X Factor blog: 'The Climb' to predictability

Another year, another X Factor winner crowned. Last night, the UK witnessed Geordie puppy Joe McElderry predictably grab the crown from Essex competitors Olly and Stacey following multiple appearances in the producer-backed pimp spot. But what were the highlights of this mega 4-hour X Factor extravaganza weekend?

With 4 unheard songs (including ‘The Climb’ x2) out of a total of 13 on both nights, all of which were judge-selected, there wasn’t much to be bowled over by. Wouldn’t it be nice for once if the contestants could have a go at choosing their own songs and given some room to flex their creative muscles before being launched into the big scary music business?

While it was nice to see them take their audition songs to the Big Stage, some were better off remaining as a distant August memory (Olly, I’m talking to you – staring up six girls’ dresses was not an appetising addition to your choreography, particularly since you could’ve put that effort into actually hitting the notes on your lower register).

None of the duets quite managed to recapture the Alexandra-Beyoncé magic from last year. Stacey and Michael Bublé came close with their adorable hug at the end, but Robbie and Olly’s ‘Angels’ was like two drunk dads at a pub, and George Michael’s ‘Smug Factor’ eclipsed Joe, even though the young boy completely outsang the has-been crooner (if I never hear ‘Don’t Let the Sun Go Down On Me’ again in my life, I’ll be a happy woman).

Stacey’s early elimination disappointed, especially as she sort of had the edge in terms of bringing something intriguing to the table – ‘Feeling Good’ suited her much more than Danyl, and showed a potential genre this girl could sing in, something the other two didn’t quite pull off.

Although Stacey’s minor role on the second night put a damper on things, the second half of the final proved to have more quality moments than the first. Paul McCartney was certainly a pleasant surprise (despite the pyrotechnic guys’ super-orgasmic display), but once he was joined on stage by the finalists, we made the disturbing realisation of why they’ve always mimed their group performances. The tune just evaporated from the stage when they opened their mouths, not to mention it was a travesty that Paul friggin’ McCartney was sharing a musical stage with Jedward and four strippers.

My personal highlight of the evening (trumping George Michael’s ego and Leona Lewis wailing yet another Alt Rock classic) had to go to last year’s finalists, Alexandra and JLS, who owned the stage with a duet mash-up of their respective singles ‘Bad Boys’ and ‘Everybody in Love’, choreographed to perfection and unashamedly sung live. Unfortunately for this year’s finalists, last year’s competitors may have trampled them in both quality and potential.

As for the dreaded Miley Cyrus winner’s single, it wasn’t half-bad. Although it’s a shame that the better version of the song belonged to Olly, whose voice took me aback for the first time in weeks. He not only sounded original, but also conquered the difficult female range and finally managed something he struggled with during his entire X Factor run, which was prove himself as relevant in the music market.

The eventual winner Joe handled the song fine, but...I’ll put it this way. It sounded exactly how I imagined it would. The best moment of his winning performance had to go to the ever-desperate Rachel Adedeji who actually took the microphone out of his hand in the middle of the final big momentous chorus to cry “I love you so much! I love you so much! Joe everyone – yes! YES! Oh my God...” And we all wondered why she didn’t get further.

Finally, check out the just released voting states for the entire series. They make for very interesting analysis...

X Factor Voting stats: [1]

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