X FACTOR: Party Week

Starting with ads that constantly refer to the "Josh Brookes scandal", this week's X Factor did not just change their air time, they also welcomed back a favourite. I was so excited to hear that Josh's replacement is none other then the humble and encouraging Carmelo Munzone.

Although I'm angry with what Josh had done to be kicked out of the show, I'm glad it was Carmelo that Mel chose to bring back.

PARTY WEEK!!!

Ok, so this week's theme was (to) PARTY! So with the balloons in the air and the music ready to blast, this week was nothing short of controversy and let's just say, misinterpretation of the theme. Have you ever gone to costume party with people who walk around and they clearly did not think about their costume? Well, that's how I felt like with some of the song choices for this week. Pre-warnign to anyone who's a Bella fan, I'm going to be really breaking down her performance this week, so skip it if you don't like hearing/reading anything negative.

Alright, first things first, I won't deny that she can sing and she has a great voice. But I just think this week's song choice did nothing for her. It's week two and I feel like she's done nothing to make me think, "Wow!" For many people, I think, Bella's just been singing the same types of songs and keeps getting away with it. I don't think she's growing at all. I say this because yesterday's rendition of What Makes You Beautiful was the most infuriating thing that I had seen the entire night. It wasn't that she slowed it down, because I've hear decent versions of WMYB that have been slow and acoustic, but it was more that it was a selfish rendition of the song.

On Nat's part as a mentor, she had the chance to choose a funky indie song that was upbeat enough to dance to that Bella could've really flourished in vocally. Nat's justification of "One Direction is 'party'" falls short when Ronan clearly reminded her that yes, "the original version" is 'party'. There was nothing party about Bella's performance besides the balloons.

Bella's justification of her arrangement being "prom-like" seems plausible, but only to the extent of the lighting. I found it odd that she had giant boxes on stage and a random guy playing an accordion - although, tops to that guy, he was the highlight of sitting through her performance. If you were going to set that kind of scene, then set it - have a typical cheesy high school band behind you, sing with a stand and have dancers slow dancing around you. What annoyed me even more was that this rendition even had the potential to have a climatic rise towards the mid-section, but it didn't. It was just so linear musically and vocally that at no point did you even want to sway or bring your lighters out.

I thought it was unfair for both Bella and the rest of the contestants. For Bella, I think she's stuck. I personally think that this just emphasises that she's one dimensional and that she's not willing to challenge herself. For the other contestants, I just feel like she got the easy way out with Nat's comment of "not wanting to produce manufactured artist" and that's offensive to not just the show, but also to the rest of the judges who stuck to the criteria. I just think that these themes help shape the individual sounds - it pushed them to the limits and sees where the barriers are and where the untapped potential of their voices lie. For Bella, it's like she's a fixed, one-dimentional singer that really doesn't have anywhere else to go. And I don't really think that's the case. BUT right now, we're just seeing repeats of her first audition, except it's like a re-run that looses the wow factor by the minute.

One group who seem to be getting stronger each week is The Collective. When I heard they were doing Footloose, I was like, "Ooooh..." but when they got onstage I was like, "Yes!" I love that Will and Trent are taking turns in leading the songs and Zack's doing all the trills and ad-libs, but I'm fearing that this format might bore us in the next few weeks. I'm beginning to worry about all the added rapping as well, I mean it's great, but I don't think it should be done each week. I want to be able to see all five boys have their turn in the lime light. I think potentially this is possible and it would really challenge the group as a vocal ensemble.

The Verdict

This week's bottom two were teen favourites, What About Tonight and wedding singer Nathaniel Willemse. I have never been more relieved when I heard What About Tonight's name called out as the group leaving the competition. I have nothing personal against these boys, but based on last night's performance, I have to say it wasn't a shock to see them in the bottom. I was shocked to see Nathaniel there, considering he worked really hard on his choreography and showed that he was willing to take up a challenge.

To justify my relief, What About Tonight have had no solid footing besides resonating with One Direction. I know the footage shows 1D saying that WAT "reminds them of them", but to be honest that's not at all true. I mean being young artists fine, granted they were of a similar age when they all auditioned separately, but just because 5 boys step onto the X Factor stage - that's important - and claim they want to be the next One Direction does not make them the answer to One Direction. Dressing like them and huddling around together after a song is also just mimicking them - sure, the "best form of appreciation and imitation" - but imitation is exactly that, a copy. Just because your main point of difference is that you're Australian isn't a strong enough basis to claim that you're the "answer to" 1D. What happened with WAT is people were just seeing what they wanted to see - our version of 1D.

That's why I was so against the idea of having a super group and the girl's group proved that at the home visits when they didn't get through. I was even a little shaky about having The Collective in the top 12 because their performance was not as succinct as could've been. When you're thinking of a group that can answer to One Direction you need to look at One Direction's journey. It's not just about moulding a band of individual singers with 'great' voices and a sense of camaraderie to hold it together, it's about about the inner workings of the vocal arrangement. I always revert to the Judges Houses of X Factor UK 2012 when 1D sang Torn as a comparison for any of these groups because that's where we see, not just the hard work that the boys put into their song choice, but also how they individually understood their own voices, each other's voices and how their individual voices worked together which formulated their vocal roles as One Direction. For WAT, I felt like the boys didn't even know their own sound before they had time to get to know each other's. Also, WAT's individual members all have common vocal ranges, so it's hard to really pick out a lead vocalist or someone to drive the song. This isn't usually a problem, but let's face it, every band needs to have a frontman. Not just that, but the dynamics of the song choices could end up becoming one dimensional (that's be a great name change - *kidding*).

Overall, I was really worried about the deadlock, but in the end I think Australia made the right decision, because frankly you can have only have one direction (and that's Jesus - ok sorry, that was inappropriate). 

sL xxx

NEW SINGLE AND VIDEO: One Direction - Live While We're Young

If you still haven’t heard this song then you either a) refuse to listen to One Direction or 2) don’t listen to the radio – either way, you’re reading this review, so hopefully you pressed play and listened to it before you read this – if not, it’s all good, read on.

Pre-Order: iTunes / 1D Website

(Release Date: Friday, 28th September)

This song, in a nutshell, epitomises both these acronyms: “YOYO” – “you’re only young once” and “YOLO” – “you only live once”. “YOYO” because of the title and the theme of the video clip, while “YOLO” is found in the lyrics of the chorus. Positives about this song include the upbeat tempo with it’s light-hearted lyrics and I have to say, after hearing it twice on BBC Radio 1, it was so catchy that I was singing already the chorus at 2am while I was waiting for the video release.

Although it’s a song that I have on repeat and really like singing along to (and occasionally belting out), it’s nothing new. It’s like they took the format (i.e. the delegation of the lyrics as well as the musical arrangement) of What Makes You Beautiful and combined it with One Thing to reproduce a hybrid version of the two. I’m not saying that this is wrong – I mean What Makes You Beautiful did VERY well and One Thing, in my opinion, is still their best video clip from their first album – I’m just saying it wasn’t worth all the hype that people had placed on it – or me staying up. I’m also concerned with the lyrics that seem to contradict each other and are almost borderline inappropriate. (Pre-warning, if you hate it when people read into things, stop reading now!)

In the first verse, Liam sings, “Hey girl I’m waiting on you…come on and let me sneak you out,” but in the chorus they sing, “I know we only met but let’s pretend it’s love.” I mean, if you’re going to sneak a girl, how on earth will that happen if you just met? Well, I guess it worked for Romeo and Juliet - maybe that’s what the writers are going for? You know, “young love” and sporadic impulses – even a hasty marriage, but they’re just pretending, so I guess it’s more like Bruno Mars’, I Wanna Marry You. I’m also not sure if I would say, “Tonight let’s ‘get some’ and live while we’re young,” I mean that just sounds like they’re saying, “Let’s do it, because YOYO.” I don’t know maybe it’s just me, but that arrangement just sounds like – with lack of a better description – a booty call. But I’m open (and hoping) that maybe when 1D say, “let’s get some” they really mean, “let’s just do all the fun stuff that we can, because we’re only young once.” I’m going to choose to believe that this is what they mean when they sing it.

Overall it’s a great party song and I genuinely to like it, but it’s nothing new – and obviously I have an issue with the overall message that they’re trying to put across. I just think, if you’re going to recycle a format – in both the lyrical and musical arrangement – then it’s the message that matters. And I hate to say this, but it’s that one line that really mixes what they’re trying to bring across. I get that the boys are all adults and what they choose to sing/say is appropriate to some personal degree, but, for me it’s just too suggestive within it’s lyrical context. Like I said, I’m hoping that that’s not what they mean, but I do understand if that’s how other people will interpret it. To end on a positive note, the video clip epitomises all the members of One Direction. It’s a lot more vibrant than their previous video clips, which is nice and the song in itself, like One Thing, show cases ALL their voices – which is a great sign for their upcoming second album, Take Me Home.

sL Star Rating:

Song: 3

Video: 5

X FACTOR: LIVE SHOWS Begin

So we're all in front of our screens for the THIRD season of X FACTOR AU for 2012. Our top 12 consists of:

Groups

Fourtunate

The Collective (Super Group)

What About Tonight

Girls

Shiane

Angel

Bella

Boys

Josh

Adil

Jason

Over 25s

Nathaniel

Samantha Jade

Justin

Ok, let me just start by saying, this X FACTOR overview is just an added bonus that I want to write about after each Live Show and Live Eviction show. I just thought I tweet about  X Factor enough to be able to talk about what I tweet about.

LIVE Show (Numero Uno)

So 2012 kicked off with a bang! This has been one of the best starts to the season I've seen on the X Factor stage - in all honesty, the calibre of the contestants all the way from the nation-wide auditions has just been ridiculous! But last night was just PHENOMENAL! So much energy, excitement and anticipation. The theme was "Judges Choices" and I have to say there were definitely some hit and misses that were clearly evident with tonight's eviction show.

But let's go through some highlights first. I particularly loved Josh Brookes' and The Collective's performances.

Josh was just incredible! Coming  along way from losing a spot for the Home Visits to Johnny Ruffo last year, Josh has made it to the Live Shows and has declared that "the lasting that [he] wants to do is go home". Last night's performance saw Josh engulfed with backup dancers and a massive set of headphones to define his iconic style. Above all else his voice and personality were at home with Jason Derulo's dance floor anthem, Don't Want To Go Home. Great song choice by Mel B and kudos to the choreographers!

The Collective surprised me the most out of all 12 performances last night. Not knowing what to expect from Australia's attempt of Simon Cowell's 2010 superstars - One Direction - it was nice to know that The Collective have spoken and have separated themselves from 1D with a hands-down, mind-blowing performance, complete with a sky dropping entrance and high energy vocals that brought every one to their feet and let every jaw hit the floor. These guys looked and sounded fantastic singing Jessie J's, Domino. Risky, yet brilliant set design and song choice for Ronan!

The VERDICT (12 become 11)

Tonight's Live Verdict show heard all of Australia gasp as two favourites, Adil and Samantha Jade, were announced as the bottom two. Before I talk about the outcome, I just want to say that, though I was gasping along with everyone, we are at the LIVE shows - NO ONE is safe. Last night was Judge's Song Choice - their mentor's perspective of what kind of artists they will be - so they're ideals my not actually be what the contestants had in mind or what Australia had fallen in love with up to this point.

Out of the 12 I thought Fourtunate, Adil and Samantha Jade were the ones who stood out the most in terms of unlikely "sounds" for their futures in the music industry. Fourtunate's take on Maroon 5's, Payphone was not as vocally appealing as their previous performances where they chose their own songs. For Fourtunate it was just about misplacement of trills, harmonies and extended notes, which are easy to fix for the following weeks. In the case of Adil, it was about whether the guitar was a good choice for the first night. I agree that it added another dynamic and Adil handled that aspect of his performance really well, although, lyrically he struggled to deliver by losing his diction and at times the tempo of the song. Samantha Jade tackled Katy Perry's, Wide Awake and Ronan deemed it "better than Katy", which Australia did not seem to agree with. Being the only contestant who knows what it's like to be in the industry, taking on a Katy Perry song without her iconic deep vocals is dangerous - especially for someone who's already honed-in her own sound.

Seeing Adil sing for his life was uncomfortable as he let his nerves show, leaving lots of room for Samantha Jade to declare her claim for the final spot for next week's Top 11. It's a shame to see a talented boy go, but there's still room to grow for Adil. The competition doesn't end just because Luke Jacobs doesn't  call your your name out; it just means you have to work harder to have it heard again and again.

sL Out! xxx