22nd and 23rd November 2011
The thanksgiving episode of the show saw the acts giving thanks to those they love with their song choice, but on the eve of a double elimination, the stakes were the highest to date for the acts who really needed to bring it this time out to avoid being eliminated.
Rachel opened up with a track from the Honey film, I Believe, which was good, but not as solid as some of her previous performances. Marcus turned the effortless cool and slick up on Boyz II Men’s A Song For Mama, making all the girls melt in the process, with his smooth croonings.
Melanie Amaro then stepped up, and became a superstar, in a moment of transition that was unlike no other. Tackling a huge version of R Kelly’s I’m The World’s Greatest, backed by a gospel choir, she took flight, soaring on that hook, and put in a show stopping performance, that had Cowell chomping at the bit. After she performed, she was so overwhelmed with emotion that she had a bit of an epiphany, and all of a sudden started to talking in a British Virgin Islands accent, broader than ever before, and having something of a moment. Part of me was praying she would stop talking, as nothing should take away from the performance she just gave. However, she seems to have found the real her this week, and now seems confident enough to step out and be who she really is. Strange, but compelling TV as her American accent subsided in homage to her roots. Yet again she catapulted herself straight up there as the one to beat.
If she set the bar high, Chris Rene matched it, on his continued upwards trajectory, having the ability to work in his seminal audition track of Young Homie into the Beatles’ Let It Be. It was SO good, and was a real marker for him as to how far he has come in this show. Not many people could rework a Beatles track, and even less could get away with it. However, he did it with such class and such style, that it was impossible not to love it. Awesome stuff.
Likewise, Lakoda Rayne got it just right, taking on Taylor Swift’s You Belong With Me and absolutely owning it once again. It was yet another great performance, but I did fear that it would not be enough this week with a double elimination, and in line with how the groups have fared so far this season. Still, it was a solid outing, and an exact indication of the type of music they would make on a record.
Leroy sang a fairly standard take on Angel by Sarah McLachlan, and is clearly connecting with his audience. He would have been one of my first picks for elimination this series, considering the wealth of talent on show, but he has lasted well. He’s not by any means a bad singer, but he’s not as contemporary as a lot of the other acts. He could still sell albums though with that voice, as his fanbase have clearly been voting their droves, and have kept him in this far.
After his somewhat embarrassing attitude last week in the sing-off, Astro had it all to prove, and he reconnected with his Astro-nauts in the best way possible. With a humble apology coursing through his original lyrics sang to Jay-Z’s Show Me What You Got, he played it well, and he gave himself the best chance possible of surviving. But would it be enough?
Josh rounded off this week’s proceedings with a powerful and emotive rendition of The Rolling Stones’ (or SuBo if you will) Wild Horses. Not the most exciting of song choices, especially with a voice as good as his, but it did the trick. He was never in danger of leaving this week.
On the following night’s double elimination, Kelly Clarkson arrived to blast through her new single (What Doesn’t Kill You) Stronger, which has a huge hook, and an infectiously catchy chorus to it. Bruno Mars also performed his track Let It Rain, taken from the new Twilight film. Perhaps it’s my eyes, but he is very short! The group performance saw a duo of Pink hits in Raise Ur Glass and So What. It’s been done before, So What at least, and it never really works with a group sing-a-long, especially when you have so many differing styles of artist.
As feared, Lakoda Rayne received the lowest number of votes, and left the competition this week, after a tough run. Hopefully this will not be the last we see of them. AStro survived after last week’s tantrum, and that then left Marcus and Leroy to fight it out in the sing-off, which Marcus won at a canter (or at a Canty if you will). Leroy went out fighting, singing Don’t Let Me Down (The Beatles) and Marcus continued in the competition after his rendition of You Lost Me (Christina Aguilera). Leroy has done well in all fairness, and does have a good voice, something in the realm of a Lionel Richie sound.
It’s a shame to see the girls go too, but it was expected this time out.
As we start to reach the business end of proceedings, some more quality acts are going to be going home in the race to be crowned the inaugural winner of the US X Factor. It promises to be a tight race as well, and there are plenty of acts in it to win it still.
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