Many people know or don’t know the format of the show. Fox has started running promos to gain interest but don’t know how it compares to American Idol. So for those who don’t know, X-factor is a singing competition but here the judges mentor the contestants in specific categories. There are four categories, which are girl 12-25, boys 12-25, over 25’s, and groups. Each category has a judge as a mentor who helps pick their songs and helps them through the week to prepare for the live shows. Right now, the judges are going city to city looking for people for each category. If they get 3 'yeses' they are taken to the second stage of auditions where they will sing in front of only the judges and not an audience.
If they get past the second round of auditions, then only the top 8 in each category are judged by their specific judge. Then they perform again and each judge narrows down the contestants to just 4 people who they will bring to the Live Shows. At the Live Shows, each judge presents their contestants and then the next day, the two contestants with the lowest scores go in front of all judges and perform for the last time. The judges finally choose who they want to go through next week however if it is a tie, then the public vote will choose who leaves the show.
The judges are Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, LA Reid, and Cheryl Cole. Many people are unfamiliar with Cheryl but she personally is my favorite and I am so glad she’s on the show. For those who don’t know or have not read Perez Hilton, Cheryl Cole was a judge on the UK X-factor but originally was part of the girl group Girls Aloud. Girls Aloud is like the Spice Girls except they were put together by a talent show like American Idol where the top female singers and the top male singers were put in a group. Girls Aloud members however have split into other projects but plan to come back together. Cheryl however has gone onto a solo career and is going to break into the USA. Her hits include Fight for this Love and Parachute, which is rumored to debut on Glee in season 3. Anyway, she looked stunning both tapings and will definitely continue her fashion wars with Paula.
Now onto the audition/ taping experience. When I arrived, I wound up with good seats behind the monitor. I was not fortunate enough to get on the floor but still had really good seats. Before the taping started. they had an emcee to help get the crowd pumping and asked an audience member to come up and sing Rappers Delight. The first night the woman killed it with moves and everything. Then Nicole Scherzinger and Steve Jones came on stage to introduce themselves since they were going to be behind stage interviewing the contestants. Then I freaked out when the judges came out because you realize it is the real deal.
We saw about 20 acts each night-- some good and some completely terrible. The highlights of the good ones was a girl from Colorado who people said auditioned on American Idol but did not make it all the way. Then there was a guy who was 30 years old who reminded me of Jamie Archer/Afro who had an amazing voice but couldn’t make it in the business. He sang At Last by Etta James with a lot of soul. People were on their feet and cheering like crazy. I can see him making it really far as well as a girl from Chicago who ended the night a great song. Then the best groups were a group of 3 guys who sang Usher and had the dance moves to go along with their music. Then there was a girl who was in a group but the crowd begged her to go single because it was obvious that she was the star of the group and did a great job. Finally there was a young girl who tried to sing Adele but failed. However when she sang an original song, she did better and went on to the next round.
The bad were just terrible but great to watch at the same time. The best, which will definitely be shown on television, was a guy who sang Creep by Radiohead and did an interpretive dance. The comments from the judges after the performance were priceless. Paula said she had been to that place, Cheryl said she wanted to go to that place, Simon was shocked and said he would go to that place and LA Reid said he missed that place. You had to be there and when it is shown on TV people will be talking about it. Then there was a woman who was 45 years old dressed like a hooker and claimed to be in Prince Videos but had a terrible voice. Then there were people who would come out as an act not knowing where they were and continued to stump the judges. There was a person who said his part time job was Second Life making skins which stumped the judges but they finally got what he was talking about. Then there was a guy dressed in a very artistic outfit who got on for entertainment value and only sang in one note.
Overall, it was a great show and will definitely be a great season. It will be interesting who will be picked for the final show and win the $5 Million record contract. The judges were amazing and the chemistry is there. The Simon we love and hate is back with his great comments. Paula, usually the friendly judge, offered more criticism than what I expected. Cheryl was very kind and offered great criticism and good advice for next time. Then LA Reid offered great Record Producer comments to see if they would be marketable and if they could make it in the business.
As a side note since Simon and Cheryl left UK X-factor and Dani said she will not be returning it has been announce that Louis Walsh will be returning with Gary Barlow from Take That and Kelly Rowland taking 2 of the judges seats. One more seat is open and Lily Allen and Frankie from the Saturdays are rumored to take the spot.
Now onto Footy news!!! Today was the last day of the season with Manchester United winning the EPL for the 19th time. :P Chelsea ended the season in 2nd and lost their last game to Everton. Besides losing Chelsea finally released a statement releasing Carlo Ancelotti. The statement said “Chelsea's long-term football objectives and ambition remain unchanged and we will now be concentrating our efforts on identifying a new manager."
He did bring us the double last year but not utilizing the players we have and not following through in games where we were winning. It is rumored he will take the West Ham job but it will be interesting who will be manager at Chelsea next. Ever since Jose Mourinho left, Chelsea have not been the team they use to be. Although they bought Torres and Luis it seems Luis has only been the one to show his true blue colors. Well, we will see what will happen in the off season but on the bright side I LIVED THROUGH THE RAPTURE!!
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