‘The X Factor’ UK review: Reggie ‘n Bollie, Lauren Murray, Che Chesterman try to rule top 5

We are finally at the point in “The X Factor” where we are starting to identify the real contenders, and that’s exciting to us! Most of the filler is gone, and we can envision scenarios where everyone left is in the final!

We won’t waste too much time with an introduction here, mostly because we know that there are so many things about this show that we want to get to right away! For one, did anyone else think that the show figured out a nice way to utilize the hosts here? They certainly felt a little bit more natural to us than they have in some time.

Louisa Johnson, “Love Yourself” – Great song choice given that it is very popular at the moment. However, Louisa’s sick and you can tell in her voice. Maybe she’ll get a sympathy bump; she may need it given that this was probably her worst vocal of the season so far.

4th Impact, “I’ll Be There” – We’re not sure if comparing one of their notes to a dolphin is a great move, no? We do think that sometimes the ladies try too hard to show how many vocal tricks and theatrics they can do, but they have so much talent that it’s probably hard not to.

Reggie ‘n Bollie, “Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)” – Probably our least favorite performance from them in a few weeks. They eventually created something  here that was original and more their style, but the first part of it (which was the actual song) really didn’t work.

Lauren Murray, “Firestone” – We thought it was better than Simon Cowell gave it credit, and it was Lauren’s style! We’d actually say that given the odd performances from the first half of the show, it was as good as any of them.

Che Chesterman, “Hello” by Adele – This, unfortunately, was justification to send Che home. Great vocals, but we think there has to be a zero-tolerance policy for forgetting the words to a song at this point in the competition, especially one that is literally everywhere right now. Great ending, but terrible beginning.

4th Impact, “Fancy Rich Girl” – If you read between the lines here, it feels almost like the show wants to get the girl group and Che out before the final, and that’s a shame because this was really fun. From the choreography to the style, this may be our favorite performance of the season from them.

Che Chesterman, “Try a Little Tenderness” – This was really great, but we do still have to say that it doesn’t really wash away the “Hello” gaffe for Che since that was a chance to really get the attention of Adele and millions of her fans.

Lauren Murray, “You Don’t Own Me” – Have we found Lauren’s new niche? We’re starting to think as though Lauren should be doing many more of these jazzy, bluesy performances since they show off some of that smoky character in her voice.

Reggie ‘n Bollie, “Dynamite” – Did these guys make the song truly fun? We thought that it was more fun than the first, even if we did make a revelation around the midway point of the song that Reggie seems to be the more talented of the two. Rita was right to call them out on their vocals, but we still desperately want them in the final. They’re not boring!

Louisa Johnson, “Jealous” – Was this the right choice? It’s a great song, but we think that Josh Daniel’s rendition was better just because of the emotional attachment. This was still a really good vocal until she got a little choked up at the end. Also, the show clearly wants her to win given how she both opened and closed tonight.

If you want to see where we ranked the contestants going into this weekend’s show, head over to the link here! Also, you can sign up now to get some other TV news on everything we cover, courtesy of our CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: ITV.)