The second live X Factor show has taken place and all 11 acts have sung a song based on a ‘Diva’ theme. Louis Walsh was excused judging duties having earlier attended the funeral of Boyzone star Stephen Gately and was told ‘we miss you’ by Simon. This week’s celebrity mentor was pop diva Whitney Houston who dropped in on the gang to hear them sing during the week and not surprisingly four Whitney tracks featured on the night.
First to sing, and first up for the Girls was Welsh songbird Lucie Jones with electric dance tune How Will I Know which became a number one smash for Whitney in 1985. Cheryl told Lucie, who was clad in a little blue dress, she knew just how difficult it is ‘to dance in high heels and sing’ (you should know, love). But she added there was ‘something still not connecting yet.’ Simon gave Lucie credit for attempting to be younger and for ‘a good performance’ and said that while she was never going to be a Whitney Houston’ he was ‘quite impressed’. Girls mentor Dannii praised her act telling Lucie ‘there was a diva in there and you let her out tonight.’
Next up it was the turn of the Over 25s category with snakehips Essex boy Olly Murs who burst onto stage suited and booted and wowed the judges with an energetic and soulful rendition of Tina Turner’s first hit single A Fool In Love which prompted a standing ovation from mentor Simon Cowell. Dannii told Olly : ‘You played to your strengths…I loved the dance.’ Cheryl admitted being wary of making Simon even more smug claiming that ‘on paper it shouldn’t have worked but you absolutely smashed it.’ A beaming Simon said the ‘fun’ ‘original’ performance was ‘in a different league.’
Following on from that it was the turn of all girl group Miss Frank to strut their stuff. The first of Louis’ acts on stage, they dedicated their performance to their absent mentor and said after it ‘had been a tough ride’ without him. The girls set about trying to woo the judges with their rendition of The Man That I Need from Whitney’s 1991 album I’m Your Baby Tonight. Dannii said the girls needed to come together more physically. Cheryl appreciated the fact the trio had had a ‘tough job without their mentor’ and congratulated them on ‘a job well done.’ To boos from the crowd, Simon pulled no punches calling the performance ‘mainly terrible’, ‘out of tune’, lacking in originality and all round ‘not good enough.’ Don’t hold back Simon, say what you mean!
Next up for the Girls was Rachel Adedeji; who spoke of her disappointment at having to sing for survival in the run off last week. Whitney had called her rehearsal of Beyonce’s first UK gold single If I Were a Boy ‘excellent.’ Simon begged to differ live on the night saying he liked it but ‘didn’t love it’ suggesting Dannii had yet to bring her personality out. Cheryl admired Rachel’s guts in coming back with a Beyonce song declaring: You came out fighting tonight.’ Danni was more succinct. ‘Fantastic. Welcome back. You’ve arrived.‘ Rachel promised Simon she’d get him to love her if she was still in the competition next week.
First appearance for the Boys came from Geordie Joe McElderry with a crowd pleasing take on Whitney’s 1988 hit Where Do Broken Hearts Go?. Simon, caught on camera singing along, had to bite the bullet and admit that :‘ It pains me to say it but that was note perfect.’ Dannii was equally complimentary saying he’d ‘nailed it’ and that when it came to singing from the heart she didn’t think he could do anything else. Cheryl rounded off the love-in by echoing Whitney’s earlier comments when she heard little Geordie Joe sing, describing the performance as ‘absolutely beautiful.’
After Dannii’s controversial comments about his sexuality on last week’s show –not to mention Louis and Cheryl’s question marks over his likeability - not surprisingly, all eyes were on Danyl Johnson to see if he could turn the tide of opinion. Simon sprang a surprise by asking permission from Whitney to use a little known track I Didn’t Know My Own Strength from her new album. It was a risky move and Cheryl certainly though so saying it was ‘a big challenge’. She then added : ‘But I have to say you delivered.’ A less gobby than usual Dannii contented herself with a few choice words: the main one being ’flawless’. Simon, looking like the cat who got the cream praised what was ‘once again an incredible performance.’
For the Boys, baby of the competition 16-year-old Lloyd Daniels took on X Factor champ Leona Lewis’ US breakout hit Bleeding Love but failed to convince. Dannii advised him to ‘push himself a bit more to get those big moments,’ Simon compared the performance to ‘a mouse trying to climb a mountain’ and said he’d been badly advised by his mentor Cheryl. A near-to-tears Cheryl, aware of just what a big ask her choice of song had been said: ‘l feel responsible I hope I haven’t let you down’ and received a hug from Lloyd and a cuddle from Simon for her troubles.
There are probably better ways to celebrate your 18th birthday week than being compared to horror movie The Exorcist. But that’s exactly what happened to Irish twins John and Edward when they belted out Britney classic Oops!...I Did It Again dressed in skin tight red leather suits. A stunned Simon, whose opening comment was ‘What the bloody hell was that?’ explained the backhanded compliment by saying that when he watched the movie for the first time he ‘didn’t like it but wanted to watch it again.’ But enough of the nice stuff, he also described it as ‘the worst live performance I’ve ever sat through in all these years of doing the show’. Happy birthday, eh lads? That said he admitted the boys were ‘entertaining in a way’ if ‘from a different planet.’ Cheryl and Dannii seemed to have warmed to the twins, the Girls Aloud star admitting that when it comes to Saturday night they were what she was ‘most looking forward to seeing’ while Dannii gave ‘the divas from Dublin’ points for making Cheryl laugh.
On last for the Boys, Rikki Loney the only Scot among the finalists set out to prove to Simon that he’s more than a ‘pub and club singer’. Whitney had her doubts about him taking on the ultimate diva song, Aretha Franklin classic R.E.S.P.E.C.T. So did Simon saying the song ‘was far, far, far too big for him’, adding he looked ‘uncomfortable’, had gone from being a pub singer to ‘wedding singer’ and been badly advised by mentor Cheryl. Dannii thought the way he worked the stage had a touch of Will Young but ‘needed to grab us from the first line’ while Cheryl thought he did ‘a fantastic job.’
Up last for Simon Cowell’s Over 25s was ‘Mr Cool Guy’ Jamie ‘Afro’ Archer who had to leave behind his rock vocal comfort zone for his rendition of Christina Aguilera pop ballad Hurt from 2006 Back To Basics album. Dannii claimed he really opens up in front of an audience, Cheryl said it was ‘a great song choice’ and that he ‘totally made it your own’, while Simon’s felt the performance was ‘rea’ ‘honest and ‘absolutely fantastic.’
Last but not least for the Girls it was Essex girl Stacey Solomon. Simon criticised how uncomfortable he felt she was plonked into her dress and singing a song she didn’t really know in Beyonce’s At Last and recommended she should do her own thing, Cheryl leapt to her defence saying it was a big leap going from singing in your bedroom one minute to being on X Factor the next.
