‘The X Factor’ UK rankings: Jahmene Douglas tops; Rylan Clark hangs around
What a bizarre, controversial season of “The X Factor” UK this is becoming. Two of the acts we figured to be gone before the top ten are still around, whereas one potential favorite in Ella Henderson is gone. Who is going to leave this weekend? At this point, your guess is really as good as ours.
While it may be hard to judge anything based on the voting patterns of the British public at this point, we are still going to try to courtesy of the latest edition of our show rankings, which calculate everything from fan support to performance quality and in this case, even momentum and headlines from the British press. Don’t be surprised if we’re wrong, and if we turn into the fetal position come Sunday night during the closing credits.
5. Rylan Clark (last week: 6) – You can argue that Rylan is better than Christopher at least when it comes to entertainment value, and you may be right in that as rough as his singing is, we do admittedly look forward to his performances more every week. However, we have to judge this based more on voting figures, and Rylan has been in the bottom two on multiple occasions this season. The fanbase is just likely not the same size.
4. Christopher Maloney (5) – Call this wishful thinking to rank a man fourth who is one of the only two people to never face the bottom two; but as more and more acts leave, we don’t see Mr. Maloney pulling in many of their supporters. We instead think that Ella fans will carry over to James or Union J, and eventually he will be left out in the cold. The key word here? Eventually. We still expect him to be a part of the final four.
3. Union J (4) – With there already being two hot boy bands on the international market in The Wanted and One Direction, and with JLS making it three in the United Kingdom, it’s going to be tough for these boys after the show despite their talent. However, they are deserving of making it to the final round, and probably will now that they no longer have to worry about themselves splitting the vote with District3. Easily, they win the gold star for “most improved act of the season.”
2. James Arthur (1) – We’re going to call that bottom two appearance from James an “aberration,” as sons fans probably fell asleep at the wheel after he gave a performance of “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You” that was probably a little too safe. He may have been exposed as someone destined to be more of a runner-up than a winner, but we anticipate a furious rally here akin to when shocked “American Idol” fans rallied behind Jessica Sanchez after she was saved by the judges earlier this year.
1. Jahmene Douglas (2) – If the top three were three acts ranked here, would it save this season from being a letdown? Probably not, but Jahmene still has all of the tools to be a superstar in music … especially now that he is getting his confidence up. Is it wrong that we want to hear him sing some more dance pop? He may need to work harder to make himself current, but when you look at the talent here and the public vote, the guy is simply the best of everyone left and one of the best pure singers ever to hit the stage.
Who do you think is likely to win “The X Factor” UK, or are you really even that invested anymore following some of the shocking eliminations already this season?