Monday 17 October 2016

Saara makes the Top Ten

The bottom three from the public vote overnight are Saara, Freddy and Ryan. No big surprises there. I had expected Honey G might be one of them but it does look like she is getting the benefit of all the extra publicity.

Ryan is the contestant placed 9th in the vote so gets to fight again in Week 3, leaving Freddy and Saara to try and save their places.

Freddy's song is one I don't recognise at first. I think it's called Stay and, after a nervous start, it works quite well for him. He manages to get across some good emotional expression and displays a better range than before too. You get the feeling that it ought to be enough.

Saara goes next and is introduced by Sharon as 'the songbird from abroad'. Then there's a gap as no-one seems quite sure what to make of that. Louis adds 'from Finland' as a sort of effort to make it seem more polite but the damage has been done. Awful stuff from this woman who is making quite a few embarrassing goofs.

The song is a beautiful version of Run and it caps Leona Lewis's release. Really good and there is no sign of the desperation that crept in to her last number. Every note is perfect and the whole feeling you get from this performance is that here is a girl who could genuinely entertain a stadium full of doubtful people and have them admiring her talents before the first song has ended. Nevertheless, you do wonder where she fits in the charts today. Indeed, both acts seem destined for the West End and where they would certainly do extremely well. Of the two, though, Saara is by far the better, by a long way.

It is the judges' choice, though, and we know that it will be down to Simon and Lewis to decide. I am expecting Saara to go as I predict Louis to follow up on his 'No-one likes you' comment last night and send Saara home and Simon will let the public decide. It doesn't quite work out that way. Louis actually sends Freddy home. So Simon could save him by sending Saara home - still the public choice but the other wat round. Simon does so but there's another surprise: Freddy is the one who came 11th and so is out. The public have, after all, started to warm to the Finland girl.

There is a lot of disappointment around and a certain sense of shock as most people really had liked Freddy and expected him to get through and maybe somehow start to improve performance-wise. I felt a bit sorry for him but also for Saara who didn't get the credit she deserved for another remarkable performance. She must have been feeling pretty hard done-by to be around the bottom of the votes again but no-one really seemed to celebrate her success, all being consumed by sympathy for poor Freddy.

Next week we learn will be Diva Week, which ought to be a week when Saara can keep out of the bottom but this is an odd mix of contestants. We have three very good girls who are unlikely to be kicked out just yet, one boy who is almost guaranteed to reach the final and one who is probably going to go soon, one very professional and one very inexperienced group and three very different, and not expected to last long, over 25s. It was good to see Four of Diamonds get through. Theirs had not been a particularly brilliant performance but with such short notice and amid all the excitement of being brought back in to Week 2 of the Live Shows, something never achieved by any act before and a risky move for the producers too, I felt it would have been really cruel to kick them out immediately afterwards. They do need to improve for Week 3, though, and try to rise above Ryan and maybe Honey G and even Relley C who ought to do well in Week 3 but has shown poor skills so far.

Could there be a girlfriend - boyfriend sign of next week? Ryan v Emily is on the cards.

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