The X Factor UK: Anthony Russell, Giovanni Spano lead guilty pleasures week

This week, The X Factor UK delivered a week about guilty pleasures — and it was certainly polarizing from our point of view. We think that there are too many people who think that this is an excuse to just do a cheesy big ballad that we’ve heard a million times before. (Please, no more “I Have Nothing” by Whitney Houston … please.)

So, for the sake of this article, what we’re going to offer you is our take on the three best performances from the week (at least from our vantage point), to go along with the one that we never need to hear again. Let’s kick things off here with the good news.

Anthony Russell – This is what we call showmanship — taking a super-cheesy song in “I Want To Know What Love Is” and making it work for your personality. While so many people just looked uncomfortable or not in their lane on stage this week, he took this song and made it work for him without actually having to change the arrangement much.

Giovanni Spano – Was a hard rock Britney Spears cover a little bit corny? Absolutely, but for guilty pleasures week this is the sort of thing that we want to see — a ton of energy and personality and really something that got the audience into the show after a series of limper performances in the first half of the show.

Acacia & Aaliyah – These two just have boundless energy and they really worked to make the stage their own. This was a great mash-up with a lot of energy and it feels like they could do well on the radio now. This is something that The X Factor really needs.

As for the weakest performance of the week…

United Vibe – Why sing “Party in the USA”? Why? What’s the merit in that? This was joy and surprisingly listless for a song that had so much originality in its original version.

What did you think about this week’s X Factor episode, and who do you like the best from it? Be sure to share right now in the attached comments. (Photo: ITV.)