There must be 50 ways to lose your gamma, and we saw a new one tonight – send a vampire on stage mid-song to bite him in the neck. For the fourth Hallowe’en show in a row, producers cleanly hit their target.
Jack came in to odds-on as his VT focused on him being smalltown and not liking being expected suddenly to perform like Beyonce. That foreshadowed Louis’s comments about him being a small-room performer who doesn’t belong on the big stage.
What a show, though. Can’t it be Hallowe’en every week? And who’s leaving tomorrow?
Starting at the beginning, there was only a 15-minute overlap with Strictly this week, but the intention didn’t seem to be to throw Ben under the bus – this looked like simply a decision taken from wanting a strong start to the show after last week’s singoff fiasco. He had a lovely VT featuring his mum and a four-judge standing ovation. There was a “recording deal” from Louis, a “real deal” and a mum shoutout from Simon, and two explicit calls to pick up the phone to vote. This was no hatchet job from the coffin slot.
Up next, catching the viewers turning over from BBC1, was Lola. She got another self-belief themed VT with the John Lewis music in the background, which initially suggested that her disastrous misfire last week might have been more of a detour than a termination of her journey – and this week’s vocals were better, though she’s no natural performer. There were red flags in the staging and styling, with a spider’s web shirt (see our last article for possible significance) and disturbing backing dancers. Significantly, Louis told her “all the Geordies will be voting” (rather than “I want all the Geordies to pick up the phone”), which may have the effect of suggesting that others don’t need to. We’re worried for Lola.
Fleur got yet another heartwarming VT and a big production for Thriller, with justified praise for her performance – though, as Mel pointed out, the performance detracted somewhat from her vocals. Having been well backed in the win market in the couple of days before the show, she drifted out again slightly on Betfair immediately after this performance.
Jay James’s VT featured a Skype call with his navy mates. But it’s possible to question whether the Val Doonican-esque costume and the enormous eye staring distractingly over his shoulder were staging positives. Given JJ’s history of face-clawing over-emoting, it was also surprising that he went upbeat with it rather than doing the tried-and-tested Aiden Grimshaw version. And it was surprising that Simon chose to drop in mention of his previous record deal, something well known to close observers of the show but hitherto unmentioned to the average viewer, who had been introduced to him only as an injured navy veteran. The mantle of alpha over seemed to have settled on Jay when the running order was announced with Ben up first, but now it looks very much open again.
Up next, Doughnuts Faustini was spray-painted gold, sent to hell and called an alien. We’ll have to rewatch that a few times before we can pick our jaws off the floor and think coherently about it. On a personal level, we continue to find Andrea extraordinarily endearing and he was once again vocally imperious.
As if all that wasn’t hilarious enough, Lauren then got advice from Cheryl about how to sing and dance at the same time. Again, repeat viewings will help unpick the bones for the win market implications of this performance and treatment.
It was a very bad week for Paul, whose VT portrayed him as miserable, mardy and ungrateful, with comments from Simon driving home the point. In between, Paul delivered vocally on ‘Bat Out Of Hell’, but the red-eye contact lenses impeded his ability to connect and he had a face like thunder having finished performing.
It will be no coincidence that producers chose to emphasise Paul’s mardiness further by following him with a performance praised to the skies for how much fun it was. Only The Young were due a bounce after last week’s singoff. Their performance then was so poor, punters had made them second-favourites for elimination on the thinking that producers might use it to dampen their bounce – but instead they worked with it, Simon notably giving them praise for their attitude and performance and Louis explicitly appealing for votes. There were a lot of explicit appeals for votes tonight; a second viewing will remind us which acts didn’t get them.
Stereo Kicks got the inverse-Habibis VT, worrying about a poor turnout at their public appearance before camera angles did their best to maximise the size of the teenaged female crowd. The penultimate slot in the running order for the second week running and Simon’s comments about believing in them and being glad they stayed as an eight-piece told a story about producers’ intentions – as did not one but two of them emphasising to Dermot that they’re in it to win it. Let’s not forget that Stereo Kicks are due a comedown from their bounce, and it remains to be seen whether the public is willing to go along with the script.
Stevi got what we assume was his promised payoff for agreeing to play the joke act, the chance to perform his song. You could see it as journey completed, but the combination of the pimp slot, his likeability – the bromance VT with Simon lived up to expectations – and his shoehorning in a promise of fun again next week really should be enough to see him safe.
Who do you see in the singoff tomorrow night? It seems pretty wide-open to us. Do let us know your thoughts below.
Lola and Paul have to be in trouble. I think the producers would be happy to get rid of either one of them now. Jay and Fleur aren’t safe from B2 but probably would be saved against those acts if they got in one.
Paul is my shout for next elim. Especially after his little winge after his performance
I would have been worried for Paul, but he nailed his vocal. I think he’ll be OK, this week at least, but is clearly a target for TPTB.
I’m worried for Lola and Paul but, as alluded to on the episode ‘thread’, they may be looking to bounce Paul to eradicate further votes from Andrea. I think they’re gunning for:
a) A shock bottom two
b) Having at least one act who is competent enough to put in a decent sing off performance
Bounce Paul? Daft idea if that’s what they are doing.
Why not just build him up?
Could it be possible he’s not gaining any ground or even losing out to Andrea? They’ve basically promoted him while de-ramping Andrea over weeks two and three. If it doesn’t work maybe a bottom two bounce is the next best option.
Alternatively, he’s becoming such a pain to work with that they’re cutting their losses. But he’s arguably got the most well-rounded vocal – I think it’d be too early to lose him yet for that reason.
For me Fudd you’re making assertions that have no evidence to back them up.
I know. I’m just trying to get into their minds. 😀 I did say last week they’d be happy to keep Jack out of the bottom two and then bounce Only the Young over him this week which is what they did. I think assumptions can sometimes be right and sometimes be wrong. I freely admit I’m putting forward theories which do lack actual evidence.
Lola goes against any other act if she falls into the bottom 2. Which is very likely. I thought Lola, Paul, Jay and Fleur had the weakest performances of the remaining acts.
Lola was one of the last 3 left before Jack went – is that to tell the audience she’s in trouble? People may then vote for her before tonight and she may be OK. It could work the other way of course, if people think she’s a lost cause. It looks like they are out for her with Louis comment about every Geordie voting for her, but this may be unwise with Lauren having a wobble this week and Fleur less good than the last couple of weeks. There was a slight end-of-journey feeling in that she had more confidence this week though.
Thriller is more about the beat than the vocal so Fleur never really had a chance to shine vocally. I don’t think she did herself any favours tonight. She needs a standout vocal moment at some point soon or she’ll lose momentum. It’s not a dance competition.
Before tonight I would’ve agreed with you about Thriller, but after watching Fleur’s performance of it I thought it became obvious how important Jackson’s vocals are to the song. I personally think the main problem is that Fleur was never going to outdo MJ on an MJ song.
Her vocals are satisfactory for the type of song she’s been singing up until now. She should stick to that – which is after all the kind of thing that Simon Cowell would envisage for her after the competition.
Ok but the general x factor viewer isn’t sitting on this site analysing all this stuff. She is hugely popular. The show will drum the x factor angle into everyone over the coming weeks. If she has the most Facebook likes it’s because everyone is buying into the performer
Money on Fleur?
Yeah I’ve made no secret of that 😉
I’ve enjoyed Fleur’s previous two performances but the vocals were thin last night. Cowell also mentioned about her previous appearance on XF in a poor girlband, lots of people wouldn’t remember that. Definite deramp for me.
I’ve already said this on the previous post, but I see Lola & Jay in the bottom 2 because they were so boring. Lola just wasn’t that good and Jay looked like an extra from Austin Powers.
I think the up tempo bit made it more interesting, I actually rated him as one of the better performers on the night.
They’re even re-enforcing Jay’s military background with a joke VT with Stereo Kicks. Also interesting Jay is shown calling some of them out by name which helps with their identity.
I think Paul may well go over Lola. They went for him tonight. If they don’t want to work with him it doesn’t matter how well he sings.
Losing Paul may give a boost to Andrea’s vote though – do they want to risk that?
Probably not until he mouthed off back to Simon tonight. Cowell was not happy!
Could boost Fleur or Ben or JJ.
No guarantees about where the votes will go.
Maybe Andrea’s vote is in check.
If you’re not scared there’s something wrong with you.
And Paul is the only one who doesn’t jump.
I noticed that too. It was definitely another dig at him. I actually like his aloofness & bashfulness, it reminds me of how Gary Numan was when he first became famous (of course he was later diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome).
Didnt hear Ben get called a moaner/ ungrateful last week when he didnt want to do Simons choice. Defo setting the stall for a fall
I’m the anti-bus; I don’t care about Strictly but only saw the start and the end due to turning over to Doctor Who. But what I saw was a much better show than the past couple of weeks – I see I’m not the only person to mention this.
I’m also up tonight (after a couple of mistakes so far, and looking precarious in the win market) by a simple lay of Stevi to go tonight. Never doubted him.
Only a couple of notes:
-Stereo Kicks continued late slot (with both groups together) suggests to me that the producers feel they are still in danger. Maybe they didn’t bounce all that much last time, or maybe just being careful? But can’t see how they avoid another B2 soon.
-Surprised Paul was given as much grief as he was, makes me think the idea that he’s being pushed to take votes from Andrea isn’t right. If he’s still here next week (no cert) Simon was setting him up on a journey to be more entertaining.
-With Jack going, looks like the producers have their eye in this series – as do punters.
Lola look ever so uncomfortable on stage and can not dance. We are due to loose an over though I rekon and I see Lola and Jay in the bottom 2. Not 100% sure who they would save though
In terms of tonight’s behaviour I’d say Paul will 100% be bottom two – nobody likes a bad sport. Plus he was locked in a cage for a lot of the performance and his eyes looked horrible. Not to mentioned the off putting ‘gone gone gone’ lyrics.
Treatment wise, Lola is the obvious next shout but I don’t think they’d want to lose her as the show is a sausage fest. I’d suggest that whoever else was in the bottom two didn’t matter as Paul was an obvious target. Lola performed averagely, her vt nice but nothing much to gain from the comments. I have to say I’m shocked one of the overs hasn’t been targeted yet, the worst we have seen is Ben last week but he had a four judge standing ovation this week. That said, he was in the strictly crossover. There can be cases made for all of them being bottom two but also cases made against them.
So basically I’m saying paul bottom two and gone, against potentially any of the overs or lola.
Will Stevi do a Johnny Robinson with this week’s performance?
Well done to everyone who called Jack tonight, poor Daniel was running out of headlines. Although not great liquidity, I hope we’ve all had a profitable night.
So, my instinct says Paul & Lola B2, Paul to be eliminated. However, the “drugs” thing in the papers may dampen SK. I can’t ignore that, or the Red and Black. And Lauren was, quite frankly, a bit shit. Is she falling apart of her own accord? I had the VT down as epic acting until she actually performed. There’s also the niggling worry that Producers might have gone too far with the Andrea deramp.
Fleur reminded me of Whitney Houston circa 1987. If she’s safe next week I’d like to see her take on a Whitney classic if somehow it can be shoehorned in to the theme. A good vocal, but nobody can touch MJ. (MJ on the other hand…)
Sterling job from Stevi. Could see him taking on the role in a production of Phantom, and maybe that’s where his future lies.
As always, I’m sleeping on this. I might well just get involved in the singoff.
Rumour has it next week’s theme is Boy Band v Girl Band.
Not wishing to be rude, but Stevi was awful.
The worst thing is – I think Richie really thinks he killed that song. But my God, if you know anything at all about musical theatre or Phantom generally, he wasn’t even understudy good
Yeah, we did see a new side of him – one of vulnerability and blind self-belief in the face of, well, not being very good. I don’t know why he auditioned or why he wants to be a singer. I guess the same reason he did the amateur game show pilot etc. It’s not hard to read it all as an attempt to get over childhood bullying because of his looks.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHWx93cTTC0
Jay leading the troops in the itunes charts so far..only 4 in the top 100- Jay, OTY, SK, Ben.
Jay delighted his demo. He may be marmite but enough people like marmite to make millions. I think he’s safe.
On the guest panel on xtra factor two out of three liked Andrea most.
Octospaff may be a surprise b2 as well. That would be interesting.
Stereo Kicks v Paul, (Bottom 2)
Paul to go.
Its going to be close down the bottom but Lola looking like she was in trouble at the end of tonight’s show likely to pull in the extra votes she needs to steer clear of bottom 2.
Why do you think Lola will escape?
Interesting moment on xtra factor with the girls laughing at Paul while he watches a video of Mel calling him sexy on his computer alone in his bedroom. Sleazy much?
It’s true that they keep reminding us that Lola is in trouble but the market thinks she can’t escape. I have no idea about strength of the “Geordie vote’, just looked up on wiki what Geordie is 🙂
The geordie vote is the strongest of all the regional votes which is why I think shell at least have enough votes to survive deadlock
Ok thanks, the question is could it be enough to survive the bottom 3 also?
Without doubt. If the geordies got behind her in force shed probably top it!
Stoney “the Geordie vote is the strongest of the regional votes” – powerful stat and useful too, where’s that nugget from?
Off top of my head. Joe mcceldrey, cheryl tweedy, the one from little mix and charlotte crosby from celeb big brother have all benefited from the geordie vote. I’m sure there are others as well.
Michelle McManus, Leon Jackson, McDonald Bros, Nicholas McDonald all benefited from a Scottish vote so wondering why you’re saying Geordie is the strongest?
There is very little between the 2. You could argue over which one is strongest. The scouse vote come in at number 3
Thanks Stoney, the way you phrased it I thought you had a solid insight to base it on which would have been interesting to know.
Geordie, a regional nickname for a person from the larger Tyneside region.
🙂
Its not just the regional vote.
She very likeable and should get a sympathy boost vote from folks who think she is in trouble.
Going to sleep on this, Xtra Factor was interesting watch also. That was a good show tonight, viewers probably stuck with it to see who was eliminated so the later acts may have had good viewing figures.
The big big unknown for punting is where are the new allocation of 5 free app votes going to go and if it a younger demographic app voting will they just give the five votes to their favourite.
Where will Jacks votes go for example. even though small they will go somewhere.
Phone voting will be the norm but this app voting and the volume of it could create large swings with five new votes as some acts may get a surge of app votes without corresponding phone votes for others. They will know the % down to the finest detail. Maybe this the bandwagon they trying to get SK onto. This app voting needs very careful consideration especially before tomorrow night.
Based on performance tonight Lola and Jay should be bottom two, Paul got a hard time from the panel and I still have doubts about a Michael Jackson song getting votes. The app votes did not keep SK or OTY out of bottom two past few weeks though.
So a group in the bottom two is logical possibility as whoever getting the app votes on a potential double bubble this weekend.
Thoughts on this valued.
Great line Andrew alien and hell. Some Halloween for Andrea.
Rest time with a giggle about gold paint still.
I usually check the X Factor tag on Twitter and most of the young voters are splitting their free votes between 3/4 favourite acts (usually SK, Jack (RIP), Fleur, OTY and Lauren).
Jack said Ben was the one he wanted to win on his post-exit interview and Ben also featured a lot on his VT. I guess tptb hopes that both Jack and Jake’s votes go in that direction.
Some in here have wondered to which point are contestants aware of producers’ intentions.
I think Jack today was very much aware, fighting against it (he said “it’s what they have made me wear”, or something like that, after his interview) and clearly angry at the result.
At the start of that valedictory interview I thought for a moment, in that pause after the “well…”, he was going to say “F*** it” (à la https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0xB9uxKnec#t=63 ) Would have been priceless, wouldn’t it?
Jack seemed like he knew he was going home the whole time. During and after his performance he didn’t look at all satisfacted.
And in his post-exit interview on the Xtra Factor, he was actually very calm, said something about not belonging in the show, how the production didn’t feel right, ladadi ladada…
And he did mention Ben (who also featured twice in Jack’s VT), so that’s the way I expect his votes to go…
feel sorry for Jack… WGWG singer/songwriter types never do well on UK XF… it’s not the sort of act Syco wants…
& while he obviously knew realised by this week what was happening to him… I wonder if Paul’s reaction to getting Bat out of hell… was a realisation that he may be next for the bus… you do feel for these kids when they realise they are no longer surplus to requirement… esp after they have been built up over the preceding weeks…
btw, i have said all along that as the males (boys and overs) leave… their voters are most likely to switch to Ben… as he appears to cross over the most with the other males… SK aside… he’s attractive, older, but not too old, to have some ‘sex appeal (and not steal SK votes)… seems like a nice, humble, likeable, family friendly guy… sings crowd pleasing songs that will appeal to men & women…
I also now wonder if building him up is now part of the Andrea de-ramp… assuming (after last night) that they now want Paul out…
6/1 on paul to go. Should round off the weekend just nicely.
I’d be more inclined to go for a Lola/Jay bottom two myself. Simon’s comments may have actually helped Paul secure the extra few votes he needs to scrape through.
Like a bat out of hell he’ll be gone when the evening comes?
Looks likely if he’s b2.
The thing in Paul’s favour is that he is a great singer. He’ll outsing anyone else in the sing-off. Can they dump him and keep credibility? Of course tonight was a good show so that will help them but even so… keep Lola over Paul? Really? How do you justify that?
If Paul has the least votes, engineer deadlock. If not, nice bit of publicity.
Or Paul’s gone as far as he can and Lola’s new confidence means she’s got a lot more to give. Who givez a fuck about a bunch of no marks in an obscure midlands town anyway?
I’m sure tptb have thought about it but if they do their due diligence someone will be reading the site too so happy to help.
Also apologies for the language but Hamby Towers is drunk.
🙂
Excellent article as ever.
This series has been so easy to pick. All four eliminations correct so far, four figure profit.
Tomorrow a harder call…
So I haven’t got my second lot of app votes. Am I the only one?
I got mine! Dunno why you didn’t get yours.
Tomorrow (todey even) looks more difficult to call, but I’m going to say Paul. I think they had a real go at him today, and he looks like the target. With another free round of app votes I doubt that the target was standing on the stage as one of the last three. They’ll want people to feel that the target is relatively safe to lower motivation to vote. It does seem likely that Lola will be the other act in B2 (unless the perception that she is likely to be bottom bounces her clear). But providing Paul is bottom, they can get him out by going to dead lock – with Cheryl and Louis saving Lola. If it’s anyone other than Lola, then I think Paul’s definately gone.
I kinda wish Andrea had gone tonight just so this article could be titled “Andrea is shown the d’or”.
Maybe it’s my kink showing, but anyone find him more attractive than usual tonight in his horny/satyrical golden get-up? I thought he was golden delicious. Though right now he’s probably having a golden shower to try and get the paint off his golden balls.
IF IT’S NOT PUNNY IT’S NOT FUNNY
What are the odds of Andrea sinking? He has the lowest likes on FB after Lola and Jack when he’s usually on top, he looks like a golden Satan mixed with a Greek mythical creature, and FIRE.
I don’t see this happening id say his polling around mid division after last night. One thing is for definite. The hatchet job is going to plan
It’ll be interesting to see the poll results when they come out. I think the fact they’re having to work so hard and so consistently to get him may mean he’s still doing well. Having said that they are doing a good job of discouraging new viewers who turn on specifically to seem him from supporting him. Anyone tuning in for the first time last night would have thought he was the joke act. Vocal was still excellent though and most people I speak to, he’s their favourite.
I thought he was great and enjoyed it much more than his previous dull ballads. If Stevie goes they could give him more of this.
The ds poll from last night has only the young at the top with fleur in second. Id say only the young deserve that, I’m not surprised they know the song inside out and it showed last night. Fleur wasnt great vocally but visually she was the best. The public recognise this and she has great backing and now seems to poll in the top 2 of any poll I’ve seen in the last few weeks.
IF Andrea would be bottom two, do you think they would kick him out in any way? But I don’t think they achieved that yet.
I know many of you are saying Paul is going home and I could see it but Ben and Jack had “your song was wrong” or “you were difficult to work with” and didn’t go in that week. I think it’s more of a deramp tactict, it could work. However Simons “You don’t enjoy it, there are thousands other who would love to be on stage” was def a demotivation to vote.
Stevi imo wasn’t good at all but I could see him go through.
I think this was Lolas last chance and she blew it again imo. She’s not confident enough. If she falls bottom two she’d go.
Andrea going in a deadlock decision would be great for publicity. But I no way see him at the bottom after last night. He will still have a fan base sticking by him. I think it will be easy enough to dispose of him before the final of they choose to though.
Despite a much improved show and the twist, XF was down on last week at only 7.4m viewers
Viewers aren’t going to know it was improved until they watched it and, frankly, last week had nothing about it to lure viewers back. It was actually up week-on-week until the final performance after which the adverts and guest performance saw the average dive to 6.5m. It just has to rely on word-on-mouth that this week was a strong one and hope it can find momentum.
X Factor’s message to young women after Stereo Kicks performance: “Just lie back and think of England.”
http://goo.gl/bjZgwQ
What I hadn’t noticed until second viewing is the members of Stereo Kicks had their initials on their jackets.
Yes indeed however that may be of little use if people (like me) still don’t know most of their first names
I watched the show last night with a group of people all voting on app, or multiple apps of different devices. They voted after a performance they liked with the exception of Andrea, they voted because they liked him as much as the performance.
Past flash vote evidence suggests (suggests not proves) that going early or very late is an advantage. That would make sense with what I saw. If they liked an early act it got a vote, as their available votes got more scarce they became more choosy about where the votes went. Hence the most memorable of the last 3 was getting votes too.
Absolutely no evidence of the legendary transfer of votes we hear about and no evidence of females voting for good looking guys either, it was all about the performance (and I mean performance not singing) and the likeability of the act.
On likability, Stevi has it in bucketloads according to what I witnessed last night, Only the Young don’t, Andrea has it in spades, Paul, Lola, Stereo Kicks… All neutral.
Textbook throwing under the bus on Jack. Was in hysterics at him being bitten half way through the song. The “not angry, just disappointed” comments from the judges backed it up. Had I been watching live, or had the vote been tonight, I’d had thrown a ton of money on him being voted out.
I actually really enjoyed last nights show, the first of this series. I think it was the best Halloween theme week they’ve done too. My favourite performance was Ben’s, who I have liked more as each week has gone on.
On the other hand, I thought was Jay was awful. He’s not much less of a cheeseball than Stevi is really. Speaking of Stevi, I’m getting a bit sick of him to be honest, or certainly sick of how much they and Stevi himself are trying to make Stevi “happen”. But I think both Jay and Stevi have fanbases now, so they’ll probably survive tonight.
What struck me about Jack’s production was how rubbish it looked and how it looked like very little effort was put into it. Of course, they very likely put a lot of effort into making it look bad. I agree Jack seemed quite aware he was being thrown under the bus. Paul too, with him talking back at the end, he seemed to know he was being stitched up. That said, I don’t think he came across too well in his video moaning about the song choice. OK, I’ll admit I genuinely like ‘Bat Out Of Hell’, and he’s far from the only act this year who’s complained about the song choice in the video before the performance, but I thought he came across as a lot more sulky than the others did.
I also agree that Lola could be in trouble. She stood out as dull last night. She doesn’t usually because normally most of them have been boring this year, but this week everyone else had quite big performances.
Jay knows what to say in the Dermot chat, I think he’ll go far. Don’t think the mention of a record deal will be too damaging, suspect that’s been brought up to kill any controversy down the line (well, I did tell you). Could pick up a Forces/Welsh vote – is the Welsh vote as strong as the Scottish vote?
Re-watched each of the performances on youtube, just a write up on them
Ben – excellent performance and was really strong start to what we all feel was their best show for a long time. For me he is the alpha male over, and he has longevity in this competition. Possibly a finalist.
Lola – A really weak performance for me and I am not saying that much today.
Fleur – On 2nd watch she actually was really good. The production was really huge for her, and despite some moments of shaky vocals, she held up really strong. Lets not forget she is was singing while performding difficult dance moves and at one point being lifted in the air by others. One of the best of the night.
Jay – Well some here didn’t like him, I actually really liked it. Not sure if I liked it because of the beat mixed into the song though. He surprised me as I thought it was going to be a bore, so well done Jay really.Still a B2 contender though, think he is one of their back ups as shown with Cheryl’s comments
Jack – Gone, shocking song to give him though
Andrea – Well another rewatch shows how strong this guy is vocally. They are throwing at him sadly though and he definitely can’t win the show. Up next is probably a rendition of creep or something perhaps? That said the whole production was at least rather fun. TPTB know how to really do their deramping, especially on Halloween.
Lauren – Another 2nd rewatch made this better than when I first heard. I thought vocally she was pretty good. Not at her total best, which is where she needs to get back too if she is to win the show as I want. She also had a very good production and got called a popstar so defo a plus.
Paul – Decent performance, but way out of his comfort zone and the danger signs are there. The boys category a few weeks ago was seen as strong, but to be honest Ben seems the male they want to go very far along with the boyband. Is this maybe a reason why they are completely annihilating the boys category right now?
OTY – Well we all wanted to see this, and so happy they did. For me it was performance of the night, I know Stevi got pimped more in the end, but I will explain more on that later. We should see OTY another week.
Stereo Kicks – I found this quite weak personally, and the changing faces in the background of all 8 of them was actually disturbing on 2nd watch. In a night of fun and surprise, this was just rdinary and felt flat.
Stevi – Well he was a surprise and a great production, but his vocals were still rather weak anyway. He will get a high vote tonight, but this was his high… maybe another couple weeks of fun performances before giving him a tough ballad to destroy and see him go.
Just to say again was a great show to watch. Very fun and TPTB made intentions clear.
Also the extreme of the Gold in Andrea’s performance to the simple Gold on Lauren made it like a winners look for her.
That section was meant to create a comparison between Andrwa and Lauren. He was suppoaed to be awkward when he danced and fluff the vocal because of too much to do and look ridiculous. Lauren looked more awkward than he did and her vocal was poor so he actually came off the winner. His vt was awfil though. Italian, italian, italian, messy eater, greedy, italian.
I wonder if anyone actually listened to his singing.
Maloney’s laser-beam eyes surely can’t be far off. Cowell laughing is all very well but the audience didn’t laugh with him. Imo last night was a fail for tptb.
Looking purely from one perspective you can say Andrea won but Andrea will be remembered in a stupid way for last night while Lauren had the production and look of someone who they want to go very very far. The little quotes such as potential pop star will also stick in viewers minds. She still comes out better off
It’s easy to get stuck in the sofabet bubble and focus so much on producer intentions that we forget that the public do the actual voting.
The people I talk to like Lauren AND Andrea (and say they LOVE Andrea). They don’t care about potential pop star labels. They just want to be entertained on a Saturday night. Sure Lauren is a competent performer but they LOVE Andrwa. It’s his personality that attracts his fans. His fans found yesterday’s performance endearing. To take him down tptb will have to make him less lileable and that’s very risky. They could provoke a massive sympathy vote because he’s a sweet, lovely guy who loves pugs and his mum.
Anyway, I’m going to stop banging this drum and see how it plays out. Tptb don’t want him. I’m sure they’re enjoying the challenge of keeping him in for ratings while deramping him for the win. I suspect Andrea is fully aware of what’s going on too. He must feel it even if he can’t articulate it. He seems savvy enough not to complain about it though.
To take Andrea down they just need to do what they keep doing. Stop Andrea gaining new fans. Right now those voting will be the ones who are already his fans because they like him. A few more weeks of such performances will make him like a joke act and he will start losing fans that vote, but still find him likeable.
Last night was actually the reason we thought they wanted Andrea on the show since his first audition. A novelty that can sing, and very well.
Lauren on the other hand is more simple. They will continue to give her big productions, eventually a pimp slot and in the meantime she can still gain new voters especially once it gets to the business end of the show. Her and Fleur are still due their ‘breakout’ performance which I’m sure will come on their pimp slot.
And you are right Jess the average viewer doesn’t read into things the way us on sofabet do. That is exactly why Andrea will lose votes, if you get what I mean.
Disagree again (sorry). Last night was all about building momentum and a folliwing for SK. Shopping centre visit with screaming girls, big production, individual pictures and so on. Bottom 2 would be a complete stop on that momentum. They don’t want to bounce them into the final from week 4. That’s a fucking nightmare. Their ambitions are much bigger than getting them on the tour.
And then there’s what it would do to the boys’ morale.
Imo b2 for SK (my! that’s a lot of acronyms) would be a disaster and signal the failure of the project. Tptb will follw it through but they’ll know the public aren’t buying it.
That was a reply to your post about SK.
I’m not going to talk about Andrea any more. I’m not in the win market.
I also agree that TPTB wants to avoid SK in the Bottom 2 too soon. It would be ridiculous and totally unconvincing (and surely difficult) to have an act who falls 4-5 times into Bottom2/3 to go all the way to Final.
But somehow I suspect that TPTB actually let SK to fall into Bottom 3 in Week 2. In Week 1 they set a narrative of “battle of Boybands” between SK and Overload with SK as the winner (I strongly suspect they went as stretching as bending the WC rules just to bring back Overload as a pawn in SK’s bigger and grander project).
Then after Overload booted out, they need to bring a new narrative for SK and that’s “We are back and we are better than ever”. Hence Cheryl is tasked the job to plant the seed of doubts about having an 8-piece boyband. Then in a complete turnaround they are back in Week 3 with full praise and the message that they strongly want to imply to us is that this 8 piece will work and that they are glad the octoboys are strongly united through their difficult time. Great narrative for their fave, isn’t it?
I seriously don’t get how you can say tptb are failing. His facebook likes have gone from the most popular to almost bottom in 2 weeks.
Im still quite puzzled about how much they tried to help
Lola last night, if at all. Lots of mixed messages with her glowing vt, mixed comments but underwealming performance with dodgy staging.
I watched the show with my parents, brother and his gf last night. Everyone was met with indifference last night from the males (apart from Ben, as my dad is an ACDC fan he said that Ben was alright. Glowing praise as far as I am concerned). I’ve mentioned before that my mum is probably the typical middle England X factor viewer – she didn’t like Lola’s song or outfit but said she likes her (no votes), said Jack was the worst of the night, was outraged at Andrea because she loves what he normally does and he didn’t sing this week (!!), didn’t like JJ (but she meet does), enjoyed OTY because it was fun and ‘the only ones that did the theme’ and is now bored of Stevi. As far as I know she voted for Ben, only the young and Andrea.
I’d agree with EM that it all seems to be on performance on the night. The only one my mum made and reference to from previous weeks was Andrea.
Feels very similar to my experience Martin.
As for Lola I think they gave her every help with a sympathetic VT, narrative storyline to hook you in and supportive comments, with enticement to vote.
As for performance she was given one of the best loved songs of the past few years and a whole stage to own with confidence, few distractions. She didn’t really live up to it.
So if it was Lola v Paul in the bottom two then last night’s evidence says Paul is the one they want rid of. However if Lola has fluffed it again they might decide (change of plan) to cut her loose knowing they can get Paul later.
I thought Lola’s staging was ‘meh’. She had the same hairstyle, earrings, make-up and clothes (though different colour) as last week. It was as though ‘we gave you a makeover and tried to help, but you are just not cutting it, so we’re not going to bother’.
The whole thing was forgettable – especially in the light of some of the other bonkers/OTT staging.
At the same time, the sympathetic VT and comments would not really inspire a rallying cry to vote.
I’d stick with her and Paul in the bottom two – but I couldn’t call which one would go.
Agree on Lola.
Just one other thing regarding the whole nervous Lola thing… did they not give this to Lauren last night? Watching her VT seeing how struggles with performances involving moving was almost like the loveable young girl who needs support went to Lauren rather than Lola and set up a narrative a little for the rest of the show as Lauren overcomes such things to become the ‘popstar’ Simon called her.
I did notice simon said ‘potential popstar’ to lauren rather than a ready made one. Always a good sign.
The loveable young girl’s halo is slipping…..http://www.dailystar.co.uk/tv/x-factor/408226/X-Factor-Lauren-Platt-Charlie-Only-The-Young-romance
From the tradition of Ella supposedly going out with George Shelley of Union J and Tamera supposedly going out with one of Kingsland Road, then later on Sam Callahan (which happened to be true).
Dean: I agree.
Sorry that’s supposed to be ‘never does’ for JJ.
Paul is still 11/2 for next elimination. Huge surely?
1 nagging doubt.
Mel lost a act last week and a act last night.
3 in a row ?
It could be SK in b2. They will be saved over Paul or Lola.
I actually think TPTB wouldn’t mind SK in B2 that much to give them a bounce next week and at least on to the tour. They saved Union J four times so doubt they would really mind doing same for SK to get them as far as possible
I was thinking the same. The only possible danger to that is Lola, and the markets are convinced she’s gone. I may stick to a bottom two bet for Paul.
For the last 3 weeks the amount likes on TXF Facebook somehow reflected on who got the least votes. Assuming that it is indeed a raw reflection on the voting, here is FB likes for Week 4 performance rounded to the nearest hundreds
1. Stevi 17,200
2. Lauren 12,800
3. Fleur 12,600
4. Stereo Kicks 11,700
5. OTY 11,100
6. Ben 11,000
7. Paul 9,100
8. Jay 8,200
9. Andrea 7,500
10. Lola 5,600
11. Jack 3,100 (already eliminated)
Interesting enough the bottom 3 of Facebook likes this week are the 3 last “this is not Bottom 3” acts standing on last night show.
And talking of TXF FB – they’ve just posted a photo of Mel leading Jack, Paul and Andrea onto the stage with the caption ‘Who will be walking out of those doors for the very last time?’
It’s clear that TPTB is trying to deramp both Andrea and Paul. They just need both as long as to give some decent or good performances but they never want either of them to win. Paul maybe bottom 2 tomorrow but will be saved only to be cut in 1 or 2 weeks. Andrea may go even as further as the Semifinal or Final but TPTB will try their best to make sure he won’t win.
I’m (really) surprised how low all of those FB numbers are. Begs the question of statistical significance.
Andrea B2 would certainly spook the market, and today that has to be a possibility.
B2 or not I don’t see them doing this to him again and I agree with what Jessica says about him in posts above.
Looling at Moon Gin’s facebook post it appears a real possibility. Paul v Andrea in b2? Who would go?
Ok. I’ll concede that the deramp is having some effect. I’ll still be surprised if he goes b2. Depending on odds I may pop something on to cover though.
I do think that in fact the deramp will get stronger and more overt as the weeks pass. They’ll just have to be careful not to be obviously mean. Passive aggression will be the order of the day.
Cover what?
The possibility that it’s Andrra down there instead of Paul, as suggested by the facebook post.
I think it’s 2 from Paul, Lola and SK – Paul and Lola being the most lilely and Paul to go. However it would be foolish to ignore the FB liles if its results have been consustent in the previous 3 weeks. I suspect a lot of Andrea’s fans aren’t facebook people but even so, given he’s currently 12/1 b2 it’s not great thing.
But you denied being financially invested in him lol
What point are you trying to make? Or are you saying “you changed your mind ner ner ne ner ner”?
The Facebook likes for Andrea is certainly alarming. It’s been pretty spot on so far although the double vote may change things this week? If it were any other act it would be considered an absolute nuking but Andrea is so likeable. I think tptb are pushing their luck as far as they can and using the theme as an excuse. If he survives this week they’d have to be very careful on how they treat him going forward. He had another Italian-heavy vt that could also hold back a few votes.
I think Lola is a dead cert for the bottom two this week. I highly doubt that she has been polling well over each of the previous live shows and with another shaky performance, minus any criticism and therefore not motivating any sympathy votes, with probably the worst performing slot (#2) I just can’t see her escaping the sing-off.
I think it’s extremely optimistic to believe that Andrea would fall into the sing-off after that performance. He’s got one of the biggest fan bases and at least his performance was memorable (for all the wrong reasons).
My bets are on Lola with either Jay, Paul or (sadly) Fleur falling in the bottom two alongside her.
Lola vs Jay – Jay goes (Simon needs to lose an Over, Ben is Alpha Overs male, Lola can be disposed of later)
Lola vs Paul – Paul goes (the bus is coming his way)
Lola vs Fleur – Lola goes (Fleur has more potential)
I also think Andrea will not fall to B2 tonight. TPTB has done quite a job in deramping him but it would take weeks before they can actually take him out.
What do you think about the large screen in the background at the start of every show- giant contestant faces on the screens but the 4 biggest on the largest central screen. Recently showing Fleur, Ben, Lauren and Andrea.
Also did you notice Dermot say “see you next week” to Andrea and “see you tomorrow” to Lola when he sent them off after revealing Jack was bottom of the vote?
Yes I spotted that. Says to me that Andrea is not in danger of b2 tomorrow but Lola is.
It also says don’t bother voting for Andrea because he’s safe, which may not be true if everyone gets 5 additional votes.
I think whoever lands in the bottom 2 they will go down the controversial route tonight, unless it’s one of the favourites like Lauren or Stereo Kicks. The ratings were actually down on last week and so they probably feel the need to have an elimination that will get people talking. TPTB’s ideal would probably be Jay v Lola – the humble Northern girl who works in a fish shop v the military hero.
I feel very sure that Lola is going to be in the bottom 2 tonight. My problem is am I sure enough to bet my entire winnings this series so far on 4/7. I should be, but there’s just a little voice saying maybe not!
Don’t bet your entire winnings.
Lola is 5/4 most bookies, decent enough price to go, I say Lola goes, with Stereo Kicks bottom two coming down from bounce and not having picked up app votes in great numbers so far, which is probably why they had them on late again.
It will be close around the bottom but Lola does seem most likely to go.
I’d agree with you except that Paul’s vt and Simon’s attack wete really damning and demotivating for votes. He was also hammered on xtra factor. Pretty much his entire vt was of him complaining and then Simon said he wad ungrateful and taking a spot that could have gone to someone else. It wasn’t anything that would get him any sympathy. When a woman phoned in to xtra factor and asjed why Mel didn’t support her act against Simon Mel said she thought Simon was fair.
It was so damning it looks to me like they want him to come bottom and throw him out. Lola did get the only spider’s web and it wasall very bland so I expect her to be down there too, but Paul got it something awful. Surely they wouldn’t do that to an act they had any interest in.
Totally agree. Lola’s favouritism to go is misplaced to me.
Spiders web don’t mean nothing – no other sign they wanted her as much as Jack and Paul
I think she’s favourite because while she’s not a target, she’s become pretty disposable due to her unreliable performances. In a sing off against Jay, Stereo Kicks, Fleur, Lauren and Ben, she will definitely get the boot.
Stevi and Andrea won’t land in the sing-off this week so that leaves Only The Young and Paul who I think she could be saved against. However, she’s far more likely to land in the bottom two than Paul and Only The Young did have a great week so might not be in danger.
I was supposed to add Jay to the Paul/OTY group. I definitely think Lola would be saved against Jay.
‘Lola vs Jay – Jay goes’ you wrote couple of posts ago !?
Lola’s favouritism to go could be a consequence of the running order. People forget that first slots might have a different meaning when sort of flash vote is used like this week.
I think it’s just because she was highly forgettable. Who is voting for Lola? What demographic is saving her from the bottom 2 this week? I don’t see a demographic (other than idiots like me who vote for her by accident!). She didn’t perform well, the judges were honestly overly-kind and I think that would have been identified by the audience. The song-choice was forgettable and yes, she was also early in the order which has simply never proven to be an advantage even if the phone lines open early.
The hoop-earring demographic.
Lola is favourite to go because people think it’s a singing competition.
Still worried about Stevie. There was a definite end-of-journey feel – having now sung his big song, is that it? He may be OK. There was starting to be a bit of banter at the end, did you notice Dermot rushing to cut him off?
Agree, potential B2 and “controversial” save over Lola.
One other thing – There wasn’t much Strictly crossover with Ben. If you turned over as soon as they’d revealed the scoreboard (without waiting for the strictly recap) you got all of Ben’s performance (though not the VT)
I just accidentally did 4 app votes on Lola – against my bet! I meant to put them on OTY but I wasn’t thinking very clearly!
I definitely prefer a Lola B2 bet to a Lola elimination bet. I can’t really imagine her not being in the bottom 2, but I can imagine her potentially being saved over Paul.
Re: accidental voting, try doing it on a tablet instead of a phone.
So in terms of deramping vs ramping the annual public favourite who people have taken to their hearts but who is commercially uncool (this year: Andrea), the two extremes they can take are probably best represented by the Maloney path and the Bailey path. (As in the case of Ella, Tamera, Union J etc, they don’t need their commercial Plan A and their other commercial picks to win, they just need to get them to the latter stages which is easily done.) As of this week I’m getting concerned they’re taking an (adapted) Maloney path with Andrea. I’m not so worried about his treatment in weeks 2 and 3, as whatever the subsequent judge comments, he was given great songs highly suited to him that he was very comfortable with and allowed to perform the hell out of – his vocals were front and centre.
If they try and do a Chris Maloney on Andrea, god forbid, this is why I think it won’t work:
– Andrea is incredibly likeable – more so than Chris (who apparently was difficult, something that could also perhaps be more easily imagined/implicitly perceived by viewers)
– Andrea’s popularity is cross-demographic (a ton of young girls love him, families love him) and cross-class – Chris’s was demographically limited and I’d guess more class-limited
– Andrea is outstanding – Chris was merely really good (IMO). That’s a key difference. Andrea is outstanding in a Sam Bailey way, rather than just a competent singer.
– Our yellow press may be super-xenophobic but (I believe and sincerely hope) it’s not going to start to demonise an affable, loveable young middle-class Italian who came to this country to succeed and because he loves it, the way it was able to mock and poor-bait the Scouse unfortunate 2 years ago
– Viewers are more clued up to the show’s ways than they’ve ever been. I saw a fair few tweets last night from random people saying things to the effect of “Why are they doing this to him? He’s better than this. His vocals were still brilliant.” etc. Also, “Why is Andrea” trended on Twitter. Further attempts to make Andrea ridiculous will be seen for what they are by viewers, who take him seriously and love him as he is.
– Viewers are less xenophobic than is sometimes assumed and love it when talented people come here to succeed – a Hungarian group won BGT last year (and I think they’d still have won sans the jingoism of their performance in the final; it was their earlier performances that everyone loved about them).
Judging by reactions on Twitter and Gogglebox etc, I really think people have taken Andrea to their hearts in the (for some surprising) way people did Conchita in Eurovision – he’s the one who stands out. He’s the only one who’s popularly loved and has really broad momentum. I think they should let him do a Sam Bailey rather than fight the inevitable and wreck the show in the process.
He does come across as a genuine, sweguy but I think they’re going to try to etMaloney him and I think it will backfire unless they’re very careful.
I think their approach with Andrea is noticeably different to what they did with Chris Maloney. With Chris the judges were very harsh indeed on him and I think that ultimately motivated a lot of votes even though Chris was not really as likeable as Andrea. The strategy that Simon is attempting to go with on Andrea is to instead praise him in the judge’s comments sot hey seem fair, but then also make sure to make lots of distracting comments, and of course make his performances have other distracting elements to them as well.
I have to say even then with this more “softline” approach I couldn’t help but feel sorry for Andrea last night, and I’m not someone who actually enjoys his performances. I wonder if that’s because I know how much the producers are crucifying him, or whether that’s something a regular viewer of X Factor would also feel.
I do think if they’re able to deramp them as effectively as they did last night, they’ll be able to stop him from winning, but one toe too far over the mark and they do risk a massive sympathy vote.
Curtis, agree across the board – I haven’t been a fan of Andrea, good as he is, but I voted for him for the first time (and not just because I wanted to pull his tail in that outfit).
Tail? That’s a new word for it.
I was also surprised by the extent to which they went for Paul, I don’t read it as an attempt to get him out this week but either as an advance deramp before an attempt to get him out next week, or an attempt at getting him in tonight’s B2 so he can be saved over Lola, bounce next week and be steered out in week 6. Depends how he’s polling of course. I really really like him but he needs to look at the camera more, the fact he still doesn’t at this stage is a bit of a problem and creates a bit of dissonance/hampers enjoyment and viewers’ ability to connect with him. Craig in 2011 engaged with the camera much better and as such they were happy to keep him in until his natural time had come (he polled roughly 6th throughout the series and exited gently in 6th place, without rough treatment).
Please match my bet on betfair for him to go then taking forever
Fleur has become third favourite to be in the bottom two despite Only The Young and Stevi being ahead of her earlier. Insiders placing bets?
Reading some the comments it might be wise to widen the “deramping” terminology out a bit. Feels to me there is “dumping” which is throwing a kitchen sink of crap at an act with a view to getting them out that week (Jack a great example). It’s not subtle and therefore a dumping normally works.
Then there is “depressing” which is to lower an acts vote with a view to getting them out in a few weeks or to give someone else the momentum. It’s much more subtle which makes it harder for a punter to see with 100% certainty and less likely to actually work than a dumping.
Paul said to Simon his critique was unfair and such a confrontation you don’t see often in the lives. Since this is my 1st season with Simon in it, I wonder what would his reaction be afterwards?
This is whyi believe Paul goes against anyone in the bottom 2 tonight. Simon looked like he wanted to kill him
Hmm both Stereo Kicks and Fleur backed in the bottom 2 market. Fleur is a surprise, SK being B2 woukdnt surprise me one bit.
Yet my money for Paul to be eliminated has sat unmatched for hours. I’m fairly new to bet fair so don’t understand how it works to be fair. Surely if insiders were pumping on other selections all the other selections would get matched?
Yes, so no evidence of insiders. Big lumps often appear for the fav.
… and the reason you don’t get matched is simply because the price you ask is too high and nobody is willing to take it.
i get that, but some suggest that insiders are betting, who would surely take any price offered.
Anyway tonight needs to produce something unexpected, this series has been all to predictable, i would dont expect lola to leave the show tonight and would certainly not be taking that ridiculously short price
Insiders are a myth (or they are very clever not to get caught 🙂 ).
cant see too many people being in a position to get inside info on the voting, but obviously the odd one or 2 do
I guess the truth is there is much less money for the bottom 2 market so someone probably without info put a decent wad of money on her and that shortens the odds considerably
If no-one’s matching your odds you could take it off again and place the bet at some existing odds rather than setting your own.
I placed a couple of pounds (literally) I enjoy a flutter but only small bets. I backed Paul to go at 5/1, just can’t see him avoiding bottom 2 after his treatment and can’t see him being saved over anyone. I would say he is likely to be against Lola but as has been mentioned Geordie vote could help and by leaving her standing with Jack at the end may make voters think she is in trouble and get behind her.
Stereo Kicks coming down from a bounce and Fleur who despite the hype I don ‘t think is polling that well may have been overtaken this week by strong showings from Stevie and Only the young, hence either could join Paul if Lola escapes. Both were red and blacked incidentally so I think it will be tight at the bottom but Paul for me is ‘gone gone gone’.
I managed to get Paul at 6s yesterday, but my worry is SK. I think their performance reverted to type after last week’s improvement, and they could crash my predicted bottom two of Lola and Paul. They have my vote tonight anyway! My big bet is still on Lauren, but I am beginning to wonder if that break out performance will ever arrive.
Lauren will get that when she has the pimp slot I am sure. Any idea what theme is next week?
boybands and girlbands
I’ll be hacked off if Fleur hits b2. I called in danger straight after she performed last night and allowed myself to be convinced she’s safe.
It is about time that an over hits bottom3 but I was saying that for couple of weeks without success. This could be it but I give more chance to Jay than Fleur. Paul vs Jay would be a tricky one… imagine they would like to ditch Paul but leaving Simon with all four overs !?
I dunno, I don’t like Jay but I thought he was pretty good last night, and the sort of people who like Coldplay will have liked his performance. Seems (very) safe to me.
Lola into evens at PP, Fleur out to 25/1 Stereo Kicks 12/1 from 14/1 Paul 11/4
Any noteable points from the group song? We were watching dr who.
they were all pretty poor… Lola & Jay were particularly terrible…
Was that a little set up for louis to save lola in the sing off?
She is his wildcard so he should, except if SK land with her.
Don’t forget he would already be aware who was in the bottom 2 with her. I just got the feeling it was being teed up.
Deadlock maybe..
Clear appeals for votes for Stereo Kicks and Simon setting up reasons for their save.
Reveal order:
Lauren
Andrea
Ben
Only the Young
Fleur
Stevie
Jay
Paul
Stereo Kicks slipped again…
Louis counting the remaining acts is usually my favourite thing about this show
Wow! They’ll save Stereo Kicks, probably, but what’s the point of keeping them around for much longer? They’re clearly just unpopular. Hard one to call this week.
whos going?
Staying out of this one but I feel stereo kicks will go via deadlock
Entertainment wise they should probably keep Stereo Kicks as they can put on more of a show than Lola. But if they want a ‘shock’ exit of sorts…
Stereo Kick didn’t really bounce far did they? Do they want to be left with one girl or one group?
SK v Lola not surprised with SK as stated. Sadly they will be saved. SK to bounce to week 6 and the tour as they target Paul and OTY I assume if it is Lola who goes
Paul’s face! That was a man staring down the barrel of a gun. He is going to be SO aquiescent next week, and sing his heart out. Could be the making of him.
Lola to go but the SK project appears to have failed. Mind you, wo’s idea was it to have them sing “we’re back”. They only started 3 weeks ago!
Will Lola crumble before the end of the song?
I don’t think he’s the type to be acquiescent, to jump through hoops just to get as far as possible; he strikes me as a man of principle. He’s sung his heart out every week but next week they’re gonna give him both barrels.
Quite. Revealed to be Disco next week, too; hardly a genre to suit him.
Is it really worth it pushing SK into the top 4/5? They can always pull a Union J and save them every other week, but that won’t do any good to their image and I somehow doubt those 8 guys will stick togheter for longer after the show.
Maybe they can keep them long enough so James/Barclay/Jake/IDK can come back another year with an already built fan base.
I also think that Mel B talking about her daughter asking to vote for SK could be a foreshadow for them being saved 3-1.
Lola needs to really stop shouting. Doing it in the sing off too. How did I ever think she’d get further than Lauren pre lives
The fish monger’s gonna be ‘gutted’!
IT IT’S NOT PUNNY IT’S NOT FUNNY.
A judge will be down to 1 act while Simon has all 4 of his.
Stereo Kicks deservedly in the B2 again, their vocals were really exposed and undercooked last night. No-one’s voting for them. Obviously Lola is toast though.
With them being B2 twice already by week 4, it’d make a mockery of the show’s process to keep saving them and drag them to the top 6 that way. Three saves is about the limit; Union J got saved 3 times but they didn’t hit B2 until week 4, and at a stage of the contest where there were fewer acts. Obviously Katie got saved a bunch of times but she was someone they were always gonna drop halfway and who they didn’t have commercial plans for.
Lola so good in her singoff right now, doing her own thing without any pressure – well, with the pressure of the singoff, but without all the production and in her own comfort zone. Excellent. I feel for her, she’s obviously crumbling under the pressure of the Saturday night performances, which is very understandable and relatable if obviously not ideal (which is why they need rid of her).
Oh, Barclay, you were really off then :/
Deadlock was obvious. Nervy luckily I’m not involved
Potential headline: Ta Ta Lola?
I feel for Lola a little but mostly coz I’m annoyed TPTB will play this game again with the boy group and get them as far as humanly possible by continuing to save them. Did this with UJ
It bordered on shameless with UJ, which is – given SK are much less popular than Union J and even District 3 – why they can’t do it the same again. A third save in week 6, depending against whom, would be conceivable but stretching it, a fourth save would be indefensible. Also, second bounces are generally a lot weaker. Next week we have OTY coming down off a bounce, SK on a weak second bounce, and Paul in the crosshairs.
SK could well be b2 again next week and saving them over Paul will look utterly ridiculous unless Paul plays into their hands like he did the past week.
I think that’s it for SK. Standing in a line and singing like the boys from Glee doesn’t cut it, and let’s face it, the boys from Glee are all really good.
Seriously burnt there. Can’t help inking that wasn’t in the script.
It was. There were loads of signs.
Lola going I mean… SK being B2 was far from inconceivable seeing as they have no momentum and were coming down from a bounce.
small bet at 5s on stereo kicks. got matched on lola at 1.5 for a free bet so not the end of the world. not been easy this year for the ould punting.
Damn the favourite went again! Lost a bit tonight but again another profitable weekend. Surely there has to be an upset next week the bookies are gonna stop taking bets if this carries on
Curse of the spider strikes again!!!
Congrats to all who had a profitable evening. Not as big as it would have been had Paul gone but smiley nonetheless.
I thought it was really obvious tonight that Mel B had been told which way to vote. The transition from reason to decision was poor – essentially “Stereo Kicks, I’m really angry at you because you haven’t performed as well as that so far in 4 weeks, so I’m sending Lola home”.
Lola needs to mature and practise and do gigs and come back (but not to X Factor) in a few years.
It was blindingly obvious that Mel had to do the dirty work tonight. Simon then had the pleasure of playing to the crowd. Would have been a little more interesting had Stereo Kicks been bottom of the vote.
I dunno I doubt the script involved SK but they knew they would be down there and this gives them the chance to bounce to the tour at least and probably get OTY and Paul in B2 next week if possible with Jay as back up.
Every week so far we have seen a deramping take down the week before the real take down. Leaving Paul as obvious chance of B2 next week but I think they would send home OTY if they are in it.
Now Simon highlights the need for the audience to get to know all of Stereo Kicks. I can just see how the VT is heading next week…
Simon giving an excuse for Stereo Kicks which he didn’t say yesterday (if I recall correctly) about song choice. Just smell the desperation.
I think the downfall of SK was amplified by success of OTY this week, the seesaw effect also happened to UJ/D3.
Now TPTB have to be very careful with Only the Young and (especially) Lauren. It would be an outright disaster if the Final 5-7 were all Boys and Overs.
Stereo Kicks isn’t flying with the teens, who probably aren’t watching anymore and have their own flavour of the month.