A large young girl with red hair starts off the second audition for Week 2. She's OK but the makeover team will have their work cut out for them if she makes the later stages. Jasmine Leigh is reasonably in tune but really nothing exceptional and is followed by a few more contenders who all seem to be a little odd in some way.
Now there's nothing wrong in being a little odd. Indeed, it can even be a useful marketing tool for the record companies but I just don't see any of these people getting that far. Max Stone plays a guitar. He looks about 45 but is in his twenties. Add the fact that he's singing Bob Marley and that's different if nothing else. Quite a good performance overall and obviously through to Boot Camp with Jasmine.
Joining them is Ebru who describes herself as a freelance singer. She does seem to know what she's doing and her strained sort of voice sort of works. She'd look good on an album sleeve too,
So too would Sharon Rose who has a Diana Ross look about her but actually performs in much more soulful a way and comes across as quite naturally talented and a pleasant sort but still not someone I'd expect to make the Live Shows.
This year's really odd ball, and the sort to make a Live Show if the producers were going for the 'we need a weird entrant' route to improve TV ratings, could be Joselito, a 51 year old hairdresser who may be good at hairdressing but is rubbish at singing. He ruined Copa Cabana and took his time doing it too. How on Earth he got through I do not know.
If you were hoping that things might now start settling down and some normally pretty impressive acts would be coming on stage you'd have been disappointed as next come two dreadful acts I won't even bother name-checking.
A chap called Che Chesterman comes from Essex. Does everyone come from Essex this year? Apart from the Filipino band, that is. He's got a baseball cap on back to front and looks a bit strange but he puts in a strong audition and is in with a chance of a Live Show place f only because there are very few decent blokes so far. He needs some work, appearance-wise, but that may be feasible.
Karen is one of the big gospel girls. We haven't had many of them this year. She belts out a track fairly well but has a tinny sound. A bit forgettable.
Laura is getting on and comes from Ireland. She looks like she has just grabbed the first clothes she had lying around and wandered on to the stage. Almost zero presence but she does sing very well and in tune too which is nice. she might surprise us but I doubt it.
Jordan is possibly the first good-looking young chap to make a reasonable audition this year and we'll be seeing more of him I'm sure. Not a winner but he might get dragged into a composite group if there's one needed again this year.
Tonatha has a name that takes a bit of getting your tongue around but certainly has a nice red dress and moves exceptionally well in it. A cheerful girl who is actually a teacher and comes across as very confident with some disco-soul type track. Nice enough but that's all really.
As the evening drags to a close we've seen a good number of auditions but they are all pretty average really when you look back at them and, whilst many get through to Boot Camp and one or two might even get further, I simply don't see anyone who straightaway makes you think that they're a Live Show contender. That is, after all, what all this about. Make the Top 12 or whatever it will be this year and you have the chance of a lifetime, performing with lots of support and good advice, made up, hopefully, to look your best (although that hasn't always been the case!) and out there to win a few more votes than whoever gets the lowest and thus get a further week on our screens.
Perhaps one who might make at least the Top 24 is Hannah Marie, the last up tonight. She makes a good job of Freddie Mercury's Somebody To Love and provides the panel with that long-awaited Wow! moment. She shows signs of lots of classical training and seems very strong, with an impressive audition. On listening again, though, I am not so sure she made as good a job of hitting the notes as well as I thought she did when watching the programme on TV. She's 30 so would be a good candidate for the Overs category and I reckon she will be in the running for a position there. With her Gloucestershire Farm Girl background and nice personality she definitely comes across well on the screen.
Switching over to The Xtra Factor, there was another Overs act worth mentioning. A really very good performance by Anton Stephens (or maybe Stephans?) should see him safely through to the same group as Hannah-Marie, and both seem TV-friendly too. Anton has the slight advantage of experience, having been a backing singer with several famous names in the past and you can see he is comfortable on stage and also why he got that job in the first place. Now he may be a little past his best and there is a certain panic in his eyes but that may settle as he gets restored faith in himself.
Now there's nothing wrong in being a little odd. Indeed, it can even be a useful marketing tool for the record companies but I just don't see any of these people getting that far. Max Stone plays a guitar. He looks about 45 but is in his twenties. Add the fact that he's singing Bob Marley and that's different if nothing else. Quite a good performance overall and obviously through to Boot Camp with Jasmine.
Joining them is Ebru who describes herself as a freelance singer. She does seem to know what she's doing and her strained sort of voice sort of works. She'd look good on an album sleeve too,
So too would Sharon Rose who has a Diana Ross look about her but actually performs in much more soulful a way and comes across as quite naturally talented and a pleasant sort but still not someone I'd expect to make the Live Shows.
This year's really odd ball, and the sort to make a Live Show if the producers were going for the 'we need a weird entrant' route to improve TV ratings, could be Joselito, a 51 year old hairdresser who may be good at hairdressing but is rubbish at singing. He ruined Copa Cabana and took his time doing it too. How on Earth he got through I do not know.
If you were hoping that things might now start settling down and some normally pretty impressive acts would be coming on stage you'd have been disappointed as next come two dreadful acts I won't even bother name-checking.
A chap called Che Chesterman comes from Essex. Does everyone come from Essex this year? Apart from the Filipino band, that is. He's got a baseball cap on back to front and looks a bit strange but he puts in a strong audition and is in with a chance of a Live Show place f only because there are very few decent blokes so far. He needs some work, appearance-wise, but that may be feasible.
Karen is one of the big gospel girls. We haven't had many of them this year. She belts out a track fairly well but has a tinny sound. A bit forgettable.
Laura is getting on and comes from Ireland. She looks like she has just grabbed the first clothes she had lying around and wandered on to the stage. Almost zero presence but she does sing very well and in tune too which is nice. she might surprise us but I doubt it.
Jordan is possibly the first good-looking young chap to make a reasonable audition this year and we'll be seeing more of him I'm sure. Not a winner but he might get dragged into a composite group if there's one needed again this year.
Tonatha has a name that takes a bit of getting your tongue around but certainly has a nice red dress and moves exceptionally well in it. A cheerful girl who is actually a teacher and comes across as very confident with some disco-soul type track. Nice enough but that's all really.
As the evening drags to a close we've seen a good number of auditions but they are all pretty average really when you look back at them and, whilst many get through to Boot Camp and one or two might even get further, I simply don't see anyone who straightaway makes you think that they're a Live Show contender. That is, after all, what all this about. Make the Top 12 or whatever it will be this year and you have the chance of a lifetime, performing with lots of support and good advice, made up, hopefully, to look your best (although that hasn't always been the case!) and out there to win a few more votes than whoever gets the lowest and thus get a further week on our screens.
Perhaps one who might make at least the Top 24 is Hannah Marie, the last up tonight. She makes a good job of Freddie Mercury's Somebody To Love and provides the panel with that long-awaited Wow! moment. She shows signs of lots of classical training and seems very strong, with an impressive audition. On listening again, though, I am not so sure she made as good a job of hitting the notes as well as I thought she did when watching the programme on TV. She's 30 so would be a good candidate for the Overs category and I reckon she will be in the running for a position there. With her Gloucestershire Farm Girl background and nice personality she definitely comes across well on the screen.
Switching over to The Xtra Factor, there was another Overs act worth mentioning. A really very good performance by Anton Stephens (or maybe Stephans?) should see him safely through to the same group as Hannah-Marie, and both seem TV-friendly too. Anton has the slight advantage of experience, having been a backing singer with several famous names in the past and you can see he is comfortable on stage and also why he got that job in the first place. Now he may be a little past his best and there is a certain panic in his eyes but that may settle as he gets restored faith in himself.
No comments:
Post a Comment