‘The X Factor’ UK rankings: Andrea Faustini, Lauren Platt, Jay James all contend
Sometimes, one performance show can change almost everything on “The X Factor.” We certainly saw that when it comes to this past weekend’s edition of the show. We thought that Chloe Jasmine had several weeks still in her this season, and instead, a questionable song choice of “Fame” left her feeling the burn in the end.
We’re now down to 12 contestants, and of this group, there are a few who are genuine stars and personalities. Unfortunately, there’s also a whole lot of fodder, which we’re going to try to weed through in our latest contestant rankings. As always, performance quality is the most important thing that we base these on, but we also think about likability, edit, and also the past history of similar singers.
12. Stereo Kicks – They have to be last right now. Two of their members may be cut, their performances have been subpar, and they’ve been in the bottom two recently. None of this sounds like the makings of a major super-group moving forward.
11. Jake Quickenden – Somehow, has survived two weeks without being a particularly good singer. Not to be cruel, but he just doesn’t have the chops for this competition. He’ll be gone eventually.
10. Stevi Ritchie – Still, complete rubbish. Yet, he may be the sort of fun rubbish that lasts a couple more weeks, provided that someone talks him out of doing the ballad. At least he realizes that he has zero chance of winning this season.
9. Jack Walton – We don’t see him beating either of the other two boys remaining in Mel’s group, and he probably doesn’t have the star potential yet that he really needs. Mostly, he’s forgettable.
8. Fleur East – Meanwhile, we could see Fleur having trouble in the wake of the whole “miming” business that she had to deal with on the show last week. She’s talented, but we’re not getting a sense that the people who would buy her album are the same people actually watching the show.
7. Only the Young – We like them, but with groups, we’ll believe it when we see it. We also don’t have a lot of faith in them being on the same page with Louis Walsh.
6. Lola Saunders – A genuine darkhorse in the race right now. She’s got a simple story and a big set of pipes, and it’s pretty ironic that she could last months longer than the two ladies in Chloe and Stephanie Nala that Cheryl chose over here.
5. Ben Haenow – An excellent vocalist, probably hurt only by the lack of a narrative that has been built up around him compared to some of the other people who are still on the show.
4. Paul Akister – Paul has, on the other hand, a big narrative. He just has to find the right songs that will show off his vocal pipes, but also his personality. Right now, he still comes across as a little timid.
3. Jay James – His “I’m Gonna Be” was one of our favorite performances of the entire season, but what we wonder here is if consistently thanks to his performance before the live shows. Two weeks into this, he’s been really solid.
2. Lauren Platt – She’s got a wonderful voice, and more than that a good sense of herself at such a young age. She really does remind us of Ella Henderson at the time she was on the show, except with a little more youthful energy.
1. Andrea Faustini – Unless Andrea lays a giant egg at some point in the future, he has to be considered the favorite. He’s the cross-section of a great voice, a great story, and a great personality to go along with it.
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