‘The X Factor’ UK rankings: Where Nicholas McDonald, Abi Alton, Sam Bailey stand for week 1

It’s ranking time! We’ve spent all season getting to know the contestants on “The X Factor” UK, and it’s finally got us to the point today where we can sit here and try to figure out just who are the vocal beasts, who are the pretenders, and who is already destined to survive for a few weeks and disappear, likely to never be heard of again.

We will get a little bit more in-depth on these contestants as we start to get deeper into the season, but for now, here are the quick-takes on where we think all of these people stack up going into tonight’s show. If you agree or disagree with some of our choices, then head to the comment box below and fight for your own favorites.

12. Lorna Simpson – A good singer, but we still have no idea at all who she is. Clearly, the most unknown of the contestants remaining, and unless she just gives a killer vocal, that could mean she is in trouble starting tonight.

11. Sam Callahan – When it comes to both appearance and vocal quality, there’s nothing that makes Sam that distinctive. We see the other two guys singers this year having themselves a ton of fans early that vote to keep them around for at least the first month. We just don’t see that with him.

10. Miss Dynamix – The good news for the ladies? They’ve gotten a ton of press this week thanks to Sese Foster’s pregnancy. But we haven’t been impressed with them yet, and they will need to come out and kill it if they want to get the fans they need to go the distance.

9. Shelley Smith – Huge personality and probably the contestant that you’d most like to party with. But we still think that Sharon Osbourne made a mistake when choosing the contestants for her category, and most of the votes could end up gravitating towards Sam Bailey, who is somewhat similar when it comes to her vocal strength.

8. Tamera Foster – Believed by many to be a favorite to win the whole competition, but we don’t see it. Forgotten lyrics still haunt us, and there’s nothing about her story or her personality that we find particularly worth rooting for right now.

7. Rough Copy – Another act with a ton of airtime, but you also have to remember that it’s hard to be a group on this show and succeed all the way to the finale. The One Direction and Little Mixes of the world are the minority when you look at the vast majority of the groups that leave early.

6. Luke Friend – Not the best singer, but he has a look and a style that the young lady voters are going to love. Plus, he really benefits from the fact that there just aren’t that many other rock-oriented singers left in the competition now. He’s got a big hold on the market.

5. Kingsland Road – Groups are always in the biggest disadvantage early on the show. There are more personalities that people have to get to know, so it takes a little bit more effort to have them be successful. We really like these guys, but they need to really come out and destroy this week to have a chance long-term.

4. Abi Alton – A very good singer, but perhaps more importantly, a storyteller. She’s in the same sort of place as Luke in that there’s no one really like her, and her challenges right now remind us quite a bit of Janet Devlin going into the live shows: They are not power vocalists, so they need to do something else to stand out.

3. Sam Bailey – The biggest inspirational story so far, and the most gifted vocalist of the Overs category. Sam can sing, and despite having a little bit more of a history than what has been reported on the show, she is one of those people that is impossible not to want to root for.

2. Hannah Barrett – We’re hearing there are already concerns about if her voice can hold up all season, but if it does, she could be a real force to be reckoned with. The singers who tend to the best here at the end of the day are ones who can hit every note, and she fits the bill.

1. Nicholas McDonald – Luckily, so can Nicholas. He may not have a huge personality, but he has the complete package: He’s likable, he’s young, he’s extremely talented, and his performances are going to be such that older viewers want to vote for him, and young girls will want to date him.

Click here if you want to read more about the (ridiculous) changes to the live voting, and how that could make things all the more intense on tonight’s show.

Photo: ITV