or not, it does seem a fairly obvious choice for him but I'm not a big fan of the original song as it's always sung by someone on the show, usually a male artist around Ben's age, and I find the track a bit pub rockerish. That said, Ben is actually smashing it, he seems the most comfortable on stage that he has in quite a while. A very strong start for Ben, he really delivered not just the vocals but the performance there.</div>
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<b>'Clarity' by Zedd feat. Foxes (as chosen by Little Mix) - 6.5/10 - </b>Former winners Little Mix have picked this modern dance classic for Lauren, an interesting choice for her as she isn't necessarily the most comfortable performer when it comes to upbeat songs. Lauren reminisces about when she found out that her parents were getting back together last Christmas after being seperated for a few years. Oddly, despite the reports about her being poorly during the week, Lauren's illness isn't mentioned in the VT. However, you can tell that she isn't at her best when the song starts, vocally it's sort of pitchy, her throat seems to be straining quite a bit and she looks a tiny bit lost on stage. It's disappointing because Lauren has great potential but this isn't a strong start for her. Giving her a demanding song which requires steady vocals and performance skills wouldn't have been as big an issue were it not for her illness but you can tell she's not been able to commit 100% to it this week. Let's hope her second performance is better.</div>
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<b>'Just The Way You Are' by Bruno Mars (as chosen by Tulisa) - 5.5/10 - </b>After having a breakthrough with their performance last week, this week is a massive step back for them once again. It's good that they at least start without eight of them standing in a line but the vocals are the weakest they have been for quite a while, their harmonies are off point and although disguising a weaker singer in the group by having him sing along with James who obviously drowned him out was a clever move, they then gave two weak singers a solo section which was totally out of tune. As soon as the chorus came in, they sort of got swallowed up. I see where Tulisa was coming from choosing this song for them but they simply didn't have the vocals for it. James is just carrying these guys.</div>
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<span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b>Fleur East</b></span></div>
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<b>'A Fool In Love' by Tina Turner (as chosen by Emeli Sandé) - 9.5/10 - </b>Really surprising but great song choice for Fleur courtesy of Emeli Sandé. It's a nice song because I can definitely see glimpses of Tina Turner in Fleur's raspy, soulful tone and she definitely gives this performance some of her usual spark. Vocally, Fleur isn't the best singer by a long shot but there's something so special about her, the whole feel of her performances somehow makes them so much more enjoyable than most of the other acts. I really like this track for her and although it's not the most well known Tina Turner song, I think that works to her advantage because it allows her to put her own spin on it. Great performance.</div>
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<span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b>Andrea Faustini</b></span></div>
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<b>'Chandelier' by Sia (as chosen by Sam Smith) - 7/10 - </b>Andrea and this song should be a match made in heaven but for some reason, although he hits all the high notes, the falsetto and the vibrato, it's all beginning to feel a bit reminiscent of Jahmene Douglas for me. Vocally, you can't deny his talent but there are a number of points where this song doesn't strike right with me. First of all, I don't think Andrea has a good sense of melody, he kind of loses track of the melody of the song by doing too many vocal tricks and overloading it with vibrato. As well as sort of turning the song into vocal acrobatics, I didn't feel any raw emotion from the performance. It's stylistically very good but his performances are lacking substance, that's where I feel he could potentially run into trouble, it doesn't feel like he puts any genuine emotion into his performances.</div>
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<span style="color: red; font-size: x-large;"><b>Round 2 - Public Choice</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b>Lauren Platt</b></span><br />
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<b>'Don't You Worry Child' by Swedish House Mafia - 8/10 - </b>This thankfully sounds a lot better than the first song, Lauren feels much more comfortable singing this track than she did singing the first one and as a result, it just feels like an overall stronger performance. Whilst I wouldn't go as far as saying that it's her best performance, not by a long shot, I genuinely feel like she's deserving of a place in the semi-final as she has a good voice and she has been mostly quite consistent in the competition.</div>
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<span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b>Ben Haenow</b></span></div>
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<b>'Thinking Out Loud' - 6.5/10 - </b>See this is the song I was expecting Ben to nail whereas I wasn't looking forward to the first track but it has ended up being the exact opposite of my expectations. I loved the first song but this just doesn't seem to work for Ben. The problem is, his biggest asset, his raspy tone is also his biggest drawback when it comes to tracks like this which require a bit of subtlety. As Mel B says, it lacks light and shade and whilst he's beginning to let us into the performance a bit more, I still wasn't satisfied. It just didn't feel like the song fitted his voice well.</div>
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<b>'Run' by Snow Patrol - 7.5/10 - </b>Stereo Kicks are reprising their bootcamp six chair challenge performance for their second song after it was chosen by the public. Although it's disappointing to see them singing the same song again, it worked for Fleur and Lauren so why can't it work for the boys? Well it's a lot better than the first performance but I don't think they successfully recaptured the magic of the original performance if I'm being honest. James' vocals were great and Reece sounded really good but some of the other guys who had solo parts didn't sound strong and the harmonies started off a little flat but improved as the song went on. It was definitely a stronger performance than the first one but I can see them and Lauren being bottom two.</div>
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<span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b>Fleur East</b></span></div>
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<b>'If I Ain't Got You' by Alicia Keys - 7/10 - </b>This isn't my favourite performance of Fleur's if I'm being honest. She's had much better performances previously, I think giving her a ballad is an essential but I would have preferred to hear her singing the Pink track than this. It's a bit tame for Fleur in my opinion and is one of those songs that I don't think works as well if the singer isn't a belter. In fairness, I actually quite liked the falsetto parts and aside from a bit of straining when she was singing the high parts at the end, vocally it was pretty good. I don't think this week has been her best week but Fleur is so incredibly consistent that even this is still an overall good performance. I think if she's doing a ballad or a slow song, something like Macklemore's 'Same Love' or TLC's 'Waterfalls' or 'Unpretty' would be perfect for her. I expect she'll be here next week. </div>
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<span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b>Andrea Faustini</b></span></div>
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<b>'Hero' by Mariah Carey - 8/10 - </b>Andrea seems to have went down the same route as Ben, the performance I expected to enjoy more was a bit of a let down whereas this, as oversung as it is was actually quite enjoyable! He starts off singing in Italian which is interesting and at least offers something different (although I'm pretty sure Ruth did the same thing except in Spanish obviously years ago). Anyway, vocally very good and I actually feel a bit of emotion tonight, that said, I still found it a bit background music-esque, there wasn't really enough to properly grab my attention. He did, however, at least sing it fairly straight forwardly rather than chucking in tonnes of vibrato and vocal tricks and hoping for the best. A fairly solid performance.</div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">1. Fleur East</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">2. Ben Haenow</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">3. Andrea Faustini</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">4. Lauren Platt</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">5. Stereo Kicks</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: red; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Predictions</span></b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Bottom Two:</span></b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Lauren Platt</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Stereo Kicks</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b>Eliminated:</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Lauren Platt </b>sings first, she's taking on 'I Know Where I've Been' which she sang in the room auditions. This is without a doubt, not just her greatest vocal in the live shows but easily one of the best, if not the best sing-off performance of the series. Let's face it, the standard hasn't been that high sing-off wise but Lauren engages with the song, conveys emotion and sings her heart out. Fantastic performance, if she isn't saved after that it'll be a joke.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And as if to further the case for Lauren to be saved, <b>Stereo Kicks</b> absolutely bomb in the sing-off, their cover of 'I Won't Give Up' by Jason Mraz makes it sound like they've done just that. It's as forgettable and run of the mill as it is largely out of tune. The harmonies are flat, some of the solos are really poor and it's just such a disappointing sing-off performance. They haven't delivered in the sing-off so far and once again they haven't. Disappointing.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Louis, unsurprisingly saves his boyband and sends <b>Lauren Platt</b> home. Bizarrely, after moaning that it was a sing-off a few weeks ago when Paul went then saving Stevi the week after, Mel B once again proves her double standards by sending <b>Lauren Platt</b> home. Cheryl rages about Mel B's decision before sending <b>Stereo Kicks</b> home. Despite his pimping of Stereo Kicks previously, Simon has to go by the sing-off performances and says that Lauren was much better, therefore sending <b>Stereo Kicks</b> home. So it's deadlock time.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Absolutely the right decision, Stereo Kicks were most definitely the weakest act left and although Lauren didn't have a great night on Saturday night, she blew the boys out of the water in the sing-off.</span></span></span></div>
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Kevin Mc Stravockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03436048199177267455noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4259533101493961797.post-32412842388527133012014-11-27T23:33:00.001-03:002014-11-27T23:33:07.164-03:00X Factor UK 2014: Top 7 Perform: Whitney Houston vs Elton John<img alt="Photobucket" src="http://i1234.photobucket.com/albums/ff414/mdssblog/X%20Factor%20UK/banner.png" /><br />
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Last week saw big band bring down Jay James, to the shock of about five people after he was eliminated via deadlock against novelty act Stevi Ritchie. As it was Jay's second bottom two appearance in a row, and as he was saved against the relatively popular Paul Akister the previous week, it's no surprise that he failed to get a bounce back. This week, the remaining seven acts are singing songs by Whitney Houston and Elton John but with the final double elimination looming, who will be still standing (ba dum tish) come the quarter-final next week?</div>
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<b>Recap, videos and bad Whitney/Elton puns after the JUMP...</b></div>
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<b><span style="color: red; font-size: large;">Lauren Platt</span></b></div>
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<b>'How Will I Know' by Whitney Houston - 9/10 - </b>Lauren Platt's performance will be even more special this week because she has someone very special joining her on stage. No, they're not moving the celebrity duets a few weeks earlier (plus I don't think that would be physically possible), her younger brother who is a dancer is going to be performing on stage with her. She starts the song off in the Sam Smith style of her arena audition where she performed this exact track but then the song switches into the uptempo style we associate with the original. It's a good move to change the tempo of the song halfway through as it allows her to let her vocals take centre stage in the first half then show that she's also capable of performing more energetic numbers. She moves on stage, I could say dances but let's face it, she strides around a little and moves back and forth, it's not exactly a paso doble (switch over to BBC1 if you want that). Her brother, the tiny dancer (again sorry) does a good job too. This is by far Lauren's most enjoyable performance in quite a number of weeks, good job.</div>
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<span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b>Ben Haenow</b></span></div>
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<b>'I Will Always Love You' by Whitney Houston - 7/10 - </b>It'll be a miracle if this turns out to be anything other than an absolute disaster. This song choice is just so strange for Ben, he has a rocky voice so he would have been perfectly suited to an Elton song, giving him Whitney, especially this song is just asking for trouble. In fairness to Ben, this is less of a disaster than I was expecting, his vocals are pretty pitchy, probably the most inconsistent vocal performance he has given but when he hits his stride, his raspy tone actually sounds really cool on the song. Paired with his voice, the song does seem a little karaoke and dated but I much preferred it to last week's performance. I'm still not getting much of a connection between Ben and the lyrics but in fairness, I at least felt slightly more emotion being conveyed than in the last few weeks. I have a feeling Ben will probably win the series and then disappear into the abyss just like previous male winners which is a shame as he has a good voice but I'm not totally sure that he's different enough to make an impact on the charts. Simon tells him he thinks he'll be safe whilst the girls criticize the song choice, I'm not sure if this is a desperate attempt to get rid of Ben or Simon just hasn't listened to previous cases of acts who people thought would be safe landing in the bottom two. Overall, a lot better than I was expecting, I guess there can be miracles (I'll stop soon, I promise).</div>
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<span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b>Andrea Faustini</b></span></div>
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<b>'I Have Nothing' by Whitney Houston - 6.5/10 - </b>This should really be Andrea's week, powerhouse male singer who loves singing songs by divas, Whitney Houston songs being chosen this week, go figure. In truth, I was actually sort of disappointed by Andrea, vocally, he wasn't anywhere nearly as good as he has been in previous weeks. In fact, I found the song to have quite a few issues this week, namely the runs and the money notes which didn't have that 'wow' moment you usually get when a great singer does a Whitney song. Aside from that, I just felt no passion or conviction from Andrea during the performance, the great thing about Whitney songs is that they're full of emotion and passion and for me, it was just above average karaoke. The key change towards the end, in particular just left me feeling cold. I doubt anybody will have gotten so emotional listening to that performance because to be quite honest, there wasn't a lot of emotion there. Simon gives some very lukewarm praise before telling him he'll be safe. I think Andrea could be in trouble this week, it wasn't great enough to get everyone voting but it wasn't weak enough to get him sympathy votes.</div>
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<b>'Something About The Way You Look Tonight' by Elton John - 8/10 - </b>Only The Young on next just to remind us that this week is not just Whitney Houston week. They're singing their room audition song again, I don't mind repeating a performance again if it's from a pre-live stage and it comes relatively late in the competition. I love their stage set-up, the bumper cars look really quirky and really sets the performance up nicely, if I'm being totally honest, the start of the performance is sort of flat but they begin to hit their stride and their harmonies are sounding the best that they have in the live shows in my opinion. I love their dynamic as a group, individually they sound great, the boys are a little off in the final harmonies but I like the performance although the silly string at the end does cheapen the act a little and makes it look like they're just having a muckaround. If I had to criticize one thing about the group, I feel like they're being made too cheesy, I have no doubt that if they were given half a chance, they could pull off a serious song brilliantly but it's all cheesy grins and pop tracks. Simon tells them they're going to be safe tonight (you do realize they can't all be safe tonight Simon, yeah?). Yeah, I'm fully expecting them to be one of the casualties of the weekend which is a shame as I much prefer them to Stereo Kicks.</div>
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<b>'I'm Every Woman' by Whitney Houston and Chaka Khan - 10/10 - </b>I always forget that this song is sung by Whitney Houston as well as by Chaka Khan. It's actually quite a brave choice giving her a song by two iconic vocalists because Fleur, by her own admission, doesn't have the hugest vocal range. She, like Lauren is making her performance a family affair after Brian devises a 'female empowerment' style performance where Fleur will be joined by her mother, her sister, and some of her female cousins and friends. Fleur is delighted to be doing this song as it's the first song she ever sang with her vocal coach and she goes to visit said vocal coach where they reminisce about how Fleur has come. In fairness to Fleur, for someone who has been criticized for a lack of range, the opening segment where she sings fairly stripped back sounds great, I particularly love her falsetto vocals. This is a fantastic performance, I really wasn't expecting much from this song if I'm being honest but she takes it to another dimension with her performance. Her vocals sound the best they have in weeks and she just seems like such a natural on stage, I still get the Alexandra vibe from her when she sings in her lower range. Fleur has smashed it tonight, the best performance of the night by a country mile and she's the first so far tonight to properly engage the audience and put on a proper performance. Cheryl and Mel love the performance and Fleur is delighted to have been given the chance to perform alongside her family. On an off topic note, how scarily alike do Fleur and her sister not look? I have to ahem...salute Fleur for delivering the best performance of the night so far. Great job, I do genuinely think she stands a strong chance of winning now, she's like the Luke Friend of this series, I didn't expect her to get very far at all but she has exceeded my expectations vastly purely due to her consistency.</div>
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<b>'I'm Still Standing' by Elton John - 1/10 - </b>Stevi Ritchie singing I'm Still Standing? I'd never have guessed it! It's not like the novelty act or one of the lesser vocalists sings this song every year during Elton week or anything. Before the performance, Simon indicates that he had no hand in the production of this performance, it was all down to Stevi and Brian Friedman. Sounds a bit like he's trying to cut his ties before the inevitably dreadful occurs. My 1 point is literally because Stevi seems like a nice guy, there's absolutely nothing else positive I can think of. In fairness, it's unique, I doubt when he was writing this song Elton John ever imagined some bloke would perform this song dressed up as a pharaoh with Egyptian dancers fanning him and rubbing oil on his stomach. Then again, I doubt anybody sane would ever have devised something like that. The performance isn't just bizarre, it's very distracting, it creates a stage show out of the performance and almost seems like they're mocking Stevi. The vocals aren't as bad as some of the previous performances but they're still abysmal by any standard. He's a nice guy but I still stand by the drunk uncle at a wedding analogy. Hopefully this will be the last song, Stevi sings. Also, the dance segment with the jumping over fire and forwards roll would be impressive if this was Britain's Got Talent and Stevi was a dog but as you might have noticed, he's not.</div>
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<b>'Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me' by Elton John - 8.5/10 - </b>The boys and Louis have been on a mission to get everyone to remember their names this week so in order to help people identify them, they have came up with nicknames for each other with Reece being Northern Kick and James being Diva Kick amongst others. They should have just called James Stereo Kick because he basically is the band. I must say, this is such an original and unique idea, giving the guys individual nicknames, I bet Mel B wishes her band had thought of that... This is a much better performance from the guys, unlike last week they actually feel like a band although I do hate the way they're performing in a line as it just automatically makes me think of a choir. Vocally, I think they have all improved although James is still the best singer as a mile and there's still a few who sound poor on their own. If they can just work on being able to deliver an upbeat performance without it seeming messy and awkward, they stand a good chance of doing quite well!</div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">1. Fleur East</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">2. Lauren Platt</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">6. Andrea Faustini</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Only The Young</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Andrea Faustini</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Eliminated:</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b style="color: #f1c232; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Results</b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Only The Young</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I'm sad to see these guys going but I must admit I'm not shocked to see them leave, although I expected Stevi to be eliminated in the flash vote rather than theme. Sadly, as good as they were, I think they were portrayed as being too cheesy and corny and only appealed to a small demographic. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Stevi Ritchie</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Andrea Faustini</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Andrea Faustini </b>is up first with his rendition of the Sam Brown song 'Stop', he has an undeniably great voice and he sounds brilliant on this song. Him landing in the bottom two isn't much of a shock for me but it's obvious that they won't send him home at Stevi, I don't think even The X Factor would try to pull that sort of stint. Great vocals.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/x-422fErpTI" width="640"></iframe></span></div>
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<b>Stevi Ritchie</b> is singing 'This Is The Moment, it's better than his previous performances, in a similar vein to his cover of Phantom of The Opera a few weeks ago but this isn't Andrew Lloyd Webber's search for a musical theatre star and he has been consistently one of the weakest vocalists in the competition so it's time he left. Nice guy but not anywhere near as talented as the remaining acts.</div>
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Mel B obviously sends <b>Stevi Ritchie</b> home and Simon obviously sends<b> Andrea Faustini</b> home. Cheryl says that she's basing it on the sing-off and the fact that she saved this act previously and sends <b>Stevi Ritchie</b> home. Louis echoes the comments of the girls and says that he always preferred Andrea from Day One so sends <b>Stevi Ritchie</b>.</div>
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<span style="color: red;"><b>Eliminated:</b></span></div>
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<b>Stevi Ritchie</b></div>
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Kevin Mc Stravockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03436048199177267455noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4259533101493961797.post-50866313761682083412014-11-23T14:29:00.000-03:002014-11-23T14:29:11.611-03:00X Factor UK 2014: Top 8 Perform: Big Band Week<img alt="Photobucket" src="http://i1234.photobucket.com/albums/ff414/mdssblog/X%20Factor%20UK/banner.png" /><br />
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Last week saw another 'shock exit' after Paul Akister was eliminated via deadlock having found himself in the sing-off against Jay James. With the public still reeling from his departure, who will be able to lead the pack as they take on big band songs?</div>
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<b>Recap and videos after the JUMP...</b></div>
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<span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b>Andrea Faustini</b></span></div>
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<b>'Summertime' by Ella Fitzgerald - 8/10 - </b>Andrea is taking on a big band classic, this is a song previously performed by X Factor star Leona Lewis on the show. It was one of her best performances so he's hoping to live up to her standards. In fairness, vocally I really enjoy this performance, he sings it brilliantly and every note he hits, every run he does and every vocal trick is executed with perfection. If I had to criticize him slightly, I do get where Simon is coming from with the dull comments, it's not the most exciting song in the world and performance wise, he definitely has a long way to go but vocally, a magnificent performance once again.</div>
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<span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b>Lauren Platt</b></span></div>
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<b>'Smile' by Nat King Cole - 7.5/10 - </b>Lauren has sort of stalled the last few weeks, giving solid but not brilliant performances and I'm afraid this is a similar story. Vocally, she sounds the best she has probably to date but I have to agree with Simon once again, it's such a dull choice. That's not really Lauren's fault in fairness but I think if she had delivered the song with a bit more conviction and a bit more expression, I would have been able to connect with the performance better. Lauren needs an outstanding performance soon or she could find herself in the bottom two in the next few weeks. I think she'll be fine this week.</div>
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<span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b>Jay James</b></span></div>
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<b>'Empire State of Mind/New York New York' by Alicia Keys/Frank Sinatra - 3/10 - </b>Jay is feeling lucky to still be here after being saved in deadlock against Paul last week. This is the weirdest mash-up ever, he starts it with a strange big band cover of the Alicia Keys track then switches into the Sinatra hit with a bizarre countdown to New Year's. The whole thing is like some sort of weird cabaret performance, he just sounds like he's trying to sound exactly like Frank Sinatra and vocally, it's pretty dodgy, the girl dancing in the giant cocktail glass is also a strange touch. To be fair to Jay, he actually showed some form of showmanship today but overall, it was just another really lackluster performance.</div>
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<b>'Mack The Knife' by Bobby Darin - 7/10 - </b>I think I hate this song as much as Simon loves it, it's such a cringeworthy and overused song. The individual vocals have been well polished up and most of them actually sound pretty good with just a handful being slightly pitchy. However, let's place the emphasis on the word individual because we don't actually hear a single harmony until the very end when they finally harmonize. As a group, you need to come across like a group so basically performing like eight soloists for three quarters of the song is a bit of a weird decision. Charlie is actually quickly becoming a standout singer within the group. I like these guys, they have shown that they can sing but not harmonizing until the end was a bad decision and I agree with Mel B, we still don't know them individually at all. </div>
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<span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b>Ben Haenow</b></span></div>
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<b>'Cry Me A River' by Julie London - 6/10 - </b>Ben isn't made for big band week but in fairness to him, it is quite nice to hear him singing the track with his raspy tone. That said, the one thing that lets him down big time is once again, performance. It's almost like he's dead behind the eyes, Ben doesn't connect with the song at all, there's no enthusiasm, no showmanship and no presence. I just found it really forgettable and lackluster, vocally he has a nice voice but you have to take into account that this song is supposed to be a love song and Ben delivered zero emotion. Definitely his weakest performance I'm afraid.</div>
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<span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b>Only The Young</b></span></div>
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<b>'I Wanna Be Like You' from The Jungle Book - 8/10 - </b>Great song choice for these guys, everyone knows and loves this Jungle Book song and I really love the whole vibe of the performance. There's no denying that these four know how to work a crowd and I think their dancing and stage presence tonight is outstanding. What holds them back slightly for me is the fact that the lead vocalist tonight sounds very shouty, particularly towards the end. However, the harmonies bar the last one which was way off, are actually really good and as I said, these four have such natural stage presence and chemistry with one another. Great performance.</div>
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<span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b>Stevi Ritchie</b></span></div>
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<b>'She Bangs/Mambo Number Five' by Ricky Martin/Lou Bega - 2/10 - </b>Stevi is horrendous, this is a mess and he's getting no better. The joke got old after the first week, giving him songs Wagner previously sang doesn't help things and as much as he's a nice guy, it's about time he left, Paul and Lola were both much better singers than Stevi and it's when genuinely talent goes that you know the joke act has to bite the dust.</div>
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<span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b>Fleur East</b></span></div>
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<b>'Bang Bang' by Jessie J feat. Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj - 8.5/10 - </b>Fleur is reprising her Judge's Houses song with a twist, a big band twist. Let's be honest, the standard tonight has been mediocre to say the least so this is like a different dimension to the rest of the show. I wouldn't even call it Fleur's best performance, vocally she strains a little at times but for her to not just perform to the standard she does but to take a risk by turning a modern song into a big band track shows why she's one of the frontrunners in the competition. I get a little bit of an Alexandra vibe from her voice at times although she doesn't have the same range as Alex, I just loved the swing flavour she gave the song and surprisingly, the rap was my favourite part of the song, her timing was impeccable. Fleur's the act I feel is most likely going to succeed in the charts regardless of where she finishes but for saving the night from being a total disaster, she deserves to be safe tonight.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: red; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Rankings</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">1. Fleur East</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">2. Andrea Faustini</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">3. Only The Young</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">4. Lauren Platt</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">5. Stereo Kicks</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>6. Ben Haenow</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>7. Jay James</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">8. Stevi Ritchie</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: red; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Predictions</span></b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Bottom Two:</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Jay James</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Stevi Ritchie</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-size: small;">T</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center;">he awkward moment when Fleur and Lauren harmonize better than the two girls in Only The Young or Stereo Kicks, whoops.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">As expected, Simon's two acts are here after poor performances last night. <b>Jay</b> sings first, taking on Keane's 'Somewhere Only We Know', really lackluster performance, in fairness he actually sings with some passion but vocally this is really woeful, he's off for pretty much the entire performance. I don't think he showed his best hand with the song.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Stevi Ritchie</b> isn't going to make Andrea scared with his rendition of 'Somebody To Love' by Queen, it's pretty awful really although he actually sounds better than he did last night. All the same, he's such a poor singer and I really don't think it would be fair to send him through even if Jay was equally terrible.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Simon sends <b>Stevi </b>home, Louis does the same backing Jay and sending <b>Stevi</b> home. Mel B surprisingly backs the novelty act saying that <b>Jay James</b> has went downhill in the last few weeks and Cheryl sides with her, sending <b>Jay James</b> home and sending it to deadlock!</span></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Jay James</span></span></b></div>
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Kevin Mc Stravockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03436048199177267455noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4259533101493961797.post-48955606234624073852014-11-23T14:17:00.000-03:002014-11-23T14:17:04.658-03:00X Factor UK 2014: Top 9 Perform: Michael Jackson vs Queen<img alt="Photobucket" src="http://i1234.photobucket.com/albums/ff414/mdssblog/X%20Factor%20UK/banner.png" /><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Last week saw Jack Walton and Lola Saunders leave us after an automatic elimination on Saturday night and a tense deadlock situation against Stereo Kicks respectively. This leaves Cheryl with just one act and means that almost half of the remaining acts are from Simon's category. Tonight the acts are singing songs by the King of Pop, Michael Jackson and one of the biggest bands of all time, Queen. They won't want to be 'bad' as they all know that 'another one bites the dust' on Sunday night. (Disclaimer: No puns were hurt in the making of this recap, just severely overused).</span></div>
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<b>Recap and videos after the JUMP...</b></div>
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<b>'Don't Stop Me Now' by Queen - 7/10 - </b>Paul is a strange one, last week was in my opinion his best performance to date by a country mile but for some reason, the feedback was weird. Simon sort of tore him apart for daring to complain about his song choice and it all felt like a desperate mission to get him out by the producers. However, he managed to come through it and this week he's taking on a massive Queen song. Yeah, this song, combined with having the death slot for the second time in just five weeks indicates that they're keen to get rid of Paul. Unfortunately, although vocally he smashes it as always, the performance really lets him down. Last week he seemed to have started to learn how to work the stage but this week, I'm not feeling it. I just felt like it could have been anyone up there doing that, he didn't insert any personality or individuality into it and I sort of lost interest halfway through.</div>
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<b>'The Show Must Go On' by Queen - 5/10 - </b>Jay has had a sore throat this week and is nervous about performing this song as his voice still isn't great. He starts off backstage singing into a mirror on a dressing table, before walking onto the stage during the song. This song really needs to be nailed or else it ends up lacking substance. Unfortunately, Jay doesn't nail it, his throat problems show and there's just no passion in the performance, he can't hit any of the big notes and instead sings them in falsetto which just doesn't work. The song needed a bit more oomph or power, his problems with his voice shone through very clearly when it came into the chorus in particular and I'm afraid it was a rather poor performance, I actually enjoyed it more than last week's as he at least stayed true to the original song but I will be shocked if Jay escapes the bottom this week.</div>
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<b>'I'll Be There' by The Jackson Five - 7.5/10 - </b>Just like Jay, Lauren has had throat problems this week, suffering from tonsillitis. Given the fact that she hasn't been well, giving her this song is a risk on Cheryl's part but for the most part, it pays off. She definitely captures the emotion of the song, in fact I would go as far as to say that this is the most she has connected with the song in the live shows so far. Vocally, it is good considering her vocal issues although her voice cracks a bit when she does some of the high notes and you can definitely tell that she's not up to the usual standard we expect of her this week. That said, I much preferred it to her performance last week and I think Lauren will be fine tonight, I do think she needs to have an outstanding moment however. </div>
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<b>'Blame It On The Boogie' by The Jackson Five - 7.5/10 - </b>After 'smashing it' last week, Only The Young are on a high this week and want to keep up the momentum with this song. It's a pretty good choice for these guys as they are without a doubt up there as one of the best performers this series, yes it probably is similar in style to some of their other performances but I don't mind too much when they are delivering the songs with conviction. Vocally, the girls are a bit off again although it's not really off and it picks up significantly when the guys join in, I think they sort of save the performance a bit. Not Only The Young's best performance but I did quite enjoy it.</div>
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<b>'Man In The Mirror' by Michael Jackson - 7.5/10 - </b>Ben is taking a risk this week singing acapella for the first minute or so of the song. I have to say, in fairness to him he does a pretty good job with it, it's a little under vocally once or twice but overall, it's a pretty good vocal performance. The one thing still holding Ben back a little for me is that he seems a little dead behind the eyes. By that, I mean he's still not fully connecting with the emotion of the song. It sort of picks up a little bit when the music kicks in but I'm not feeling a connection between him and the audience. It's the one thing holding him back at the minute for me but he's still easily in the top five for me right now. The biggest issue I have with this song choice however is that Simon didn't take the opportunity to give him Ben!</div>
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<b>'Bohemian Rhapsody' by Queen - 3/10 - </b>Stevi had his moment last week after he proved that he can sing with an above average performance of a song from 'Phantom Of The Opera'. Obviously he let the mask slip but this week he's back in his role as novelty act with an absolutely atrocious cover of a Queen classic. Seriously, this song doesn't sound right when it's sung by good contestants as it shouldn't be reduced to a two minute performance so how is it supposed to suit someone who is a terrible singer? This is a really poor performance as usual, of course he'll be safe though, the producers aren't done with him yet...unfortunately because he's <i>bad </i>(pun very much intended).</div>
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<b>'You Are Not Alone' by Michael Jackson - 8/10 - </b>Stereo Kicks were gutted to land in the bottom two for a second time last week but were saved in a deadlock situation after giving a frankly pathetic sing-off performance. They're stripping it all back this week and just letting their vocals and harmonies do the talking. In fairness to the guys, this is vocally the best they have sung by a country mile. That said, I do find it a little dull and generic, like as good as their harmonies are, it just has Louis Walsh written all over it, I mean they were sitting on stools for god's sake. James takes the lead on the vocals, and with good reason as he has a great voice. The guys are good singers and this was a very good vocal, I just feel it was a tad clichéd. I also have to mention the bizarre stage invasion half way through, which was apparently done by comedian Lee Nelson. Whilst it was funny to see Louis' figure standing up and telling off the invader, it felt so staged to me. The guys appeared to be glancing around before he ran on stage so it honestly wouldn't surprise me if the producers planned it to give the guys loads of extra praise along the lines of 'You managed to perform amazingly despite the distraction'. Or maybe I'm just overly suspicious.</div>
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<span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b>Fleur East</b></span></div>
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<b>'Will You Be There' by Michael Jackson - 9/10 - </b>After being criticized slightly last week by Mel for her vocals not being up to scratch and having done upbeat performances with lots of dancing up until now, Fleur feels that it's time for her to show that she can just stand still and sing a song simply. I absolutely love this song, it brings me back to watching Free Willy as a child and it's a really clever choice for Fleur actually. She doesn't have a massive range and isn't a belter so picking a song that allows her to perform it comfortably with her mostly mid-range voice without it sounding like she's out of her depth is a genius move. I still believe that Fleur is the most 'ready' in this competition, she has shown with this that she's not just all about dancing, she can do a serious performance where the focus is on her vocals. For someone who isn't a massive belter, she holds her own in this performance and gives some impressive adlibs. I just think Fleur has it, she's the most consistent week in week out for me and I'll be annoyed if she doesn't make the top six at the very least.</div>
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<span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b>Andrea Faustini</b></span></div>
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<b>'Somebody To Love' by Queen - 10/10 - </b>After being spray painted gold and basically swapping places with Stevi Ritchie as the joke act last week, it's back to serious business this week for Andrea. This song choice was a given for Andrea, he's the only one with the lungs required for a song as vocally demanding as this. Right, praise where it's due, I literally cannot fault this performance, his vocals are fantastic and although I'm not a big fan of vocal acrobatics, every run, every vocal trick he does is spot on. I have to give it to him, this was a bloody brilliant performance, I could definitely see him performing in the West End as the lead in 'We Will Rock You' or something similar. Vocally, he's the best singer by a clear mile, performance wise he has some real rivals but tonight he killed it.</div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">1. Andrea Faustini</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">2. Fleur East</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This was a really obvious bottom two tonight, the only other act I thought may be at risk were Only The Young but Paul being shoved on first combined with a poor song choice and Jay's throat issues and lackluster vocals made them prime targets for the sing-off.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Paul Akister</b> sings first, he's singing 'Clown' by Emeli Sandé, in fairness to him this is the most passionate and emotional I have seen him since the start of the live shows. It's very much so an emotional performance and he pours his heart into the song. Vocally, it's a great performance, Paul is a really good singer, I don't think the VT's in the last few weeks have helped him as they've given off the impression that he's difficult to work with which I don't believe at all. If they let the singing do the talking, Paul deserves to be safe.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Jay James </b>also does a pretty good sing off, in fairness to the guy, this is a lot better than last night's performance and probably vocally one of the better performances he has given. I'm still finding the nasally vocals very grating though and although he connects with the song emotionally, I just don't think he has the tone or the sincerity that Paul has.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Simon says that it was a great sing-off from both lads but backs his own act and sends <b>Paul Akister </b>home. Mel B describes it as a no-brainer before sending <b>Jay James</b> home. Cheryl again praises both acts for their sing-off performances but feels that Paul sang from his heart so she sends <b>Jay James</b> home. Unsurprisingly, Louis can't decide and after deliberating, he shouts that he wants to send it to deadlock. Dermot repeats that he must tell him the name of the act he wants to send home causing Louis to reluctantly send <b>Paul Akister</b> home. So it's deadlock time!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">If looks could kill, Louis would be stone dead on the floor. As if sending him home at Judge's Houses last year wasn't bad enough, Louis has now inadvertently caused Paul to go home again. Paul is devastated and can't speak and Mel B is heartbroken. Unfortunately, although I predicted Jay to go home, thinking they wouldn't like Simon having four acts, Paul going home is no shock. Everything seemed to point to the producers wanting rid of him. It's a shame though as he seems a nice guy and he's talented, but aah well, happens every year.</span></span></div>
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Kevin Mc Stravockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03436048199177267455noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4259533101493961797.post-46492548151236122232014-11-05T15:52:00.001-03:002014-11-05T16:00:54.322-03:00X Factor UK 2014: Top 11 Perform: Halloween Week<img alt="Photobucket" src="http://i1234.photobucket.com/albums/ff414/mdssblog/X%20Factor%20UK/banner.png" /><br />
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Last week we finally saw Jake Quickenden leave after a few ropey performances, making him the first of Mel's acts to leave. This week is Halloween week so the acts are all ready to spook the judges with what they hope will be scarily good performances. But the biggest trick of all is courtesy of Simon...not only will there be a double elimination this week, one act will be leaving automatically at the end of Saturday's show! Who will leave the judges howling and who will be screaming by the end of Sunday night?</div>
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<b>Recap and videos after the JUMP...</b></div>
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<span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b>Ben Haenow</b></span></div>
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<b>'Highway To Hell' by AC/DC - 8/10 - </b>Ben has a really great rock voice, last week's performance of Aerosmith's classic track however didn't go down particularly well with the judges, well, moreso his mentor Simon who wasn't keen on him performing the song in the first place. This song is so much better, it has a lot more energy and he really grabs the performance. It's probably the best performance he has put on in the competition so far and vocally, it sounds great. As a slight downside, I did think the vocals sounded very similar to the original, partially a good thing as it's not easy to do a massive rock song like that justice but also a slight detraction from the performance because obviously it made it seem a bit karaoke. I will put that mainly down to song choice however and hope he can continue for a few more weeks at least. A solid performance by Ben.</div>
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<span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b>Lola Saunders</b></span></div>
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<b>'Crazy' by Gnarls Barkley - 6.5/10 - </b>This performance really was a performance of two halves (albeit in a strange manner). The opening part sounded great, possibly one of the better performances she has given. The middle of the performance however was pretty poor, once the beat kicked in, Lola sort of lost it a little and ended up sounding really screechy, then she picked it up a little towards the end and delivered some quite nice, bluesy sounding vocal runs. It's frustrating as I think Lola is probably a stronger singer than Lauren but she doesn't really know how to use her voice. I kind of feel she's been thrown all sorts of songs, none of which have helped define who she is as an artist. She didn't look quite as lost on stage this week as I expected her to but I have a feeling she might struggle tonight, she gave a weaker performance last week but then I think there were much worse performers last week so unless at least two or three of the rest have real duffers, Lola could be at risk. </div>
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<b>'Thriller' by Michael Jackson - 8.5/10 - </b>I'm so glad Fleur was given this song for Halloween Week as when I heard it was being used, I had a horrible feeling we would hear Jay or Lauren doing one of those horrible stripped back, dreary ballad covers of it. She's excited as she gets to do the original choreography this week including the dance Michael Jackson himself does in the video. Vocally, this is probably the weakest she has sounded, the start is off and there are a few off notes here and there but then when you take into account how full on the performance is this week and how much choregraphy she is doing, she kind of gets away with it. A few years ago, when the show was still in its' early series, vocals were everything but it has become more and more obvious over the years that vocals aren't everything and Fleur for me offers the full package. The costume change and dance are absolute showstopper moments and although I agree that vocally, it could have been better, she's still leading the pack for me in terms of who is the most likely to have a career after this. I'm hoping we might see Fleur doing a more stripped back performance next week to allow her vocals to take centre stage.</div>
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<span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b>Jack Walton</b></span></div>
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<b>'Bleeding Love' by Leona Lewis - 4/10 - </b>The words Jack Walton and Bleeding Love shouldn't figure together in the same sentence unless the sentence is 'Jack Walton should not sing Bleeding Love'. Seriously, he's a guitar guy with a limited voice, giving him a song that even talented female singers struggle with is ridiculous. This was just painful to watch, he didn't look comfortable on stage, probably because he felt intimidated by the song choice and to be honest, it just felt like he was destined to fail from the start. Attempting to hit the high notes didn't sound good and a lot of the time his voice sounded out of tune. I do feel sort of sorry for Jack as I do think he has a good voice but the last two performances have been dreadful, mainly due to poor song choices. That said, I don't think he offers anything to the competition that we haven't seen before so I'm not sure that I feel he would be a massive loss tonight if he does inevitably go.</div>
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<b>'Mad World' by Gary Jules - 4.5/10 - </b>Jay was in the navy, did you know? It's quite obvious that I'm not a big fan of Jay's but I just feel that he has given quite poor performances which have been overlooked. Vocally, it was a bit flat to begin with but that's actually the reason he even got 4 points, what the hell was this arrangement? This song is supposed to be a gloomy, eery track so adding in some upbeat backing and having him jump around the stage shouting the lyrics was bizarre. Seriously, it sounded like the soundman decided halfway through to randomly throw the backing of Heaven by Emeli Sandé into the mix. I actually might have given him some praise this week if he had done the original, bar the horrific choir. Seriously, the second half of the song was just basically him shouting, I'm fed up of him giving poor performances and Cheryl being the only one to point it out. Because of the odd arrangement, I feel that the heart of this song was ripped out of it. I did actually quite like the high notes at the end though so he can have an extra half mark for that.</div>
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<span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b>Andrea Faustini</b></span></div>
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<b>'Relight My Fire' by Take That - 7.5/10 - </b>First of all, why the hell has he been painted gold and given devil horns? Secondly, why is his staging basically like they've suddenly decided that he's the novelty act this year instead of Stevi. Thirdly, Andrea sounds really good this week. I like his vocals and have to admit that they aren't as sloppy as I was expecting as I didn't think he would be able to cope with an upbeat song very well. The staging is pretty poor and he doesn't exactly do much moving but vocally, this is a pretty great performance. I don't expect that he'll do as well in the voting tonight as it wasn't quite a standout performance but he did a great job.</div>
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<span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b>Lauren Platt</b></span></div>
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<b>'Dark Horse' by Katy Perry - 6/10 - </b>Lauren cracks a little this week during rehearsals as she struggles with some dancing which she is particularly nervous about. Cue crying and Cheryl reassuring her that she can do this. Vocally, this isn't actually particularly great, to be honest, I'm not a fan of the original song and I don't think this arrangement of it makes me like the track any more. She has some good vocal moments in the song but towards the end especially, she does some runs and high notes that sound off and I actually think it's the weakest she has sang in the entire competition. The performance also seems a bit off, the massive choreography that she was crying over turns out to be literally two seconds long and the whole performance just seems a bit dead (no pun intended). I doubt that Lauren will be in trouble this week but she's capable of much more, where's that old soul we saw in auditions?</div>
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<span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b>Paul Akister</b></span></div>
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<b>'Bat Out Of Hell' by Meatloaf - 9/10 - </b>Paul is suffering from a case of dodgy VT editing this week, much like Only The Young and Ben last week as most of it seems to centre around him moaning because Mel B has given him this song. I have to admit that to begin with, I thought this would be a complete car crash but it's actually by a country mile, his best performance to date. I think because I wasn't expecting much, I ended up being blown away by this performance. It sounds fresh and his bluesy voice sounds incredible on the track. The comments after the song, especially those by Simon are a little weird though and it does seem as if the producers may have it in for him because they seem to be trying to suggest to the public that Ben is a bit of a diva. I don't think voicing your concerns about a song choice means you should be villainized but hey, that's X Factor for you. By far the best all round performance tonight.</div>
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<span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b>Only The Young</b></span></div>
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<b>'Monster Mash/Crocodile Rock' by Bobby Pickett/Elton John - 8.5/10 - </b>After landing in the bottom two last week, Louis has handed them more creative control this week and they decide to go for a song they have covered on their YouTube channel, the Monster Mash. Vocally this is a huge improvement on their sing-off last week and they seem a lot more confident on the stage but I don't like it as much as their 'Come On Eileen' performance a few weeks, mainly because I'm not a huge fan of this song. I like these guys a lot, I just wish we would be able to see a more serious side to them, maybe show a bit of an edge because I think people will get bored if they do upbeat every week and will begin to find their performances cheesy.</div>
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<span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b>Stereo Kicks</b></span></div>
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<b>'Everybody' by Backstreet Boys - 7.5/10 - </b>Stereo Kicks had their breakthrough performance last week so they're hoping to be able to build on that this week. They start off pretty well with this, good energy, pretty great vocals, even some of the weaker members sound pretty good although I wish they would stop giving Barclay and Tom solos because they're not good enough vocalists to take solo. The problem for me is that they still don't really seem to know what to do on stage, they're standing in a line again and dressing them all in the exact same outfit just causes all sorts of problems, we don't know half of their names so how is it helpful to make it even harder to identify them? A pretty good performance but I'm still not convinced that they work as such a large group.</div>
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<span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b>Stevi Ritchie</b></span></div>
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<b>'Music Of The Night' from The Phantom of the Opera - 5/10 - </b>Stevi is going serious this week, he has been wanting to do this song from the first live show so Simon is finally giving him that chance. The VT also has this bizarre conversation with him and Fleur backstage where they basically make out that Chloe Jasmine, who he kissed led him on and he was in love with her *yawn*. Stevi's theatre background has already been discovered so making out that he's a Joe Bloggs isn't gonna work. Vocally, this was better than his previous performances but it was still miles off the standard of most of the rest of the competition. The thing is, this sort of style is suited for musical theatre but when you compare him to most musical theatre leads, he's nowhere near as good. I sort of hope giving a good performance might mean the novelty wears off for Stevi as he's getting tiresome and I don't know who he is now, is he really this nice, loveable guy or is he just a good actor?</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: red; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Rankings</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /></b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">1. Paul Akister</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">2. Fleur East</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">3. Only The Young</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">4. Ben Haenow</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">5. Andrea Faustini</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">6. Stereo Kicks</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">7. Lola Saunders</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">8. Lauren Platt</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">9. Stevi Ritchie</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">10. Jay James </b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">11. Jack Walton</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: red; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Predictions</span></b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Eliminated (Saturday Night):</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Jack Walton</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><br /></b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Bottom Two:</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /></b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Lola Saunders</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Stevi Ritchie</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /></b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Eliminated:</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Stevi Ritchie</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="color: #f1c232; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Results</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span><b><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/0iKaQ3mJ6zI" width="640"></iframe></b><br /></div>
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<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Eliminated (automatically on Saturday night):</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Jack Walton</span></span></span></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">This is possibly the least surprising elimination so far. Jack had a horrible song choice tonight and his vocals were really weak, he also looked incredibly uncomfortable on stage. It was pretty much a dead cert that he would go home tonight.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b style="color: #f1c232; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: orange; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">B</span>ottom Two</b></span></span></span></span></b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Lola Saunders</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Stereo Kicks</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">The fact that Stereo Kicks are here again despite a pretty good performance last night and some major producer pimping shows that something just isn't working. I expected Lola to be here after a forgettable and not fantastic performance.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b>Lola Saunders</b> is singing first, taking on 'Natural Woman' by Aretha Franklin. This is the best she has sounded during the live shows by a country mile, not only is it vocally very impressive but she really seems to nail the emotion of the song and actually captures the heart and soul of the song. She is most definitely fighting for her place in the competition, this is the best performance in the sing-off we've had this year (although the bar hadn't exactly been set high.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Oh dear, <b>Stereo Kicks</b> are doing what they did in the last sing-off, giving the poor vocalists solos which makes the entire song sound out of tune. It's quite ironic that one of them sings 'Bad decisions, that's alright' because giving him a solo was indeed a bad decision. To give them due credit, their harmonies are pretty good but when they go solo, they sound terrible, even James who is by a country mile the best singer in the group, doesn't sound great. The rapping is just cringeworthy, don't attempt to rap unless you can actually rap which that guy can't. I doubt they'll be going tonight but based only on the sing-off. Lola deserves to be saved.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Cheryl sends <b>Stereo Kicks </b>home and Louis reluctantly sends <b>Lola Saunders </b>home. Mel B tells Stereo Kicks that this was their best performance by far, (is she actually being serious?) and sends <b>Lola Saunders</b> home. It's all in Simon's hands and he says that it's obvious who the best singer in the sing-off was before sending <b>Stereo Kicks</b> home. So we go to deadlock...</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Again it was obvious that Lola would have received less votes than the boyband aimed at teenage boys. It's a shame as Lola has a really nice voice but her lack of confidence really held her back in the live shows I'm afraid.</span></span></div>
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Kevin Mc Stravockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03436048199177267455noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4259533101493961797.post-10977833366877598692014-10-31T16:39:00.001-03:002014-10-31T16:39:57.956-03:00X Factor UK 2014: Top 12 Perform: Movies Night<img alt="Photobucket" src="http://i1234.photobucket.com/albums/ff414/mdssblog/X%20Factor%20UK/banner.png" style="background-color: white; border: 0px none; color: #444444; font-family: 'Segoe UI', Calibri, 'Myriad Pro', Myriad, 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: small; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;" /><br />
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Cheryl lost two of her acts after 80's week last Sunday when Stephanie Nala and Chloe Jasmine were sent packing after Stereo Kicks were saved in favour of the latter in the sing-off with Steph receiving the fewest votes and being sent home automatically. Tonight, the remaining twelve acts are singing songs from movies, who will deliver a blockbuster performance and who will be a box office flop?<br />
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<b><span style="color: red; font-size: large;">Jake Quickenden</span></b></div>
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<b>'She's Like The Wind' by Patrick Swayze (Dirty Dancing) - 3.5/10 - </b>Jake had a lucky escape last week after a really poor performance. He says that he didn't think he was terrible last week, I beg to differ. He hopes that he can turn it around this week as he feels the pressure to deliver a good performance now. The first like twenty seconds or so of this performance are probably the best he has sung in the competition but then the bum notes kick in again and the rest of the performance is very inconsistent with some pitching issues and some alright parts. Until the end, when he tries to hit the high notes, and fails, badly. What is uncomfortable to watch is how little passion he gives the performance, it's almost as if he doesn't want to be up there, he's half sleeping when he sings the song. </div>
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<b>'Boom Clap' by Charli XCX (The Fault In Our Stars) - 6.5/10 - </b>After a standout performance last week, the pressure is on Only The Young to live up to their standards this week and as Charlie reveals, they've been struggling, having rehearsed four different songs this week. With Charlie being the most vocal of the group, criticizing every song they were given, they eventually settle for this Charli XCX song. I love that they're doing current stuff and on paper, this should be fantastic but it's actually a bit of a let down. The brunette is sort of out of tune and then when the blonde girl does her solo, it's a note too high and doesn't sound right either. Their harmonies are pretty good once again and once they get into the performance, it definitely picks up but this definitely wasn't their best performance, I worry they might be in trouble as they're on early and lukewarm praise is sometimes dangerous.</div>
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<b>'Skyfall' by Adele (Skyfall) - 5.5/10 - </b>After last week's (in my opinion, dreadful) cover of 500 Miles which garnered rave reviews from most of the judges, Jay wants to nail this Adele classic this week. This is probably a better vocal performance than last week in my opinion but it's still pretty dire. What annoys me about Jay is that Simon correctly pointed out his habit of singing through his nose to him at Judge's Houses yet he still does it. Vocally, he tends to start off okay but then as the performance goes on, he begins to shout, a lot. It was really shouty and sort of sloppy towards the end. Cheryl tells him that the production saved him and told him that his performance lacked him down. I tend to agree to be honest, vocally it was average and a bit shouty. Jay still hasn't found the original spark from his audition.</div>
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<b>'Listen' by Beyoncé (Dreamgirls) - 8/10 - </b>If the bookies took bettings on song choice, I would be a rich man after this week because this was the most predictable song choice ever for Andrea. Putting aside from my personal feelings towards the song selection, Andrea's talent is undeniable. Based on technicality alone, Andrea is the best in the competition but of course it's not just about who is technically the best. This is a lot better than last week, he doesn't lose the melody and sings with passion and heart, the only reason that it doesn't get higher from me is because I feel like it's a bit of the same old same old from Andrea. Three weeks on the trot, he has sang a ballad, I'm holding out for him to do something different, technically bar one minor mistake, it was pretty flawless but he won't win if he isn't capable of doing anything else.</div>
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<span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b>Lola Saunders</b></span></div>
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<b>'When You Believe' by Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston (The Prince Of Egypt) - 5.5/10 - </b>Lola has had a haircut this week, she says that it's a change from her usual hairstyle but she likes it. This a really nervy performance, she starts off well but as the backing track kicks in at the chorus, her voice sort of falls apart a little bit. I don't think ability is Lola's problem, she most definitely has the talent but I think it's lack of belief holding her back. After the performance, she stands very nervously on stage before the judges tell her to have more belief in herself. Vocally, this was disappointing but I think she let nerves get the better of her.</div>
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<b>'Try A Little Tenderness' by Otis Redding (The Commitments) - 7/10 - </b>Paul is stepping out of his comfort zone a little bit this week, singing something slightly more upbeat than he usually does. Vocally, Paul is pretty strong as ever although the start was a little off. That said, whilst I think it's up to the usual standard with him on a vocal level, I actually think the performance aspect lets him down. Simon criticized him for not having any personality last week and I don't think he has really brought any more personality into his performances. He looks a little awkward on stage with the dancers dancing around him and when you look at the likes of Fleur who can really work the stage, it highlights how poor his stage presence is in comparison.</div>
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<b>'Let It Go' by Demi Lovato (Frozen) - 8.5/10 - </b>Living out every young girl's dream this week is 17-year-old Lauren, singing some song from some Disney film, it's no big deal really. To begin with, it sounds a little, off, to be perfectly honest, not the normal standard you'd expect from Lauren but as the song continues, it gets a lot better. As soon as the chorus kicks in, and we hear the backing from the other singers, I love it, it sounds brilliant actually. Vocally, Lauren is one of the strongest in the competition, the only thing I have against her is that I feel we've lost a bit of that old school soul vibe that Cheryl in particular used to talk about in the earlier stages. The song choices haven't really allowed for that so hopefully we hear that amazing soulful tone sometime soon.</div>
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<b>'Eye Of The Tiger' by Survivor (Rocky III) - 5.5/10 - </b>Jack has an interesting song choice this week, I say interesting because it does sound like it could be a bit of a car crash on paper. And I'm not far wrong, it's probably slightly better than I expected it but, a bit like last week, he starts off quite well then the backing kicks in and he gets swallowed up by the backing track. I don't like this arrangement of the the song, it sounds odd and disjointed. In my opinion, you shouldn't fiddle around with songs that are this memorable. Again, another one who looks really uncomfortable on stage, the dancers are dancing around but he has very little performance ability and it just looks weird. Jack's going to really have to work on his stage presence as his performance is leaving a lot to be desired.</div>
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<b>'Lady Marmalade' by Pink, Christina Aguilera, Mya, Lil' Kim (Moulin Rouge) - 9/10 - </b>Fleur was disappointed by Mel B's comments last week after she told her she couldn't hear her on the chorus and calling it a bit 'cheaty'. Fearing the comments could have an impact on her votes, Fleur wants to address it this week but making sure she can be heard on the chorus. She works with the vocal coaches and the choreographer even suggesting having backing singers rather than backing vocals just so it's clear that she's singing too and they devise for the backing singers to stop towards the end so she can deliver the final note on her own. To be honest, whilst Fleur isn't the best singer in the competition, this performance is like CPR on the show tonight, finally someone who knows how to work the stage. Vocally, there are one or two bum notes but I can kind of overlook that if the performance makes up for it and it certainly does. She's the only one who actually looks comfortable up on the stage performing and this is a superb performance. Fleur ought to sail through tonight, I'm hoping we can see a softer side to her soon though, something stripped back but not necessarily a Whitney ballad. I would love to hear her singing 'Same Love' by Macklemore.</div>
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<b>'Footloose' by Kenny Loggins (Footloose) - 1/10 - </b>Well big surprise here, Stevi sounds awful once again. For once, the judges are actually critical of him but it's a bit late saying it now, he's obviously going to be voted through by those rebels who want to stick it to the man, by lining the producers' pockets and giving them even more media exposure which is what they want. Vocally, this is just horrendous, I think he seemingly makes even Overload Generation sound decent in comparison. On the plus side, he at least seems to enjoy himself up there but I wouldn't go as far to say that he puts on a good performance. Gyrating to some female dancers and doing a bit of dad dancing does not a performance make. When Stevi's time is up (probably after he has been guaranteed a spot on the tour), he will be given a serious song and given faint praise.</div>
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<b>'Let It Be/Hey Jude' by The Beatles (Across The Universe) - 8.5/10 - </b>I'm so glad someone is singing a song from my favourite film 'Across The Universe', I was wondering when we'd hear a song from that blockbuster. After landing in the bottom two last week, Stereo Kicks were upset to hear Louis' comments on Xtra Factor about never wanting an eight piece and decide to take control of this week's performance themselves. Later in the week, feeling a bit guilty, Louis comes with his tail between his legs and apologizes for how that may have came across, saying that he doesn't want to get rid of anyone. The performance starts off terribly to be perfectly honest, Barclay's solo opening is flat and Tom and earlobe guy (whose name I still don't know)'s harmonies are equally underwhelming. However, much like most performances these guys give, James swoops in and saves the performance with his solo vocals. He's such a strong singer, I don;'t know why he didn't get into Judge's Houses in the Boys category, he should really be in the lives instead of Jake. This performance is actually fantastic once they get into it, their harmonies sound great and bar awkwardly standing in a line AGAIN, there's little for me to criticize in this performance, it was pretty great. Just don't give Barclay a solo part because his voice isn't strong enough, leave the solos to James mainly.</div>
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<b>'I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing' by Aerosmith - 6.5/10 - </b>Another act who gets a weird VT that has an oddly negative undertone. Vocally, I really like Ben although he does sometimes have a habit of forcing his rasp. Oh dear, did we really have to hear this song again? I've grown to despise this track, it's so clichéd now, why could he not have done something a little different? This performance feels a little, flat, the vocals aren't so much a big problem, a tiny bit under at times maybe but pretty good overall. The big problem is that there's absolutely no passion in his performance, he may as well have been singing his shopping list for Tesco, it sort of feels like there's a connection missing. Agree with Mel B tonight, the emotion was totally lacking. And I do agree with Simon, his mentor that he picked the wrong song, it was a bit of a soundalike vocal performance. </div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">4. Andrea Faustini</b></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">5. Paul Akister</b></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">6. Ben Haenow</b></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">7. Only The Young</b></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">8. Lola Saunders</b></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">9. Jay James</b></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">10. Jack Walton</b></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">11. Jake Quickenden</b></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">11. Stevi Ritchie</b></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: red; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Bottom Two Prediction</span></b></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Bottom Two:</b></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Jack Walton</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Jake Quickenden</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Eliminated:</b></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Jake Quickenden </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b style="color: #f1c232; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: orange; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Bottom Two</b></span></span></span></span></b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Jake Quickenden</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Whilst I predicted an all boy bottom two, to say that this bottom two configuration is surprising would be a lie. Jake had a narrow escape for the last two weeks so it was inevitable that he would land in the bottom two. Only The Young meanwhile were clearly destined to be here with an early performance slot, bad VT and lackluster performance.</span></div>
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<b>Jake </b>sings first, taking on 'Red' by Daniel Merriweather. Vocally, it's pretty dire, I'm not sure what is going on with the sing-offs these days, for some reason the contestants seem to be underperforming in them. In fairness to Jake, he sings with more passion in this performance than he has for the entire series, it's the first time I actually feel like he gives anything to the performance. With his vocals being under though, is showing passion enough at this stage?</div>
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If you were underwhelmed by Jake's sing off, <b>Only The Young</b> sound even worse, mostly destroying their rendition of 'The Winner Takes It All' by Abba. Maybe the emotion is kicking in hence the poor performances but as soon as this song takes the chorus, it sounds awful. Their harmonies are bad and Charlie kind of butchers the song, even seeming to mess the melody up. Not a good sing-off performance at all but these guys have more to give than Jake.</div>
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Louis chooses to send <b>Jake Quickenden</b> home and Mel B sends <b>Only The Young </b>home. A blunt Simon tells both acts they were bad in the sing-off but chooses to save who he believes to have more potential, sending <b>Jake </b>home. It's all down to Cheryl who says that Jake sang with a lot of passion but sides with Simon on who has more potential, also sending <b>Jake </b>home. </div>
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This was inevitable really, Jake was in quite a strong Boys category with two really strong male vocalists in Paul and Andrea and in comparison, he was really poor. His attitude probably didn't help either as I don't think he acknowledged the issues the judges pointed out to him. It is a pity that he was sent home when he finally sang with passion but vocally, it still left a lot to desire and I'm afraid Only The Young have more to give.</div>
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Kevin Mc Stravockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03436048199177267455noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4259533101493961797.post-55721550455002973392014-10-25T18:16:00.000-03:002014-10-27T15:16:09.067-03:00Interview: Imogen Brough<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcsvB4PV1so9g4mHcloBpi4do81ZVRL8gCVLV_qqsQeHHajg3QKfJeD-aHA5_RgKEkfOBXsjS9Xs07D8JTlYngcUuV0NoJBuMH0n2LBZ-6eccuUmSjolXFGffjuUho9U852T5GuwIsVss/s1600/Imogen+Brough.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcsvB4PV1so9g4mHcloBpi4do81ZVRL8gCVLV_qqsQeHHajg3QKfJeD-aHA5_RgKEkfOBXsjS9Xs07D8JTlYngcUuV0NoJBuMH0n2LBZ-6eccuUmSjolXFGffjuUho9U852T5GuwIsVss/s1600/Imogen+Brough.png" /></a></div>
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Singer- songwriter Imogen Brough has an insane amount of talent (the kind the makes even Beyoncé jealous) with her soaring vocals being perfectly suited for the Celtic inspired pop anthems she has released. Having just released her latest single, Imogen was kind enough to answer a few questions. You can read the full interview below:</div>
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<a name='more'></a><span class="im"><b>Q: If you had to describe your music in three words, what would they be?</b></span> <br />
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Celtic, Ambient, Powerful</div>
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<span class="im"><b>Q: If you had to describe yourself in three words, what would they be?</b></span><br />
Passionate, Competitive, Driven</div>
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<span class="im"><b>Q: Describe a day in the life of Imogen Brough.</b></span><br />
My main focus is my music! So I spend a lot of time organising my performances, rehearsals, writing and learning new music and seeking opportunities. I like to keep fit and healthy so I do some form of exercise every day if i can (running, gym work, bikram yoga!) During the week I am working casually as a Teacher's Aid, and a Pool Lifeguard so I can afford to do my music! If I am not singing on the weekends, I love trips to the beach, and coffee.</div>
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<span class="im"><b>Q: What inspires the songs you put together?</b></span> <br />
Other music defiantly inspires me, as well as my own experiences and emotions.<br />
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<span class="im"><b>Q: If you had to release an album tomorrow, what would you call it?</b></span></div>
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</span><span class="im">Love Is Like A Match</span></div>
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</span><span class="im"><b>Q: If you had the chance to perform with any artist/band in the world, who would it be?</b></span> Coldplay</div>
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<span class="im"><b>Q: You've just released your latest single 'Love Is Like A Match'. Can you tell us a little bit about it?</b>
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I wrote this song about two years ago, brought it into the studio in March this year and made it even better then it was! It is about love, and when you find love you need to look after it because if you don't it will end.<br />
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<span class="im"><b>Q: So we know that you have a few other songs under your belt that we know nothing about, can you give us any clues as to what they might be?</b></span></div>
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Well, I am planning on releasing my second EP this year in early December if all goes to plan! One of the songs I have written and recorded with Damien Leith. Another I wrote a couple of months ago, and is called Kind Eyes! I can't wait to get them out for you all to hear.</div>
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<span class="im"><b>Q: Very important question, what can we expect from you in the future?</b></span> More and more music! I will never stop writing music as it is my passion. I want to travel around Australia with my band and also overseas!</div>
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<span class="im"><b>Quick Questions:</b> </span></div>
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</span><b>Favourite Food?</b> Italian food, I love a good Carbonara </div>
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<b>Favourite letter of the alphabet?</b> i</div>
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<b>Biggest Fear?</b> Drowning</div>
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<b>Thing that annoys you the most?</b> Messy house, I love being organised!</div>
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<b>Lifelong dream?</b> To tour the world with my band, and get a number 1 Pop hit!</div>
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<b>If you want to see Imogen's second EP become a reality then you can make a pledge for her Pozible campaign <a href="http://www.pozible.com/project/187152">HERE</a></b></div>
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You can listen to Imogen's new single <b>'Love Is Like A Match'</b> below:</div>
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Ryan Bransfieldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08812362616388570721noreply@blogger.com0