Week 4 Last Stage Auditions

So that's a wrap for auditions for this year. That seemed to be over quickly. I am sure these were stretched out across more weeks in the past with both lots of idiot auditions and more full length airings of the decent too. I suppose that it's also possible that fewer people are applying in the first place and the numbers generally are down but the size of crowds in the hot summer queues around the country looked as big as any year and that needn't impact upon how many are shown in these run-up programmes.

Anyway, we should now have seen each of the Top 12 or whatever it's going to be (allowing for wild cards, judges' extra choices, the Xtra One, the Fifth Judge save or whatever new idea the producers have in mind!)

Getting through tonight on the main programme were

Brick City

Code 4

Giles Potter

Hannah Sheares

Joe Whelan

Ryan Mathie

Sam Callahan

Zoe Devlin

A load more also were put through to Bootcamp but I suspect that that is as far as they will go. Of the acts I've picked out above, the ones I see doing well, Ryan Mathie made the biggest impact with a cool version of the now song Get Lucky. Giles Potter messed up badly but the judges must have seen something during earlier auditions and appeared almost before he'd finished to be putting him through anyway.

Sam Callahan is the cute boy this year and Joe Whelan the dad with muscles and tatoos who will appeal to whoever doesn't like the cute Sam.

Zoe Devlin isn't, as far as I'm aware, Janet's sister. She has a curious stage presence and an appealing style. How that will translate to a range of material and how she'll cope with live shows I'm not sure. There is another quirky girl who is likely to get The Quirky One space this year.

Hannah Sheares is very, very pretty. She's the one who was picked out of The Daisy Chains. Nervous and not really any competition for the likes of Melanie McCabe, I feel.

Code 4 and Brick City are a couple of fairly bland groups in terms of what they've shown us so far. However, both are competent and should be in with a chance once they get more airtime. They do have to cope with the uber-confident Rough Copy, though.

Hopefully next week we should have a clear picture of just who makes it through to Judges' Houses and that's when it really starts to get interesting.

This week may see the end of the impressively massive mouth of Jason Newland. That massive mouth may have got him in trouble as some of his tweets have got into the public arena. They were there anyway but once you get on programmes like X Factor you need to be prepared for everything you've ever published or done to be in the papers before long. Seems like he's a rude and nasty bit of work with a violent temper that he may not always be able to control. Despite that all being in the past, I don't see him surviving that. No biggie, to be honest, apart from that mouth.

Week 4 - the last of the Room Auditions.

The last week of Room Auditions and we see Sam and Ryan through for the boys with some good performances. (Ryan is only shown on Xtra Factor).

Only one of The Daisy Chains gets a chance to perform but I don't think we'll be seeing much more of any of them.

A truly annoying performance by Green Boots goes on for far too long and is just shown for some misguided entertainment.

Duplex - two girls in the video but I missed them on stage. Obviously nothing to worry about there then.

Joseph Whelan is good, plays guitar and does Steven Tyler impressions. I know he'll appeal to lots of people and can certainly sing well and has a great personality. But how 'today' is he? I don't know. I can see him being included in the Live Shows because he'll be good tv. The little kid may well get to sit on Nicole's knee too. It's all a bit staged for my liking but good luck to him. He made it through to Judges' Houses last year and so is bound to get there again.

Some Chinese guy called Justin actually gets through. Oh dear.

Two more interesting acts are Jason Newland and Andrea Magee. We only get a bit of each but that's enough to make them stand out in my book. I would predict good things for both. Jason has the most enormous mouth and an amazing voice. He could do with some training, though, whereas Andrea is ready to go. They'll both be interesting to look out for.

Also through to perform on the big stage (but hopefully that'll be the end of the road for them) is a group called Nostalgics who are all ancient and sing things like Bring Me Sunshine. What programme is this?

Lorna Simpson does a presentable job and hits all the right notes in a tricky Whitney song. However good she sounds, though, I wonder why she didn't seem that memorable compared to some others. Can she repeat that on stage tomorrow and show something special?

More make it through on X Factor UK, Week 3

We haven't yet seen many potential boy finalists. This fellow could be one. Confident and in tune, comes across well and may surprise people with what he can produce on the bigger stage.



The name Kingsland doesn't quite gel for some reason but these five can all sing and seem to have made some effort to rehearse their chance to get somewhere. Pretty good although I am not sure they're sufficiently different with 1D and UnionJ out there as well as a host of others.



Interesting group with a different sound - strong female lead and well in tune.



These are the guys who were prevented from taking a Judges' Houses round place due to visa problems for one of them. They were good last year and you get the impression that they didn't even think it was worth bothering too much as they'd be put through anyway at this stage. They are clearly talented and, from little we heard, they can sing and they can certainly entertain. Their first test will be on stage. I reckon they'll be fine.



Cute girl who didn't do much at all but there was a voice there and a great personality that is very much 'today'. I was surprised she got through and suspect that Louis sees her in a manufactured girl group. As a soloist, I don't see her proceeding far, however pretty she looks.



This kinda sets the scene for how old the series is - and Sharon Osbourne for that matter. Stephanie auditioned in 2007 at the age of 14 and got all the way to Judges' Houses, with Sharon shown as very sad to let her go. Since then she tells us she has been in the Canary Is and is a professional singer there somewhere. She's good and through.



This group did make the Top 20 many years ago when some company thought they might take on Hanson. It is unusual for this programme to give second chances to people who have already had decent contracts but it looks like they've got one. They sing brilliantly and certainly impressed the judges with all four standing up which is something I don't recall happening in these room-style acapello auditions.

The competition amongst groups is looking hot, though, and these guys, however good, and however much they move Nicole to tears, are a bit dated. If I were Louis, I'd sign them up now and start recording and get an album out for Christmas. It would sell, I'm sure. As for their chances on the X Factor, I'm not so sure, and that could be a sad moment when hopes have been raised so high so soon.

X Factor UK Week 2 More from Melanie and Abi

Shelley's a white van driver and put on a powerful version of Feeling Good to get a place at Bootcamp.

Jade Richards narrowly missed getting through in a previous year. She wasn't looking so good in the small room but on the bigger stage she looked much better and performed an Amy number, earthy and moody.

The Dolly Rockers were fun and together. The judges must know about some pretty damn spectacular groups out there already in order to turn them down and not even grant a Bootcamp slot to these three girls.

Melanie McCabe is on her fourth attempt and I featured her amazing performance in the small room last post. She has done it again on the big stage with a stunning version of Titanium which beats all the other versions I've heard by a mile and, particularly, the version that a runner-up last year released. She has a captivating look and simply has to be in the Live Shows with some smart management. Watching her in competition with Abi Alton and some others yet to be shown should be great TV,



Have to smile at Dermot's expression as Barclay the yodeller gets through to Bootcamp.

Luke Friend carries on, mostly shouting but Sharon doesn't complain as she had to some girl earlier,

Five girls performed I Don't Care extremely politely, probably not helped in viewers' eyes by shots backstage of one of the mothers dancing around as if it was her favourite track. It just didn't work, which was a shame as they were attractive and could sing and dance and, with some attention, were at least as competent as whatever first constituted Little Mix had been.

This girl is the one that really gets the audience on their feet. She took a chance by performing something she'd written herself. Interestingly, the Xtra Factor shows her doing a second track that the main show viewers will know nothing about.

Some promising first appearances and reappearances as X Factor UK gets under way

The first week of X Factor UK did seem to be full of filler, only slightly relieved by the madness of the Xtra Factor afterwards.

In amongst the ridiculous and the less than laughable, however were some acts which we should see more of.



Abi Alton - excellent and different.



Temera Foster - a little overrated in some of the comments but talented for sure



Luke Friend is an interesting guy full of character and with a decent voice




Melanie McCabe has been here three times before! Reaching Judges' Houses before too. She made Louis cry, genuine emotion, and Dermot O'Leary seemed to know her mother pretty well by now. This was a superb audition. I have a feeling she'll make the Live shows this year.

Season 10 gets under way. Two great promo videos.

Season 10 kicks off in a few days - this weekend! There haven't been the flock of video promotions as in the States but we have had a few really good ones.

Here's the full version of the one with all the acts. I think I spotted Leon Jackson.




The one I really like is this. Reminds me of Ella.




And if you'd like to know who we think makes the Top 24 click the link or here. But beware! Spoiler alert, OK!!

Amelia Lily set to beat last year's winners Little Mix in charts

Amelia Lily is on course to out do X Factor champs Little Mix in this week’s charts.

The teenager eventually finished third on the X Factor back in 2011, after being booted out in the first week as part of a very ill thought out twist and then being brought back a a wild card.

But while Amelia didn’t win the show, she’s gone on to get a record deal and is set to scoop her second Top 10 hit single this week. Her new song, the rather abruptly titled Shut Up, is currently at number nine in the midweeks. 18-year-old Amelia signed a deal with Girls Aloud’s record producers Xenomania after leaving the show and will release her debut album in May.

Winners Little Mix released their debut album last year, but their new single Change Your Life is struggling.
Despite a performance to millions on Dancing On Ice at the weekend, the girls have only scraped into the Top 40 so far this week. Meanwhile, midweek data from the Official Charts Company shows a chart dominated by X Factor acts.

The latest winner, James Arthur, remains in the Top 10 with his winner’s song, Impossible, at number eight.
One Direction are at 13 with Kiss You and Olly Murs is still in the Top 20 at number 17 with his former number one hit Troublemaker.

Read more: http://tellymix.co.uk/reality-tv/the-x-factor/130724-x-factor-chart-battle-sees-ameila-lily-ahead-of-winners-little-mix.html#ixzz2Izoql1pX