X-Factor Analysis And Predictions

Ninth Week: Semi Final


With Janet 'I can only sing in one tone' Devlin being voted off last week's show, it is safe to say that there are no more weak links left on the X-Factor.  Each act remaining could potentially win, which makes this weekend's show the most interesting to date.

Of the acts Marcus seems to be the one to beat, although Little Mix have a chance of surprising everyone and being the first group to win the show.

Either way, this semi-final is going to be a nervous one for all the acts and their judges.  Not so much for Louis, who can sit back and annoy us all he wants as he has no acts left.  Expect a lot of arguing, a lot of tactical criticism and, as always, a lot of tears.

The contestants again have two songs each: one a Mo-Town classic (which by X-Factor rules means either a real motown classic, or a song by a guy called Mo, or a song made in a Town) and the second song a song of their choice, which again in X-Factor rules means a soppy ballad.

This is how the X-Factor semi-final panned out:


1. Misha B


After finding herself in the bottom two for the third time last week, Misha B must be wondering what else she has to do to get the public on her side.  All these VT's of her smiling, playing with sick children and hugging her family clearly do not work, as she continues to give off the impression of a bullying diva that feels like she owns the show (thanks for that, Tulisa).  It would therefore be a miracle if Misha won the show, defying the critics and proving to the country that talent, not personality, truly counts on the X-Factor.  But we know that it doesn't, so in the meantime all Misha can do is sing her heart out and wait for the inevitable.

Her first song of the day is 'Dancing in the Street' which, from the first note, sounds like an awful song choice for Misha.  We all know that she is probably going out this week, so why not go out with a bang and take a risk rather than choose a song that even Marcus would find boring.  It isn't the worst performance ever, as Misha hits all the right notes and let's the song progress and grow towards the end.  But it just doesn't feel like the Misha B we all love, and is sadly her worst performance of the series.  6/10

2. Amelia Lilly


You have to rate Amelia.  Getting kicked off the show in the first week, coming back, finding herself in the bottom two and then walking her way into the semi-final.  All this pressure and the girl is only 17.  Which is why she may just deserve a place in the final.  There is no doubting the girl can sing, although she does have an annoying tendency to shout down the microphone.  If she has a big week this week, she may well find herself in the last three.

Her Mo-Town classic choice is 'Ain't No Mountain High Enough' which, to be fair, is a classic tune that should get the audience on their feet.  And it does (or it gets us at home on our feet).  This is surprising, because Amelia does not necessarily have a soulful voice, but the song choice works and definitely puts Amelia in contention for a place in the final.  8/10

3. Little Mix


Little Mix have been the surprise of the series.  No one really gave them a chance when they were first put together, with The Urbanite especially seeing them as too young and too weird looking as a group to get far.  Coupled with the fact that girl groups never do well on the X-Factor and all the signs were pointing to an early exit for Tulisa's 'Little Muffins'.

Well how wrong were we?  The group have grown and grown as the weeks have gone on, and are rightfully up there as favourites to win.  As a girl group, however, it is safe to say that they are one bad week away from elimination - which makes the semi-final ever more important for the girls.

Their first song is 'You Keep Me Hanging On', which is obviously designed to appeal to their 'sisterhood' and 'all girls stay together' marketing identity.  The song, however, does not really work as the girls, for one of the first times in the series, sound like four solo singers rather than as a group.  It wasn't just their harmonies that seemed off, it was the whole look and song arrangement, up to the weird moment when one of the girls tried to rap for two bars and then stopped.  Little Mix need a big second song, because this was not great at all 6/10

4. Marcus


Marcus is clearly the act to beat.  Although The Urbanite finds him boring, he has been the most consistent performer in the competition and deserves a place in the final on effort alone.  The only worry with Marcus is whether he can sell records - and what type of artist he will become.  Just look at 'What's his face', the guy that won the show last year.  Good singer, consistent performer, shit recording artist.  This may be the case with Marcus...

Singing 'My Girl' as his Mo-Town classic, Marcus puts in another good, but uninspiring performance.  His voice does, however, sound great and this is easily the performance of the night so far, which is not that hard to be honest.  Marcus will not even need to turn up for the second song - his place in the final is all but certified.  9/10

5. Misha B


After the disappointment that was Misha's first song, and the fact that there will be no sing-off on Sunday's song, this is probably Misha's last performance on the X-Factor.  She chooses 'Perfect' by Pink, which is a 'sing-off song' in all but name.  It would have been great if Misha went out with a bang, giving us a funky remix of something like 'Rolling in the Deep' like she had done in the first week.  She tries to play it safe again, but this time round Misha really connects with the song and puts in the kind of show that makes me wonder why she is not walking into the final.  She has easily been the best contestant of the show, and with a voice like this, and the talent that she has, Misha will get a recording contract after this show with ease.  Bye Misha 8/10

6. Amelia Lilly


After amazing us with her first song, Amelia has a real good chance of not only getting into the final but also winning the show.  Her second song choice is an Avril Lavigne number, which gives her the chance to showcase her vocals and scream down the microphone again.  Don't get me wrong, this all works once again for Amelia and you can tell the girl has worked hard to get where she is.  On form like this, Amelia will get to the final alongside Marcus.  8/10

7. Marcus


As mentioned above, there really is no point of Marcus even singing this second song as his place in the final has been tacitly confirmed.  Despite this, he sings 'Can You Feel It' and, for the first time in the competition, sounds awful!  Maybe he should have forfeited the second song and not turned up.  Not only does he sound out of breath, and dead scared when he descends onto the stage, but the song arrangement just sounds wrong and does not suit Marcus' vocal range.  Major disappointment for the Liverpudlian, but it should not affect his chances of getting to the final.  5/10

8. Little Mix


Ending the X-Factor semi-final are Little Mix, who struggled through their first song and now have a lot of work to do to ease their way into the final.  They choose 'If I Were A Boy', which is a risky song choice when one considers the low tone that needs to be adopted and is hard to hit when singing live.  Suffice to say, the girls struggle with the low notes on the song but still sound great when the song picks up.  Because of this, however, the song sounds a bit all over the place and the girls have not done enough to cement their places in the final.  Tomorrow's show is going to be very interesting 7/10

So there we have it.  The X-Factor semi-final is over and, due to the lack of serious competition on the show and due to the fact that the public cannot see Misha B's talent for shit, it looks like Marcus is going to be the clear winner this year.  In terms of who joins him in the final, however, is a difficult question.

Amelia deserves to go to the final due to her past few performances, which have been strong and defy the fact that the girl is only 17 and entered the competition mid-way through.  Little Mix could also argue that they deserve to go through, as they have been consistent performers and genuinely seem like the UK's next big girl group.  Finally, if we are to talk about pure, raw talent then Misha B should not only be in the final but should win the show and be the next big UK Urban artist.

But, due to the way the public have voted over the past months, it seems like Misha B will go this week with the lowest votes.  She will then get signed, release an album and go on to sell millions of records.  It may not make sense, but it could possibly be the best option for Misha and X-Factor.