Last night’s show saw Jack & Joel drift to the bottom of the public vote, another successful elimination target for producers. Meanwhile Kevin Davy White won the evening again after his prize fight victory the previous week. The outright market now fully respects his chances.
Tonight’s show sees the girls pitted against the boys. Sam Black has been early elimination favourite, but it’s worth bearing in mind that ‘I’m Your Man’ is the only upbeat song of the evening, and producers may wish to see the more numerous girls’ category reduced instead. If that’s so, we worry for Alisah, singing ‘Praying For Time’ this evening.
All the girls have song titles they’ll be hoping to refute. Holly Tandy gives us ‘One More Try’, Rai-Elle sings ‘They Won’t Go When I Go’, and Grace explains, ‘I Can’t Make You Love Me’. The last-named drifted in the market earlier today, but her backers will be soothed by support this afternoon. The other boy, Lloyd Macey, completes the field with ‘A Different Corner’.
It’s worth remembering that there’s a 40-minute Strictly overlap, so the running order will be keenly anticipated. Our below the line commentary has been as lively as ever this season, and is much appreciated. We look forward to your thoughts on tonight’s show.
Running order will matter. Sam is due for an elimination but the current circumstances don’t align to make kicking him off sensible.
Running Order from TellyStats:
Alisah Bonaobra: 1
Sam Black: 2
Grace Davies: 3
Rai Elle: 4
Lloyd Macey: 5
Holly Tandy: 6
Running Order:
Alisah Bonaobra: 1
Sam Black: 2
Grace Davies: 3
Rai Elle: 4
Lloyd Macey: 5
Holly Tandy: 6
I don’t know how many performances they cram in 40 minutes, but they’re not making it easy for Grace, I see. Maybe Holly?
On the bottom end, this doesn’t help at all. The two likely targets are side by side.
They certainly want to try and have different acts in the prize fight, and certainly not the same winners if poss
If they want a winner that matches the prize Holly is a better fit to open for Little Mix than Grace (or Kevin).
Straight fight between Alisah and Sam for elimination.
This is the first time I’ve thought they could actually be turning against Grace.
I think the ad breaks will tell who the target is.
Alisah Bonaobra: 1
Ad Break
Sam Black: 2
Grace Davies: 3
is very different to
Alisah Bonaobra: 1
Sam Black: 2
Ad Break
Grace Davies: 3
In the first Sam is memory holed by Grace, in the second Alisah is memory holed by Sam doing an upbeat song.
I’d don’t think they are turning against Grace, just trying to keep a lid on her vote to get a different winner for the prize fight.
Why no Girls v Groups yet I wonder?
I think because it’s a Girls and Groups year. Those are their two good categories, the weaker categories this year are the Boys and the Overs. It’s no coincidence that before this week it was Boys and Overs who were eliminated. They’d rather get rid of the ones in the weaker categories than have a round where at least one of their stronger categories will lose someone.
Though they are going to start chipping away at the Groups and the Girls now, simply because there are more of them.
Huge variance in bookie odds. Alisah Evs – 9/4 (Betfred)
I’m hoping Grace still wins this from trap 3. I really think TPTB believe that they can manipulate things to the point where they get a different winner each week as well as the finalists they want in the long run. Id love to see that backfire. Messing about with someone who you ultimately want to sign and make money from seems like it’s taking the piss.
Lloyd v Kevin to open for Littlemix anyone? If its not Grace’s night then Holly looks the better fit for the prize. But winning the night and then beating Kevin in the head to head looks a huge ask.
As Dermot said “Who’s going to win tonight’s prize fight against Kevin”…
Vote motivating criticism.
Simon loves his foot and drink metaphors – too much cream in the coffee this time. Nice debate from the judges including Simon claiming he couldn’t see and Sharon criticising her own act by saying she hasn’t had a moment yet and agreeing with Simon that she’s old fashioned.
Nice from Dermot doubling down on this being the type of singer she wants to be allowing Simon to call her a wedding singer. That was a target attempt for me.
Bye bye Sam.
I think the criticism may have been slightly vote motivating though, with the finger being pointed at Louis rather than Sam?
“That’s fair enough.” Oh, come on Sam, don’t help them!
VT on missing the family. Stuck in the two slot. Cut away to a bored Simon drinking his tea.
Goner.
Even the cutaway to the other contestants at the end of Sam’s performance showed Rai Elle looking very bored as she clapped.
It was a terrible performance though. I’m Your Man is a great song but it sounded terrible tonight. He’s way out of his depth. It’s not so much an assassination, more of a mercy killing.
Only thing that might save him is that the judges really stuck the boot in on him with those comments. I think it was mostly justified, but will the voters think that?
Burning Sam to the foot. 3 negative comments out of 4. He has no confidence. He can’t survive that unless they burn rai Elle
Has Grace always had a ring in her nose?
Just read a post on DS which makes an interesting point – Grace has performed just before people switch over for the Strictly result. As Blue Planet follows at 8pm I don’t think the final hour is exactly a ‘good’ one for The X Factor.
People who switch over for Blue Planet aren’t going to be voting.
But there isn’t a ‘weaker’ show following after Strictly which could result in an uptick in viewers, unlike what tends to happen on Saturday nights.
Based on just running order I would back Rai Elle bottom. Wouldn’t be surprised to see Sam dropped either, except it would be unlikely for a show with two boys and four girls to get all four girls over one of the boys, from previous voting experience with both the old and the flash vote to save formats.
Paloma calling out Kevin and Grace…
Rai Elle’s staging feels all illuminati to me.
Were the tears scripted? Is that where we are with this show that I’m asking the question ‘were the tears scripted?’
Simon’s desperately trying to keep a lid on any momentum Lloyd might muster and no ad break between him and Holly.
Everything Sharron does feels fake to me. I don’t believe a word she says.
She once said on Conan O’Brien’s show that her tears are fake. (this was months after the she left the second time, when Sam Bailey won and she cried a lot)
I get such Louisa vibes from Holly, that white suit is reminding me of when Louisa sang this is a man’s world.
4 and a half minutes to vote is ridiculous!
Always makes me smile that Little Mix basically won through accident rather than design considering they’re the biggest winning act to come from the show.
TPTB have got manipulating the vote down to a fine art now. They hit their targets pretty much every time.
They came up with the prize fight idea knowing they could get a different winner each time.
Considering that all the people who just a minute ago voted Lloyd to the win are probably still tuned in, this should be a walk in the park for him…
That’s a good point that should mean the Sunday winner always has a big advantage. Has a Saturday winner won the prizefight yet?
Grace (Saturday) beat Rak-Su (Sunday) in the first week.
Grace in week 1. Shows how strong she was.
Grace won week 1 while performing on a Saturday
Though Lloyd probably pulled in less votes than Kevin due to the shorter vote time on Sunday nights.
Plinkiplonk
As someone who’s voted for both, I voted Kevin for the prize fight. I would guess there are loads like me.
Well. I got that wrong. To be fair, they are both a cut above the usual crap.
Save Order:
Lloyd (winner)
Rai-Elle
Holly
Grace
Sam
I knew it. The criticism drew out a sympathy vote, getting him above (at least) Alisah.
It’s very Sofabet that this isn’t shocking. Twitter is melting down (thanks to angry Philippines) and I bet DigitalSpy is too
Oooh an upset.
Surely the first person to be sent home in four different stages. Is she coming back as an extra wildcard next week?
Interesting.Could this be the first week where the target was missed? Or did they not care enough? Sam had the worst comments and sang arguably the worst, but never underestimate how much being cute can take you on this show…
Oooh – next week is ‘crazy in love, songs about love and breakup’. Wonder who that is geared towards… (insert eyeroll emoji here)
*being male & cute
The criticism was too much for Sam. Alisha’s comments were confusing and demotivating. Sam’s comments attacked him again drumming up a sympathy vote for a young father with a photogenic family. It was a District3/Dynamite scenario all over again (except they didn’t have children).
Also, the comments about Sam going home were counter-acted by Sam needing to stay to build a future for his child. That would have helped his vote.
Ha. They finally miss a target. Gutted. Was shaping up to be a very profitable series if Sam had gone.
Maybe not. They got rid of Alisah without ever needing to really attack her. The criticism of Sam was far too strong – it had to be deliberate to provoke a sympathy vote. They’ll ease up next week and that’s another elimination sorted.
Gambling aside he so deserved to go. He’s terrible.
He is truly awful.
Sam must have beaten Alisah by a decent chunk tbh, otherwise Dermot would’ve mentioned how close it was
I’d bet he was ahead of Rai Elle too.
Big risk from the producers letting Llyod win a weekend this close to the final. This is typically where this type of act starts clearing up all the floating votes. Happy with my 12/1 investment from last week.
Little Mix must feel like Beyoncé circa 2013 after getting sandbagged with an opening act that has nothing to do with their style of music.
Sam has no hope of surviving a double next week. Other than that it should be an interesting week, they could bring down anyone.
Have just lumped on Grace for the outright win. I’m thinking (hoping) that shes still plan A and that all this dampening has just been to get a different winner each week. They can really start to build her up now for the win.
If they don’t have her winning on Love & Heartbreak week it’ll really be a bad sign for her.
I have the same hope that she still is the chosen one or would be liked as a winner by the show. Who do you think will be in the final?
The fact that Sam didn’t commiserate Alisah when she was announced bottom and walked off stage fist pumping isn’t going to make him look very good for next week
The producers will love that reaction though, gives them plenty of ammunition for next week… not that they really need it.
Double elimination next week… from five acts per night if the split continues so only three survive each night??? It’d make more sense to make all every act perform both nights now, surely?
If its another double eliminations with love and heartbreak week I can see rai Elle amd Sam black goners. Matt could also be gone. Interesting to see how well hilly polled but I think sean and connor should be goners too. The cuttys could also be in danger. But i think they need their top 8 so I think another single elimination mext week. They deufbelty have their top 4 unless someone else gets a push.
We’re due for a Boys-Groups pairing next week, so Cutty and the Price Brothers better hope for a single elimination
So it was Lloyds week like I hoped it’d be. They have to keep him in control now or else he can become dangerous later in the game.
I wonder if Sam really was the target? I mean one boy vs four girls after him leaving? hm. Sam’s advantage was that it was the only uptempo song and the critics were too harsh and obvious. His VT was hilarious though, it screamed: Let him go home.
Really wouldn’t be a suprise to me if Kevin , Lloyd or grace overhaul Rak su in the final whoever gets their! Rak su look short at 11/8 to me they could easily just finish 2nd and still get signed!
Didn’t watch tonight but unsurprised to see a girl leaving over Sam. Out of interest, how was Rai-Elle styled? Ultimately, Grace is the chosen one, or at least was, and Holly and Rai-Elle are prettier than Alisah – so it’s in some ways unsurprising that, especially with the small voting window, she’d be the first girl to fall.
Rai-Elle was styled like a baby version of Formation Beyoncé
It looks like Grace was given a good edit from slot 3 to keep her safe, but they used Holly in the pimp slot to split Grace’s votes and ensure Lloyd took the night.
That also means that Holly wasn’t polling well enough to be a threat to the lead.
Would Holly and Rai Elle’s votes transfer to Grace if she is the last girl which looks very likely?
Based on Holly’s performance tonight would say they would be a transfer of votes between her and grace, not so sure about Rae-Elle.
Hoping Grace gets a chance to do an original next week and get herself back in the running
Grace is done chaps.
Yes of course. And Cutkelvins are having their moment next week. Good luck with that.
Do they want the CutKelvins to have a moment next week? We’d be up to Week Eight now in a normal series; surely this is when they push their favourites for all they’re worth? Grace and Rak Su have been put on the backburner for the last couple of weeks so it doesn’t look like a two way battle but they’re going to have to turn the heat up under them now if they’re looking at them as winners. The theme gives both of them a chance to perform an original number again.
Lloyd failed to win the vote from the pimp slot in week one which means they must be confident they have his vote under control – unless the tears were unscripted and they’re now concerned they have a runaway train in their possession. I expect his home will shrink from Wales/The Rhonda Valley to solely his town next week either way. Kevin might be sent to the Embassy and asked to speak to everyone in French for the duration of his VT.
I wouldn’t be surprised if The CutKelvins and Holly are now targetted as part of the Double Elimination as I think they might be pulling votes from the same pool as Rak Su and Grace. Sam is the obvious target as he is the weakest contestant yet, isn’t a commercial prospect and Lloyd will no doubt take more than one week to dispatch. As for the Overs… I think it will be easier to take down Kevin than Matt despite the former beating the latter in the votes over the past couple of weeks.
Poor Alisah never even made it to the embassy!
But perhaps the French embassy is on standby….
Next week is rai Elle vs holly and cutklevins vs sean and connor. The top 4 seem safe and and Matt and Sam r goners.
Also four acts out of 10 are yet to have a pimp slot they are.
Cutklevins
Sean and connor
Grace
Rai Elle
Next week seems perfect for grace so i think she’ll top. I doubt they’ll give her a pimp theyll give rai Elle the pimp so she gets above holly. I think for the cutkelvins and sean and connor its whoever polled better last night. It could go either way.
For all the Groups hype, they’ve won ZERO prize fights
I do wonder if the Prize Fight isn’t good for the Groups somehow, in the way that the Sing Off sometimes wasn’t? The Groups often have a lot of other stuff going on in their performances, dancers, extra backing vocals etc. Perhaps these kind of Sing Offs suit solo singers more?
I tend to agree. We have already seen Rak Su lose the sing off to two solo “singers” – Grace and Kevin. Who do you think will be in the final and end up winning?
I think there isn’t an obvious frontrunner at the moment. We’ve had four different acts topping the vote, it’s not like years when there’s the same act topping the vote every week, although maybe this new format has something to do with that.
I think there’s no reason a group can’t win in the final. At that point they’re all doing big stage performances. They’re a bit more limited when it’s just a Sing-Off/Prize Fight. Though I think when it comes to the Winners Song, if they have to sing the same song, that also tends to favour soloists as opposed to groups.
Well, that’s all the the wildcards gone!
Alisah’s performance was my least favourite out of all of them. It was a boring, overwrought ballad type of performance in a show full of them, as she was on first her’s was probably easy to forget, it certainly faded from my memory very quickly. I did feel sorry for her when she was eliminated though, and it’s the first time I’ve felt sorry for one of the eliminated live show contestants this series.
Sam’s performance was the only uptempo one, plus it was likely a girl would go with there being so many left and only 2 boys. If it was judging who was the worst singer, then yes that would be Sam, but it’s not just about that on this show, it never has been. I think if anything it helps that Sam knows that he can’t sing that well, it means he doesn’t come across as arrogant or delusional.
Who knew you-a (getting saved) doin’ uptempo, ow! *finger snaps*
The next theme screams “Rak-Su show a different side to them with an original song”. Surely it’s a Rak-Grace rematch next week?
Sounds reasonable. Does the show want another non Rak Su/Grace prize winner though? If so they would push someone else but we are coming into the last few weeks now. Do you think Grace will be the winner at the end?
It’s possible that next week could be the final prize fight if they get rid of it for the semi-final. If that’s the case, they might want Rak-Su to win it so that the four favourites have all won a week.
They might have four in the final with two performing each night and one winner, with the final prize fight on the last show
If I remember correctly, the “prize fight” format is only slated for four weeks. I reckon it will go back to the format we know (and now love more because the current format needs A LOT of work) starting Week 5
Here are the rules from itv: http://www.itv.com/terms/votes-the-x-factor/the-x-factor-voting-terms-2017
“At their discretion, the Programme producers may hold a prize vote where they wish to use a further vote to determine who may be awarded best performer of the weekend (prize fight vote)”
So they could axe it whenever they want. Above that there is an explanation how the votings on each night will work up until the quarter-final. So maybe something will change with the semi-final.
Just watching the show now.
ALISAH
– Dreary.
– Oof. The old “bad practice” VT leading to a performance that misses the point of last week’s critique.
– Having a white guy lecture her about poverty makes her look out of touch, considering that her journey includes her family just scrimping enough money to send her here.
– Staging looks like a dystopian apocalypse. Simon’s cream-in-the-coffee comment just makes you lethargic enough not to vote.
SAM
– Somehow less fun than Jedward’s version, and they were targeted that week.
– Isle of Man. Another VT portraying him as out of his depth, but the family section elicits sympathy.
– Correct my memory, but I’m sure Sam wore that outfit before. Staging looked so novelty and no one looked interested.
– Pitchy but everyone else will sing boring ballads. Trying too hard because insecure. Knocked out his confidence. He’s getting pilloried with critique that will make you feel sorry enough to save him.
– Notice that Simon’s comment on him is similar to his comment on Alisah, but nastier. Like peak American Idol nastier.
GRACE
– The a capella was a good touch. Low bar, but the best of the night so far by some distance.
– VT of her looking to reconnect with her music and tapping into her pain
– Staging is galactic girl in front of what looks like an eclipse while she stands on a plinth with a blue holographic cage around her.
– Comments were positive but not OTT. What’s her “tough week”, though? All the bad press the show planted?
PALOMA FAITH
She openly blasted the show during its better years, so why is she here now? Salty from her stint at The Voice? Grace and Kevin name-dropped.
RAI-ELLE
– The song showed versatility that you wouldn’t associate with her normally.
– Fun VT that gets dark quickly, somewhat explaining why she went for a ballad this week. Showing her “nice” support system after talking about the gang violence in her area reminds the audience she is non-threatening.
– Staging is African princess expressing sadness. “Church”, “courageous”, “great spirit”. “Brave” was used but not in a “it sucks but you tried” sort of way.
– Not sure how this fared in the vote, but this tells me she won’t just roll down and lose against Holly.
LLOYD
– He’s not my cup of tea, but I really liked this. It reminds me of when Joe McElderry did Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me; he wasn’t my fave but that was one of my favourite XF performances of all time.
– VT showing he has something to prove.
– Lighting was soothing, which complements his voice. Sharon reminding everyone that this weekend was supposed to be a nod at George Michael’s legacy pretty much sealed the win for me.
– Simon’s comment tells me Lloyd’s good times may end here, but have they opened a can of worms by giving him room for this moment?
HOLLY
– Solid performance, I guess.
– Homesick VT. Family in a near-full restaurant and not an empty pub.
– Staging was ethereal, like a salon in a palace. Comments are very understated until Simon dropped the “old-fashioned” card. Interesting that it’s the theme tonight.
STANDING OVATION COUNT
Saturday: 0,2,0,4,4,4
Sunday: 2,0,1,3,3,1
PRIZE FIGHT
Thoroughly deserved by Lloyd. I wonder if this will help cap Kevin’s support.
ELIMINATION
I had my doubts after seeing the running order but wow they got someone else to drop below Sam. It shows that even in a short voting window, there is still a sympathy vote. Alisah looked like she was smiling from ear to ear so she won’t cry.
NEXT WEEK: CRAZY IN LOVE
It’s *really* a double elimination, but is it bottom 2 or one per category? The pairing is presumably Boys-Groups/Overs-Girls; I expect them to fan the flames of the tabloid rumours by making Grace and Matt perform consecutively.