Weedy's X Factor UK Season 11 - 15 Watch Thread

[Weedy_Speedy]

Hi everyone,

 

I missed the last 5 years of X Factor UK, due to my irrational hatred of Cheryl Cole killing my interest when she came back for season 11. But I'm gonna be watching them now and leaving my thoughts on the performances in this thread.

 

Why should you care? You shouldn't I guess, but I'm gonna assume a handful of you that I've been friends with for many years may be interested in reading my thoughts on these performances.

 

Starting with the first live show of XFUK11. Opening thoughts:

-I forgot Mel B was a judge on this season. I kinda loved her on X Factor Australia. I hope she has a feud with Cheryl
-Cheryl Fernanwhat? How many times has she been married?

 

And now the performances themselves.

Paul Akister - "Ghost": I thought this was a strong opening performance. I assumed he'd be overshadowed by later performers, but that really did not end up happening lol. Ended up being one of the better performances of the night in my opinion.

 

Lola Saunders - "Stay with Me": Forgettable.

 

Overload Generation - "I Kissed a Girl": One Direction lite much? I noticed a Harry Jr, Niall Jr, and Zayn Jr just based on their hairstyles. Anyway, they sucked. I'm not a fan of gay anthems being hetero-fied.

 

Jay James - "Changing": The performance overall didn't work for me, but I was kind of tapping into the tone of his voice. I'm gonna knock this one on song choice because I'm intrigued on what he could do next.

 

Stephanie Nala - "Everything I Own": I didn't like this at all. Fully agree with what Simon and Louis said. Her voice isn't very strong, and she'd be better in a group (like she was in before apparently).

 

Jack Walton - "Only Girl in the World": He's a cutie. The performance was terrible, though. I'm gonna assume that he's the early eliminee who gets naked for gay magazines once he's kicked off the show.

 

Chloe Jasmine - "Toxic": I was intrigued at first, but the performance ended up falling a bit flat.

 

Stereo Kicks - "Roar": Wow, there's a lot of these kids. The performance was alright I guess? Better than the other boyband for sure.

 

Stevi Ritchie - "Livin' la Vida Loca": Awful. Simon would've called it drunk dad at a wedding if this was 2006 Idol. You're not Johnny Ruffo, keep your shirt on.

 

Lauren Platt - "Happy": I disliked the arrangement of the song, but the performance was well enough. She seems like the latest model of teenage contestants who could use 5 more years of seasoning. She has potential, but I'm not sure if it'll be realized on this show.

 

Blonde Electra - "Kids in America": Obvious fodder first boot. I liked the green eyebrows.

 

Ben Haenow - "Bridge over Troubled Water": With Mel on this one. He sang it well, but I don't care. Unless you're Clay Aiken in 2003, you shouldn't be singing this song on a talent competition.

 

Jake Quickenden - "She's the One": Yawn. Seen this a million times.

 

Fleur East - "All About That Bass": I have never liked this song at all. She looked great, though.

 

Only the Young - "Jailhouse Rock"/"Twist and Shout": Lol this was pure cheese, reminded me of something Same Difference would do. I was impressed by the brunette guy who has the same hairstyle as every other damn dude in this competition. The blonde guy is really cute, too.

 

Andrea Faustini - "Earth Song": Didn't crap myself over this like the audience did, but he was probably the best of the night.

 

Don't really have a favorite based on these opening performances. It was a solid enough show, but nothing much I'd be interested in going back to...

 

Results show:

Poor Blonde Electra. I called it, though. Mediocre girlbands are dead women walking on this show.

 

The bottom two is fair. Stephanie just wasn't very good and the 8-piece definitely won the battle of the boybands.

 

I think Overload Generation won the sing-off. They improved on their original performance (only way to go but up...), while Stephanie relied on the backing track to sing on top of her. I would've given the boys an extra week, but neither act has a very high ceiling tbh.

[Weedy_Speedy]

Week 2:
Jack Walton - "Straight Up": Why is he taking inspiration from Andrew Garcia, of all people? My roommate walked into the room while he was singing and said, "Wow, this guy is BAD!" Too funny.

 

Stephanie Nala - "Call Me": The death slot? LOL they are absolutely done with her. This was sooo boring, how do you make this song boring?! This could've at least been entertaining if it was a mess but she couldn't even manage that. Over it.

 

Andrea Faustini - "One Moment in Time": It was basically his first performance again. Started off slow, and then start "taking it to church." On paper, I feel like I should like him, but for some reason he's leaving me cold. Maybe it's because he keeps going off the melody, like Simon said. Hopefully he'll have a moment for me soon.

 

Lauren Platt - "Flashdance What a Feeling": I LOVE THIS SONG. And she's ruining it. This song is great because it's camp as shit, if you're not gonna go all out then don't bother. They just jocked the version that Drew did on XFUS. So far, this show has given me reminders of Andrew Garcia and XFUS. Lovely...

 

Ben Haenow - "Jealous Guy": Now this, was really good. Probably the first performance of this competition that I can say I really enjoyed. Good for him!

 

Fleur East - "It's a Shame": I liked this to an extent, but I wanted to like it more than I did. The rapping was great, but there was too much background singing drowning her out, as Mel stated.

 

Stereo Kicks - "The Boys of Summer": Oh, I remember this song! I really enjoyed this! They were right to change the song choice. I'm really impressed by their harmonies for there being 8 of them. Cheryl is still useless. Her bitch face LOL

 

Lola Saunders - "Imagine": Zzzzz. Where's the charisma? The pizzaz? Why should I care about this girl? Because she hasn't given me a reason to.

 

Jake Quickenden - "Total Eclipse of the Heart": I didn't need to hear a whiny white dude with no range give me his interpretation of one of the best songs ever written. This was not good and I hope he goes soon.

 

Chloe Jasmine - "Fame": I appreciate what she was going for, but it didn't quite work for me. What was all her apparent drama about?

 

Paul Akister - "If You Don't Know Me By Now": Aside from some slight oversinging, I really enjoyed this. Which is saying something because I don't really like this song. He caught my attention though and kept it. He's on my radar.

 

Stevi Ritchie - "Never Gonna Give You Up": Lol I kind of loved this? Basically strictly for the song though. I feel like that's gonna be this guy's entire journey for me.

 

Only the Young - "Come On Eileen": LOL this performance was a journey for me! At the beginning I thought both of the girls sounded great. And then the chorus hit and it was a mess lmao. And then the skateboarders came in and I started DYING laughing. I couldn't peel my eyes away! Kinda falling in love with this group haha.

 

Jay James - "I'm Gonna Be": Nope, didn't work for me. Too indulgent. Just like with Flashdance, stripping this song down just kills the song's character. For once I agree with Cheryl?! Wow.

 

Favorites of the night: Ben, Paul, both of the groups, and to a lesser extent Fleur and Stevi.

 

Results show:
Stereo Kicks in the bottom 3? That bites. You're a lucky bastard, Jake.

 

Stephanie going first is not surprising in the least bit.

 

Why does Chloe sing like she has a frog in her throat? I can't tell if it's affected or not. Whatever, haven't liked anything she's done, hope she goes.

 

Stereo Kicks's sing-off was great! They creamed her. THEY BETTER STAY.

 

YAY! Simon sometimes makes good decisions.

[~Tom~]

LOL I knew you would like Only the Young and so did I. Much better than Same Difference and one of the few bright spots this season other than the top 3. 

 

I so want to comment on your comments on another contestant but I'll just wait until you've watched a few more shows.

 

Only real disagreement is Lola's first performance, it's the one of the few I still remmeber from that first live show; always liked her tone. And I like Andrea more than you, lol. 

Edited August 2, 2020 by ~Tom~

[Weedy_Speedy]

Week 3:
Jake Quickenden - "She's Like the Wind": Oh, I was wrong, he's the naked one. He should've kept his clothes off for the performance because then there would've been some entertainment value. He's useless, send him home.

 

Only the Young - "Boom Clap": Didn't care for this. Simon hit the nail on the head, the verses were really out of tune and that just killed it.

 

Jay James - "Skyfall": This was solid, probably my favorite thing he's done thus far. I kinda agree with Cheryl again though (what's wrong with me?!) that there was something missing.

 

Andrea Faustini - "Listen": I enjoyed the first half of this, but he lost me a bit when he started overselling it. My favorite performance from him thus far, though. Does that damn gospel choir have to follow him around everywhere?

 

Lola Saunders - "When You Believe": Plain and ordinary. I constantly forget she's here.

 

Paul Akister - "Try A Little Tenderness": I always go back to how Nadia Turner absolutely killed this song. You have to have soul to pull this song off, and he didn't bring it. The vocals were alright, but vocals aren't always everything.

 

Lauren Platt - "Let It Go": Lmao what a predictable song choice. Again, it was plain and ordinary. I'm surprised by how weak Cheryl's category is this season. I thought they always gave her the good ones?

 

Jack Walton - "Eye of the Tiger": This is a weird one for me. I actually found the arrangement of the song to be interesting, but it needed more vocal oomph that he just wasn't able to provide.

 

Fleur East - "Lady Marmalade": I mean it was a good tribute performance? No originality, nothing standout. She needs to do better.

 

Stevi Ritchie - "Footloose": Karaoke hell.

 

Stereo Kicks - "Let It Be"/"Hey Jude": They could've left the Hey Jude part out, because I thought the Let It Be part was really fantastic and EASILY the best thing on this night. They should've just stuck to that and let their vocals shine. Still, well done.

 

Ben Haenow - "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing": Lmao this is one of the most overdone songs everrrrrr. Ben has one of the best voices in the competition (possibly the best voice, honestly) but the song just did nothing for him. It was weird because it felt like he didn't connect to the song/didn't even want to sing it. I'm surprised the judges, even Simon, rightfully trashed him for it.

 

Best performance: Stereo Kicks, followed by Andrea and Jay I guess.

 

Results:
Sad to see Only the Young in the bottom two, but with the performance they gave it makes sense. They need to let the brunette guy take point because he's easily their best singer. It was definitely time for Jake to go.

Edited August 2, 2020 by The Ghost of Weedy Speedy

[Weedy_Speedy]

Not gonna bother with individual performance reviews for Halloween night, because nobody really impressed me. Best performances were probably Ben and Stevi. Fine with Jack going since he was probably the worst of the night (what was with that woman groping him in the middle of the performance?). The sing-off between Lola and Stereo Kicks was pretty good, with Lola giving her only performance that I liked to any huge extent. I was fine with her going through, since I'm a bigger overall fan of Stereo Kicks' performances in the competition. So far, I think the correct acts have gone home each week.

 

Ranking of the top 9:
Top 3 (unordered): Ben, Stereo Kicks, Only the Young
4. Paul
5. Fleur
6. Stevi
7. Andrea
8/9. Jay/Lauren

[~Tom~]

I am glad you are agreeing with Cheryl some of the time! She kind of acted like she didn't want to be there this season but she's always been one of the better judges in my mind (not that XFUK has a very high standard).

 

Also surprised that Monster Mash wasn't a standout for you, I figured you'd have liked that one as it's considered their best performance.  

 

Interested to see your thoughts on week 5.

[Weedy_Speedy]

45 minutes ago, ~Tom~ said:

I am glad you are agreeing with Cheryl some of the time! She kind of acted like she didn't want to be there this season but she's always been one of the better judges in my mind (not that XFUK has a very high standard).

 

Also surprised that Monster Mash wasn't a standout for you, I figured you'd have liked that one as it's considered their best performance.  

 

Interested to see your thoughts on week 5.

 

Let's not get carried away lmao, I'm agreeing with her on Jay but that's about it. Monster Mash was probably the 2nd or 3rd best of the night for me.

[Weedy_Speedy]

Top 9 week was MUCH better than top 11! I thought just about everyone brought it on this night and multiple contestants gave my favorite performances from them in the competition thus far.

 

Paul Akister - "Don't Stop Me Now": My problem with this song (which I don't like much to begin with) is that it's impossible to come across as anything but karaoke while singing it. That's why it tends to not do contestants any favors--Kitty was eliminated after it, and Union J pretty much bombed when they were saddled with it. Paul did well enough, and I thought he'd rank about middle of the night, but everyone finally decided to be good this week so I was not surprised at all to see him in the bottom two after this.

 

Jay James - "The Show Must Go On": Hmm. Parts of this I liked, other parts I thought were terrible. All in all, the easy second choice for the bottom two. I'm very surprised that the voting seems to be spot on this season for the most part. I'm expecting that to change LOL.

 

Lauren Platt - "I'll Be There": It was a safe song choice that, for once, was not too big for her. So, that means that this was her best performance yet. I guess low standards are good to have sometimes.

 

Only the Young - "Blame It on the Boogie": You could say this was karaoke cheese as well, but this foursome is able to make that work. They're immensely likable, don't take themselves too seriously and go out there to have fun. Unlike Paul, they were able to take a song that I do not like and give an enjoyable performance with it. Well done indeed.

 

Ben Haenow - "Man in the Mirror": I thought this was fantastic, and it's my favorite Ben performance thus far. I have no idea what the girls were talking about, saying it exposed his vocals lmao. Ben is someone who doesn't need a bunch of garbage going on around him to distract from the performance. He's probably my overall favorite due to that.

 

Stevi Ritchie - "Bohemian Rhapsody": I was expecting this to be a mess, but funny enough, I thought he made it work! The past two weeks, I feel like Stevi's come a bit into his own as a performer that's better than just doing plain karaoke versions of cheesy songs (like the first three weeks). His bromance with Simon is pretty fun too lol.

 

Stereo Kicks - "You Are Not Alone": A pretty safe song choice, which is probably what they needed after the previous week. It was a bit boring (minus the part where that one dude stormed the stage lmao) but they've proven themselves to be capable singers.

 

Fleur East - "Will You Be There": My problem with Fleur has been while she's definitely a great performer, I just wasn't hearing enough vocals from her to really buy her as a great act. That changed after this week--this performance was exactly what she needed to do to prove that she CAN sing. It was a great performance and I loved it. Now, she just needs to bring the great vocals while she's dancing and I'll be a fan.

 

Andrea Fausini - "Somebody to Love": Andrea also finally clicked for me this week. After the first few weeks, I was afraid he was just gonna diva up the place every time, so I'm glad to see that's not the case. He sounded great here and, like Fleur, if he gives more performances like this, I'll be happy to call myself a fan.

 

Performance Rankings:

1. Fleur/Andrea

3. Ben

4. Only the Young

5. Stevi

6. Stereo Kicks

7. Lauren

8. Jay

9. Paul

 

The correct bottom two for this week, and a fair result. Both sing-offs were really good, among the best either man has ever sounded. I do think Paul is the better singer of the two, but Jay has more of an idea of who he is as an artist, while I've never really understood what Paul was about musically. I do think Jay has just about reached his ceiling, though, so I'd be surprised if he advances much further than this.

[Elliott]

Wow I'm here for the Ben love

[*Chris]

The love for Andrea, Fleur, and Ben for the Top 9 week

[Weedy_Speedy]

Big Band week was just ok. Rankings would look something like this:

 

1. Fleur - I give credit to her by doing something interesting, giving a Big Band spin on a modern song. She's the only contestant who showed artistry and originality on this week, so she earns top marks for that.

2-4. Andrea, Ben, Only the Young - They were all good, not really anything I'll revisit though.

5. Lauren - Lol @ them re-doing Diana Vickers' version of this song, right down to the f*cking swing. I say Lauren did better than her though (Diana is one of the most overrated contestants ever, not sorry) and it's probably her best performance thus far.

6. Jay - Probably the dumbest contestant on this night by choosing the same song Sam Bailey SMASHED on this night just the previous season. It's my favorite performance from her and while Jay was good, he just didn't compare.

7. Stereo Kicks - I was amazed the judges liked this. I thought it was obvious they were uncomfortable with the song due to the last minute switch.

8. Stevi - Reverted back to his original shtick and was quite rightfully bottom 2'd for it.

 

I guess it was Jay's time to go, since Stevi does bring more entertainment value. I don't know about him advancing any further than the next week, though, unless he takes out Lauren or something.

[1234567890]

Hi, @The Ghost of Weedy Speedy! I have really missed you.

[Weedy_Speedy]

10 hours ago, 1234567890 said:

Hi, @The Ghost of Weedy Speedy! I have really missed you.

 

Hi, Victoria! It's great to see you. I hope you've been doing well.

[~Tom~]

Loving the Fleur, Andrea and Ben high marks on top 9 night! Especially Fleur's Will You Be There. I thought you might be more upset Paul went since it looked obvious to me that they bussed him with song choice and Stevi was still there. 

 

And yeah Fleur was the only one worth remembering on Big Band night even if I don't always care for them doing Big Band arragements of modern songs.

[Weedy_Speedy]

I like how the theme for top 7 week was "choose one of the most overdone songs of all time."

 

Rankings:

1. Ben - "I Will Always Love You": Lmao I don't know what Mel and Cheryl were talking about with this performance, I thought it was brilliant. Yeah he didn't change the song up much, but his voice is so different from the typical diva we've seen belt this song a billion times, that I don't think it mattered. It was a different kind of interpretation and his voice sounded great. Ben is easily my favorite contestant this year (and it's a bonus that he's easy on the eyes, too).

2. Only the Young - "Something About the Way You Look Tonight": Once again, this group took a song that I don't like very much and made me enjoy it. It was a solid performance and I'm sad that it was their swan song (and that they didn't even get a sing-out). I will admit that I'd have liked this group even more if it was just Charlie and Mikey singing gay love songs to each other (I think they're both much better than the girls) but they were a bright spot on this season and I'm sad to see them go.

3. Fleur - "I'm Every Woman": What I've liked about Fleur is that she's stayed away from the diva shtick, instead setting out to be a modern R&B recording artist, but with a theme like Whitney Houston I guess this was inevitable lol. It was a strong performance, probably right up there behind Vonzell and Mandisa as the best versions of this song.

4. Lauren - "How Will I Know": It's funny because at the beginning I was not feeling Lauren, but she's actually starting to win me over. On paper I thought this song would be WAY too big for her, but she actually made it work. With this performance you're telling me she couldn't have done Flashdance the way it's supposed to be done? Having her little brother as a dancer was really cute too.

5. Stereo Kicks - "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me": It was alright, but unlike the other acts, I don't think they brought anything new to the song (like OTY) or are good enough for that to not really matter (like Ben/Fleur). I've heard this song done the same way so many times that I'm just numb to it at this point.

6. Andrea - "I Have Nothing": Kinda down here by default, since I'm ranking these off memory and it took me like five minutes to even remember this performance happened. This is probably THE most done to death song on Idol/X Factor, and it's really just been done for me ever since the days of JHud and Vonzell. Their versions of this song are untouchable, why do people keep attempting to surpass them? If you ask me his B2 appearance was deserved.

7. Stevi - "I'm Still Standing": So it's a good thing Stevi was still here to serve as fodder to keep Andrea in the competition. He ran his course and it was time for him to go. I don't know what comment to make about the Cleopatra getup so I'll leave it at that lmao.

 

Ranking of the top 5:

1. Ben

2. Fleur

3. Stereo Kicks

4. Andrea/Lauren (tie)

[~Tom~]

I never cared for Lauren that much on the season either but How Will I Know is her best.   And I'm sure Simon's fingers were all over that slowed-down WAF arrangement.  

[Weedy_Speedy]

9 minutes ago, ~Tom~ said:

I never cared for Lauren that much on the season either but How Will I Know is her best.   And I'm sure Simon's fingers were all over that slowed-down WAF arrangement.  

 

Lmao without a doubt, it was literally the version that Drew did on XFUS.

[Solaris]

Didn't Lauren do it first though?  

 

Anyway my favorite Lauren performance is I Know Where Ive been, and imo nothing else comes close.  

Edited August 5, 2020 by Solaris

[Weedy_Speedy]

1 hour ago, Solaris said:

Didn't Lauren do it first though?  

 

Anyway my favorite Lauren performance is I Know Where Ive been, and imo nothing else comes close.  

 

No, XFUS coincided with the three years Simon was absent from the UK version. S11 was his first year back.

 

The thing with Lauren is that I said in her first performance that I didn't know if her potential would be realized on the show, but ever since "I'll Be There" I feel like she's been improving every week. Her sing-off performance was great and she earned her spot in the semifinal.

 

Rankings for top 5 night:

1. Fleur - "A Fool in Love" & "If I Ain't Got You": I'm giving the top spot to Fleur because I feel like she had the most consistent night with her two performances. AFIL was a fantastic song choice that was right in her wheelhouse. IIAGY I wasn't so sure about, but she did great with that song as well. It probably helps that IIAGY isn't quite as overdone as other diva ballads. Fleur's version is probably my favorite interpretation of the song on these shows, honestly.

2. Stereo Kicks - "Just the Way You Are" & "Run": I'm sad to see the boys go after this week, especially since I wasn't keen on them the last two weeks and, for me, this was a return to form. JTWYA wasn't super incredible, but it was good and better than the judges gave them credit for imo. Run was definitely their performance of the competition--I don't care how silly I sound here, but it legit gave me chills. I guess it's cool when acts get to go out on a high note, especially with how competitive this season's top 5 ended up being. I don't at all mind saying that Stereo Kicks is probably my second favorite boyband in XF history (after Union J). They were the surprise of the series for me.

3. Lauren - "Clarity" & "Don't You Worry Child": Lol how many performance gimmicks are they gonna recycle with Lauren? First it was Flashdance, then it was Diana's swing, and now I'm seeing glowsticks in the audience for Clarity--a memory I would have MUCH preferred stay repressed, thank you very much. As I said earlier, I feel like Lauren has improved every week, which is always great to see. I thought I'd be sick of her by now, but I've turned into a low-key fan. I enjoyed both of these performances and feel like the judges were too hard on her for this week (at least with Clarity). Let's see if she can keep the momentum going.

4. Andrea - "Chandelier" & "Hero": Chandelier was an interesting one for me, because it was so different from the bulk of Andrea's performances. It was a very inspired song choice and it's one of my favorite performances from him for that reason. It's too bad that Hero had to come along and go back to his regular diva-with-gospel-choir trope. Let's be real, that's one of Mariah's weaker songs, and everyone always performs it the same way (unless you're Brooke White but lol it wasn't a shining moment for her either). I was just over the performance before it began, really, so that's why he ranks low. Still, kudos for Chandelier.

5. Ben - "Come Together" & "Thinking Out Loud": It feels weird ranking Ben dead last, but with how everyone brought it this week, I really couldn't rank him any higher. CT was a good performance, not sure if I agree with it being the best of the first round, but it was a good opening performance that got the audience excited for what was to come. The reason he's last is because I hated TOL. I'm in total agreement with Mel in that the song didn't suit Ben at all. It was very weird because it's the only time I feel like he's sounded whiny (it's an Ed Sheeran song, after all). It wasn't a good fit because Ben is actually much better than that song. His worst performance thus far if you ask me.

 

It really is refreshing to have a series where the last acts remaining actually are the best acts in the competition, with the correct acts going home every week. Funny how the quality of a season improves when that happens.

 

Overall ranking of the top 4:

1. Ben

2. Fleur

3. Lauren

4. Andrea

Edited August 5, 2020 by The Ghost of Weedy Speedy

[Solaris]

Watch Laurens sing off though top 5.  Its my favorite from her!

[~Tom~]

I like the props for Chandelier and A Fool in Love! I don't remember that many of Stereo Kicks' performances but Run was one of their better ones.  

[~Tom~]

Also, just Hero? All of the Overbearing Diva's songs are weak.  

[Elliott]

3 hours ago, ~Tom~ said:

And I'm sure Simon's fingers were all over that slowed-down WAF arrangement.  

 

3 hours ago, The Ghost of Weedy Speedy said:

Lmao without a doubt, it was literally the version that Drew did on XFUS.

He also has one of his actual acts in the 13th series do it too.

[Weedy_Speedy]

1 hour ago, ~Tom~ said:

Also, just Hero? All of the Overbearing Diva's songs are weak.  

 

Oh come on man, "All I Want for Christmas is You" is a bop. Other than that there's..."When You Believe," I guess? Although I guess we can attribute that to Whitney instead lmao.

 

Top 4 Round 1? I mean they were singing Christmas carols, who cares? Fleur was the best because she had the best song.

 

Fleur was also the best for round 2, again because she had the best song. It was an incredible performance though, definitely her personal best and honestly? Probably the performance of the season. I had chills from the first note and it was just incredible. Girl was putting in the WORK to get into that final! I was flabbergasted that nobody knew the song lmao, but apparently it was brand new at that time. Anyway, I've watched this performance multiple times already, it was just brilliant.

 

As for the boys...honestly I'm going back to who cares mode. I'm glad Andrea chose something that wasn't Whitney/Mariah/etc. but Miley isn't a good option like, ever. And Simon just chucked one of his fail-safe songs at Ben, like he did to get Lee into the AI9 final. I never want to hear "Hallelujah" on these shows ever again.

 

Lauren's performance of "Story of My Life" was a step down from her little growth arc that I feel like she'd built for herself over the past few weeks. It wasn't a good song choice and it just didn't do anything for her. They were definitely bussing her too, making her performance right before "Uptown Funk" lmao. A comment that stuck out to me was when Cheryl said there had been "monster" contestants at this part of the show in the past. I wonder whom she was speaking of? 

 

I hate it when they do sing-offs in the semifinal. Mainly because I'm still bitter about them rigging Cher Lloyd into the finale over Mary. And because I'm still bitter they DIDN'T rig Union J into the finale over Sir Baloney. I mean seriously, wtf?!

[Solaris]

Side note, if Andrea and Lauren went to tiebreaker, Lauren had more public votes.