10th and 11th December 2011
Having finally burst into life in the past few weeks, as final night came around on this years UK edition of the X Factor, even I was surprised as to how much I was up for it. I was very much looking forward to the finale spectacle, coming live for the first time from London's Wembley Arena, just a few weeks removed from my pilgrimage to see Alter Bridge there.
I was rooting for Amelia like I had been all along. I had a feeling though that Marcus or Little Mix would take the crown, and considering the momentum the girls had picked up as of late, particularly in the past few days in the press, I expected them to take the title. Marcus had been my favourite for the crown for a long while, but the excitement surrounding these girls had grown and grown to the point it could no longer be ignored.
I unfortunately predicted a third place for Amelia, as much as I would have liked her to win; however, free from the hype and the pressure of the X Factor "machine", she could really get on with her Kelly Clarkson-esque rock/pop debut, which I would buy in a heartbeat.
However, as the night kicked off with a bang (and some truly shocking dancing from host Dermot O'Leary), it was all still to play for, and nothing was guaranteed.
Amidst a truly exceptional visual spectacle, Marcus opened up the first stage of the final with Outkast's Hey Ya! to an aviation themed routine, with him finishing his performance atop of a huge aircraft. It was a great showpiece, but he didn't deliver with the vocals as well as he had previously, and it wasn't really the right song choice for him in all honesty. Enjoyable, but not his best.
Likewise, Little Mix took to the stage to deafening screams with another huge production, which saw them arrive on motorbikes before a soaring rendition of You Got The Love saw them pay homage to their mentor Tulisa with her arm salute built into the routine. The blonde girl Perrie is a superstar, and has one hell of a voice. Together though, the girls are a really exciting prospect, as they can all sing, they look the part, and they have really gelled as an act in the past few weeks. This was a good performance, but yet again, the song choice could have perhaps been better. That track has been overplayed to the point of annoyance after Florence and the Machine took it back into the charts a while back.
Completely sold out on the production front, Amelia had very little regalia to accompany her performance of Christina Aguilera's Ain't No Other Man. Often compared to her in recent weeks, she put down one hell of a gauntlet to the other two, proving that regardless of the fact the others had all the props in the world, she was still the best singer left in the competition.
Round one went to Amelia hands down off the back of another stunning performance, that ruled over glitz and production, for nothing more than a perfect vocal and a great routine.
Marcus had to really up his game on the second performances which would see the acts perform alongside their mentors for the first time in X Factor history. An exciting prospect, even if we were thankful that none of Louis' acts made the cut for the final.
Marcus and Gary took on Billy Joel's She's Always A Woman with class, but although they were great, it wasn't a particularly inspiring performance, for what could have been his last chance to impress. However, it had to fit in with Barlow's style and piano skills, and still went down a storm. It was perhaps a little vanilla when considered against his better moments from the series. Tulisa and Little Mix sang Alicia Keys' Empire State of Mind Pt II preceded with If I Ain't Got U, which worked well, but which yet again didn't ignite in the manner it might have done.
I would have loved them to have done something more urban and up tempo with a little girl power attitude.
The stage was once again set for Amelia to smash it, and that she did, singing the Ike and Tina Turner classic River Deep, Mountain High. It was a performance that not only blew away her competition, but her mentor also. Rowland quite simply couldn't keep up with the power in the vocals of Amelia, and she made her look distinctly average in her presence.
A downright phenomenal performance, which saw her take the spoils in round 2 also. Unbelievable.
However, it was not enough, and as expected, she finished the competition in third place, receiving the lowest number of votes by the end of the show and being eliminated. I voted for her 7 times, but even that wasn't enough to save her. Silly really, considering she out sang pretty much everyone on that stage tonight. She has a bright future ahead of her though, so she shouldn't be too gutted.
Guest performances on night one of the two part final saw a JLS/One Direction medley of She Makes Me Wanna/What Makes You Beautiful, Buble crooning his pretty dull Christmas track Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) and Leona returning to the stage that made her a worldwide superstar, to sing her take on the Nine Inch Nails/Johnny Cash classic Hurt.
It was a real shame to lose Amelia (especially as her Christmas song for the following night would have been Mariah's All I Want For Christmas Is You - still the best Christmas song ever written), but I am excited to see what she does next. It could be something really special indeed.
As the second part of the final kicked off on the Sunday (complete with more cringeworthy dancing from Dermot, although thankfully with no video accompaniment tonight), Little Mix and Marcus were left to battle for the winner's crown of series 8.
Guest performances saw Westlife (What About Now - still a Daughtry song) and Coldplay (Charlie Brown and Paradise) take to the stage, along with all the 12 finalists (minus Frankie) and with David Wilder and Goldie Cheung in tow for a medley of We Found Love, Party Rock Anthem, On The Floor, Moves Like Jagger and The Edge Of Glory.
That didn't really matter though. Tonight was all about crowning a winner, and seeing who took the title.
Each act had to perform three tracks; 1. Their favourite performance of the series; 2. A Christmas song; and 3. The winner's single, a cover of Damien Rice's Cannonball.
Marcus started things off, going back to his performance of Jackie Wilson's (Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher - I would have preferred Reet Petite myself - before returning for Wham's Last Christmas. Little Mix, looking evermore the stars they are set to become smashed En Vogue's Don't Let Go (Love) with a performance even better than their first outing of the track - complete with synchronized jumping platforms at the outset - before tackling a simple version of Christmas classic Silent Night, allowing Perrie's vocals to really take centre stage once more. That girl is a world class singer, and the other three are no slackers either, all able to carry the harmonies of such a delicate composition.
As each act took on Cannonball, it became more and more likely that Little Mix were going to become the first group to win the X Factor. Marcus did well considering, but singing it on his own, he couldn't quite put the harmonies into it that the four girls could. It was good, but it wasn't as good as the version the girls sang, which laced in some incredible harmonies throughout.
As the tension grew unbearable, primarily due to it all being drawn out with guest slots and more adverts than desirable, it became clearer that Little Mix were to be victorious, and they ultimately were, taking the crown as the first band to win the X Factor. Their win was made even more special because they were a girl group, who don't historically tend to do well in these competitions, and they came from pretty much out of nowhere, to steal the crown.
Marcus gave them a good run, and he in fact (ironically) should now be better off coming second, and avoiding the male winner’s curse which has been well talked about. I did fear that if he won he may be sealing his own death knell as an artist, so it's good to see him come second, as it may give him a real chance of success. He is a genuinely nice guy, and he deserves to do well. Little Mix should also do really well, and I expect an album of pop/R&B bangers when their debut comes out next year.
A series that started slowly, but markedly improved drastically, it was good to see a band win the show, and to see something a little different. I still think Amelia, Marcus, Misha and Janet will all get deals out of this series, and it will be interesting to see what happens next for them all.
In the end, it was a refreshing change for the result to go the way it did, and it has very much been a year of transition for the series, which needed something fresh and exciting to happen. I predicted early on that if a group were ever going to win the X Factor, then this was going to be the year. I had expected The Risk to perhaps go further than they did and challenge for the title, but it's great to see a bunch of young girls go the distance. Good for them. Admittedly I had never really had them on the radar from the outset, considering how badly girl groups usually do on the X Factor.
Roll on 8 months time, when we can do this all again.
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