October 9, 2010
The Underdog takes lead
Treyc Cohen was probably perceived an underdog on the first live show of the X Factor, having been turned away on last year’s show and again at Judges’ House this year.
She was brought back on the show as Cheryl Cole’s wildcard and proved “by a clear mile to be best vocal performance of the night” as complimented by Simon Cowell.
Cohen’s pitch perfect rendition of U2’s One Love earned her nods from all four judges and Cowell said he was amazed she has been overlooked for the competition.
One performance earlier Aiden Grimshaw wowed the audience with his heart rending take on Tears for Fears’ fantastic Mad World.
Simon remarked that it was the second time a performance of that song had blown him away, referring to Adam Lambert’s 2009 killer rendition on American Idol.
Louis described Grimshaw as “something special in the sky” while judges Cheryl and Dannii Minogue gave him special thumbs up.
Most memorable performance
But perhaps one of the most memorable performances of the night was that of Dublin’s Mary Byrne, who had laryngitis but wowed the crowd from her very first note of James Brown’s Man’s World.
Mary sent chills up my spine with every word of the song, delivering it with soul and emotion that reached the audience.
Her fiery performance earned her a lengthy, rousing applause with Dannii voting her one of the night’s best vocal performances.
Controversial finalist Cher Lloyd proved her worth in the competition when she made a stunning comeback with S.O.S’ Just Be Good to Me after messing up her performance at Judges’ House thanks to a sore throat.
Cheryl again defended her decision to choose Cher for the finals after a week of death threats and castigation for not selecting Zimbabwean Gamu Nhgengu.
Simon said Cher was the “new little star” they were looking for, Dannii found her “watchable, fantastic and a star” and Louis thought for a “little girl” she has alot of “stage presence.”
Other competitors
Matt Cardle, the handsome painter who sung his lungs out during his rendition of When Love Takes Over is super versatile and I reckon he’s going to improve drastically as the weeks pass and his confidence increases.
His voice is just amazing! Louis remarked that if he were home he’d download that version of the song and that’s exactly what I’m doing now!
I’m not sure the lovely Rebecca Ferguson was given the right song in up tempo Teardrops from Womack and Womack but she smashed it anyway with her Norah Jones-like-voice.
She’s a top competitor and the judges are anticipating her future offerings.
Paije Richardson, another wildcard personalised and did justice to Killing Me Softly.Good choice Dannii.
FYD and John Adeleye failed to capture my attention and didn’t compete to the standard set by other contestants.
Simon described Wagner’s performance as the most “bonkers performance” he’d ever seen even after Diva Fever’s version of Sunny. No comments on that performance.
Katie Waissel is rumoured to be among those at risk of being knocked out when two leave the contest tomorrow after she failed to sing her song at Judges’ House. Other finalists who performed were Storm Lee, Nicolo Festa and groups Bell Amie and One Direction.
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