Scott
Casey
Haley
Lauren

Scotty
James
Lauren
Casey

Just this week

Been out so haven't seen the results yet, not even sure if a James/Stefano final is still possible lol

I would like it though, don't think either of them come across as prats. James doesn't always concentrate on his vocals but they are there, which is more than I can say for Paul, for one. As for Stefano, he actually strikes me as being more contemporary than a lot of the others, with the right original material.

My nightmare would be Paul v Haley or Naima. Would want either of the girls to beat Paul, but wouldn't care if the final was Haley v Naima, would perhaps lean slightly towards Naima.

My worst nightmare was the first XF final when I liked everyone but the 2 finalists, Steve and G4, and had lost my favourite, Rowetta, and my backup fav Tabby, in the two weeks prior to the final. Grrr!

xxxx

Normally I quite like his confidence on stage and he does know how to work a crowd, even if his voice doesn't live up to it and is nowhere near as good as he thinks, but this week strayed big time into 'rock star cliche city' and was pretty hilarious, for all the wrong reasons

I don't have a problem with any contestant displaying confidence as long as it's not over-confidence or misplaced and this is the problem I have with James. He's nowhere near as good as he thinks he is and his voice is nothing to shout from the rooftops about (no pun intended). His low register is not that low and what there is of it is poorly controlled, his upper register is reedy and effortful and also not the best controlled, his strong point is his middle register but doesn't that go for most singers? Though he has no problems getting up there and performing, it's all rather make it up as you go along with very little co-ordination and often little relation to the lyric or rhythm he is performing to.

You can't blame the poor boy. He's being led to believe by the judges that he's far better than he is.

When he's not performing, James comes across as a sweetie most of the time, though I am getting tired of every faux pas being put down to his condition (he wouldn't be the first person to start using it as an excuse to say and do whatever he likes about anyone and anything and be as rude, forward or inappropriate as he likes). However, on stage he has more than once come across as a bit of a twonk.

If Stefano was ever to be contemporary with whatever material, he would need total restyling. At the moment, he still looks like a refugee from Top Gear.

However, my main reason for those two being my nightmare final is that I think they are the weakest contestants and generally not very good at what they do. Sure, Paul's voice may not be wonderful but he doesn't try too hard or think it is. His style is such that he can get away with not being the most powerful or most consistent of vocalists. In Stefano's and James' preferred genres, you can't get away with that.

I think is Haley is, along with Jacob, one of the strongest singers and unlike Jacob. she knows when to put the brakes on.

The two finalists in the first series of XF were among the only ones I liked, along with Rowetta and Cassie. Had Cassie been in the top 4 instead of Shabby, I would have been happy with any two of them being in the final and any one of them winning.

Preferred final 4: Casey, Haley, Scotty, James

Least preferred: Stephano, Jacob, Pia

Scotty
Haley
Casey
Lauren

Preferably;

Casey
Paul
James
Scotty

I do like Lauren as well. And Pia is a great singer but lacks something for me. Jacob is one of the most over-rated contestants I've ever seen on AI imo! He looks like he's in pain everytime he sings, no matter what the song is.

I find Jacob's voice nasally.

Same. Me and hubby actually hold our noses and mimic him everytime he's on

After Elton week...

Haley (cemented herself as a fantastic singer)
Lauren (I converted into a fan of hers this week, and she outshone Scotty in their duet)
Pia
James

But, Haley is by far my favourite.

I don't really notice what people look like on stage, as I have very low eyesight, which manifests itself as me not being able to acquire moving targets - so I know what the contestants look like, but facial expressions etc are more difficult for me to spot.

Many performers are different on stage to how they are in eal life, and hopefully James will learn to tone himself down over time, but I do like him, and I don't think he has attempted to use his condition in his defence, although it's not an easy condition to live with so to a certain extent, he'd be entitled to.

Hard to comment on how Stefano looks on stage, but I like the fact he is always lovely and smiley! My boyfriend is like that too - and has Asperger's like James. Musically, I think Stefano has shown himself to be more current than several of the others, and I don't think he's had a vocal disaster yet.

Paul's style of music may be the only style people with such limited voices can get away with, but even that would sound better with a more pleasing tone and more consistent tuning.

Personally, I see potential in Haley and Jacob, but I prefer Jacob's voice, as Haley's to me comes across as a selection of unnecessary groans and growls. If she dropped that, I think she'd sound a lot better. I prefer Jacob's tone, but he is way OTT a lot of the time.

I liked Tabby, but I would have been happy with a Rowetta and Cassie final too. I was also a big fan of Roberta and 2 to Go. I found Steve very arrogant, and he diodn't got on well with Rowetta, which alienated me, as such a huge fan of hers. I just found G4 a bit of a joke, but it was mostly down to Louis and his wacky song choices. They were talented singers, and I'd have preferred them to win than Steve.

xxxx

LOL! Yours too?


James is 22, not 12.

No one with whatever condition, except for the most severe, is entitled to use it as an excuse for anything. If James' condition is mild or controllable enough for him to be competing in this and considering a career in the public eye, he has no excuse. If it's more severe or not controllable enough, he needs to get out of there.

How has Stefano shown himself to be current? Along with Pia, he is the most dated.

Limited voices and one-dimensional tones never stopped Kris and Lee from winning (though sustaining a career afterwards has proved a challenge).

Groans and growls never hurt Janis Joplin to name just one. The difference is Haley adds those effects at will. Try doing it and see if it's easy. Jacob on the other hand can't help sounding like a man who's received bad news just when he's suffering a stinking cold.

Roberta was dire and Peter from 2toGo would have been better off as a solo artist. His partner was hopeless. Steve didn't show any more arrogance during the show than Danyl did in his year. Turning down the advances of a drunken harpie is no reason for her to then perform a character assassination on live television. The one time Lous came close to getting it right was with G4's song choices. It showed that they were good enough to flip contemporary songs to their style and it showed that some contemporary songs do end themselves to that. How were any of Louis/G3's song choices worse than Sharon/Tabby's Sweet Child of Mine while backing it with pictures of Tabby's son when the song has nothing to do with a child?

Scotty
Pia
Lauren
Jacob
Haley

Can't decide which one of these 5 to drop to make it a final 4. Haley is new to my top choices and I would have dropped Lauren but she impressed me this week so maybe, at the rate she's going, Pia. I mean quit being so perfect, woman!!!

Meanwhile, everyone in the Macca tribute band are all boring the tits off me.

I'm 20, and have a similar, but more neurologically complex condition to James, and need to make a few improvements. Most people are confident I should be able to do so, so presumably James could too.

Perhaps James wasn't mentally ready for this, the producers don't necessarily put the contestants wellbeing first. However, Thia, Lauren and Scotty cope well, but are still 5/6 years younger than James, perhaps he is at an emotional age more similar to theirs?

Bruno Mars's Just The Way You Are is a very current song which Stefano sang well, and Tiny Dancer has been sampled and covered recently, and has a more contemporary sound than other Elton songs. He may not be as current as Naima, for example, but at least he's in tune. He's moe current than Pia or Jacob, to name two, IMO.

I liked Kris and didn't find his tone grating. I agree 100 per cent re: Lee and am still unsure why he won, but find Paul's voice more grating still. Just as despite liking him, I can't see Stefano winning, despite disliking him, I'm not saying Paul can't win. It's possible, but I wouldn't agree with the decision, and I wouldn't expect him to be particularly successful afterwards..

Groans and growls aren't for everyone, and in Haley's case I think they ruin her performances - just as for others, Stefano's dated image or Jame's on stage persona may be offputting.

Jacob does need a lot more control over his voice, hence why he's not one of my favourites.

Steve never came across to me as likeable, and other than that your comments aren't being made to her face, referring to Rowetta as a drunken harpie is no better than Sharon's comments to him on the final night, which I wouldn't have made myself, had I been in her position. Roberta was badly managed on the show, she could have been great, but there would have been a good case for Peter being better off as a solo act. G4 did much better than Steve in the long run, once their song choices were more suitable.

Jacob has the most control over his voice of any of them and as a singer you should be able to spot that. He chooses to go off on runs and overdoes it but they are always just that, runs, within the key of the song. Not having control over your voice is about missing notes or singing notes that are not within the key or chord sequences of the song.

Kris' tone is far more deadpan and droning than Lee's and Kris' win was even more inexplicable given that he was up against an outstanding contestant in his year, but the reasons for Kris' win are known to those who were lucky enough to see the evidence before it was pulled.

I was referring to Sharon, not Rowetta.

How could you come to the conclusion that Roberta was badly managed on the show when she only lasted one week?

LOL that sums up best what I think when I watch Jacob singing. And on results night too

My preferred 4 would be:

Haley, Lauren, Scotty and Paul.

I'd say overall Adam was well ahead of Kris, but in tern I'd place Kris well ahead of Lee. I did love some of his performances, such as his interpretation of She Works Hard For The Money. Lee had certain skills in interpretation to, for example, Fireflies, but his tuning was often rather ropey and some of his performances, such as Hey Jude, were very bad indeed. I'd have liked to know the mysterious reasons behind Kris's win, they sound rather intriguing. I was surprised by Lee's win. I wasn't keen on Crystal's attitude and thought her final performances were very average, but she was more talented than Lee. I wanted Siobhan to win

Ah, I see re: Sharon, sounds like she and Steve just didn't get on. Same with Rowetta, but she was there to compete against Steve and he used to make unkind comments about her, where as she never liked top comment on him.

When Roberta sang 2 songs she picked herself, on the XF live tour, I thought her voice sounded really good. I like the Carpenters song she sang on the live show, but it didn't help her to stand out, and she could have been styled better, and given as much exposure as the other finalists.

xxxx

He should definitely tone down his runs though. I like his voice but he's not one of my favourites. Even Stefano overdoes it occasionally, but I don't find it detracts from his performances to the same extent.

xxxx

Overall? In what way wasn't Adam ahead of Kris?


His interpretation? You mean Larry's interpretation? One of the cleverest things Kris did throughout the competition was never acknowledge when he had received help from anyone (including that time and the time he received help from Adam with his performance of Ain't No Sunshine) or when he had simply lifted a little known existing cover of a song. The result that year was strangely appropriate as it was just as contrived and fake as so much of Kris' "journey".


For all her relative lack of exposure, Roberta was the bookies' favourite at the start of the live shows.

The main way in which Adam wasn't ahead of Kris was in the voting in the final lol, that's what I meant

Didn't realise Kris lifted his interpretations from other people. I still liked the performance but it does take credibility away from him.

It always surprised me that Roberta began as favourite to win. Maybe that was because she was seen as an underdog, which often appeals to the voting public, but I reckon she was too much of an underdog, and one who the powers that be weren't backing.

xxxx