‘The X Factor’ UK review: Honey G, Samantha Lavery, Freddy Parker among winners of first live-show
We know that some “X Factor” fans out there may be wondering how in the world we could consider Honey G a “winner” of anything at this point, but to those people we ask one thing: Read on! We promise that it will make a certain degree of sense as we move forward with this review of tonight’s episode.
We weren’t able to produce this one live (we will for many other shows this season), but we did want to give you a quick take on all of the acts. You can read more about why Brooks Way did not perform during the show over at this link.
5 After Midnight, “Can’t Stop the Feeling” – A good, high-energy way to start the show. Vocals were spotty, so we hope they focus in more on that in the event they survive.
Bratavio, “Boom, Boom, Boom” / “Barbie Girl” – Truly terrible. They’re the total Blonde Electra of this season — a group that is crazy for crazy’s sake, and not likable in the way that you would need to stay around.
Samantha Lavery, “Impossible” – She did shout a couple of notes (and what was with the old Arizona Cardinals shirt?), but otherwise, a pretty strong performance of a very good song for this show.
Gifty Louise, “That’s My Girl” – Of the performances we saw tonight, Gifty may have underwhelmed the most in terms of hitting the notes. The judges loved her, so perhaps we’re in the minority on this.
Emily Middlemas, “Closer” – We are probably a tad partial to her with the guitar, but we do still feel she kept her artistry here and did well despite a last-minute song shake-up.
Freddy Parker, “Killing Me Softly” – On paper, there was zero reason to think this song was going to work. Who performs Perry Como in 2016? Yet, it did, and Freddy showed versatility and was even able to avoid the show’s overwhelming backing track for a while.
Matt Terry, “You Don’t Own Me” – Good vocal, but he was at times swallowed by the track and the noise around him.
Ryan Lawrie, “Perfect” – Probably more justification that Christian Burrows should have been brought forward instead. He’s a nice kid, but he’s lacking the voice or the presence.
Honey G, medley – This was … surprisingly good? Well, it was fun if nothing else! We’d compare Honey G to a Rylan or a Stevi Ritchie, someone on the show you find likable even if she’s not the most talented person at what she does.
Relley C, “Shackles (Praise You)” – Probably the most vocally consistent person on the night. While nothing altogether was surprising about the performance, we certainly still very much enjoyed listening to it.
Saara Aalto, “Let It Go” – There is something about her singing a Disney song that is very on-the-nose, but she was better than most other people have been doing live covers of this.
Who was your favorite from tonight’s performance show? Be sure to share below! (Photo: ITV.)