X Factor Australia Season 8 Recap – Episode 8 (VIDEOS)

Episode 8 of X Factor Australia has aired and is now up on the official site! Here is the link. It is region locked to Australia, but thanks to the Chrome Extension Hola, you can watch it anywhere. Many of you may have used this extension to watch X Factor UK a day early via ITV’s website, but it’s even easier for X Factor Australia. No zip code or account is required.

But if you want to just watch performances and (with some videos) judges comments, and don’t care about the introductions, you don’t even need to use Hola. You can just watch the videos embedded below. Read on for my thoughts on episode 8 of X Factor AU featuring judges Adam Lambert, Iggy Azalea, Guy Sebastian, and Mel B.

Iggy is up next for the 3 chair challenge, but first, she narrows her category down via the Acapella challenge. She wants a group that is engaging and keeps her interested. Chai changed their name to Montage-much better. In the process, she also takes four under 22 guys that Adam rejected during his acapella challenge and manufactures a group out of them. Sheldon Hernandez and Sami Afunie are two of the members of this new boyband.

Iggy wants to be the first person to mentor a winning group on X Factor AU.

First up are Beatz. They made bootcamp last season but got cut. They are tied with the group now known as Montage as my favorite group. They say that they can dance and Montage can’t. They sing Me Too by Meghan Trainor, a song which I cannot stand. I truly, truly despise this song. They can dance really well, and they all sing well. I really can’t stand the choice of song, I find it so indulgent. But they are amazing regardless of the song. Guy says that they are all equally good, and nobody made the other two seem bad. Adam liked it, found it polished, doesn’t get the colored shoes that are different for each girl. Iggy suggests that they are dated, doesn’t like the colors either. They get a seat for now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THuMqIS8CWE

Fifth Element is up next, and they are pretty monotonous, and one of them hits a particularly screechy high note. Iggy sends them home.

Brentwood are up next. They are a brother sister duo who got a three judge standing ovation at their audition, and the pressure is on their minds. The girl thinks it will be hard to beat their first audition. They sing Lush Life by Zara Larson and try to make it their own. Iggy wants them to kill this audition. And in my opinion, they do. Love their vocals and harmonies. Guy, however, says that he isn’t dressed right. Adam said it didn’t feel cool to him, felt the song got the lounge treatment. The girl tells Iggy to “make us cool”. Iggy gives them a seat.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_DjuahVZGM

Indiella are step sisters who impressed Iggy in their first audition. But since Brentwood are in Iggy’s top 3 already, Iggy doesn’t want two duos in the finals. They sing Don’t Worry About Me by Frances. They also have great harmonies. Honestly I didn’t remember them at all, but this was a very pretty, subtle performance. The problem is, Brentwood are directly competing with them and Brentwood are significantly better. Adam found it sweet, charming, sentimental, sisterly, doesn’t know what else they are capable of. Guy tells them that it melted him, loved the harmonies, wants Iggy to put them through. Iggy isn’t sure how versatile they could be, isn’t sure they could pull off up tempo songs. They get a seat for now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLds-ngehXI

All three of Iggy’s seats are full. Iggy will now have to swap acts out of seats to put new people through. Aroza (singer-rapper sister-brother duo) seriously disappoint Iggy and get sent home.

The Dennis Sisters are next up trying to steal a seat. They sing a Vance Joy song and honestly I find them mediocre at best. They have harmonies that are occasionally good but both of them veer off key at times. Guy however starts to cry for some reason, he says his sons sing and so he has a thing for siblings who sing. Guy thinks there is room for them. Iggy says it’s not easy to make a grown man cry. After tearing up from the performance, Guy wises up and whispers to Iggy that she should separate the emotion from the performance. And Iggy then sends them home.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HFecPHYvow

Iggy hated our next act’s initial choice of choreography. FD3 then sang something stripped down and she liked it better. They hope that their version of an 80s classic will convince Iggy to make her first swap. Honestly they are ok, but not stellar in my view. Adam said it felt more polished than their audition, missed the dancing. Guy says the harmonies were a little flat, but better than the audition. Adam tells Iggy they’re forgettable and Iggy does not give them a seat.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKkaMZpgN28

Iggy still hasn’t made any swaps since filling up her three seats. But next up are her newly manufactured boyband. Sami Sheldon Leon and Matt are their names, and they chose the name Time and Place for their group. Don’t know if I love the name, but Iggy and Adam like it. They sing You Don’t Know Love by Olly Murs. Iggy says “don’t make Adam get the last laugh.” Sheldon is worse than I remember, Sami isn’t great either, and the harmonies are a mess. But then again, One Direction started out worse than this. So what the hell do I know? Adam says that individually they weren’t bringing enough, but he’s glad that Iggy put them in a group because he likes them all as people. Adam wants them to tighten up their harmonies. Guy whispers that it was so messy and that “oh god they need work”. Adam whispers that Mel would know what to do with them. It’s a risk, but Iggy takes the risk and gives them a seat. She swaps them with Indiella.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSmNDcH8Sh4

Montage are up last, and they need to deliver the performance of their lives. They got a three judge standing ovation at their first audition, despite the lackluster name of Chai. They think Beatz are their biggest competition. They really want the seat because they want to sing the rest of their lives. Iggy tells them they have to move mountains to be swapped. They sing Break Free by Ariana Grande. They move around the stage a bit more than at their audition. Their harmonies are good but not stellar. I still think Beatz are more talented than they are despite the crappy choice of song. Adam thinks their harmonies were slightly pitchy, thinks they weren’t as polished as Beatz. Guy says they are beast singers, says it sucks for Iggy because she has a similar group already. Iggy puts them into her top 3. She swaps out Beatz. Iggy wishes she had four seats. I really hope Mel takes them, as they were easily the best group in the competition this year.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSCcwCOR99w

My thoughts: As I tweeted earlier, Iggy made one big mistake. I think that Time and Place were not nearly good enough to outlast Beatz, Montage, and Brentwood. And if Mel doesn’t pick up Beatz, I don’t think a group will win this season. Having said that, again, the four she was left with at the end were pretty strong.

About Eric Ascher 106 Articles
I cover X Factor UK for Mjsbigblog. I love writing about any show that could help me find an entertainer to follow in the real world. I watch these shows obsessively and love keeping up with amazing talent.