‘The X Factor’ UK live review: Only the Young, Stereo Kicks, Lauren Platt take on big songs
Today, “The X Factor” UK aired its final seven performance show, and there is a super-big twist to go along with it: There’s an elimination coming! We’re going to have at the end of the show tonight the departure of someone notable.
We’re going to have that announcement coming in a separate article later, so check back to CarterMatt to get some further updates when it comes to that. For the time being, let’s just get to the performances on this terribly-themed Whitney Houston / Elton John week.
Lauren Platt, “How Will I Know” – Probably the most fun we’ve seen Lauren have on the show. She sang the Whitney classic very well, and made the wise move to speed things up and incorporate a little dance. Even her brother being featured was a nice touch, even if it was separate to her overall performance.
Ben Haenow, “I Will Always Love You” – Despite Louis Walsh’s phoned-in comments, this song just didn’t work. His voice was a little scratchy, and it was almost like Simon Cowell tried to throw a square peg into a round hole. With a different song, this could have been a very different performance.
Only the Young, “The Way You Look Tonight” – A great performance. The vocals weren’t always 100% perfect, but we’re a little bit forgiving with that when you move around the stage, have fun, and really make an effort to entertain. That’s what makes real pop stars these days more than just standing in one place.
Andrea Faustini, “I Have Nothing” – Hate the song almost on principle at this point, though we absolutely felt that the performance was great. We do need to see him push the envelope as an artist a little bit more, but there is no question that he has an insane amount of singing ability.
Fleur East, “I’m Every Woman” – This was a little too much like the Whitney Houston original, but she still killed it across the board. She even had her family backing her up! This is a heck of a lineup tonight, and out of the first five, who do you send home? (Of course, we haven’t gotten to the sixth one yet…)
Stevi Ritchie, “I’m Still Standing” – This was one of the most bizarre, terrifying things we’ve ever seen. It was completely hilarious. We didn’t get the Egyptian theme, the feathers, the honey, or anything else. This looks like it’ll be Stevi’s end of the road.
Stereo Kicks, “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me” – We’re not going to sit here and say that this was something that innovative, but this was the group’s best performance on the show to date. There were real harmonies, and we actually are starting to get to know them!