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There is no question that Simon Cowell is a drama king. However, watching him storm off stage with nothing to say after the first girl of the competition was eliminated was, for me, the highlight of the show.
During Michael Jackson week, each act performed a legendary song, not just in front of the judges and audience, but in front of the Jackson family themselves. Pressure? Uh, yeah. The top 7 acts were singing for their lives, as two acts were leaving.
Josh Krajick started the show with a lively rocking performance of “Dirty Diana” showing the public watching he could not only blow them away with his voice, but his talent on the guitar too. With both Astro and Chris Rene being known to rap most weeks, I was wondering what they were going to do; tributing to Michael Jackson certainly deserved some vocals. Chris Rene, yet again, made me melt as he performed “I’ll Be There” and even threw in one of his own original raps. It was magic.
Both Rachel Crow and Drew did Simon proud as they performed in two completely different ways, Rachel loud and energetic where as Drew was still and emotional. The judges were quick to criticize Drew on her repetitive performances, which were getting boring. However, boring for me was Astro, as predicted a very heart felt rap, but a rap, again. It seemed that both Marcus Canty and Melanie Amaro pleased the judges and auidences with their versions of a classic Michael Jackson song, leaving the bottom three to be anyone’s game.
Presenter, Steve Jones called Chris Rene’s name first, who was completely shocked and had to be told that he really was safe. Adorable. Each act was desperate to make it through, but it was Astro who was told first that his time in the competition had come to an end; surprisingly, Astro took the news like a man. Drew and Marcus were left to sing for survival.
Simon, took full blame for Drew being left in the bottom two, admitting he gave her the wrong song, but after the powerful sing-off and tears from Nicole and Paula, it was Marcus who was saved, and Drew was left to say her goodbyes and leave the show. A devastated Simon refused to comment on any questions given to him by Steve; instead he comforted an extremely heart-broken Drew.
With two teens gone, and the final five presented, you would expect nothing but more tears, tantrums and big decisions.
The final five received a shock, they were aware they were performing two songs each, yet last minute they were told that they were performing there “Save Me” song instead of their rehearsed song which left the acts having to learn a brand new song in 24 hours. What a lovely twist.
Singing top 40 hits as their first songs, the final five belted the likes of Adele, Bruno Mars and Rihanna; everyone was up on their feet dancing (apart from Simon). L.A’s dance moves get better every week!
It was their second song that I was looking forward to most. It was the song with the passion and drive that you knew was going to be delivered in the best way possible. Chris Rene shone as he performed his very own song “Where Do We Go From Here” in a chair, with nothing but his guitar.
Rachel also seemed to get the judges attention when she sang another Michael Jackson song, where she was told that she was a star. Melanie, Josh and Marcus left Paula and Nicole in tears, (again…there seems to be a lot of emotion on this show) pointing out by Simon that the final four could be any of the acts.
The public vote left Marcus and Rachel singing for survival, a first for Rachel who admitted earlier in the show that she wasn’t confident. They were singing for a place in the semi-finals. Marcus sang first, performing like he’d performed for years already and left the judges wondering if Rachel could top it. In a note-perfect performance, Rachel proved everyone wrong when she clearly out sung Marcus, having Marcus’ mentor L.A. telling her “You actually really surprised me, Rachel. I didn’t expect that.” Rachel beamed.
Both Simon and L.A. saved their acts, leaving the girls to decide. Paula chose to save Rachel too leaving the deciding vote to Nicole. Nicole, unable to made a decision as per usual, felt she could not send either act home so took the vote to deadlock, which left me assuming that Marcus would be going. The public’s vote left shocked Rachel in buckets of tears as Marcus was saved. Rachel dropped on the floor and sobbed.
Simon, Nicole, L.A., Rachel’s mother and the other acts consoled Rachel but Nicole was beside herself, hysterically crying, which was expected. She had just shattered the dreams of the cutest 13-year-old girl ever. Unable to pull herself together, the show ended with a lot of tears and an audience feeling sorry for poor Rachel. We know it isn’t the end for her though, we’ll be seeing more of Rachel.
The semi-final round of X-Factor begins next week.
