X Factor Australia 5 - Live Show 2

A lot of people stepped up their game this week. Squared Division still does fantastic work with staging. Some people went down a bit, not really producing anything special this week. The wheels of X Factor go round-and-round, let’s try to figure out who might get stopped this week.

I love Imogen Heap’s version of “Thriller” and Jiordan Tolli brought a very a reminiscent version of that cover to the X Factor Stage and killed it. I loved her commitment to the song, not only in her vocals, but also in her body language. Perhaps she put her hands up in front of her a little too much, but only a little. This is the storytelling that I want to see out of Jiordan. Where she can completely and utterly become the character of the song. Good job, Redfoo.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GZf0hAT6zw

Honestly, just level with me for a second. I think Dami Im is a little overhyped. Yes she is very good, very, very good even. I fail to see the translation at this moment to modern star though. Perhaps a stint in the Vegas circuit when Celine Dion needs a month off or something. I would be behind that. All that being said, Dami did fantastic with “Purple Rain.” She may have been a little shout-y at some points, but I feel that is what the song dictated. If I had some advice for Dannii Minogue on what to do with Dami it would be simply do something modern. I keep wanting to see her do some kind of Of Monsters and Men “Little Talks” or even Phillip Phillips “Home.” Something to show me that she can really connect with a story and not just sing a song well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0Iic1plYug

Second time I say this tonight (shockingly): Good job, Redfoo. Putting Joelle‘s vocals up against Rihanna’s was a fantastic choice. Unlike last week where she paled in comparison to Florence Welch, Joelle thrived in Rihanna’s Rated R monster hit “Rude Boy.” The catwalk staging was intriguing and unlike Dami, I know exactly where Joelle fits in the modern market. And I want to buy the CD right now. Like where can I pre-order. All that being said this song wasn’t flawless from Joelle, but the few bits where I felt she was breathy is fine. She does just as good as many modern pop acts, so I’m not worried. Also her tone will be all sorts of fantastic in studio.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxQWfV_hSVE

Kelebek puts on her best Nicki Minaj this week. THIRD D3GREE did a much better job this week than last week. They felt cohesive. Like a new era Black Eyed Peas. This is about the same time in the competition that Three Wishez hit it stride with “Ghetto Superstar” and “Lose Yourself” that ultimately lead them to their fourth place finish. I hope there is room in the finale for THIRD D3GREE, but I am not 100% convinced. I would like them to be a little tighter with their vocals. Jordan and Jacinta did a great job today, but I think it could be a tad bit better. Blend, baby, blend.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5G4EzYcn90

Is it me or is Taylor Henderson stock slowly plummeting. His growl is sexilicious and stuff, but this song didn’t do anything for me. Perhaps his comfort zone behind his guitar won’t ever get him to win. I still contend that Taylor’s strongest performance are acoustic. Everything you add to him detracts from his greatness. His runs were good, his vocals were solid. He didn’t do particularly anything wrong, except maybe this song choice wasn’t the best. Perhaps if he wants to do a high production number I would love to see it veer into Bruno Mars’ “Runaway Baby” territory and less New Age Adult Contemporary.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYGJaFxYzrc

#OmarGosh He always gets the best hashtags. This was a decided step up from last weeks “Numb”-ing mess. Omar Dean sounded so good on this track until it got to the end. It’s kind of like he got tired and lost his pitch center. That being said, he did well. I know Ronan is trying to push him into all this up-tempo territory, but a mid-to-low-tempo song might be what he needs next week. His buffer of safety is vanishing and they both need to think about that. When there tends to be so many things going on in performance night, people forget that less can in fact be more and Dean is in need of that.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxeX5j95DuU

I would like to commend JTR for picking a slightly unconventional song choice with Kylie Minogue’s hit. It had a lot of good things going on in this, but their harmonies were a mess. It made THIRD D3GREE’s look solid in comparison. If they could just blend, I would’ve ranked them way higher this week. The staging was perfect for them and their fanbase. This could’ve been a breakout moment for them, but instead in my mind solidified them going in the next three or four weeks. Work on those harmonies boys if you want to stay.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cH4ywken3lg

Oh Jai Waetford. This performance was a mess, from start to finish. You may look adorable, but that isn’t going to get you to the grand final, or I at least I hope it doesn’t. While people may disagree with my low placement of him this week, his vocals weren’t solid. His vocal didn’t fill out the song properly, it exposed the wispy-ness of it. It may be #JaiMania, but this performance puts him with the likes of What About Tonight in terms of success to achieve said JaiMania. Slow it down and maybe do something that will allow him to fill up the song with his voice.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Hgnr4XSy44

Another person who fell this week, Cat Vas, there was just nothing special about this performance, but it was more than that. Unlike last week where her voice was comfortable and she didn’t look it, this week she looked comfortable, but sounded very much not so. I’m also confused about what this song says about the type of artist Cat could be after the show. I don’t know if “Addicted To Love” was exactly perfect for her, but it was way closer to the mark than this one ended up being. Bring more rock to her and perhaps she will find her edge.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZSMlsZ98d0

I have to say once again, despite me ranking Ellie Lovegrove in tenth place for the week. I think that her performance was significantly less sharp and flat than last weeks. Which is key to a better song choice, good job, Redfoo. Now with all that being said Ellie really shouldn’t even be in the top 12, but I’ve discussed Redfoo’s decision to pick her over Riv and Georgina extensively enough and there I go again. All this being said Ellie looked like a proper star, she just needs more time to get her vocals in check. If she were in the bottom 2, I would hope that she would kick herself into high gear and make the changes she needs to, so that she can succeed as much as she can in the competition.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poP4r5xx8IU

Barry Southgate is just outclassed, by nearly everyone at this point. I was proud of Australia for putting a ‘hot’ guy in the bottom two last week. And after this performance I cannot see how anything changes. He isn’t terrible by any means, a fantastic background singer or wedding singer, or any number of careers in the music industry, just no star in my eyes. If Dannii wants to give Barry a shot at winning, she needs to pull out some epic tricks to turn this around. Like a song that would change everything. I’m not even sure what that is at this point, but they need to figure it out, pronto.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgE0CLoDEu0

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