The X Factor Rankdown

[*Chris]

13. ELLA HENDERSON
X FACTOR UK (SERIES 9) // 6TH PLACE

 

 

 

AVERAGE: 11.5

----------------------
RANKINGS:

Steven - 1/20

Nico - 2/20

Victoria - 10/20

Public - 11/20

JC - 12/20

Tom - 12/20

Wallace - 14/20

Elliott - 16/20

Solaris - 17/20

Zoey - 20/20

  ----------------------
 

  STEVEN:

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I didn't watch Ella Henderson compete on The X Factor live, but I remember when her debut single "Ghost" was released. I really like that song, and it was one of my favorite songs of 2014. I ended up buying her Chapter One album when it was released, and I like pretty much all the songs on the album. My favorites along with "Ghost" include "Yours," "Mirror Man," "Missed," "The First Time," "Hard Work," and "Empire." It's been a while since I've listened to the album, but writing about it makes me remember how much I enjoy the album and will likely give it another listen soon. Ella Henderson is so talented; I love her voice, songwriting, and musical style. I went back and watched her X Factor journey, and I was impressed by her performances. She was only 16-years-old at the time, but she was already so good. She performed her own song "Missed" at her audition, which she included on her debut album. Ella's audition is probably my favorite audition from any X Factor contestant. From the beginning she showcased what a special talent she is, and she seemingly entered the live rounds as a potential frontrunner. My favorite performances from her include "Rule The World," "Lovin' You," "You've Got The Love," "Bring Me To Life," "Firework," "Written in the Stars," and "If You're Not The One." Ella unfortunately was eliminated in sixth place. It was a shocking results show with Ella ending up in the Bottom 2 (alongside other frontrunner James Arthur). I bet I would have been livid if I was watching the show live when that happened. Ella was robbed from making it to the end of the competition, but she did manage to sign a recording contract and release music. Ella's career was on a roll after "Ghost" became a hit single (it even crossed over to the United States). Chapter One also reached #1 on the UK charts. However, there was a period of hiatus that lasted a few years. She parted ways with Syco, which I didn't understand since it seemed like she was becoming a big success story. I don't know the full details, but thankfully she finally released some more music recently with her Glorious EP. Hopefully Ella Henderson keeps releasing more music soon and can get another hit single. She's very talented and worthy of so much success. Anyway, Ella Henderson is amazing and my #1 choice to win this rankdown. 

 

NICO:

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She was my fave from the start in season 9, and she’s probably the only one that could overtake Ruth as my #1. First off, I loved her run on the show. It wasn’t perfect, but she’s probably one of the most creative and interesting young contestant XF ever had. And while I pretty much hate Syco with a passion, at least they gave her a shot and she released Chapter One, which is a pretty good debut album, and I still go back to it now from time to time. Sadly she kinda got shafted and spent a couple years in purgatory with an album that never saw the light of day (there are some recording of live performances of a few songs tho). At least now she’s with a label that’s actually supporting her and has been releasing singles pretty steadily since late last year. Hopefully we get an album at some point tho, would love to see another full project from her.

 

VICTORIA:

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Ella Henderson is a surprise entry into the Top 20. I'm not complaining but I think there were better options but I still really do like her. I'm trying to think who really likes her in this rankdown and I want to say @NGM and @Steven_? I would say @*Wallace but he likes everyone. Ella Henderson started off her journey with an original song entitled "Missed" that would later be featured on her debut album. Even if you don't like her you can't deny her audition was special and it made me cry. Tulisa stood up for her and she started out with a bang on her first showing. She also auditioned with "Midnight Train to Georgia" by Gladys Knight & The Pips but I don't think it was initially aired. It was meh. Another moment she had was with "Believe" by Cher. This was another moment for her and again even if you don't care her you can't deny that she created a moment with this performance. She made Nicole cry and I teared up as well. The way Gary said that song was annoying but he would pay to hear that rendition.  Nicole cried so much.  At Judges House she sang "I Won't Give Up" by Jason Mraz and it was enough for her to make the finals. Week 1 she sang "Rule the World"  by Take That. 3 of the judges stood up for that performance with the odd man being Louis. It was a good vocal. She was only 16 and her vocal prowess was pretty amazing. The next song she sang was "Lovin' You" by Minnie Riperton which is one of my favorite songs. It was a nice performance and she sounded good during the belty notes and kind of faltered on the falsetto parts. It was good but it was no Minnie Riperton or Mariah Carey. The next week Ella sang "You've Got the Love" by The Source (feat. Candi Staton) or Florence + the Machine. It sounded like she took influences from both versions. It was nice to see an upbeat performance from Ella. It was controversial performance because the judges argued over.  It was her weakest performance to date so I agree with Gary. "Bring Me To Life" by Evanescence (feat. Paul McCoy) was the next song Ella sang for Halloween week. She took the song in a different direction and I didn't mind it. Nicole said it was her least performance from her. It looked like Ella was on spiral downward? She took on Katy Perry's "Firework" and I felt like Ella was back in form. It was a great vocal. For Week 6 she sang "Written in the Stars" by Tinie Tempah (feat. Eric Turner). It was a stunning vocal from her. She was the only girl left in the competition at this point. It was a beautiful performance. Louis said she was the best girl since Leona Lewis; he's said this twice already and I was like, I don't know about that.  For Week 7 Ella sang "You're The One That I Want" by John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John from Grease. She gave it the ballad treatment the judges loved it. Gary said it was her best performance to date by far, Nicole didn't like the song but said her voice sounded glorious, Louis said it was electrifying and Tulisa stood up for it. Louis said she was going to be in the final but the next night she was in the Bottom 2 for the first time along with James Arthur. She sang "If You're Not The One" by Daniel Bedingfield and it went to a deadlock. The decision reverted back to the public and Ella Henderson was eliminated with the least amount of votes. There was a lot of controversy following her ousting as Rylan Clark and Christopher Maloney were still in the competition. There were calls for the show to be cancelled and Dermot O'Leary said that her exit was the biggest shock up to that point in his time as presenter and called her the most talented singer he had seen on the show. That's a bit much but to each their own. The show wasn't cancelled and James Arthur went on to win the show. So, Ella Henderson is an English singer who was on The X Factor UK Series 9. She was apart of the Girls category and her mentor was Tulisa Contostavlos. She finished 6th place that year but still had a successful stint after the show. She released her debut album, Chapter One and it debuted at #1 in the UK and even at #11 in the US. Her debut single "Ghost" reach #1 on the UK Singles Chart and even broke America with a peak of #21 on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart. "Glow" and Yours" were Top 20 songs for Ella in the UK with "Glow" peaking at #7 and Yours" peaking at 16. Other favorites from that album were "Give Your Heart Away" and Missed". The album went platinum in the UK. She released an EP entitled Glorious and another song called "Take Care of You" this year which peaked at #50 in the UK. I really loved Ella on her season and enjoyed her album. Would I have her in the Top 20? Maybe not but I would never say she was undeserving. Congrats to everyone who saw to her getting here despite @Zoey's best efforts! 

 

CHRIS:

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Like many people, I fell in love with Ella Henderson during her audition where she auditioned with an original song - it is easily one of my favourite audition of all-time due to the heartfelt aspect of it, and the song certainly made me tear up quite a few times. And she kept impressing me with her take on classic songs such as "Believe", "Rule The World", "Loving You", ""Firework", "Written in the Stars", and "If You're Not The Only One".  And I was shocked when she got eliminated on the show but not surprised considering she was against James - I am still bitter that she went home before certain acts during that season. 

However, my love for her got stronger post-XF where she released a strong debut album with songs such as "Ghost", "Empire", "Missed", "Mirror Man", "Lay Down", "Yours", "Beautiful Unfinished" and "1996" to name a few. And while her deal with Syco didn't work out, I am pleased that she is still releasing great music such as "Take Care of You", "Glorious" and "Hold Me". Anyway, super happy that she was able to make it into the Top 20 as she's definitely in my Top 20 of all time - on a side note, I am a bit surprised by the public's ranking of Ella. 

 

 JC:

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I really enjoy your post X Factor music, which may have given you a bump. I honestly remember you being quite forgettable for me during your season, I really did not have any connection with you or care about your status in the competition. I think you may have been ousted in a “shock” elimination, but I am not quite sure. I do not remember but perhaps you were the controversy of the judges doing you dirty and getting rid of you because you were a threat to their acts. Anyways, sorry about that if that happened to you, but congrats on making the top 20 and congrats to your fans for getting you here!

 

TOM:

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Ella Henderson was a part of the ninth season of X Factor UK. She started her journey with a memorable original song called Missed which she dedicated to her deceased grandpa. After rumors that she'd been cut by her mentor Tulisa at judges houses, she m=started the lives strongly with Rule the World. Gary Barlow admited that Ella sang the song ten times better than he did. Lovin You and Firework were two more great performances, as was Written in the Stars. She did Bring Me to Life with a slowed-down Adele-like arrangeent that was a mistake, but it was You're the One That I want that landed her in the bottom 2. This was particuarly unfortunate because I think she would've been saved over anyone else but James, who she was there with. She went home in 6th place, but she ended up having the second most-successful album out of any of the X Factor UK 9 alumni with Chapter One, with highlights such as Ghost, Glow, Empire, Yours, and Beautifully Unfinished. She just came back late last year with another song. Can't wait to keep following her! I posted her newest release, Glorious, below in case not everyone has heard it.
 

 

 

WALLACE:

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I was a bit conflicted on how to rank my #14 and #13….whether to base my ranking solely on their X-Factor run or their show run+outside of the show success. Unfortunately for Ella, I decided to go for the show run. Ella Henderson competed on The X Factor U.K. Series 9. Ella was apart of the Girls category and was mentored by Tulisa, where she finished 6th place. Ooh and XFUK9 was a tough series to really follow and get into but Ella was one of the few acts that kept the series going for me. Here is a look at Ella’s journey.

 

 

- I don’t normally watch the pre-live show portion of The X-Factor but I do on a few occasions. I remember hearing so much buzz about Ella either pre-live shows or during the actual competition but it made me check out her original song audition and her slowed down cover of “Believe.” Both of these were beautiful and emotional performances. 

 

Week 1: “Rule the World”

- This was a really beautiful opening live shows performance from Ella. Love the song and she sings it beautifully. LOL I love how Gary Barlow said she sang the song 10 times better than himself. 

 

Week 2: “Lovin’ You”

- I really love this song and goodness this is such an insanely difficult song to pull off with all of the key changes and high notes thrown in this. But Ella tackled this classic timeless song beautifully and gave another gorgeous vocal performance here.  

 

Week 3: “You Got the Love”

- I really appreciate this performance because it was the first and only time Ella did an uptempo song. It makes me wish she did more uptempo songs because this was a fun performance. It was nice to see her do some choreography and coming across younger and more her age (16) here. She still delivered a great vocal here too.

 

Week 4: “Bring Me to Life”

- This was Ella’s only misstep of the season for me. I love the song but I found the song choice and arrangement weird for her. I felt like the arrangement and her voice were fighting against each other? It just…. did not work for me and I didn’t like this one. 

 

Week 5: “Firework”

- Ella returned to her form with this performance. She re-arranged the song into her own style and sang this beautifully with a lot of heart and passion behind it.

 

Week 6: “Written In the Stars”

- I love how Ella took on a Hip-Hop song and made it into her own style here. I love the buildup on this with how the song intensifies and she really powers through it. This was yet another really beautiful and great performance from Ella here.

 

Week 7: “You’re The One That I Want”

- Ella completely changing up a Grease classic here.  This was another really gorgeous and emotional performance from her. 

 

Week 7 Sing-Off: “If You’re Not the One”

- Another really pretty performance! 

 

So that Week 7 Sing-Off between between Ella and James was absolute bogus. They were viewed as two of the frontrunners in the competition despite the votes not being frontrunners vote-wise. I was happy or ames surviving but Ella really deserved much better than 6th place. 

 

 

Ella has managed to do really well with her career post The X Factor U.K.. Some of my favorite songs from Ella includes: “Ghost,” “Yours” and “Mirror Man.” Ella has had a few other songs I really liked but I cant’t remember what those are at the moment. Best of luck to wherever Ella ranks in  this rankdown.

 

 

 

 

 

ELLIOTT:

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I mean I don't hate Ella Henderson. Or even really dislike her, regardless of what my James write-up would make you think. I just can't say I ever cared much for her on X Factor. She was the obligatory quirky girl~ that gets stuck doing the same thing week after week, with varying results. I still remember how horrific her performance of Bring Me to Life was. Up against James, she was an easily elimination so it being deadlock was nagl. At least she gave us the song responsible for the best performance on The Voice:
 

 

SOLARIS:

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I do really like Ella and she was my favorite on her season.  However, in the grand scope of this Top 20, she falls down here.  She was also responsible for eliminating Reigan earlier in the game, so I remember that.  I love her single Ghost!  When she was on Season 9, I really appreciated her covers of Believe, Rule the World, Written in the Stars and You’ve Got the Love.  I was really sored how she went out.  Yes, the best two in the competition were in the bottom 2, but Ella was consistently better until that point.  Guess it worked out for James in the end though.  I think it’s great that she made it this far in the rankdown.  I don’t want to see her win this.

 

ZOEY:

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I don’t think there has been a more basic white girl to make the finals other than Reigan but I enjoyed her on Australian Idol so she beats Ella! Ella lives about twenty minutes away from me so I expected to like her but she is genuinely beyond basic. She sucks the life out of songs and this forum loved her for it LOL. Even more shocking is that Tulisa was her mentor and I still didn't like her. Tulisa is a queen and was a fantastic mentor but I don't know what happened to her when mentoring this basic piece of work. It's safe to say that she was eliminated when James sang circles around her in the sing-off and sent her packing. She's still clinging to a singing career as far as I know since she pops up on the radio every now an then.

 

Edited August 27, 2020 by *Chris

[Elliott]

Just now, *Chris said:

STOP POSTING. 

[JC]

Chrissy it would've been easier if you just edited the top post

[*Chris]

#13 posted!

[*Chris]

5 minutes ago, JC said:

Chrissy it would've been easier if you just edited the top post

I just did - I didn't realize

[Steven_]

 

Ella in 13?!

[1234567890]

Alvaro Soler (Steven)

 

01. Ella Henderson

02.

03.

04.

05.

06.

07. Shayne Ward

08.

09. Alex & Sierra

10.

11.

12. Reigan Derry

13. Dami Im

14. Natalie Conway

15. Sally Chatfield

16.

17.

18.

19.

20. CeCe Frey

 

 

Britney Spears (JC)

 

01.

02.

03.

04. Dami Im

05.

06.

07. Alex & Sierra

08. CeCe Frey

09. Reigan Derry

10.

11. Shayne Ward

12. Ella Henderson

13.

14. Sally Chatfield

15.

16.

17.

18.

19.

20. Natalie Conway

 

 

Dannii Minogue (Tom)

 

01.

02.

03.

04. Sally Chatfield

05.

06.

07.

08.

09.

10. Reigan Derry

11. Dami Im

12. Ella Henderson

13. Alex & Sierra

14.

15. Natalie Conway

16.

17. CeCe Frey

18.

19.

20. Shayne Ward

 

 Demi Lovato (Elliott)

 

01.

02. Shayne Ward

03.

04.

05.

06.

07. Reigan Derry

08.

09. Sally Chatfield

10.

11.

12.

13. CeCe Frey

14. Alex & Sierra

15.

16. Ella Henderson

17. Natalie Conway

18.

19. Dami Im

20.

 

   Guy Sebastian (Solaris)

 

01.

02.

03. CeCe Frey

04.

05.

06.

07.

08.

09.

10.

11.

12. Shayne Ward

13. Sally Chatfield

14. Natalie Conway

15.

16. Reigan Derry

17. Ella Henderson

18.

19. Alex & Sierra

20. Dami Im

 

 

  Mel B (Victoria)

 

01.

02.

03.

04.

05.

06.

07. Sally Chatfield

08. Dami Im

09. Alex & Sierra

10. Ella Henderson

11.

12. Shayne Ward

13.

14.

15.

16. Reigan Derry

17.

18.

19. CeCe Frey

20. Natalie Conway

 

 
Nicole Scherzinger (Wally)

 

01.

02.

03.

04.

05.

06.

07. Reigan Derry

08.

09.

10.

11.

12.

13. Dami Im

14. Ella Henderson

15. Shayne Ward

16. Sally Chatfield

17. Natalie Conway

18.

19. Alex & Sierra

20. CeCe Frey

 

  

Natalia Kills (Nico)

 

01.

02. Ella Henderson

03.

04. Reigan Derry

05.

06. Dami Im

07.

08.

09.

10. Alex & Sierra

11.

12.

13. Sally Chatfield

14.

15.

16. Shayne Ward

17.

18. Natalie Conway

19.

20. CeCe Frey

 

Tulisa (Zoey)

 

01.

02.

03.

04.

05.

06. Natalie Conway

07. Dami Im

08.

09.

10. Sally Chatfield

11.

12.

13. CeCe Frey

14. Shayne Ward

15.

16. Alex & Sierra

17.

18.

19. Reigan Derry

20. Ella Henderson

 

Public (IDF)

 

01.

02.

03.

04.

05.

06.

07. Alex & Sierra

08.

09. Shayne Ward

10.

11. Ella Henderson

12.

13.

14.

15. Dami Im

16. Reigan Derry

17. Sally Chatfield

18.

19. CeCe Frey

20. Natalie Conway

[1234567890]

@*Wallace is still killing it.

[Steven_]

 

I knew she wasn’t going to win, but not even Top 10?  

[1234567890]

I had her in my Top 10, @Steven_

[1234567890]

@Elliott being the only person left with their #20. Are we shocked? Not at all.

[JC]

Sorry @Steven_ congrats on getting her this far though! I feel like you're the only one who is doing worse than me, and we're both somehow doing worse than @Elliott

 

Can my 15-19 show up ASAP plz UGH. And then my 2 can follow

[NGM]

Elliott adding that off pitch butchered performance is more offensive than this placement

[Steven_]

I just noticed I'm the first to lose a #1 ranking.

 

[Solaris]

Damn I was hoping Reigan was going to outlast Ella because Ella vs Reigan round eliminated Reigan in the Top 100.  Oh well, 1 spot off!

[Weedy_Speedy]

Ella is alright I guess. I was never huge on her like IDF was (my favs were Jahmene/Union J/Rylan #teamblacksheeptilthend) I really liked "You Got the Love" and "Written in the Stars," thanks Tom for reminding me of that one. Her sing-off was really good, too. The rest of the time, I was largely disinterested. "Bring Me to Life" was really, really bad. >.<

 

Congrats to her post-X Factor success, though!

Edited August 27, 2020 by The Ghost of Weedy Speedy

[taylorkat]

This is painful. 

[1234567890]

I predict Little Mix will win unless some serious tankage occurred.

[Weedy_Speedy]

1 minute ago, 1234567890 said:

I predict Little Mix will win unless some serious tankage occurred.

 

I second this prediction.

[JC]

5 minutes ago, 1234567890 said:

I predict Little Mix will win unless some serious tankage occurred.

I hope not. I'll regret not tanking them.

[*Wallace]

2 hours ago, 1234567890 said:

@*Wallace is still killing it.

Awww gah thanks.  I am way incredibly grateful!

 

2 hours ago, Steven_ said:

 

I knew she wasn’t going to win, but not even Top 10?  

Aww sorry Ella couldn't make the Top 10 for you.  

 

2 hours ago, 1234567890 said:

@Elliott being the only person left with their #20. Are we shocked? Not at all.

It's what he deserves!  

 

2 hours ago, NGM said:

Elliott adding that off pitch butchered performance is more offensive than this placement

 

[*Wallace]

1 hour ago, 1234567890 said:

I predict Little Mix will win unless some serious tankage occurred.

They were my initial winners picks. I think either them or Samantha Jade has got the win.

[Elliott]

1 hour ago, 1234567890 said:

I predict Little Mix will win unless some serious tankage occurred.

 

[DorisAnn]

2 hours ago, 1234567890 said:

I predict Little Mix will win unless some serious tankage occurred.

STREAM HOLIDAY MV TOMORROW 

[~Tom~]

@1234567890 Hero is one of the Overbearing Diva’s more tolerable songs. I would’ve thought it would’ve enticed @*Wallace to rank Dami higher, but he never fails to disappoint me. At least she made the finals and won her season like I wanted! She was never going to win. The rationale for tanking her by a certain someone is eye rollling.  Sorry I made a deal to protect one of my faves? Thankfully she isn’t my #1 and I sent her through to protect her from Elliott.