It’s Semi-Final week on The X Factor UK! This week, all 6 remaining acts sing two songs. The first one is a song by ABBA, and the second is a song that they believe will get them to the final. Who will thrive and who will sing their swan song? Join me at 3 PM Eastern as I liveblog the second to last performance show of 2018!
After the usual introduction (recap of last week, meaningless preview of this week, it’s time to face the music), Dermot takes the stage dancing to Gimme Gimme Gimme A Man After Midnight. Your Saturday night semi-final starts right here!
The judges and 6 semi finalists are introduced together. Louis has half of them. LOL.
Two acts will be eliminated TONIGHT. And one more will be eliminated tomorrow night. 3 acts in the final!
Brendan Murray – He meets with his sister (I think?). He performs Run by Snow Patrol. Perfect song for Brendan. Maybe he’ll escape the cut tonight? Probably not, but this at least makes it a possibility. He has energy and a fight in him that I hadn’t seen yet. That was a great performance. All four judges stand for Brendan. Simon says two weeks running, amazing songs, that could be his record. Ayda is in a good mood because Robbie is back, says it was an amazing way to open the semi-finals. Robbie says he’s found his feet, was waiting for him to dominate a performance, he just did. Louis says there have been ups and downs but he’s really proud, begs everyone in Ireland to get behind Brendan. Dermot says that a few weeks ago he was getting slaughtered up here. Brendan never thought he’d make it this far.
Danny Tetley – Ayda lies to his face in the VT and says he could win. Danny knew it was a lie, as he said in interviews a few weeks ago. Bonus – We also see Simon tell him off on Pop Idol 17 years ago. He performs This Is My Life by Shirley Bassey. Danny is delivering a competent vocal. It’s a bit shouty at parts, he was better last week and the weeks before. I doubt that this will get him to the final. All four judges stand for Danny regardless. I think they do want him through to tomorrow at least. Robbie says it was nice to see Simon four faces ago, wants more Danny Tetley in his life. Ok, I laughed at the facelift joke. Louis says he’s a fighter, fair play to him. Simon says he’s earned the right to be here, he did amazing. Ayda sees his fight every time he’s on stage. Danny is proud to be a club singer and a karaoke singer. Ok, good for him I guess. Because he’s going back there.
Dalton Harris – Dalton is emotional in the VT. He meets the Duchess of York, and performs at a charity event. He sings Feeling Good. He starts off acapella. The visuals are a bit weird for me, hard to look at. But what matters is that he’s nailing the vocal. Four judge standing ovation as usual. The crowd goes apesh*t as usual. Ayda skips a critique and just claps for him some more. Robbie says he blew it away, thinks he could be an absolute megastar. Simon says this song shows him what he’ll be like in the real world, says it was as good as a guest performance from Michael Buble. Louis says he’s absolutely amazing, deserves to be in the final, he can win this. Dalton thanks everyone for voting for him.
Acacia & Aaliyah – Robbie doesn’t know why they are in the bottom every week. They visit Aaliyah’s school. They perform a mashup of Blinded By Your Grace and I Win. If I didn’t already want them gone, singing a song that contains the lyric “One Time For The Lord” would do the trick. The rapping is better than the singing, but it’s still not final worthy against the other remaining acts. All four judges stand for them. Won’t matter. They’re goners. Either tonight or tomorrow night. Simon says they just landed, represent the young fans, was by far their best performance. Louis reminds us that they were a manufactured group, says they haven’t sulked once. Ayda thinks it was their best of the entire competition. Disagree. Robbie begs for votes into the camera.
Anthony Russell – He’s going to sing Living on a Prayer because he’s literally living on a prayer. Ok then. He interacts with the other 5 semi finalists in the VT. It’s another competent performance from Anthony. Not going to get him to win, but top 3? Entirely possible. He goes into the crowd with lots of energy, giving everyone high fives. Say what you want about Anthony’s talent, at least he’s super likable. Only Louis stands for this. Are they seriously bussing Anthony? Robbie says he hasn’t sung a song he should be singing, but says he’s the people’s champion. Ayda respects his determination, doesn’t think it was the right song choice. Simon felt his nerves, it wasn’t the best vocal, but it didn’t really matter. Louis thinks he’s vitally important to the competition, he brings the fun and the energy.
Scarlett Lee – She’s interviewed on the radio in the VT. She sings This Is Me from The Greatest Showman. A choir joins Scarlett on stage. This is the clear pimp spot production, and Scarlett’s vocals live up to it. Only Simon and Ayda stand? Ok then. They don’t want Dalton to have any competition clearly. I have to say, I loved that performance. Simon doesn’t sit and shut up. Ayda liked it, Louis liked it, Robbie says the budget went to her performance (it’s as if the producers want her in the final), but does say that it was better than the original. Simon says she’s a revelation.
The lines are now open! Dalton and Scarlett get the loudest cheers as far as I can tell. In 17 minutes, the vote freezes and two acts go home.
Clearly the ABBA songs are going to be done as a group performance a la the 2015 X Factor Final opening number. Ok. As long as I get a minute each of Dalton and Scarlett I’m happy.
The final 6 meet Benny from ABBA in a VT. Then, a mashup of six ABBA songs. Dalton opens with SOS. He killed it. Anthony sings Name Of The Game. He’s good, but I would have rather heard more Dalton. Scarlett sings The Winner Takes It All. She kills it. I wanted to hear more of it. Acacia & Aaliyah rap Money Money Money, and I would really prefer to hear more of Scarlett or Dalton. Brendan sings I Have A Dream. He’s honestly my third favorite of the bunch. Danny wraps it up by singing Thank You For The Music. He’s obviously joined by the other 5 for most of the performance. That was a nice way to do two performances in an hour and a half show.
The vote is now frozen! After the break, two acts go home.
Results – In no particular order:
The first act safe is Dalton Harris.
The second act safe is Scarlett Lee.
Dermot could stop now, but he doesn’t. The third act safe is Acacia & Aaliyah. Wow.
The fourth act safe is Anthony Russell.
Eliminated tonight: Danny Tetley and Brendan Murray.
Tomorrow night, the bottom 2 acts go head-to-head in the sing-off. All of the previous votes still count. The top 4 acts sing again tomorrow night? Awesome!
