The penultimate audition show proved a rather frustrating experience for punters and viewers alike. There were a few reasonably promising vocalists on display, but we started with expletive-loving Buddy Holly fan Nick Buss, and plenty of screentime was given over to Bianca Gascoigne’s latest shot at fame. Both were red meat to the show’s critics.
Those auditions that we were supposed to take seriously felt a little undercooked in terms of their treatment – until we got to Jade Collins in the pimp slot. That was intriguingly overcooked. The 17-year-old from Belfast was not impressive vocally. She ducked out of a few early notes on ‘Sweet Dreams’. As she wobbled further in the second half, she was drowned out by the incidental music in a way I have never encountered on the show before.
Gary admitted that there were some notes missed, but he and the rest of the panel seemed keen to sell us Jade’s “spark”, “passion” and “raw emotion”. She wore her heart on her sleeve regarding her father’s various stints in prison. The emotion it generated was the kind of stuff the show thrives on. Perhaps that was what merited the pimp slot and the noise about her. Bookmakers weren’t overly impressed, going a best-priced 33-1.
Jade Ellis’s audition felt much more low-key. The 25-year-old from Greenwich provided plenty of the X Factor sob story cliches – a young single mum, life in a tower block, thwarted ambition – but her treatment hardly suggests that producers want us to invest in her as they did in, say, a similarly-placed Rebecca Ferguson. Her backstory was played remarkably lightly and pretty quickly, which may have partly reflected Jade’s sunny outlook.
She showed a distinctive voice singing ‘Something Good’, and she was far more technically proficient than the other Jade. She looked reasonably confident on stage too. As I watched, I liked what I saw but I kept wondering why producers hadn’t given her more screentime, hadn’t put her at the beginning or end of the show, hadn’t given her daughter as much attention as Joe Whelan’s son.
It’s not promising when you’re not even the most heavily-featured singer called Jade in your particular audition show. Interestingly, bookmakers were generally more impressed with Ms Ellis, their prices ranging from 8-1 to 14-1. But as Tim B pointed out, neither Jade was given the Olly Murs treatment on Xtra Factor either. That honour went to James Arthur, featured weeks ago, who got to duet with Murs. This is good news for anyone who has taken his current best price of 33-1.
Some of tonight’s other serious performers would’ve been happy with Jade Ellis’s medium-sized edit. Leanne Dlamini was even more short-changed on her single-mum storyline and 17-year-old Lauren Smith’s take on ‘American Boy’ with guitar in hand was overshadowed by a tiff between Tulisa and Louis. Wedding singer Salena Mastroianni may have got four yeses for her rendition of ‘Lady Marmalade’ but her lack of screentime was hardly a vote of confidence. The same could be said for Madeleine Wilson.
33-year-old Tammy Cartwright was treated far more generously, sharing some funny repartee with her gran, though she only got to explain a complicated-sounding life on stage. Her rendition of ‘One Night Only’ was straight out of the Sami Brookes school. With more promising options in the Overs lot, I don’t currently see Tammy Cruiseship getting a place in the live shows.
A better audition within the same category came from 36-year-old Hayley Evetts doing another karaoke classic in Whitney Houston’s ‘All The Man That I Need’. However, her appearance on Xtra Factor suggests that not much will come of what she called her “last chance” in the industry.
Let us know below what you made of tonight’s show and the treatment of the two Jades in particular.
Jade Ellis = Sophie Habibis & Jade Collins = Jade Richards? A tale of three Jades then!
I am tiring of all this, the sob stories are going too far, Jade Collins in particular, how far are they going to push this, the only way this can go now is tales of sexual abuse and rape. That said I am still undecided about this years bunch, without leaks on who makes the finals I am going to hold out before betting, plenty of contenders in my opinion, but no one outstanding.
Jade Collins is not going to get public support with an OK voice and a criminal dad, the latter being something to be ashamed of, not promoted as a sob story. This is X-Factor attempting to be a bit edgy, controversial, and to get people talking, and it’s worked judging by the comments on the Mail article – http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2203849/X-Factor-Jade-Collins-makes-Sweet-Dreams-come-true-battles-heartache-absent-father.html
As for Jade Ellis, there’s something about her and I want to see what else she can do. I’m not sure if she’s winning material but I see her as a strong, solid performer, and I believe that a comparison with Rebecca Ferguson is a valid one. 14/1 looks like a good price, especially if the Digital Spy rumours are true though.
Why would having a father in prison be something to be ashamed of? It’s not something she has any control over.
Jade Collins wasn’t very good at all. Jade Ellis has poinse and style and can improve on a pretty average vocal and song choice. There was something about Jade Ellis I liked and would like to see some more. 14/1 though is too short ofr anyone apart from KYE at this stage.
De-lurking, I’ll give wider thoughts when I have a mo, and haven’t seen last night yet, but surely James Arthur being interviewed *after* judges houses have been filmed tells us something. Unless he improves at bootcamp, I can’t see him as a contender though.
I thought they’d make a big hoohah about Hayley Evetts, being as she previously featured on Pop Idol. The rumours have been that she made Judge’s House. Based off her coverage here you’d have to say that’s probably as far as she made it.
Jade collins @Jade__Collins
@jadaface101 awww jade thank you. You were amazing so happy and proud of you good luck with everything hope your well hun xxxxx
The above tweet from Collins to Ellis suggests that the latter has made it but the former hasn’t.
Also Rylan Clark is apparently getting the Olly interview on The Xtra Factor tonight.
I’ve never heard of or seen Bianca Gascoigne before, and I was really surprised by the way her audition was edited and how the judges reacted – it seemed totally unfair, she had a good voice and performed well. I don’t understand why they were so harsh on her – I thought she was really good. Perhaps it was “the wrong song” to a certain extent (lacked range/dynamics, too repetitive and obscure) but they almost tried to make out her performance was terrible, which it wasn’t. There was a real negative tone to the whole segment which I felt was unjust and unwarranted, it was like they were punishing her for who she is (whoever she is – I mean, obviously she’s Paul Gascoigne’s daughter but beyond that I know nothing. And I’m not wikiing her because my brain’s full of enough crap.)
I didn’t connect with the oddly-styled Jade Collins’s sob story at all but I liked her performance, not sure why others aren’t so keen. I didn’t love it, but I’ve hardly loved anyone this series – it was fine, she did a good job.
The 3 montaged girls after Jade Ellis were all strong, I found Salena made the most impression. Jade herself was also good. She came over extremely well as a person – together, balanced, good head on her shoulders, confident performer etc… all of which of course means there’s less meat for a sob story, which is probably why she was on first not last. She’s not mousy and flaky the way Rebecca Ferguson, Leona Lewis etc are/were, and while that’s a big plus in my book, it may mean people find her less sympathetic. If she gets to the lives and wants to win, she’d better learn to cry on cue and speak in a silly little voice.
I really liked Lauren’s silky, mellifluous voice and how she used it, she’s also really likeable and endearing as a performer. No idea why they stopped her audition. Once again, Mel B seemed to have a huge chip on her shoulder and was a nasty piece of work – people in glasshouses shouldn’t throw stones, especially if they’re former Spice Girls and dressed as a herring to boot. Good for Tulisa and Gary for sticking up for Lauren, but the whole silly argument with Louis while poor Lauren was standing there on stage waiting for feedback was just stupid and unprofessional.
I loved Tammy and for me she’s easily the best Over so far. I know it was cruiseship but I love cruiseship; she had a tremendous voice and performed really well. I could have done without the gran.
I rewatched the “main” featured auditions from the past 5 episodes this afternoon and I think Lucy is a good bet for the win, though it’ll be interesting to see how the live shows change to accommodate her and the other more niche acts.
Apropos sob stories, as an aside, I was in Northern Ireland with my family a few years back and the Rose of Tralee (the inspiration for Father Ted’s “Lovely Girls” contest: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rose_of_Tralee_(festival)) happened to be on television. I kid you not, one girl’s story was (said rapidly in a broad, guttural Irish accent): “Me father was an orphan and he only had one eye”. We all fell about laughing. Beyond parody.
Oh and that old man was a right foulmouthed cunt.
The last audition show… and … where are Starboy and Leanne !? I guess you have the title for the next article 🙂
Boki – Starboy Nathan was montaged and he called himself Nathan Fagan Gayle. I’m delighted there was no Leanne though as I have a win bet on Ella Henderson 😀
How did I miss him ??? Oh, those piss breaks… Ok, since he was montaged should mean he’s a fodder if he goes to the lives, I expected a bigger audition and he does James Michael.
Go during the ads, Boki. Either that or wear a bag.
I’m 90% sure Leanne was Leanne Dlamini from last night. Tellymix had her picture labelled as Leanne Robinson anyway.
It could be that they don’t want to give Nathan or Leanne the big storylines yet so people don’t go delving into their musical background. This will make it interesting in the lives when the whole info is revealed and we hear shouts of “FIX”.
I was hoping to back Nathan but not too sure at the moment given the treatment and odds.
Morning… Tried to post this last night, but technical problems got in the way. Anyway, as the post is about Saturday’s show specifically, I’ll stick to my general impressions on the Jades: not dissimilar to the general consensus. Liked Ellis, didn’t like Collins (much), and agree with Daniel that the sob story and entire segment was overcooked. There were several strong female singers featured, but nobody I can really recall. I’ve often noticed how responsive Talkback/SyCo are to forum criticism, and I thought it might be the case that this weekend’s shows were both sped up – more acts; fewer TOWIE inserts, etc; no hashtags – in line with early viewer impressions.
As an aside, I’m convinced that Cowell himself is a regular Digital Spy reader. In the two series prior to this one in which I’ve taken a close interest, I’ve seen small alterations to the format, ideas for VT segments and entire judges’ comments ripped almost verbatim from DS. And I’d be surprised if he hasn’t taken at least a passing interest in Sofabet; I’m sure Mr Gould could perhaps enlighten us about that?
Other vague impressions:
Lauren – I didn’t like this audition in the slightest. Considerable self-regard hiding behind a squeaky, simpering facade. She had the air of somebody absolutely sure she deserved to breeze through; and when Mel B offered something other than the vacuous praise she was expecting her face was a picture of disbelief. A likely Brits/stage school grad, in my estimation: for me, the worst kind of auditionee.
Arthur’s backstory was amusingly trumped on Sunday’s show… And now producers have mislaid the homeless. That made me chuckle, a bit.
Buddy Holly man – Eurovicious sums him up perfectly.