The Sun’s crowning of Sam Bailey as this year’s X Factor winner four weeks too early added extra spice to tonight’s show. Was this hype that her fans should welcome, or the start of a deramp? Tonight’s live show promised to give us some more clues.
In general, there wasn’t much that was great about the Great British Songbook show. Instead, we had a series of poorly staged and performed numbers – with the exception of the two “reliable” market leaders – though the judges managed to throw some shade at them too. All in all, it was a pretty awful programme.
First off, it initially seemed as if the show was doing their best to throw Hannah under the bus. She got the death slot and her VT wasn’t an emotional one at all. As AnnaC mentioned, her staging involved a plinth, busy backdrop, frenetic dancers – not to mention unflattering styling.
Yet her performance was one of her better ones, and there seemed much positivity from the judges, who talked about casting their own vote for her. However, I wonder if the positivity was a way of not motivating people to vote for Hannah, who’s had difficulty making it happen at the best of times.
Luke’s VT was equally anodyne, including a skating skit accompanied by the other two boys in Louis’ category during which it was made clear that “Sam [Callahan] is winning!” As for his performance, I was too distracted by the home video of Luke flirting with a woman who seemed considerably older than his tender years.
The judges had some catty things to say, but disguised them with a smile on their faces. Sharon said, “If Keith Richards could sing, he’d sing just like you.” Nicole said his performance reminded her of his hair (cue households around the country making their own pun). Luke also had the misfortune to be sent down the memory hole by Sam Bailey.
It started promisingly for the current favourite in the pre-credits montage with mentor Sharon Osborne explaining, “If anyone can represent Great Britain, it’s Sam Bailey.” Sam was given the “everywoman” VT at home with her kids, which wasn’t a bad thing given the hype that now surrounds her.
She was stuck on a big staircase, but the purple lighting and candles backdrop were helpful. Whilst Nicole was rather distracting in her comments, Louis called her “world class”. The panel’s debate was all about how many records she would sell and what would go on her album. That’s not a deramp.
Rough Copy were given a good VT and decent staging with silver prominent for the second week running. It still doesn’t feel like that’s enough. When not helped enough by the backing track, their vocals were on the rough side, especially at the end of the song. Nicole dampened the mood by suggesting that they didn’t bring enough soul, though this does give them a narrative for next week.
The producers did their best to keep the Gary Barlow / Sam Callahan feud going in the latter’s VT, referencing the former’s comments beyond last week’s refusal to critique the Essex lad. But Sam didn’t fare so well on stage. There was plenty of red lighting, static or poor camerawork, stony-faced looks from the judges, and a poor ending.
Judges comments were a mixed bag: Gary wasn’t harsh enough, concluding that he “respected” him; Sharon used the same line she had used for Kingsland Road about him looking defeated; at least Louis pleaded for votes. To be fair, Sam always does himself a favour by coming across sympathetically in his post-song interview.
Tamera’s VT highlighted what has been her main problem – her lack of connection with the audience or the songs she has performed. There was also some fear about her forgetting her lyrics again.
The Kent lass looked amazing but started off stuck in a cube from which she soon emerged. There were some cutaways of stony faced judges even before the stumble over the lyrics. Curtis wondered just how genuine this was. Certainly it was a coincidence to happen in the same week as referenced in the VT. Overall, the whole thing didn’t come off despite some good moments vocally.
Nick’s VT showed him laughing at some of his fan mail, which may not have been terribly helpful, but the staging was generally very kind for his pimp slot performance of ‘Someone Like You’, with the exception of an overly long panning shot just when you wanted a close-up for the big note. Judges were positive apart from Gary’s wish for more “personality”.
Overall, it’s hard to see how neutrals would’ve been won over by anything we saw from those in the elimination mix tonight. We recommended a bet on Hannah to go, and a Hannah / Tamera bottom two beforehand. Despite it not being a good night for Sam C nor Luke, we know that the two girls have struggled even more for votes, and tonight wasn’t encouraging for either.
Did you think the show was as disappointing as I did? The in-running reaction found in the comments section of the previous post suggested so. Do let us know below, and whether it’s changed your opinion of tomorrow’s bottom two.
I’m confused. That’s all I can say.
The double whammy towards the end (Sam C and Tamera) might just favour the latter.
I don’t think two Boys will be in the bottom, but the one that does better hope they’re with the right Girl.
oops. I feel dumb saying this.
Not the best week, but I didn’t dislike it as much as you. Good vocal performances from Sam B and Nick, and some fun from RC around their performance… and the rest of the field mostly performing at expectations. The rest were of interest because as I posted at the end of the last thread, I couldn’t pick out a specific act they really had it in for. As far as show appeal, it really didn’t help that I don’t think we saw a single interested looking judge during the performances the whole night. I also think we had too many ballads once again. Luke > Sam B in particular. But that may just be what it takes to play to this field’s strengths.
Perhaps the producers were mostly looking to keep RC out of the B2 on their way to a Sam B/Nick/RC final 3, with some resignation to saving Tamera into 4th. Not sure how to read them tagging her for forgetting her lyrics. Perhaps she’s become a bit tiresome backstage? Producers worried people will see her as overly favored by the program?
Really glad you’ve said this, as I thought my negativity was because I was tired!
This was the laziest, “going through the motions” show I’ve seen for years.
It’s not as if “Great British Songs” is a sparse pool to fish.
Bad song choices, songs that dragged, middle of the road B List ballads, VT’s that added nothing, a lack of judge banter, no surprises.
I’ve even reached the point where I am yearning for Sharon to throw water over Louis and storm out.
Sorry producers, I do love you very much and I love your show. But, tonight was dire.
I agree that the show was disappointing. The performances were tepid as usual – but that I’ve come to expect. I think one thing that really didn’t help was that the judge’s were constantly making distracting and stupid comments. Not a single one of the acts got through today without some negative remark from a judge – and I don’t think that helps. Add that to the fact that Sam C wasn’t really entertaining at all and yes, the show was lacking. It would’ve been better if they had at least had some kind of British motif to all of the staging – patriotism is in at the moment but they hardly capitalised on that. You’d be forgiven for not knowing what the theme was.
I’m staying out of the markets this week – I think it’s going to be tight. Hopefully there’ll be money to be made on sing-off betting.
Tamera has just said on Xtra Factor that she didn’t know the song (‘Diamonds Are Forever’). Didn’t her VT claim it had been her late choice?
Boring show. One of the worst. 7 year old left the room to draw outfits for Jessie J.
Nothing to dislodge Sam B or Nick. If there was any attempt to help Tamera with a modern twist on the song she shot herself with the lyric mishap. I didn’t pay attention to the VT ( I was reading Sofabet, honestly) so was not “prepared” for it. I noticed and raised my head to see her face that just said it all. If she’s that good an actress, she’s pursuing the wrong career.
Any stats on how forgotten lyrics affect votes? I only recall Little Mix but when it happened they were already flying high, a very different situation from Tamera.
Lia, The only person I recall fluffing lyrics in the live shows was Ashley McKenzie in “Moondance” in Big Band week a good few series ago. He was well favoured before that, but fell in the singoff that week and was eliminated the following week
I was looking at 2011 again, and Janet forgot the lyrics the week she went. The show had it in for her, though, much more clearly than Tamera.
Which was funny because Little Mix forgot their words the following week and the look of panic on the judges’ faces was hilarious.
That’s certainly how I interpreted it at the time. Not that I believed much of what she said in her VT, it all sounded a bit over-dramatic and over-the-top. I particularly enjoyed her attempt at trying to give the lyrics of “Diamonds are Forever” some meaning to her.
Great Show tonight! For the first time I think we’re starting to get the idea of who’s gonna end up in the final: Sam B, Tamera and Nicolas.
Hannah: boring performance, that dress didn’t do her an favors and those trumpets behind her.. wtf.
Luke: great choice of song, great vocals, I didn’t think the girl in the video looked older than Luke.. it was actually sweet. the only thing that could bring him down are the judges comments
Sam B: her best performance to date. great comments, looks much YOUNGER than the past weeks, those candles reminded me of Burke’s Hallelujah music video
Rough Copy: Disappointment. being Gary’s last act, it’d be weird to think the producers would want to get rid of them, especially after a series of good performances…it was all over the place
Sam C: he tried.. (red and black)
Tamera: brilliant vocals, especially in the 2nd part, ok she forgot the lyrics but she sang so beautifully after that I forgot the incident. the song and the diamond meant one thing, she’s special and they wanna keep her as long as possible.
Nicholas: another great performance from the sixteen year old. talking of age he’s the only one who I feel has grown physically over the weeks. those fluorescent lights in the sky say it all: he’s up there in the final.
bottom 2: I think the number of “fans” Sam C has wont be enough to carry him out of the bottom 2, and Hannah isn’t well liked so a Sam C/Hannah looks most probable with Sam C going obviously
I didn’t feel like they really went out to nuke anyone this week and when there were negative comments, they were fair. I wonder whether this was a week they wanted to play fair to see who would pull in the votes in a week where they are surely expecting a big increase in calls as it’s for charity.
Agree completley. Possibly the worst show ever! What are they thinking?! lol
The fact that Tamera had a bit of a shocker might result in Hannah’s vote being squeezed to non-existence. Whether people vote for Tamera or not, the conversation has totally shifted to the favoured girl.
As a big believer in twitter traffic stats, it’s better to be talked about than not at all. In my opinion, Hannah in more danger now.
bottom2 will be hannah-samC
I agree. It were crap . After the fun of the past two weeks, it was like being slapped in the mangina with a wet sturgeon. (I don’t know what that means – I have a cold, it’s gone to my head…) A depressing comedown to Great British Reality.
I was on Hannah to go and I kind of still am, but this is made problematic by the fact that everyone else this evening was either underwhelming (Sam B, Luke, Tamera) or outright balls (Rough Copy, Sam C) apart from her and Nick. On such an evening of downers, she also had easily the most upbeat song and gave the most fun performance by a country mile, plus her best performance of the whole series by a country mile. I thought she was awesome: loads of fun and it didn’t seem shouty and totally suited her voice and personality. Why have they been giving her ballads the whole time? She came over brilliantly too. Plus there was gold lighting, her best styling so far IMO, she came down off an admittedly high plinth, and there were calls to vote.
Luke: the big Luke faces were helpful but the video of him with the model distracted considerably from his performance, which was only competent – better than last week but nowt to write home about, though I liked his long notes. I was bored though. However, the lighting at the end was really helpful, and seeing the excerpt in the recap, his performance struck me as considerably better than most of what came after. There weren’t last week’s vocal issues, even though he isn’t really grown up enough for the song and just does everything in the same style.
Bored with Sam B’s performance too – “it was the wrong song”. Stairs should be instant win but what’s the point in stairs if you don’t use them and just stand on them? Why didn’t she stride down them divatastically halfway through the song? Why weren’t there two shirtless men pushing the stairs around with her on them in the first half? Why didn’t the indiviual steps light up in changing colours or spell out her name? X Factor, you’re doing stairs wrong.
Rough Copy came over as irritating in their VT and it was their worst performance so far – awful, just ridiculous and really exposed their limitations in terms of vocals, performance styles etc. So obnoxiously shite it somehow reminded me of Boyzone’s infamous Late Late Show performance. I doubt very much it delighted the demo. You wouldn’t sign them based on tonight’s performance – it was like a community youth group overexcited at being on stage sloppily performing a motivational opening number at some local event. More vocals, less “yay look at us!”. Hashtag all over the place, hashtag forced jollity, hashtag car crash.
Sam C – everything seemed designed to create a sense of disjointedness. Red and black, lighting going everywhere (rapidly switching beams pointing in different directions), naff-looking backing musicians, 9000 people on stage with him, a PER stage dive, an off-sounding backing track with disconcertingly arrhythmic drums, and unnerving camerawork like something out of Inland Empire, including a giallo zoom near the start. Why the fuss about the guitar when a) we couldn’t even hear it and there were other guitarists on stage b) he only played it for the first third of the song? Having it strung around him made him look ungainly in the other two-thirds as he moved around the stage. When he first went to touch people in the audience, we couldn’t see him properly because someone’s head was in the way. And he looked unhappy and under pressure, as Shazza correctly pointed out. It wasn’t fun to watch.
Tamera: really great vocal as usual. The staging, with her wearing bling (the diamond-studded looked threatening), trapped in a cube (cubic zirconia?) at the beginning, and with dubious “urban” dancers capering around her, was unhelpful. Plus the slip. I felt really bad for her, she looked upset and tense. It’s not a song choice that will win people over, the arrangement of it alienated further, and she didn’t smile enough. And she was memory-holed by…
Nick: I had nothing to worry about, very happy to have been proven wrong – absolutely loved his emotive, note-perfect performance. Superb control but that goes without saying by this point. That will top the vote.
I think that Nic topped the vote tonight and that might leave the remaining boys in danger.
Why is everyone down on Sam B? Thought she absolutely nailed it yet again and probably walked the televote. No one can beat her now.
I’m not down on Sam B. I thought she performed excellently yet again tonight – she seems to be able to sing anything. I think part of the problem with her is that we know she’s going to nail it every time. For people who like acts to have some kind of “journey”, maybe that’s a little bit boring.
No Abi, no party. That’s all I’m saying. At least she gave us something to talk about for good or bad. This cast just don’t cut it. I think Syco’s taste is stardom gets worse by the year (James Arthur an exception though he’s a bit of a wally)
No Abi, no cry. Though I thought Tamera was going to indulge us for a second. I think the song choices and staging were more to blame tonight. Sam B and Nick are effortlessly capable, Tamera is amazing but needs time to mature (as does Luke), and Hannah really delivered. Sam C and RC (the latter in particular) were egregiously bad, but in Sam’s case a lot of this was down to the very unhelpful staging and choreo.
James Arthur is a knobhead. There was a story in The Sun today with some girl claiming he “used her for sex” and, hilariously, “ate pizza during sex”. (Which I guess means they both enjoyed a meat feast.) He won’t last long. He’s just the entitled type that when his 15 minutes are over, he’ll go on a massive downward spiral too. Sucks to be the Steve Brookstein of inauthentic anguish.
comparing him to Brookstein is a bit exaggerated, his first single sold better than any XF winner since Alexandra. His provocative attitude doesn’t hide the fact he is very talented and I think he’s gonna stay around for a few more years
I agree. I don’t like JA as a person but he’s a very talented musician.
There are plenty of things I could say about it but mostly I found the show so tedious and enervating to watch that I can’t be arsed. I commented earlier that I was worried it might be a tede-a-thon. Turns out I was right.
I stopped commenting after Luke because although I was still watching and noticing things (while pottering in the kitchen), in truth I’d lost interest and couldn’t be bothered to spend the time it takes typing messages on this phone.
If I could I would sue ITV and demand they compensate me for the time they induced me to waste by falsly claimimg that was entertainment.
This is how I feel about the whole of the 2012 series apart from Jade Ellis.
Looks like the performance could help Hannah bounce by the way. A energetic, smily performance for once. Could move Tamera back to B2. It’s a possibility. Just the death slot a worry .
That said last week was all quite feel good for Abi and she went , but there was no bounce involved for her to give motivation to fans.
Thing is, if Hannah could bounce to 5th with that vivacious, strong performance what with everyone else being crap, it’d be enough. I know Hannah’s lack of popularity is established, but with Tamera coming down off a bounce and with that highly unhelpful arrangement, staging and performance, I feel she’s more of a shoe-in for B2 than Hannah. Sam B and Nick are obvs safe, but I feel any one of Luke, Sam C and RC could slip down into the B2 given the craptacularity of their performances this evening. Of the three, I think both from a young viewer’s perspective and from the “delight the demo” perspective, Rough Copy were worst.
In the event of a RC/Tamera B2 at this stage, which they would probably like to avoid at all costs but which can by no means be ruled out, who goes?
Hi EV – I dangled this question in my preview post and no one took the bait. It’s not a singoff I’d get heavily involved with for obvious reasons, but at least Tamera going would provide the shock factor (despite her previous b2 appearance).
There’s been a lot of talk in the last week of her not needing to win the show to become a successful artist. That’s incredibly defeatist talk with a month to go. Her bizarre vt this week seems to indicate they don’t have a clue what to do with her in the competition.
Interested in what other people think about this.
Yeah, I don’t know either and I wouldn’t bet on it. But if RC have been polling better throughout, which I think we can assume to be the case, they might just go with the metrics and keep them over Tamera. You can’t make people like someone. They could develop Tamera and launch her in 1-2 years’, whereas I have more of a sense RC need the show. Though I have to say, they’re no JLS – JLS are/were a lot more middle-class somehow, more versatile and mainstream. I mean, Aston was a kids’ TV presenter and there was something very safe (but not cheesy) about them as a group, you could understand why girls liked them, not even in necessarily a protosexual way. But kids and girls in England being into Rough Copy? I’m not so sure.
I’m really surprised that Tamera originally had Bohemian Rhapsody(!) this week. Which part would they have used, how would they have edited it down and staged it? It seems a totally unsuitable madcap choice for her and it’s one of those songs you just don’t tackle.
I think giving her that song is a sign they don’t know what to do with her. A 40 year old song and yet they dressed her more like a teenager today than they have for weeks. Surely today was the day to look mature, detached and a little dangerous.
The suggestion that she decided on that song after researching on the internet is clearly untrue given what she said on Xtra Factor.
I just don’t understand it.
Why didn’t they give her The Man With The Child In His Eyes?
There are so many songs they could have given her, rearranged or not, that would have worked. As it is all they did was put a hiphop shiffle sort of drum beat under it and give her four dancers who looked to me like they should have been dancing to Hammertime.
Interesting too that talk about futire albums was reserved for Sam B and Nick but not for Tamera or RC. I think Sam B missed a trick by not saying there’s no guarantee I’m going to be offered a deal, I haven’t won yet.
On current showing I think Tamera might not make the move from”next big thing” to “big thing” because the people guiding her don’t seem to have a clue. If they’re having any effect at all it’s to damage her prospects.
And to answer the question, I think they’d save Rough Copy. But I wouldn’t bet on it.
I agree that they would save RC over Tamera, they really want them in the final, but I believe RC will escape b2 this time.
What about Hannah vs Luke? Most people think Hannah goes in that case but is it so black and white?
If Hannah is B2 she goes. No way are they saving her a third time.
A good argument for saving her a third time is that her bounce will be weak, compared to Luke or Sam C who could very well bounce to Week 8, if not farther.
An argument against saving her is that she’s due a late slot and Tamera’s due an early one. Remember what happened the last time Hannah was out late and Tamera early? Yeah.
Last time Sharon promised “next time we won’t help you” but surely that is not to be blindly trusted?
There is also something else that can play a role here. Last year Nicole had all 3 boys very deep in the competition and she was teasing the other judges about that etc. This year is quite similar with Louis and the question is if they are trying to push the same narrative again.
Daniel,
I’ve said elsewhere I don’t think they have much love for Tamera but another theory has come to me.
What if she was being set up to be fantastic? The VT was edited to show her deciding to do the song (even though we know it’s unlikely), so you’ve got a last minute song change, she’s struggling to remember the words. It’s a classic dramatic set up, all it needs is the successful conclusion: she looks dazzling, she nails the lyrics, she connects with the song, she was proved right and the judges can sign her praises for putting it on the line and delivering.
Only she didn’t. She was doing OK until she forgot the words. The judges are thrown, they don’t have time to modify the script to ramp up the vote they just have to mention the forgetting the words because it’s the only thing they remember.
Although the show is very manipulative I prefer to think then they deceive about something it is always to make someone look better not worse, trouble is when I backfires it looks bad.
This is definitely feasible. Everyone got their share of negative remarks and this could have been the week Tamera shines brightly over everyone else by getting unanimous love. What I wonder is if the voting public will react with love (“even with that thing, you were fabulous”), sympathy (“poor Tamera”), or just disdain (“not again; go home”).
My honest answer is that I’m confused, EM. You could well be right that she just made a dog’s dinner out of something that was supposed to be very good.
The counter argument starts with the dancers who were distracting – the staging was therefore not totally helpful.
I’ve watched all 3:01 of the performance again this morning. We get two cutaway shots of stony-faced judges at 0:46 and 1:14 (Sharon and Louis first time, Sharon and Gary second time), before she messes up the lyrics at 1:31. A similar shot of a glum Sharon and Gary is at 2:25.
It’s not the kind of song to smile at, but why not just show Nicole rocking out to it and doing her best to enjoy the performance? The whole thing was extremely strange.
I think despite the manipulation that goes on TPTB are aware that the audience at home are not complete fools. If the judges had praised Tamera’s performance to the high heavens, the reaction from people at home would have been “Really?!”. Part of the show working has to be that the public believe the judges know what they’re talking about especially Gary and Nicole.
I think they really don’t know what to do with Tamera. As speculated by others she probably polled really badly in Week 1 and since then they’ve gone into panic mode and tried to reinvent her as a ballad singer that will appeal to the masses. The problem is she doesn’t have the voice that suits big ballads and she’s not entirely comfortable with it. They would be much better giving her songs like Rihanna’s Take a Bow that have wide appeal but are within her range.
As I said last week, when Gary was interviewed on Radio 4 and the interviewer pushed him to say that Tamera was the only one with any real commercial potential as well as being miles the best singer, Gary said that often those who don’t win do better commercially anyway. Meaning Tamera is too good to win, and it doesn’t matter anyway. Gary knows.
Totally agree, worst show I’ve seen in all ten years of the show. No excitement, boring performances and bad, dated and irrelevant songs for the most part. Not a vintage year for the show this is it?
Regarding the performances:
Hannah- terrible. The vt built it up to be a huge performance but i was bored and honestly i tuned out. Sure to be bottom 2?
Luke- I actually think he sang well. If we had all seen the performance in isolation of the judges comments would we feel different? I’ll have to rewatch later. However Judges lukewarm (pardon the pun!) comments killed it. In danger.
Sam B- as per usual! Interesting how her “everywoman” vt was followed by her looking more glamorous than ever. It will have connected with every mum watching. Safe as houses.
Rough copy- such a strange song choice. Just not good at all. Was it an attempt to appeal the 1D fan base who are familiar with the song? Staging was a little odd too. The fireworks they held were just plain weird. They did get the patriotic colouring though in the outfits. Not a intentional deramping but won’t have picked up any floating voters. And there was the silver again – second best!! I think they’ll be safe but only because so many others were so bad!
Sam C – bless him he tries but he is terrible! His performance had a slight feel of the week that did for district3 last year. After some bad performances they were “allowed” to play an instrument , got some sort of approval from the judges and duly ended up b2. I still feel like Sam could have another week in him though. Wouldn’t be majorly surprised if he avoids b2 but is defiantly in danger. When Gary uses the word “respect” about an act he has slated it can be very dangerous for them.
Tamera- very strange that the vt focused so much on the lyric problems followed by her forgetting Them. For someone that the record label clearly want to push the show producers are making a terrible job of helping her. I do also think she is very overrated. Can sing no doubt but I don’t enjoy listening to her voice. And still hugely unlikeable. In serious danger.
Nicolas- didn’t bring much to the song but sang it well. Very very good karaoke. Vt will have appealed to the mums who will have found it sweet, and also to the young girls. Girls are attracted to innocent and seemingly sensitive boys !! Safe.
I think Hannah is a goner, only person I see her being saved over is Sam c. Still think a Tamera / Hannah bottom 2 is most likely.
I find this article very interesting. I was a regular commenter here in the last two series but haven’t really commented this series due to a lack of interest in this series (I have been reading though – been essential reading for me since the Little Mix series!)
However I must admit I really enjoyed tonight’s show. Sam B was outstanding, whilst I thought that Nicholas, Luke and Tamera were very good. I even found Sam C entertaining. I must admit I’ve only been watching properly since Miss Dynamix were eliminated so maybe I haven’t grown weary of the acts yet!
However I just thought it was interesting that you picked out this show specifically as uninteresting when I quite enjoyed it. Sorry for it not being that relevant but I just felt compelled to comment!
Great to have you back Jack, and I’m always happy to have contrasting views posted. Do you think Sam B has this competition won or is there still everything to play for?
From the looks of it Sam is the Frankel this year. Most called it wrong on Ella last year. Sam has pulled away too far to catch. Only getting stronger if anything.
Hi Daniel, great to be back! As I say, I haven’t been watching fully but out of all those that haven’t been in Bottom Two, Sam B from what I’ve seen has the most hype behind her. However, my observation would be that Janet Devlin and Chris Maloney are living proof that an act can’t have the competition in the bag at this stage. I think Sam Bailey is the most likely but if TPTB see an opportunity for a Tamera or Rough Copy win, I think they’d go for it. As I say though, I haven’t been watching all the way through!
From a betting perspective I think TPTB knew they had 5 possibilities of a B2 tonight. Hannah is their preferred B2 and why they have tried to soften the bounce. Despite good judgrs comments I didn’t hear the ‘we did the right thing in keeping you’ line that we hear when they seem interested to keep them around for longer.
That said TPTB know the chance of an act bouncing is always high, even at this stage, so thru have their back-up plans. IMO their worst case scenario was a Tamera-RC bottom 2 so they made sure this won’t happen with Luke and or Sam C. I see Luke now as dispensable. Why? I’m not sure. I think Sam C was a slight stop of the train. Maybe the votes were higher than they wanted. Think this week was a set up to get him
in B2 next week.
In summary I think Luke/Hannah B2. Not surprised if Luke/ Tamera. I think they’d rather Tamera next week though with Sam C in B2 if I was to draw TPTBs map.
I’m watching the show back it’s difficult this week. Just watching Sam Cs again it all just felt so flat and not just his vocals. Really can see him in B2 aswell really. Think the obvious answer with Hannah is still 1, but if Sam C falls into B2 he’s gotta go.
It’s gonna be a Bottom 5 at this rate.
If ever a show was ‘phoned in’ then this was it. Hannah got ‘under the bus’ staging but the best judge’s comments of the night. Luke sang fairly well given that the arrangement was too low for him, the lighting and camera work was helpful but his clothes made him look chubby and the video in the background focussed on the girl rather than him. Sam Bailey performed well and comes across as likeable but there was no ‘wow’. Rough Copy did not sing well, their clothes were peculiar and the whole performance was uncomfortable. Sam C had a VT lining him up for an own-fault car crash, he had ‘FAITH’ all over the background instead of his name, distracting dancers and red/black lighting. Tamera had a strange VT and song choice, she forgot her words and, again, the dancers were badly dressed and distracting. Nicholas, like Sam B, sang well but with no ‘wow’. Also, his VT was not convincing; there was no crowd of girls (the largest group was 3) and they all seemed to be wearing school uniform. Early in the show I thought Luke was a cert for the bottom 2 but then there was the Caroline Flack interview, the bit about Gary’s favourite song and the name check from the celeb audience member – all helpful. Also, most of the others did so badly that it’s a really tough one to call tonight.
Pun of the evening .. Nicole telling Rough Copy (who were dire) .. “I don’t want you to lose your SOULI ROOTS, ok?”
Obviously scripted too, she even launched the pun early and backed out of it half way through when she remembered it was supposed to be a punchline. Flatest punchline ever, but as the show keeps telling us, we have to love a trier!
Ahh yes, Gary’s new single comes out this week, I can’t imagine he’d be losing too much sleep if RC took a shock curtain call and freed up his schedule a little.
especially when in 2 years of X factor he’s always had an act in the final
Yes, it was awful. A waste of the GB theme, some odd song choices, some poor performances, and a whole bunch of mixed messages via staging, VTs and judges comments.
Hannah’s performance was much less shouty and more controlled than usual, but she was given the death slot; and was I the only one who found it a bit uncomfortable having a girl who is barely 17 going on about ‘not getting enough satisfaction’ in her banter? That’s unlikely to win over many voters. B2.
Luke’s video in the background was unhelpful. If you are relying on young girl’s votes you shouldn’t make him look hooked up (and she didn’t seem the right type for his image, as well as seeming quite a lot older than him). The judges remarks were odd, taking attention away from Luke’s performance and on to his hair and appearance. Could be in trouble.
Why show Sam B in her VT with greasy unkempt hair and a blotchy face? Was it to make her look more glamorous when she was on stage? I thought it unhelpful as she certainly didn’t look like someone who was going to be a star and sell lots of records (and selling lots of records was then the subject of the judges remarks). It was only recently we’d had her in a spa with Sharron, and her physical transformation through the series being emphasised. However, I thought her performance was very good. And of course Gary said on Xtra Factor that he’d like to sing a duet with her. Overall positive – she must surely make the final.
Rough Copy. Just awful. Bad VT with the inane remarks about Britain and their poor vocals exposed by that song choice. Possible B2.
Sam C. Cringemaking. I would have felt sorry for him had it not been for Merchandisegate. Gary’s remarks were the nail in the coffin. ‘Respect’ indeed. Should be B2 if there’s any justice in the world…
Tamera. Bohemian Rhapsody? Really?? Thank goodness she ‘researched’ it and switched. Interesting that she forgot the words after it being mentioned in the VT, but that may be one of those self-fulfilling things when you are so worried about doing something that you do it. It shows her immaturity though, and certainly won’t have helped her. Odd staging too – trapped inside the cube. I think she’ll be safe this week though.
Nicholas. I thought it weird that you’d have the ‘I’ve not had a girlfriend’ VT and then sing a song which everyone on the planet knows is about a failed relationship. But, he did well in the pimp slot and did justice to the song in his performance. I’m sure he’ll make the final.
So, a disappointing week. I also found too much banter amongst the judges. I like judges’ banter with the acts, but when there is too much banter amongst themselves it distracts from the performances and must be a dampening tactic.
Finally, the Dermot dance. Isn’t ‘What does the fox say’ a Norwegian tune… on Great British week??? Hmmm.
A totally crazy, highly unlikely and out-of-the box thought….. but could this week’s overall underwhelming show have anything to do with Gary Barlow performing his new single on the results show, thereby showing just how much better he is than any of the acts? Maybe something to boost his ego?
Gary’s “respect” to Sam felt like Simon’s “that was sort of good” to Jedward in Week 5 (when they beat Lucie by deadlock).
What to do with Tamera, eh? I mean, she’s hitting the connection/likability wall a lot of us highlighted before the season, and I stand by my comment back then that it’s not a quick or easy problem to solve. It’s my belief that it tends to speak to who someone is as a person, beyond technical vocal ability or looks.
That said… I missed a couple weeks, but has she had *anyone* in her personal life show up? You want to avoid the “alone in a pub with one family member” VT, but personal testimony helps. Does she have any hobbies? Any sort of quirky or light-hearted side? The entirety of the journey I’ve gotten (though I skipped auditions other than the actual performances) is that the show thinks she has what it takes to be a star and she wants to be a star.
By the way, speaking of producer decisions, I thought it was interesting that they explicitly told RC that it was time to be more serious again this week. Guess that didn’t help them in the polls. Not that I ever said it would, just that they were an easy go-to if the producers were trying to make the show more fun. Putting aside the vocals, I did think they managed to work in more of their charisma here than in the first couple of weeks.
Tamera has had separate vts focusing on her relationship with her mum and grandmother. Intended, I believe, to help her connect with women and appear more “human”. She went to church with her grandmother and her mum visited rehearsals and “bonded” with Nicole. We’ve also seen a lot of shots of her mum in the audience, who is recognisable since she featured in the arena audition.
There was a VT where she and her mum chased squirrels through the South Downs with an air rifle.
You forgot the one where she threw the puppy in a blender.
Both her mom and grandma have been in positive VTs, which we think were meant to “humanise” her.
Ok, thanks guys. Guess those were the shows I missed.
Some thoughts:
This live show is a bit of a hot mess; post-show Sofabet-style guesswork has been more interesting.
Nicholas reached 200k on Twitter and will be the top gun on Twitter by the middle of next week (if not this Sunday; he shaved off 8k from Sam C’s lead over the last few hours and had some love from Niall’s Twitter account).
Hannah was about to be safe but Tamera took all the attention and if she lands in the danger zone, she should leave.
Luke seemed to be certain for B2 but if most of the floating voters he got from the previous weeks are sticking with him, he could dodge a bullet.
They can pimp Rough Copy all they want, but if people see through the smoke and mirrors, they could take a dive.
Tamera’s flub probably saved her this week, but I think it shows that the producers are preparing for a contingency plan involving just dragging her as far as they can, instead of a push for the win.
Sam Bailey was a bit forgettable. If she really leads by a large margin, this will drag her down to a virtual tie with Nicky (see reason below).
Nicholas milked the pimp slot, stopping short of doing what Joe did in series 6, week 7. Unless they make him the chosen one, he won’t get one again until it doesn’t matter anymore.
This week is all about noisy targets, and Sam Callahan’s case is the noisiest of them all…
– They start with recalling how Gary treated him, but they go on giving him messy lighting (and a suspect colour scheme) and make him wear an outfit that literally makes you forget how “fit” he is (the shirt was unusually loose and black, not to mention the vomit pattern).
– On the background was “FAITH” (not even his name; “That’s Life”, anyone?) and the large crowd might have been code for “hey guys, he has a lot of fans, so don’t worry about this week and have faith.”
– This could have easily been shoved in the beginning for all to forget, but he was towards the end again.
– Gary became civil with him, but Louis pleaded for votes. I also noticed that Dermot wasn’t in too much of a mood to chat with him (vs the first few weeks).
It’s clear that they are trying to pull Sam down, but I’m not sure if it’s “down to the B2” or “down a bit because he’s getting too many votes.”
P.S. I won’t be shocked if the click track fiasco was on purpose. Rumours of Sam going rogue might have triggered something in return?
Sam C’s journey so far reminds me of a party you plan that goes all wrong from the get-go. Based on his past experience (opening for Louis’s two boybands last year, being in some group managed by Ginger Spice, etc.), he seems like an eager beaver waiting to make the most out of the experience, idealistic but with feet on the ground, you know the drill. It starts going wrong with the edit: Gary made it known since the auditions that he wasn’t the biggest fan, the show drilled into people’s heads that his vocals aren’t very good, he’s been given average to awful song choices since Week 1. He gives it his all but for the last 3 weeks, they’ve been giving him really distracting staging and dodgy commentary that will make potential fans (i.e. floating voters that might give him a shot) cold towards him.
I’ve seen many crucifixions over the last few years and I’ve felt bad for them, but this one strikes a chord with me the most.
Mind you, my favourite is Tamera and my first lesson on show manipulation was from Simon’s stint on American Idol.
It’s taken a long time for me to get my thoughts together on this.
Only Nic and Sam B are safe from the bottom 2 as I see it. Everyone else had a bad week for one reason or another.
Hannah – first danger signal was the death slot, the VT was fairly bland and seemed to show her as a singer rather than a person. Her performance was good but we’ve seen her do decent performances before and end up bottom 2. Another interesting point was how often in the VT Nicole was shown saying get the audience clapping but we didn’t see that happen in her performance.
Luke – again running order issues.
Second up, soon to be followed by Sam B. The video was small time and had a journey’s end vibe to it, not a full on end but still a feel of how happy he is with where he is. His performance was 50-50 for me, ok in places and nailed in places. Comments luke-warm.
Sam B got a charming VT even if she looked like she has greasy hair at the start of it. Her staging was strange but she was very much the focus of it unlike Hannah or Luke. The comments were ok, buy assuming she’s got an album coming can be read as encouraging or complacency.
At this point you can call the show over. No interest in Hannah and Luke, both forgotten after Sam B’s performance and slightly cooling the Sam B hype.
And indeed that might have been the plan but then things get out of hand!
Rough Copy were given lots of help, the VTs are always edited to show them as nice enthusiastic guys. The performance was really forgettable though apart from the dodgy solos on the verses and backing track on the chorus. It was all exceedingly bland.
Sam C must be in big danger. The VT did try to set up a nice musician Sam v nasty Gary Barlow feel but It was a stinker of a performance. He was given no help at all, the guitar served as barrier between him and the camera, the sound mix was poor, the staging just daft. I’m not always a subscriber to the red and black theory but it did look as if he was performing with a big red ‘warning’ sign going off over him. His line at the end of his Dermot interview about no excuses might just have saved him.
Tamera must also be in danger and, bad her place in the running order you can make a solid argument for the producers having no interest in her. The VT actually made her look difficult, changing the song late to one she thought was better, not knowing the words of said better song. As I’ve said before the song was a stinker, strip out the Bond theme daftness it’s a song about someone who’s been let down badly by men so often she’s turned to material things, with just a hint that she’d really rather have a man. What a song to give to someone who’s very young and has difficulty connecting to much simpler songs.
Let’s not assume that forgetting the lyrics on stage was a set up. I had to laugh when every judge and Dermot mentioned the lyric slip up but then passed it off. They couldn’t have brought more attention to it if they tried!
At the end of Tamera I wondered if she’s been difficult back stage and they wanted to push her out subtly while looking like nice guys.
Still it got stranger. Nic’s VT made him look conceited, laughing at the fan mail and acting like he was making people’s day by meeting them. His performance was very good vocally and he connected with a song more grown up than he is in stark contrast with Tamera. Comments we mixed with Barlow on one again.
So what to make of all that? If you take running order out the equation and try to discern producer intentions I can make a good argument that they want Sam C in the bottom two with anyone else.
However life let them down last night and it really is an open bottom two with so many mediocre performances. They didn’t give themselves much wiggle room to engineer any controversial sing off saves by pretty much telling Sam C his time was up.
So if it comes to it who would they save?
Hannah – only saved against Sam C
Luke – only saved against Sam C
Rough Copy – saved over everyone
Sam C – toast but only if he’s bottom 2!
Tamera – saved over everyone bar Rough Copy
If it looked like they didn’t care last night they probably don’t. They’re confident of getting the top four they want so what’s the point of trying too hard?
At first, I thought no one would save Hannah, but we’ve seen that a third bounce is hard is saving not-Hannah over Hannah could screw up plans.
Also, Entertainment Odds proposed that Sam C was going rogue with the guitar. Maybe the messy everything was the producers’ way of sticking it to him.
and*
While the show was the worst of the series it was always the most fascinating in terms of the producers aimed with no one getting away with pure pimp.
Hannah kicked of the night in the death slot with a supportive VT and a strong performance but awful staging. To confuse matters further, Louis specifically called for people to vote for her.
Luke was the only act to have another performance follow his rather than an ad break. He was DRESSED in red and black, the VT in the background was very distracting and, like Every Breath You Take, he struggled slightly with the quieter sections. I noticed that Sharon commented on his ‘bravery’ during the summary – the death knell? Louis didn’t call for votes either which, on the face of it, seems odd considering he’s supposed to be in his category.
Sam Bailey did well and, to me, made an old song reasonably modern. Out of everyone she was the closest to get away with pure pimp but I’m not so sure whether Nicole’s comment about that kind of song not being on her album was a hint at her being a one trick pony? If so it’s a bit late for that. Did the stairs disconnect her from the audience?
Rough Copy had no backing support whatsoever and questions were asked about their lack of soul which Gary defended quite weekly. A lack of soul seems to suggest that they’re ‘phoning it in’ and it was rather odd to name check Souli Roots in the critique. Then again, they were given the ‘Gary is the fourth member’ VT promotion which surely is a positive and the laughter was back once again.
Sam Callahan, in fairness, probably put in his best performance but yet again had a sense of red and black in his staging and a lot of movement to handle. Yet again the ‘bravery’ word cropped up but Louis made a reference to his target audience in his introduction and, like with Hannah, specifically called for votes in his critique. Sam also didn’t hurt himself with his post song demeanour.
Tamera’s VT seemed rather negative, calling up the ‘forget the lyrics’ possibility despite this being a song she chose. When it happened it looked very careless rather than an error and I raised my eyebrows as soon as I saw her starting off in a cube – a disconnect from the audience seems strange for someone they’ve been pimping readily up to now and is coming down from a sympathy bounce. The judges tried their best with the critique but at the same time it did seem to have a sense of damned with faint praise.
Then came Nicholas’ performance which was decent and, yet again, up there with the best of the night. The staging was favourable and he sung it well but, in a roundabout way, did Gary call him out on a lack of individuality – potentially saying he doesn’t connect to the lyrics like Tamera? This was followed by the oddest moment of the night when Dermot returned to Gary for further analysis and he specifically namechecked Luke in someone who had this individuality. Why remind the audience of an act who they appeared to be deramping just before the vote opened?
My theory is that the intention, as alluded to on the betsfactor podcast, was that the intention – despite the crossed messages – was a bottom two of Luke and Sam C. However, Tamera subsequently forgetting her lyrics let to a quick briefing between the producers and a decision to deramp her and maybe drop her into the bottom two possibly instead of Luke. Maybe they’re fed of someone with obvious talent failing to have a ‘moment’ unlike any of the remaining acts other than Sam C?
So I’ll take a punt on a Sam C (though the call for votes from Louis makes me slightly nervous about this) and Tamera bottom two with Luke as a potential tumbler.
Yeah having slept on it I think Sam C could be in danger. Possible B2 of him and Hannah is what I think now, but I honestly think it’s close to call. Hannah being saved a 3rd time could give necessary controversy anyway especially for those poor Callafans
The show does feel worse year on year though. Is there time to salvage this season? I mean last year we had a creditable winner in JA. The feel good story with JD. The brilliant villain with Baloney. The decent boyband for the tweenies with UJ (though Rough Copy are potentially much better). A great joke act in the end with Rylan (Sam doesn’t have the banter or necessary skills of a joke act). Even the best girl was likeable though didn’t transfer in votes but she was modest and a very good singer.
This year just feels so average. Needs some life. We need controversy this week.
I know it’s kinda lacklustre but I prefer to last year. Ella was boring, Jahmene and James were actively unlistenable, Melanie, Kye, Chris, Carolynne, District 3 and UJ were all incredibly boring and Rylan was a grating eejit. That leaves Lucy, Jade and MK1 that I kinda liked, and they all went out pretty early. This year feels like a partial return to form to me – I love(d) all of the Overs, I like all of the Boys, and I like Tamera and Abi – even Hannah my least favourite girl was ace last night. And RC and MD are/were alright. Compared to last year where I hardly liked anyone, this year’s cast are a much more sympathetic, fun lot. Even my least favourite act KD were nice and harmless.
I don’t know I personally think the talent was better last year, but also week on week it felt more exciting. Like the whole ‘can Baloney win’ or how far will Rylan go. Lots of controversy and yeah I was a fan of JA on the show. Some of his versions of songs for me were good. Funnily enough I wasn’t huge on the song that pimped him to the top in week 8.
I suppose this week is exciting in that we have no clue whose B2 but more because how crap they were/have been rather than anything else. I also think on the whole the song choices have been dire all season. It’s like there is some contract that they have to play as many numbers from the 60s, 70s and 80s as possible. We got this vibe that Abi was some chick who liked slowing down old classics, but in her song off she sang Lego House and was rather good. Think it would benefit the show if they started doing some modern numbers. Tamera would probably please her demo too.
This year feels flat, competition-wise, especially when Tamera landed in the B2.
Last year, we had
The behemoth villain: Christopher
The knights to take him out: the desired final 3 of James, Jahméne, Ella
The midcarders: District3, Union J, Lucy, Kye
The comic relief: Rylan
Cannon fodder: MK1, Melanie, Carolynne, Jade
… and the lines are pretty well-defined. This year, the lines are blurred, the villain roles are assumed by acts who can go any time, and there’s reason to believe that TPTB’s darlings aren’t polling as well as they should.
Thinking aloud:
To escape the B2, Hannah would need to go from a presumable 8th in last week’s vote to 5th in this week’s, which may not be doable. However, she did give both her best performance and the evening’s most fun performance, get the most positive comments of the night from the jury, and get the most calls to vote. And she’s on a bounce, albeit a generally weaker second bounce which doesn’t guarantee safety.
I’m working on the basis the Sun leak is correct and that it represents the stand as of last week. With Sam B sucking up a third of votes and Nick following behind with a sizeable following of his own (and having slayed the rest of the field last night), the other 5 are all in danger, and the margins between them likely quite tight and their votes liable to fluctuation.
Last week RC had their best week and, if the Sun is correct, came 4th. This week they had their worst week, but despite this, didn’t receive harsh criticism that would motivate votes. In fact, they didn’t receive any notable criticism. This will demotivate votes. Thus, they could very easily fall down to 6th. Qualitative sentiment analysis on Twitter reveals a lot of people didn’t like it and a lot of their usual supporters were disappointed by it. I just can’t see who will vote for that RC performance. There is no sense of danger hanging over RC – people take their being in the show for granted.
Luke had his worst week last week and according to the Sun was 5th. This week his vocal was competent again, with some impressive long notes. While it wasn’t amazing, it was much better than last week and better than a lot of the rest of the acts last night. However, he was on right before Sam B. But if a bad performance like last week (with his hair hidden, no less) is enough for him to be 5th, surely last night’s shouldn’t put him 6th or 7th? Qualitative sentiment analysis on Twitter reveals a lot of people, especially younger ppl, mention Luke as one of the performances they liked last night. However, like RC, there’s no sense of danger hanging over Luke as he’s never been B2 and his treatment and feedback have been overwhelmingly positive throughout.
Sam C had a good week last week and according to the Sun came 3rd from the pimp slot. This despite the fact there was no jury criticism to motivate votes. This week he was worse, but (importantly) it didn’t come over as his fault. Just how committed are his multivoting teens? I think they’re committed. It’s more about him than his performance, and the fact he “got the guitar” and tried summat new only to be thwarted in it I think is something that will motivates votes. From 3rd to the B2? Could happen, but his vote would have to drop below that of several other acts, and with the standard being so low last night, I find that slightly hard to envision. His advantage over Luke and RC: Sam C motivates votes because every week, he does have that sense of danger hanging over him. With the narrative that everyone else is stronger than him established, viewers who like him are actively called upon to vote every week to keep him in the show and to protect him. And who wouldn’t protect that face?
Conclusion: Of Luke, Sam C and RC, I think RC are in the most danger. (And we still don’t really know their names.)
Tamera: odd song choice, alienating arrangement, forgot the words and froze up, looked tense, unhappy and hard-faced throughout, bizarre staging (trapped in a cube), threatening attire (I wouldn’t like that diamond-studded glove in the face), simultaneously threatening and naff “urban” dancers , and coming down off a bounce. Having been 9th out of 9 two weeks ago after what what a much more competent and sympathetic performance (just dull), she could very easily be 7th tonight.
Conclusion: if Hannah can reach 5th, which is a big if, Tamera and RC could be the B2. In which case they deadlock it for pragmatic reasons and Tamera goes. As Daniel points out, Gary did publicly say that Tamera wouldn’t win on Radio 4 last weekend. You wouldn’t normally say that of your Plan A.
Can’t argue with most of that EV, the most lucid analysis of last night’s craziness yet.
great analysis. Im just 99% sure Hannah will be bottom of the votes tonight.. that death slot last night (+ a pretty boring performance for an up-beat song) will have people at home voting for everyone who performed after her. I just got reminded of Danyl Johnson who came bottom 2 after 3 weeks but never fell there again till the semis. Hannah is more the “Rachel type” (Hylton, Adedeji) and will be the one who will fall in the bottom 2 every week/2 weeks because she’s not connecting with the public.
last night I did say Sam C would join Hannah in the showdown but im starting to think there isn’t a big difference in the votes between him, Rough Copy and Luke… Sam C probably got the pimp slot last week b/c producers felt he wasn’t polling well, by giving him a song like faith, personally, I though I was watching Lloyd Daniels all over again (the act which resembles Sam C the most in vocals and public).. I don’t know.. he might just survive but we’ll see tonight
Calling all Abi fans, it’s golden trumpet flowers:
http://goo.gl/d8m5cr
What are said flowers?
I’m also confused what the Tamera plan was. Firstly, are we supposed to believe that she has chosen the song she likes without knowing its lyrics? I think the forgetting was done on purpose again to make people talk and remind of her audition. They succeeded in making people talk I guess (on the expense of Hannah, agree with Gav about that) but have no idea if that’s going to bring votes.
I’m amazed so many people see judges’ comments to Hannah as positive. I thought her whole segment wad a stiletto knife slid silently between her ribs. Along with all the classic deramping techniques from camera and stage production, the constant repetition of how she doesn’t smile, she’s not connecting, she’s b2 a lot, I don’t now who’s going to vote for you were all massively passive aggressive. The song itself, although performed well, emphasised the myth that Hannah is miserable. The final straw was when voting was announced and the first picture was of Hannah looking sullen and stony-faced.
She’s clearly the target and I see nothing to help her. Her only chance is if two others are so badly received they fall below her but she was shoved down the memory whole so I don’t believe that’s going to happen.
I don’t think Sam C will join her. A late slot and the perception he is in danger will motivate his fans. I’m not convinced by the Sun poll though. It may be disinformation….
I thought Luke looked awkward, all that clutching at his heart, and that he didn’t get the song. The background video just didn’t fit. I rate him above Tamera for the other b2 slot on the basis of her later place in the running order. Tamera was quite astonishingly bad though. That song and staging must mean RC are tptb’s new plan.
Just watched Sam C’s performance again and after saying it was awful last night, I’m now thinking it wasn’t actually that bad. I think the staging made it worse than it actually was. He currently has the lowest number of youtube view but with him polling higher than Hannah I don’t think she’ll be able to over-take him.
Hannah currently has the 2nd lowest number of youtube views and is a goner if Sam C avoids B2.
I see this weekends votes like this at the moment, the bottom five where all poor so there’s going to be about 10% covering all of them imo
McNic
SamBa
Luke
Sam C
Tamera
Rough Copy
Hannah
I’m already on Hannah to go and the Hannah/Tamera combo, last night I added Tamera to go at 18/1 just to cover Hannah not hitting B2.
I also dipped back into the Outright market by backing McNic at 4/1… I think SamBA has topped out her vote now, whereas Nic should be picking up the transferable ‘youth’ votes from when Sam C and Luke go.
We can probably say with 90%+ certainty that the final two will be SamBa and McNic the odds are saying that in the scenario SamBa would be sub 1/3 – is she really that much of a shoe in on final night?
What do people think was the reason to pimp Hannah so much with the comments? Why haven’t they realised they need her gone to help Tamera? OK they put her on first, and you can say the VT/staging wasn’t helpful – but it didn’t appear *deliberately* unhelpful and of course Nicole and Louis told us to vote for her. Doesn’t make any sense to me.
You can say a few things here.
1) She is so low in voting, the pimping wont have gotten her above the bottom 2, so may aswell pimp her
2) Running order, you can say if they gave her pimping like that in a late slot (perhaps after Tamera) then other acts they want Safe (Tamera/RC) would of been more vulnerable for the bottom 2.
So putting her on first and with pimping, means that she wont bounce high enough and wont damage any other acts votes
They didn’t pimp her. They destroyed her. After what they said I’d be surprised if she got any votes at all.
How did they destroy her? They said all that stuff about coming back fighting and how the public should be voting for her!
The staging was gold, and while she began on a high plinth, she came down off it, ran around behind the judges etc. While Nicole’s intimation that she and everyone in the audience would vote for Hannah could be seen as demotivating, I think Louis and Gary’s calls to vote were motivating. Who knows whether it’ll be enough though…
The damcers were in colour vomit, the trumpet background was not just distracting but actually disturbing as was Hannah’s top. The camera edits were appalling. That’s my view anyway. Just look at the pic they use when they announce voting is open. Nice to see you smiling for a change? I don’t bloody think so.
Anyway, it’s only my view but I thought it was both ruthless and sly, the slyness being why so many of you see it as a ramping.
Surprisingly, the show’s ratings went up.
To be fair the last two weeks have been pretty good – I enjoyed them more than any X Factor live show since the 2011 revamp. This week was a bit of a mess; I’m hoping it’s just a blip.
As for his performance, I was too distracted by the home video of Luke flirting with a woman who seemed considerably older than his tender years.
Hahaha! I said to the wife at the time that it looked like he was prancing around with his mum! Such a strange way to treat an act…
Anyway, this was an entirely unremarkable, forgettable show apart from two things; the additional help that Sam B got with the homely VT – I think TPTB know she’s a runaway success now so they just want to keep the votes rolling in – and that Tamera can’t remember song lyrics, and Diamonds Are Forever isn’t particularly wordy or complex.
Funny enough regarding Luke’s vt, the 6 year old who was visiting my house wondered aloud if that lady in the video was Nicolas’ mum?! She also said that Nicolas is better than one direction – may not be widespread but interesting he appeals to one so young.
He soooo is. Kid has taste.
Sam B’s VT weirded me out slightly. Not just the absolute state she looked in her to-camera piece (ew at her hair!), but the family stuff – “jam tart Wednesday”? I guess it’s a truism that there’s nothing weirder than other people’s families. I thought it was only on The Simpsons that people had pork chop night, steak night etc…
Jam tart Wednesday sounds like an idea worth snatching to me! And there are plenty of people who have a “Sunday roast” every week. Is it not just merely a non-traditional extension of that?
I’m more of a Topfenstrudel Thursday man…
I thought it was only on The Simpsons that people had pork chop night, steak night etc…
Nope, very common family things and a positive in VT if you’re trying to grab the mum vote. It goes towards the “everywoman” image and yep, so does the greasy hair – I mean who glams up to cook (apart from Nigella)?
https://sofabet.com/2013/11/15/x-factor-2013-week-6-elimination-hannah-wrench/comment-page-1/#comment-33434
Watch out for the phrases that are repeated by the VT, several judges and Dermott over and over again.
They’re what stic. Hence Hannah has a rep for being sullen and unhappy even though when you watch her it’s clearly not true.
One interesting thing about Tamera, why did they go out of their way to say the song was her choice. I can’t decide whether the intrntion was a massive ramping and terrible execution (like how could anyone think that song a good choice, or that arrangement, or those dancers), or a deramping. If the latter is it because they’ve gone off her or to prepare for a triumph next week?
Surely this was the week for a triumph with Sam B doing a rather infifferent song.
On the one hand you have judges’ stony faces, on the other very helpful comments over the misaed lyrics (Sam C would have loved help like that).
At the moment I’m going for massive cock up but remain open to changing my mind.
Helpful? The person I watched it with didn’t even notice till those judges comments
Hey guys great job analysing the show as always. I agree with the consensus above that there are 5 acts who are all in a relatively similar amount of danger of being bottom 2. With that being the case, I think I have an interesting bet to profit from this uncertainty and would love to get your opinions. I have been a long time fan of betting on “No deadlock” whenever I can get evens or better on it. I feel like the bookmakers price this market in a very lazy manner – ie it’s a yes or no binary market and so let’s make it 50:50. I don’t know the exact numbers, but historically the vast majority of shows have ended with no deadlock. This week, the 5 acts in danger create 10 possible B2 combinations. I make 7 of these almost certain “No deadlock” and only 3 having a decent probability of deadlock. These three combos are 1) Hannah/Sam 2) Hannah/luke and 3) Tamera/rough copy. All in, I put the probability of no deadlock at approx 80% which makes a bet at even money very attractive. Does the community here agree with that assessment or have thoughts on other potential deadlock combos?
It’s not so simple, I would also take into account the probability of a certain combo happening. So in my view, Hannah will end up b2 with someone from Tamera/SamC/Luke so deadlock bet doesn’t appeal to me this week.
Long term speaking you are probably right about deadlock less occurring, unfortunately not so many bookies are offering this so it all depends how much money you try to invest.
I’ve been eyeing up this exact same bet. Evens seems like a good deal on it – I certainly think that it’s more likely there is no deadlock than there is. It feels like a safe way of betting Hannah/Tamera B2 whilst covering lots of other stuff.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZzSO5_wYwU
The official YouTube channel’s cut of Xtra Factor.
Just watched Rough Copys performance again, worse than I thought.
An uninspiring VT which featured, Gary saying “The cheekyness has got to go this week, their are so many great singers..”
Then you have the fact to me they didnt look like a group, they all wore different clothes and they where split into 3 by the 3 large white lighting paths on the floor,
The sparklers I thought were poor, looked cheap, not like its fireworks in the background.
Only problem is.. judges comments, they were very good, aside from a couple of comments like
Nicole “this wasnt my favourite week”
Louis, “this isnt your style but it was very good”
Didnt like one of the members when speaking to Dermot, telling everyone we are still “urban”
Overall good commnts not sure they can be sent home, but can they fall into the bottom 2? No plea from any judge to vote for them.
Is it a good bet to have Tamera is the first act announced safe? What are the odds?
5/1 with Bwin, WillHill and Skybet
Jessica it could be that the producers produced for Hannah to go but the judges liked her act and went off-script with praise and vote begging.
Rough Copy had a song as far away from their demo as it gets. Nicole’s comment of “Vanilla” means “boring”. We thought they wanted them in the final. What’s going on there?
I’m not sure they know what they want any more.
This guy has a very interesting system, that’s correctly predicted the bottom two the last three weeks:
http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1910363
Surprisingly this weekend, post live show, Tamera’s figures have risen dramatically and Sam B’s figures have plummeted!
Thanks for the info, last hour we are witnessing SamB’s b2 odds drop, she got matched as low as 6 on betfair. Just in case the guy is right I got matched @50 in the afternoon but I don’t really believe it. Last year Chris was rock bottom on twitter whole the time while he was topping the vote and similar reasons can be drawn for SamB. She might indeed get a drop of youth support this week but not so much from non-social-networking public, unless the Sun article made people stop voting completely.
His latest figures, taken at 7pm, are indicating either a Sam C v Hannah or a Tamera v Hannah bottom two tonight. Sam B’s stats seem to have picked up quite a bit over the last few hours and Sam C’s are down a lot on the last few weeks.
I’d be very interested to see if his system gets it right again this week.
Hannah also got followed by adverts, so down the memory hole there.
There was a shot of Nicole looking very bored in Sam B’s performance and it wasn’t a song I knew.
Mrs O also said that Sam C “has what it takes to make it in the industry”.
Hannah, Luke, Tamera and Sam C all got “you’re a fighter” comments from judges: pick any two from four then..
Do you think “Diamonds” was an attempt to link with Rihanna’s Diamonds (I know not the same song, but still…)
Mrs O got Tamera’s name wrong again. This, together with the word fluff, the cage disconnect and coming down from a bounce means she’s in big trouble for me, despite Gary still seeing “potential”
Everyone got followed by ads apart from Luke. It’s worse not being followed by ads and having another act on directly after you. If they really want rid of someone, sometimes they put two more acts on after the target before the ad break – this was done with Wagner as well as last year in BGT with the tearful wee black lad, as they didn’t want to risk him breaking down in the final like that girl the year before. The ads are only a memory hole if it’s the John Lewis ad.
Sharon did get it wrong again. It’s so disrespectful. This is week 6. I was annoyed on behalf of Tamera.
I’ve only seen a few of the performances as I missed out last night but it seems the most open for a while.
Based on what I’ve seen, eurovicious’s post at 10:04 is required reading if we accept the Sun’s spoilers.
I don’t agree with the majority on Luke; I thought the video was sweet, romantic, unthreatening. No distracting dancers so he’s alone but projecting his thoughts; I thought it all worked and he did well vocally.
Tamera’s a total mess on the other hand, and Rough Copy well below par. I can see Hannah in the bottom 2 and although it’s between 4, either Rough Copy or Tamera seem most likely to join her.
I may be in the minority here but I can see a Rough Copy/Hannah bottom two tonight. I really do not think RC are as popular with the voting public as the producers want us to believe and this was the first week where they weren’t treated completely favourably by the judges. I think Tamera could bounce for a second week simply because her forgetting her lyrics will push people to vote out of sympathy. Whatever happens, I don’t think Louis needs to be worried.
Just remembered another time when the “forgetting the words” stunt was used. I think it’s a TPTB plan that’s been aired a few times. In this case it was to stop the favourite from winning, because the favourite was never meant to be the favourite as he had been a controversial last minute replacement. I am talking of course of “Reborn in the USA”. Are you as sad as me to remember this and to have followed it like a sucker?
“Despite his late entry to the show, Peter Cox was the favourite to win, but he finished in third place after forgetting the words to the song he was performing.”
Just ought to add, “forgetting the lyrics” allows for a more dignified early exit. “You would have nailed it if you hadn;’t forgotten the words”. Forgetting words doesn’t attract as much sympathy as people seem to think (I’m hoping).
Totally agree, forgetting the words doesn’t evoke sympathy, it makes someone look incompetent – in other words, a waste of votes. The reaction on Twitter to Tamera forgetting the words to a well-known Whitney Houston song in her audition was overwhelmingly negative.
Are you as sad as me to remember this and to have followed it like a sucker?
Ha! I remember it well. Can’t believe it was over ten years ago. Wasn’t the song he forgot the words to “That’s Life”?
Incidentally, Cox and Tony Hadley went on tour together after the show ended and we went to see them; they were very good and an enjoyable evening was had.
It was “That’s Life”. The song is cursed. For a laugh have a look at Peter Cox’s website if you want to waste some time. Peter Cox and Tony Hadley are big mates and it does make you wonder whether we were being manipulated…There was also quite a reality tv show style spat between two titans of popular music, as I recall – Dollar and Sonia.
Couple of staging psychology observations from last night – maybe Hannah’s prospects aren’t so bad after all (she was even wearing gold shoes).
http://goo.gl/GMJu7F
Also, if X Factor studio audience applause is anything to go by, Hannah, Rough Copy and Sam Callahan seemed far more enthusiastically received following their performances in comparison to the other acts.
I’ve got this feeling TPTB revealed their desired winner last night.
Following on from the shambles of RC & Tamera’s performances Niall Horan from 1D tweeted both these acts, putting their twitter names at the start of the tweet so only the 1m or so stalkers would pick up on this. Their online activity shot through the roof and I feel may garner enough votes to see them safe.
I think this was a panic measure by TPTB as RC & Tamera must have been close to B2.
As it happens, the one other act Niall (in reality Modest Management) tweeted was St Nick. This was with the message before Nick’s twitter name and ensured all 15m or so Niall Horan followers saw the tweet, ensuring a massive explosion of tweets, retweets etc.
I think the reason Nick was tweeted was because TPTB don”t want any other acts receiving 1D favouritism over Nick.
The tweets:
@RoughCopyUK great job lads! really enjoyed that! 6.5k retweets
@OfficialTamera big fan! Great job tonight honey ! X 7k retweets
That voice is unbelievable. Hope ya go all the way fella @nickymcdonald1 27k retweets
This leads me to believe the finishing order will be:
1st Nick
2nd Sam B
3rd RC
4th Tamera
The problem I have with this is if RC & Tamera fall B2 in the same week, which seems very possible given their performances.
Of course I may be totally wrong.
Well done to all commentators on here, another great read. I agree it was a rather luck lustre show with no real energy with some drab sing choices. No wow moments, only Nic is safefrom bottom 2. You would think Sam B would be ok too butI don’t believe the Sun ‘leak’ from yesterday. She may well be leasing the vote but this was surely placed by Syco to deramp her vote. How many of her supporters will now not vote believing Sam is so far ahead there is no longer any need?
Hannah is unlikely to bounce so certainly bottom 2 for me. I did a combo with her and Tamera for bottom 2. She forgot her lyrics when she she was supposed to put in a great performance after ‘picking her own song’ which we know isn’t true after her xtra factor comment. The judges continualky referred to it in their comments making it a whole lot worse!
Sam C wasn’t great but tptb want him around for a week or two yet. Luke was a bit underwhelming but a good song choice may see him escape but only just. Rough copy were singing quite an upbeat song compared to all the others so stood out, but sounded poor so gain in danger.
A mess of a show, no real obvious targets so hard to call as many have said. Still waiting for the shock elimination/bottom 2. Saving Hannah for a 3rd time? At the same time giving up.on Tamera? Sam B apathy sees her slip into bottom 2?
Louis name-checking Nicholas but not Luke and Sam C in the album speaks volumes for me. I think they want both of those to drop.
And Rough Copy being stated by three (in a round about way by Gary) judges suggests to me they could be struggling.
Well I’m pleased I read Hannah’s performance last night right.
And Tamera’s lyric flub may have contributed to saving her on her comedown from the sympathy bounce? I think it’s very possible, because I don’t think the performance did.
This can only go one way, can’t it?
Ooops.
I couldn’t have called that more wrong if I’d practised.
Another good week 🙂
My first bet was Luke V Sam C B2 at 8/1. Since then I’ve been hedging as I’ve jumped from one opinion to the next, which has eaten up some profit but still came out on top.
Ladbrokes have Sam Callahan to go at 1.14
There’s no way anyone apart from Louis can vote for him and he’s bound to abstain.
Sam C to go. ‘Respect’
Luke singing first? That can be a worrying sign!
Luke’s sing off so much better than Sam C in all honesty, I know it’s not judged by that but just staying. Sam wasn’t actually that bad though . It’s clear the arrangements they give him make him so much worse.
I popped a small amount of cheeky money on Luke to be sent home on the sing-off, simply because I thought the odds were riiculous on that. They could’ve got it to deadlock by getting one of Nicole or Sharon to send Luke home and Louis to be asked last and to “take it to deadlock”. I’m guessing based on the fact they didn’t do that that Sam C was bottom in the votes, and therefore they couldn’t dispose of Luke in a way that didn’t lose serious face for the show.
Luke seems to be higher in the pecking order, though. Even if they wanted to, they backed themselves into a corner with this combo: all three have shown preference to Luke.
Isn’t it interesting how that for two weeks running, the judges have commented that the sing-off has been the best performance of the series from the act leaving. Might this have something to do with the fact that for the sing-off song, the act is allowed to choose their own song, and there is no distracting staging or de-ramping from the producers.
So true. What’s disappointing is this week the theme was so broad yet it disappointed. Poor songs chosen.
Oh fuck, I posted once that one of the remaining boys could be in danger because Nic smashed it but it didn’t occur to me it would be both. Bad week for me since I based almost everything around Hannah b2.