Live Shows: The Top 8 perform

It's Big Band Night, apparently. Not that it made a great deal of difference to the tracks most acts performed.

Scarlett

Can't Take My Eyes Off You
You have to forgive the girl for singing 'off of' I suppose. I might not have done at the start as she was decidedly average and I began to want to look away when she did the attracting Simon thing in a dress that tended to emphasise rather than diminish some of her chunkier parts. But then she giggled and as the song progressed she genuinely seemed to relax and be quite a little star, her voice really soaring across the range, rescuing the whole thing. I actually liked this. She deserves to do well if this is the act that would be on stage for people to pay to see in future.

Brendan

Say Something
Big Band?? No. But never mind. This track first featured in this type of show with Simon giving it to Alex & Sierra on X Factor USA before it had even been played here in the UK. Since then he has used it a lot and to good effect so it is not surprising that he suggested it to Louis T. Don't believe Tomlinson's rebuttal. Simon will have chosen this one. Brendan produced a nice version of it and he seems to have found a pretty big fan base within the audience, at least. When he gives us those special vocal things that he can do so well it is excellent but otherwise he needs to be careful as he was not at all impressive at the start or end, almost speaking the words when we wanted something stronger.

Nile is particularly complimentary about Brendan and I can see him getting signed whatever happens now. Brendan does refer to being a plumber six months ago but I do have to keep reminding people that this guy also did Eurovision Semis. He does know what he's doing.

Shan

Summertime
Ah, the classic. I wasn't too sure whether Shan isn't pushing this track just a bit further than it was designed to go. What she did was first class - as always - and she really must get through to the final. Please. I so much want to see her there. Pure class.

Anthony

Beyond The Sea
He moves around well and he is quite an infectious performer. Great character but this could be his last week. It's all OK bit not spectacular. He seems out of breath and it's a bit of an odd finish too. Such a likeable character but coming 7th or 8th is no bad thing.

Acacia & Aliyah

They do something they've put together themselves in the week. OK, so it's not Big band at all but you can't really expect them to do Mack the Knife (although maybe they could have tried now I think about it!)

This is pretty damn brilliant to my mind - quite a smart performance too. A good tract that worked, super performance and you have to admire these girls. They've been in the bottom three twice now so I might expect them to be there again, simply because of how the viewers are distributed age and style-wise. They should still make it through for another week, though.

Bella

I did recognise the track but i can't place a title or artist. I like what she tried to do and there was quite a lot of quality performance there but the panel's review was not good. I do wonder whether she will get voters' support in enough numbers for this unusual track and suspect she is likely to go.

Dalton

He does a track I really do not know at all. Listen? Could the title. It's not that great. He's accurate maybe but this was not a winner's performance this week. In fact, I found him quite disengaged from the band. It seems that his vocal antics and sheer professionalism towards the end of the track may have saved him getting any criticism as the audience simply didn't want to stop applauding and shouting for him. He really does seem to have this sewn up if you judge by the crowd and the panel's remarks.

Danny

My Way
It's the ultimate karaoke. He did a good job but it would be OK to see him go now. I suspect he'll survive another week yet because of the poor performance of Bella and Anthony and the uncertainty of who votes for the two young girls. Another likeable old fellow but he's got to go soon. We will, I'm afraid to say, forget him after a few weeks.

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Unbelievably, Shan goes home, losing on the public's voting figures to Acacia & Aliyah. Ayda was unable to decide and is probably responsible, as she could have saved her but left it to the voting figures. Simon was clearly very shocked, as, I suspect was everyone. I can only imagine that in the second public vote people just assumed that she would go through as she had been announced first at the earlier vote, giving the impression that she had the most, perhaps. So people switched to vote for others to help them off the bottom of the pile. To see her go out and the likes of Danny and Anthony go through is very frustrating. But it's nothing new in these competitions, I guess. Simon did announce that he was changing the rules. I thought for a moment that he would put both Shan and Bella into the next round but what he meant was that they would both be included in the X Factor Tour. It seems that they would not otherwise have been included so that is a welcome thing indeed. It gives them a salary and lots of exposure for best part of the next year.

Bella was the act with the least votes at the earlier stage and, as expected, had been the first to leave in 8th position.