X Factor UK S11 – TOP 24 – Commentary

NEW: The X Factor 2014 Judges Houses PRESS PACK with profiles of all 24 acts + first pictures from Judges’ houses!

This post might contain some spoilers.

Check out The X Factor 2014 Judges Houses PRESS PACK! Features the profiles of all 24 acts.

TellyMix has pictures from the judges’ houses: GIRLS, BOYS, OVERS, GROUPS

Yesterday TOP 24 acts of X Factor UK S11 were revealed and next Sunday we will have our TOP 12. Because the 6 chair challenge had the audience, we pretty much knew the TOP 24 as soon as that round was finished filming. It’s much harder to get the correct spoilers for the TOP 12. As always TOP 6 from each category traveled to 4 different locations for the Judges’ Houses. The overs traveled to Simon Cowell’s REAL home in Los Angeles. Once again, Simon’s ex girlfriend Sinitta was the mandatory attraction, or, should I say, furniture there. Louis Walsh and the groups filmed the judges’ houses round in Bermuda and he was joined by ex X Factor judge Tulisa (in a white bikini). Tulisa mentored Little Mix to their X Factor victory, so maybe she had some good advice for Louis. Mel B and the boys met somewhere in Mexico and Baby Spice Emma Bunton helped Mel B make some difficult decisions. Cheryl Fernandez-Versini was the only judge to film this round in Europe. She and the girls enjoyed some sunny days in Nice (south of France). Cheryl’s guest judge was rapper Tinie Tempah.

It’s possible that we will start the live shows with 16 acts instead of 12. Last week the media reported that there will be a wildcard from each category and the wildcards will be chosen by judges: Cheryl for the boys, Mel B for the groups, Louis for overs and Simon for the girls. It was not stated whether the wildcards must be chosen from the rejects at judges’ houses or not.

Before I start, I think I need to provide a little disclaimer. I will try to guess who the TOP 3 from each category and will try to explain my choices and pros and cons of each act. I will take into consideration their talents (vocal, performance ability), looks, marketability, personalities, airtime so far and show’s history.

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THE OVERS: Based on all the pimping so far, I think Jay James and Ben Haenow are locks for the live shows. They are both male soft rock singers and I think Simon and TPTB expect them to lock in the older female viewers. I’m not sure if they will be useful for Syco after the show, though. Remember Matt Cardle? He won the most watched season of X Factor ever, but was unable to score a big hit with his original music. I think the key to post show success is being young and pop enough to get played by BBC Radio 1 and Capital FM. BBC Radio 2 and Heart Radio play more adult oriented music, but don’t drive the single sales. I’m not sure who will get the 3rd and possibly 4th spot in this category. Stevi Ritchie is this year’s joke act and I could see St. Louis (the patron of all joke acts) picking him as the wildcard for the overs category. Helen Fulthorpe is a solid singer, but let’s face it, X Factor UK doesn’t want or need another Sam Bailey. And Simon almost sent home Lizzy Pattinson to make room for Helen, so I think Lizzy doesn’t have a chance.

SPOILER: Photographer Simon Webb tweeted about working with Jay James, Ben Haenow and Fleur East. He then deleted his tweet.

Simon Webb @simonwebbphoto · 1h
Great working with @TheXFactor’s @JayJames, @FleurEast & @Bhaenow this morning. Looking forward to the next shoot!

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THE BOYS: Once again we have two heavily featured male singers in the same genre. Paul Akister and Andrea Faustini are both male soul singers. Andrea has the voice and personality and Paul has the voice and the backstory of being a come back kid from last year. Unless one of them majorly screws up the judges’ houses performance, I think both will be in the live shows. I think Jack Walton should get the 3rd spot since he is the WGWG that does cool arrangements. Jake Quickenden is another come back kid, bot his voice is just average. I don’t think there is room for 2 come back kids in the live shows. Unless Jake gets in as a wildcard? Danny Dearden and Jordan Morris were barely featured and TPTB didn’t even bother uploading their 6 chair challenge performances to X Factor’s YouTube channel.

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THE GIRLS: This category is hard to call. Kerrianne Covell seems like the strongest singer to me, but besides the voice, my first impression of her from her room audition was that she lacks in the looks and marketability department. That’s just my intuition. Lauren Platt was also pimped and can sing well, but I think she also lacks in the looks department, to be honest. I think Lola Saunders has the pipes and the looks, but she will need to learn how to handle her nerves. Emily Middlemas is cute and with her 6 chair challenge performance she proved she can do more than just play guitar and sing gentle covers. But I still wonder if her voice is strong enough. She is also the youngest. Stephanie Nala is cute, but both times she was shown, her appearance was very brief. Chloe Jasmine is the weakest vocalist of them all and the producers basically forced Cheryl to put her in her TOP 6. But, she is different with her looks and jazzy vocals. And Simon likes her, so she could always be his wildcard. She is this year’s contestant that we will all love to hate.

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THE GROUPS: Since in Louis’ mind “fit and cute boys = votes”, I predict THE NEW BOYBAND will be in the live shows. Blonde Electric are super annoying, but since Louis is the patron of all joke acts, I’m afraid they will be in the live shows. Or maybe he will turn The Brooks into Jedward #2. I really don’t know what’s going on in Louis’ crazy mind.

About Mateja Praznik 1060 Articles
I recently graduated from the Faculty of Law in Ljubljana, Slovenia. In my free time I like to read books, watch TV and listen to music. I'm also a huge cat lover. I cover X Factor UK for MJsBigBlog.com.