‘Let It Shine’ episode 4 review: Alexis Gerred, Bradley Johnson, Callum Howells, more kick off final auditions
Tonight, the BBC gave us the fourth and final audition show for “Let It Shine,” which is quickly becoming our favorite singing show on television at the moment. Just take a look at everything great that the series is doing — you’ve got a diverse, interesting group of contestants, even if they are of a certain gender and age. Also, the show is paced perfectly, and there’s nice chemistry with the judges. To be fair, we do believe that Gary Barlow — the best reality TV judge out there save for maybe David Walliams — has chemistry with a paper bag.
Just like the remainder of our episode reviews, we’re going to be updating this review live with more talent and hot-takes over the course of the next hour or so. Be sure to refresh often! The following were some of our favorites on the night.
Callum Howells – Our first contestant of the season is someone with a heavy musical-theater background; the fact that he performed a song from “Hamilton” is proof of that. We know that he can do traditional musicals without a problem; his challenge from here may be trying to figure out how he would fare doing songs more out of his comfort zone. Gary Barlow’s note about practicing more rock music was apt. Our Score: 4.
Scott Macaulay – We will say that Martin Kemp’s critique about him being a solo artist was valid — he feels more like the singer-songwriter that you’d see at an intimate gig than a West End or Broadway stage with an ensemble. He may have been better on another singing show; yet, this is the audition round! You don’t turn someone away based on talent. Our Score: 4.
Alexis Gerred – You can tell while watching Alexis perform that this is a guy who has a ton of experience performing on stage. Sure, his vocals were great, but more than that he knew how to move his body and how to emote using his face. A really great performance of “Come Together,” and one that would make it so easy for us to see him on stage. Our Score: 5.
Robert Evans – Robert is the sort of singer that if this was “The X Factor” or “Britain’s Got Talent,” he would probably make it very far just because of his story and the emotion behind how he sang. The problem with the farm boy was that other than the voice, he wasn’t connecting with the audience. You need that personality to shine through; without that, it’s hard to bank onyour musical theater ability. Our Score: 3.
Sam Glenn – This was incredibly good in terms of technique and presence, but if we’re going to be honest, there was a major issue that we had with it in terms of memorability. You want to be able to remember someone for a rather long time after they leave the stage, and in this case, we cannot really share that sentiment in full. Our Score: 4.
Bradley Johnson – “Bring Him Home” is a tremendous song. If you sing it well, we pretty much are going to be inclined to give it a 4. Bradley did just that. What keeps it from a 5? For us at the very least, he didn’t crescendo enough in the song, and the end of it felt a tad more muted than we would’ve liked. Still, he’s a guy with the experience and the chops to make it extremely far in the competition. Judging from the perfect score the judges gave it, maybe we’re a tad grumpy in our approach. Our Score: 4.
At the end of the show tonight, we saw a few hopefuls who had previously advanced to the next round put into “reserve” roles, meaning that because of their combination of singing and dance skills, they will not be guaranteed a spot in the next round. No one too notable at this point was lost.
Who was your favorite from this weekend’s new episode of “Let It Shine”? Share in the comments, and head over here to get some other news when it comes to the series. (Photo: BBC.)