‘The X Factor’ UK review: Only the Young, Stevi Ritchie, Paul Akister, and Halloween

Tonight, “The X Factor” UK went into the world of jack-o-lanterns and costumes for a Halloween episode, and quite a few people were in the spirit.

How were the vocals themselves? There were moments where the productions overwhelmed the actual singing, but as a form of entertainment, there was quite a bit to like through here. We’ll have updates throughout

Ben Haenow, “Highway to Hell” – To kick off the show, Ben decided that he needed to change things up, and prove he can be a performer rather than just a singer. This was a great performance, but it could have been legendary had their been a live band or something more there.

Lola Saunders, “Crazy” – This is such a trippy song, and having those weird guys that looked like the dude from “Watchmen” didn’t help anything. The problem Lola really ran into here was that her vocals were out-of-tune. We didn’t really know what the judges were talking about.

Fleur East, “Thriller” – We give Fleur credit just for doing what we consider to be one of the five biggest pop stars of all time. She deserves a lot of credit for the dance moves, and how much she asked of herself. It’s still clear, though, that all of the moves ended up impacting her vocals in the end.

Jack Walton, “Bleeding Love” – Not a bad vocal from Jack, who clearly was feeling some pressure. Why in the world was he dressed like a pirate during this? Pirates don’t admit love! Someone needed to tell him that Halloween was technically yesterday.

Jay James, “Mad World” – We dug this a lot. It was a great move to come up with a different arrangement that has differed so much from recent ones of the past decade. It made this song something that could stand on its own, and Jay was brilliant. Best of the night at this point by a mile.

Andrea Faustini, “Relight My Fire” – This was complete camp, but the thing is that Andrea is a good enough singer that he can still pull this off very well. So long as you don’t mind a golden outfit and awkward dancers, there was a lot to like here.

Lauren Platt, “Dark Horse” – It’s a great three performances in a row! While Lauren could have used a tad more confidence in the verses, we commend her for hitting the notes and the overall aesthetic of what is probably one of Katy Perry’s hardest songs to perform live.

Paul Akister, “Bat Out of Hell” – We liked the vocal a whole lot, but we actually do think that Simon Cowell may have a point here. Paul is trying a little too hard, and one of the reasons we’ve never fully embraced him is because he hasn’t had a ton of fun out there.

Only the Young, “Monster Mash” – This is precisely what the show needed after Paul. It was just SO much fun from start to center. The group also had their best vocal to date, and totally embraced the performance of it. They’ve obviously loved this song for a long time, and it shows.

Stereo Kicks, “Everybody” – We actually liked the bold choice of song here, and while it was not perfect and slowed down at parts, we really got a sense that these guys all had fun during this. The choreography in here was also the best that the show has ever done by far.

Stevi Ritchie, “The Music of the Night” – We were surprised all around at how emotional this was for both him, and for us. He’s not an amazing singer, but he really did prove in here that he can actually sing without all of the gimmicks. Luckily, he’s not going anywhere this week.

Elimination – Click here to see the results of tonight’s vote!

Who was your favorite on “The X Factor” UK tonight? Share with a comment, and head over here to see where we ranked the contestants before this episode. Also, sign up now to get some further TV updates worth singing about via our CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo via ITV.)