‘The X Factor’ UK finale review: Nicholas McDonald, Sam Bailey’s winners’ singles; plus, Katy Perry
Tonight’s “The X Factor” UK finale brought quite a bit of everything, whether it be performances from stars, performances from the finalists, Nicole Scherzinger continuing to fill Nicholas McDonald up with false hope, and useless montages that really don’t need to be there. At the end of the show a winner for this year will be crowned, and we’ll have more about that in an article coming pretty soon.
But since this is the finale and there are only two people to discuss when it comes to contestants, we’re going to do things a little bit differently here and discuss every one of the major performances on the show tonight. This includes the celebrities, and of course the winners’ singles for both Nicholas and Sam Bailey. (Update: Read the results here!)
(In order of performance.)
One Direction, “Midnight Memories” – Doesn’t anyone else feel like this song is basically just a rendition of “Pour Some Sugar on Me”? What we’re starting to feel like with this group is that there’s a serious identity crisis going on within the band, and we’re not even feeling the same sort of fun here that we once did. It’s probably a little too early to speculate on what happens next with these guys, but they really just look tired after traveling around the world and recording all year.
Nicholas McDonald, “Angel” (reprise) – This song is just depressing … even if Nicholas is a heck of a good singer. We want to spend a little bit of time talking about his odds of actually being a recording star after the show, and it’s going to be hard for. These “ballad boys” that have won the show in the past haven’t fared very well; as a matter of fact, the past winners of the show that you remember are really not these solo guys at all.
Sam Bailey, “The Power of Love” (reprise) – A very powerful performance for sure, even though it is a reprise that you’ve heard before. What Sam has going for her mostly is just pure, raw talent. We are not going to ever see her sitting at the top of the Billboard Hot 100, but we could see her having a sort of career where she releases an album every year or two of covers with some original tracks mixed in, and they could sell millions around the world. Not a bad career at all!
Katy Perry, “Unconditionally” – This is a good song, but the problem with Katy performing it live on so many shows is that not all of the interpretations of it have been that great. Plus, part of the appeal about getting Katy on your show is that she’s typically pretty fun and energetic. The best part of it was that she found a way seemingly to escape Dermot O’Leary in that cage at the end … only to descend at the end. No one escapes the Dermot!
Nicholas McDonald, “Superman” (winners’ single) – We actually have loved this song ever since it was released, and while it’s a little weird for him to be doing it and the entire song has always been self-indulgent, it’s at least nice to hear something different than the typical “X Factor” ballads in this spot. Even “Impossible” last year was a little bit of a predictable choice. This could sell for Nicholas.
Sam Bailey, “Skyscraper” (winners’ single) – Seriously? You’re going to give Sam a winners’ single from Demi Lovato? It’s a little weird, especially since this song is one that is so synonymous with Demi’s story as a performer and a person. Nicholas wins the battle of song choice, but Sam has won the battle of giving the best performance.
Elton John and Gary Barlow – We closed this performance part of the show with what was a much-hyped duet between the judge and the legendary musician, performing surprisingly for the first time on the talent show (we would have assumed that he had been on before now). If you love Elton and Gary, you probably loved this. Personally, we loved the random dancing marching band and the spinning pianos. Episode Grade: B.
What was your favorite performance of “The X Factor” finale? Share below, and also click here to read our full take on yesterday’s performance show.
Photo: ITV