End

I've decided not to continue this blog with updates from the live shows. It takes so long to do the transcriptions each week, and the only reason I did it originally was to follow the 57 acts put through from the auditions stage, and try to keep track of those who were likely to get through to the live finals, based on the judges' comments. Now the live finals have begun, it's mostly down to the public and it's pretty clear what the judges think anyway. This blog is still around as an archive, but my time is better spent on other things!! Still glad I've got this info online though.

Trucolorz' disqualification

Despite previous reports that Harmony Hood had not made it through to the Judges Houses round, they actually were offered a place in this round due to the disqualification of Trucolorz. Trucolorz were alright but not that amazing, and Harmony Hood are certainly a much better group, so I'm happy about this decision. Apparently Louis asked Trucolorz to come back next year when they are actually old enough to enter the competition.

Judges Houses: The Groups

Judges comments were not done in front of the contestants at this stage. Songs were chosen by the judges beforehand rather than by the individual contestants.

Kandy Rain
Actually really good, surprised me.
RK: "I really enjoyed that, that was very strong, and..."
LW: "Yeah."
RK: "...they shone there, they really did."
LW: "They totally did."
RK: "Yeah, definitely."
LW: "It's going to be hard to get girls to like them."
RK: "Yeah I... I don't know if girls are going to vote for them."
LW: "I think they're good..."
RK: "Yeah."
LW: "...but I don't see them being special."
RK: "Yeah, that's the one."
(Song: Lady Gaga - Paparazzi)

Harmony Hood
I disagree with both of the judges. I think they were really good.
LW: "It should have been good."
RK: "Yeah. It should have been a lot better."
LW: "It should have been so..."
RK: "Look I know that it's there..."
LW: "Yeah."
RK: "The talent is there but they just didn't gel at all, it didn't work."
LW: "They are great singers. I think... I gave them a tough song, but I was expecting a little bit more."
(Song: The Jackson 5 - Never Can Say Goodbye)

Miss Frank
They seem just a bit amateur. They're good for what they are and how new they are, but no way could they win.
LW: "I think they are raw talent."
RK: "Yeah."
LW: "You know, I really really do."
RK: "I do, I agree with you."
LW: "I think, I think the chemistry's good between the three of them."
RK: "I mean for girls that didn't know each other..."
LW: "Yeah."
RK: "...to see them like that together..."
LW: "Yeah."
RK: "...bounce off each other, sing like that... really impressed."
(Song: Otis Redding - Respect)

Project A
They still seem a bit cheesy and average, but nice people.
RK: "I, I mean they have something..."
LW: "Yeah."
RK: "...there is something there, there's a chemistry..."
LW: "They go...there's obviously chemistry amongst them."
RK: "Yeah."
LW: "And they have the likeability."
RK: "Yeah."
LW: "But I don't know if they would win the show."
(Song: 4 Non Blondes - What's Up?)

John & Edward
They are just rubbish!! And so annoying.
RK: "They should have the most chemistry between all of these acts, they're twins, they've grown up together, and... they look uncomfortable beside each other."
LW: "I think people will like them."
(Song: Backstreet Boys - I Want It That Way)

De-Tour
These were rubbish, worse than John & Edward. I don't understand how they even got here.
RK: "I think that vocally they struggle a little bit but I put it down to nerves."
LW: "The harmonies weren't there."
RK: "There's no chemistry between them, the harmonies were terrible."
(Song: Elton John - Tiny Dancer)

Judges Houses: The Over 25s

Judges comments were not done in front of the contestants at this stage. Songs were chosen by the judges beforehand rather than by the individual contestants.

Treyc Cohen
Awesome, the best performance of the entire stage.
SM: "Some tone, right?"
SC: "That was really good. But she's missing that star belief."
(Song: Linda Clifford - All The Man That I Need)

Olly Murs
This was really quite good, despite what I've said before.
SM: "Really nervous wasn't he?"
SC: "He was, wasn't he?"
SM: "Really nervous."
SC: "Yeah."
SM: "Hard song."
SC: "I really like him. But it just shows you what the nerves can do to somebody."
(Song: Leon Russell - A Song For You)

Nicole Lawrence
Song really suited her; showed her entire vocal range. She is very passionate. She is genuinely incredible vocally but I don't think she could win.
SC: "Now what do we do?"
SM: "But, I mean, she's amazing right?"
SC: "She's incredible. But d'you know, I genuinely don't know what to do now. I'd put [Olly, Treyc, Daniel and Nicole] through; we've still got two more to go."
(Song: Solomon Burke - Up To The Mountain)

Danyl Johnson
Very good but may just have stage presence and not be good in the studio. This performance was not terrible but I did find it disappointing. I had really high hopes for this guy previously.
SC: "Little bit over the top? But he is good."
SM: "Well, do you think he's somebody who some people love him, some people hate him?"
SC: "Yeah. He's marmite."
(Song: Alicia Keys - Fallin')

Daniel Pearce
Very very good, but not as good as some others in his category
SC: "He realises this is his last shot; he gave it a million per cent there. He cracked at a couple of points, but..."
SM: "But he could feel while he was doing it."
SC: "Yeah. I like him."
SM: "Oh, this is horrible. I like all of them so far. Are there any bad ones?"
(Song: George Michael - Praying For Time)

Jamie Archer
He coped with this ballad better than I thought he would, but he's still nothing special.
SC: "He felt every minute of that song. He didn't just sing it, there was more there."
SM: "So tender, wasn't it?"
SC: "I've never seen him like that. But, he's got to start believing in himself. And I'm not sure, because of all the years he's been beaten down, that he actually knows how good he could be. And that's the problem."
(Song: Oasis - Stop Crying Your Heart Out)

Judges Houses: The Girls

Judges comments were not done in front of the contestants at this stage. Songs were chosen by the judges beforehand rather than by the individual contestants.

Stacey McClean
Did not disappoint, still the most underrated contestant in the competition.
DM: "She looked; kind of looked really nervous."
KM: "I'd be interested to see how she would handle the incredible range of songs that you ask them to sing during the live shows."
DM: "Hmm."
(Song: Britney Spears - Sometimes)

Lucie Jones
Beautiful song once again, but hmm I don't know how she would cope with up-tempo songs. Stacey McClean on the other hand has proven she can cope with both sides.
KM: "She's got great control."
DM: "She's got the voice, but it's having that little bit of pizazz inside yourself. I'm worrying if she has that."
(Song: Gloria Estefan - Anything For You)

Stacey Soloman
Very good but not even close to Lucie and Stacey McClean...only hyped because she has such a different voice than you expect from her personality.
KM: "Lovely tone to her voice, I think."
DM: "She sings and she looks around the room like 'Was that okay?' "
KM: "I know."
DM: "And I'm thinking I wanna jump up and go 'Yes! It's okay!' "
KM: "Yeah, I guess she's gonna need to believe in herself."
(Song: Judy Garland - Somewhere Over The Rainbow)

Despina Pilavakis
She is certainly good, but not sure if she is unique enough to be able to do well on this show.
DM: "That's a hard song to sing."
KM: "She made it seem pretty easy though!"
DM: "She made it seem easy; I'm not sure that she put her stamp on it. I'm not sure that she showed me something that was different."
(Song: Christina Aguilera - The Voice Within)

Rachel Adedji
I still just don't get her! I don't understand what all the fuss is about.
DM: "The main thing for me is you've gotta connect with the emotion of the song."
KM: "Yeah."
DM: "And she definitely did that. Tick!"
KM: "Tick! Engaging, tick!"
DM: "There were just two bits I thought she was just gonna smash that through..."
KM: "And it didn't..."
DM: "That was a big mistake."
(Song: Pink - Nobody Knows)

Nicole Jackson
Poor girl, she just got into too much of a state. But I wasn't that impressed with her at earlier stages anyway.
KM: "I feel like crying for her."
DM: "You could see it going through her eyes... 'I don't know... where I am in the song and I don't know... the words' I mean granted, you can hear she's got an amazing voice, I love... the quality and the tone of her voice is beautiful. I think what maybe she did was to try and change it too much and... lost her way with it, ohhh..."
(Song: Stevie Wonder - Lately)

Judges Houses: The Boys

Judges comments were not done in front of the contestants at this stage. Songs were chosen by the judges beforehand rather than by the individual contestants.

Rikki Loney
Yep, great voice, still the best of the boys.
CC: "Rikki will absolutely pour his heart out every Saturday night."
WY: "Yeah but whether he can deliver it week after week is something that's making me think I'm not sure..."
CC: "I totally agree."
WY: "...so it's kind of..."
CC: "I can't cope, can you?"
(Song: Carole King - You've Got A Friend)

Joseph McElderry
Better than i expected, this was his best performance yet.
CC: "He's got all the different sounds to his voice."
WY: "Yeah."
CC: "He just needs to know how to use them properly."
WY: "You're so right. You're so right. I'd admire any boys that... it's the control..."
CC: "Yeah."
WY: "...of the, of the belting at the top."
(Song: Elton John - Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word)

Daniel Fox
I think this song really suited his voice, but he's not right for the competition
WY: "That's just turned it on it's head hasn't it? It's just that he's such a different type of singer, but that doesn't mean that it's not going to work on a pop show. I mean that was really moving. Out and out moving."
CC: "Hmm."
(Song: Badfinger - Without You)

Duane Lamonte
Quite disappointing; he didn't seem to have a great vocal.
WY: "He started off and I thought (*winces*) God he's in the wrong key, he hasn't found his..."
CC: "Yeah."
WY: "His pitch is bad. I will be worried."
CC: "When he's on it..."
WY: "When he's on it..."
CC: "...he's amazing. He's such a nice guy."
(Song: Ne-Yo - Closer)

Ethan Boroian
He does not seem all that special, although he does have style.
CC: "I think he could be one of them people that thinks his look is gonna carry him through."
WY: "He didn't do a great vocal, y'know, but he's really handsome."
CC: "He definitely gets the girly vote."
(Song: Elton John - I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues)

Lloyd Daniels
He sang the same song as in the auditions; I don't think he can cope with more mainstream songs.
CC: "Aww... He's really improved since his first couple of auditions actually."
WY: "Has he? I'm a bit worried about his age."
CC: "Yeah."
WY: "Whether he can cope."
CC: "And I think he just looks nervous, yeah."
(Song: Jason Mraz - I'm Yours)

Boot Camp

Since Boot Camp does not contain a lot of specific feedback from the judges to the contestants, I'm going to write more of a free-form post detailing what happened at each stage.

In stage 1, the contestants got into groups of 3. For most performances we only saw a glimpse of them, and other contestants we didn't see at all. The ones we did see at this stage were Lloyd Daniels, It Takez Two, Alistair Nwachukwu, Amie Buck, Graziella Affinita (appearing for the first time with her colleagues from the eventual group Miss Frank; they sang "That's Life" by Frank Sinatra), Lucie Jones, Rachel Adedji, Kandy Rain, Shanna Goodhead, Joseph McElderry, M&G, Jamie Archer, Miss Fitz and John & Edward.

In stage 2, the contestants were organised into rooms, each of which was either put through or completely eliminated. Room 1 was the room which we saw the most of, and was seen to contain Olly Murs, Rachel Adedji, Behrouz Ghaemi, Danyl Johnson, Lucie Jones, Treyc Cohen, Despina Pilavakis, John & Edward and Siren. This room was put through.

Room 2 contained Graziella Affinita and Shanna Goodhead, but was eliminated. I didn't see any familiar faces in room 3, but this was eliminated too. Room 4 was seen to contain Ethan Boroian, Lloyd Daniels, Jamie Archer, Trucolorz, Stacey Soloman, Nicole Lawrence and Daryl Markham. This room was put through.

Then arguably the main part of the program was the third stage - individual performances. In this stage there was only a list of 25 songs to choose from a lot of acts performed the same song. The following performances were seen:

  • Joseph McElderry: George Michael - Praying For Time
  • Nicole Jackson: Oasis - Stop Crying Your Heart Out
  • Ethan Boroian: Paolo Nutini - Last Request
  • Rozelle Phillip: Jennifer Holliday - And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going
  • Daniel Fox: U2 - With Or Without You
  • Lucie Jones: Christina Aguilera - Hurt
  • Rachel Adedji: Paolo Nutini - Last Request
  • Duane Lamonte: Leon Russell - A Song For You
  • Trucolorz: Gabrielle - Rise
  • Daryl Markham: Daniel Merriweather - Red
  • Daniel Pearce: Prince - Purple Rain
  • Nicole Lawrence: Jennifer Holliday - And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going
  • Behrouz Ghaemi: Prince - Purple Rain
  • Treyc Cohen: Michael Jackson - Ben
  • Despina Pilavakis: Prince - Purple Rain
  • Lloyd Daniels: Michael Jackson - You Are Not Alone
  • Kandy Rain: Oasis - Stop Crying Your Heart Out
  • Jade Fubara: Jennifer Holliday - And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going
  • Dominic Harris: Paolo Nutini - Last Request
  • Miss Frank: Rose Royce - Wishing On A Star
  • Scott James: Faith Hill - There You'll Be
  • Rikki Loney: Adele - Chasing Pavements
  • Olly Murs: Elton John - Your Song
  • De-Tour: Paolo Nutini - Last Request (This group had not previously appeared)
  • Harmony Hood: U2 - With Or Without You
  • Curtis Moore: Michael Jackson - You Are Not Alone
  • Project A: Gabrielle - Rise
  • Stacey McClean: U2 - With Or Without You
  • Jamie Archer: U2 - With Or Without You
  • Stacey Soloman: Faith Hill - There You'll Be
  • Danyl Johnson: Simply Red - Holding Back The Years
Then the contestants came out in sets (not all of whom I recognised) for a "yes" or "no".

  • Daryl Markham was eliminated.
  • Jamie Archer, Olly Murs, Nicole Lawrence and Stacey McClean were all put through.
  • Miss Frank, Daniel Fox, Stacey Soloman, Rikki Loney and Treyc Cohen were all put through.
  • Siren were eliminated.
  • Scott James was eliminated.
  • Project A and Kandy Rain were put through.
  • Dominic Harris was eliminated.
  • Joseph McElderry, Despina Pilavakis, Duane Lamonte and Ethan Boroian were put through.
  • John & Edward, Rachel Adedji, De-Tour and Daniel Pearce were put through.
  • M&G and Curtis were eliminated.
  • Behrouz was eliminated.
  • Trucolorz, Lloyd Daniels, Lucie Jones, Danyl Johnson and Nicole Jackson were put through.
Finally the judges were given their categories.

  • Simon: Over 25s (Danyl Johnson, Treyc Cohen, Nicole Lawrence, Daniel Pearce, Olly Murs and Jamie Archer). Simon has had this category once before, in series 1, and he won; in fact in this series both the top two acts were his. In total he has won 2 out of the 5 series he has participated in before.
  • Cheryl: Boys (Rikki Loney, Duane Lamonte, Ethan Boroian, Lloyd Daniels, Joseph McElderry and Daniel Fox). Cheryl has not had this category before. In total she has won 1 series which is the only series she has participated in before.
  • Louis: Groups (Kandy Rain, Project A, Miss Frank, Trucolorz, De-Tour and John & Edward). Louis has had this category twice before and came second both times. However, this category has never won the show. In total he has won 1 of the 5 series he has participated in.
  • Dannii: Girls (Lucie Jones, Stacey McClean, Despina Pilavakis, Stacey Soloman, Nicole Jackson and Rachel Adedji). Dannii has never had this category before. In total she has won 1 of the 2 series she has participated in; in fact in this series both the top two acts were hers.