‘The X Factor’ UK review: Melissa Pedro, Honey G, Christian Burrows, Caitlyn Vanbeck kick off auditions
Fans of “The X Factor,” we come bearing great news: The first audition show of the season is here! We’re getting a chance to see the first acts from all over the UK and beyond stop by, and try to impress the oft-cynical panel of judges who feel like they’ve seen everything to date. To be fair, they have seen a lot! That’s especially true for this crew, which includes the return of Sharon Osbourne, Louis Walsh, and Nicole Scherzinger as judges after a stretch of time away.
Much like any other review for this show, we’re doing this LIVE! Therefore, refresh the page to get some further updates regarding some of the acts taking part tonight.
Yes Lad – Everything here was very predictable, from the outfits to the voices to the charm. We don’t mean this in a bad way. They looked going in like they were going to be a rather good boy band, and they fulfilled on that promise! They’ve got the ability to get a TON of votes down the road.
Samantha Lavery – We previewed her performance before the show even started, so there was no doubt in our mind she’d be good. The thing that is the most impressive about her is that she actually does seem to have a genuine connection to the lyrics. It’s not often that you really get that for singers that are as young as she is.
Christian Burrows – Who else thinks that he was stopped from singing his first audition just so that we could get to his emotional original song? It’s a common audition practice, but we get it since this showed off 1000% more the sort of singer he is and what he wants to bring to this competition. He could stick around for a while; we certainly wouldn’t mind.
James Wilson – He seems like a really sweet guy, and while his voice is strained and obviously limited, he’s a guy that with his own material (mostly his own), he could become a fan favorite in the Overs category. We’re just not sure he will make it to that point. He’s definitely a throwback to the late eighties.
Caitlyn Vanbeck – Her story for the most part was about humble beginnings, and we do find her to be very likable given that she just wants to be herself and sing the music that she wants to sing. She needs to work on her presence while performing (she tends to get lost in her own world), but there’s no denying her worthiness of moving forward. Simon’s Kelly Clarkson comparison may be a bit much — at least for now.
Ryan Lawrie – At first, we thought Ryan was just one of those so-so singers on the show with a specific image for Instagram followers. Then, he got into the show and gave a good bit of energy and stage presence. He was fun, and that could make him memorable.
Melissa Pedro – We’re calling it that in 24 hours, British tabloids are going to come out claiming that Melissa has this lengthy performing history and the show therefore is guilty of some sort of false advertising since she’s a humble teacher. Here’s a message to this point: Stop it. It doesn’t matter to us what she’s done. It just matters that she’s really good. We just wish that people would stop slowing down “Crazy,” since it takes away its jazzy charm.
Honey G – For the most part, we like to avoid rubbish in this reviews, which is why we didn’t even bother to include the dude singing “When I Grow Up.” This was pretty terrible, but at the same time there was something so ridiculous and silly about this performance. This is the fun sort of silly camp that we can take for one more round!
With that, that’s all folks! We’ll be back for more nonsense tomorrow…
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