Welcome to #SurvivorSaturday: X Factor UK edition! Just a quick disclaimer that everything down below are my personal opinions. I'm in no way affiliated with any corporation, especially X Factor, Syco, or iTV.
What is Survivor? Alright, so I do recaps of performances for various singing shows and I give my two cents but Survivor is where I put my ten cents in and try and give the contestants a bit of advice (even though they're clearly not reading this) about what they can do to stay in the competition.
Last season, these posts were simply titled "Survivor", but I'm trying something new out so bare with me! Everything down below is not only referring to said contestant's previous performance, but their overall history in the competition. This is basically what I think they can do to get through to the next round and whether or not I think they're safe or not. On to Survivor!
If a lot of this sounds redundant or repetitive, it's because I'm running out of things to say for this group of contestants. The good ones stay good and the others refuse to stop making the same annoying bad choices. And Sam's gone after giving her best performance of the live shows, if not her best of the season. And they stood up for Honey G last week. Again.
If a lot of this sounds redundant or repetitive, it's because I'm running out of things to say for this group of contestants. The good ones stay good and the others refuse to stop making the same annoying bad choices. And Sam's gone after giving her best performance of the live shows, if not her best of the season. And they stood up for Honey G last week. Again.
GIRLS:
EMILY MIDDLEMAS
If you read any of my Survivor posts prior to this, it's basically the same thing. Emily's talented, but she's getting really boring. She takes a traditionally uptempo Song, slows it down and tries to squeeze some emotions out of it. She's mostly been failing. The only thing that will stop me from falling out of my seat in boredom watching her is if she does something upbeat or brings back that quirky fun side to her that she had before the live shows. Also, Simon, or Emily (I'm not sure who makes the decisions on this show), please give this girl back her guitar. Please.
OVERS:
HONEY G
N/A.
SAARA AALTO
It's hard to tell what the country is thinking. One week, Saara's at the bottom of the pack and the next, she's seemingly at the top. It's very hard to tell what the public wants. Personally, I think Saara's great when she's doing the bright and flashy numbers but she could have a real moment if she cuts all of the production and has a song that just focuses on her vocals. Her best performances, in my opinion, were all of her sing-off performances, and frankly, anytime she does a ballad. She's been the only girl Left that can truly delivery a vocally show stopping performance for a while now. I think that might give her enough juice to build up some momentum as we go into the last half of the live shows!
BOYS:
MATT TERRY
Matt's singing 'Writing's on the Wall' this week. It's sung almost completely in falsetto by one of the most falsetto-reliant singers of our generation. I'm sure he won't miss a note, but I'm also sure it's just going to be a run of the mill, good song from him. I can honestly say, writing about Matt bores me now because he's nothing new and innovative. He could be, but he just settles for being cheesy every week.
RYAN LAWRIE
Speaking of cheese, hey Ryan! These past few weeks, I haven't hated what Ryan's been doing. I haven't loved it, but his performances haven't been half bad. Is he a very generic white boy? Is his diction horrible? Does he look like a Mexican jumping bean when he hops on and off of platforms and kind of says hey to the audience? Is he probably going to have these same issues when he takes on the predictable song choice of 'Jailhouse Rock'? Yes. Yes. Yes. And, oh yes. But at least he's trying to not bore us to bed.
GROUPS:
5 AFTER MIDNIGHT
If you think about it, everyone left on the show does the same thing week after week. Emily slows songs down, Honey G is there, Matt has a boring good vocal, Ryan will jump around out of breath after starting out on a platform, 5 After Midnight does an uptempo number. 5 After Midnight and Saara are the only ones, in my opinion, that will do the same thing on paper but add something new and fresh each week. Their vocals could use a bit of work, but I still think they're the best act left in the show and probably one of the show's only 2/3 choices left to give the show some credibility as a program that genuinely wants to find good talent and turn them into stars.
Song spoilers VIA The Sun!
5 AM: Try a Little Tenderness
Emily Middlemas: It Must Have Been Love
Honey G: It's Like That / Getting Jiggy With It
Matt Terry: Writings on the Wall
Ryan Lawrie: Jailhouse Rock
Saara Aalto: My Heart Will Go On
