MMTV: Mediocre Music TV Edition #11: The X Factor Live Week 3 (Diva
Week)
Written by: Wences Acosta
(Authors Note: Lets see how many music references you guys can catch in
this)
So, last week, X Factor decided to go early with it's movie
week, so how can they top the themes this week? DIVA WEEK! Ok, Movies I
can understand based on how much film touches us all no matter what
genre we are into, from comedy to horror to chick flick to indie.....but
to think about some of these acts trying to be a diva, it's just bad.
Before I dive in, I will say this, this week they had an announcer, so
that's a plus. With that said, let's dive in. Oh, and don't worry, any
and all gay jokes that come out of the word diva will come in due time.
1. Jannel Garcia "Proud Mary" And of course, we start of by
channeling our inner Tina. I love Tina, but what's love got to do with
it?...Ok, I promise that was the last Tina reference. With that said,
let's compare last week to this week: Last Week, she took a Joan Jett
song, and while she did ok, was not into it as much as she should have
been. This week, she nailed it to the wall and turned into an Acid
Queen. Her vocals were superb, her attitude was there, and this is the
Jannel I know, that can take a performance above and beyond thunderdome
and win everyone's hearts. If everyone could be this good, they can help
me make it through the night.
2. Tate Stevens "From This Moment
On" Now, I know nothing about Ms. Twain, because I am not that much
of a country fan, but I shall trek on. Tate came in first last week with
his "Wanted Dead or Alive" performance, but I dare say that this outdoes
it. He sang it as if it were his own, to the point where I can imagine
this being his opening solo hit. It had an emotion that made me actually
feel like I was there live, and it just felt so real to me. Tate
Stevens, You Win My Love.
3. Diamond White "Halo" Ok, I agree
with you Britney, if anyone is a diva, it is Ms. Diamond White. Besides
Carly, Diamond is the female version of a hustler in this group.
(Seidelman Note: The female version of a hustler is not a Diva. Much
like Beyonce can't do anything more than Revenge songs right.) The thing
I am not liking is her choices, as she is going from Whitney to Beyonce,
when her youthful voice just isn't ready for that. It's beautiful, but
not ready. Still though, she knows how to work it out and make us fall
crazy in love with her. In the beginning, she was shaky, but towards the
very end, you can hear her finally kick in. Like I said, no doubt the
kid has talent, but to pick these big songs, she needs to slow down.
4. Beatrice Miller "Time After Time" This might seem like a
change in pace, but for once I can not hate on Beatrice. You can't blame
me before this week, as she was taking songs that she had no business
singing, especially with her combination of a young voice and a raspy
voice. This week though, she proved why she's so unusual and actually
made an emotional performance out of this. Her flawed voice actually
made this song work, as she didn't try too hard and when the section
came where she had to hit the infamous high note at the end, she did it
with no hesitation. She showed her true colors tonight, and made this
reviewer have a change of heart. Well done Beatrice. Side note: LOVE the
YOLO Hat.
5. Lyric 145 "We Will Rock You/E.T" Ok, this is the
performance that almost makes me want to quit X Factor all together.
Trust me, this goes beyond a bad performance, as this is as bad as bad
can get. I can look past Beatrice Miller's voice or CeCe's Eye of The
Tiger, Hell even a Kardashian hosting, but this is unforgiving. In the
beginning when they were doing E.T. on Queen's beat, that was decent,
but when they started transforming the song into a full cover of Freddie
Mercury, by the time they got back to Katy Perry it was too little WAY
too late. That is not my beef though, so maybe it has something to do
with the fact that during the critique L.A. asked "Who was the diva:
Katy Perry or Freddie Mercury" and Simon said it was Freddie. Lyric 145
tried saying Lyric Da Queen was the diva, but the damage was done. No,
that isn't my beef either, so what is it? Well, it starts when right
before they go on, Simon mentions how they changed the song the night
before to this, so they only had a few hours to practice. Please, take a
look at this performance on the live show....now, take a look at this:
This was the greatest thing they have done as a group since Party in The
USA, and hell it is their best rhyme as Da Queen kills it, kills it,
KILLS IT!. Simon, or whoever is responsible for this travesty....Ya'll
screwed up, and screwed up bad.
6. Arin Ray "Crazy For You"
Meh. That is all I can really say about him this week really, I mean
these last 2 weeks he was doing upbeat numbers then now he stripped it
down, so there's a plus. However, the thing was there was nothing there.
The lyrics were written for a guy like him for his genre but the actual
execution made me feel like nothing was there. I know I say that Arin is
running on luck, but now that we're finally getting to figure out who is
the best of the best, his number is up soon.
7. Paige Thomas
"Last Dance" So, as a fun fact about me, the moment I heard Last
Dance was her song during the intro video, I prepped myself up. Not only
was the song played as the last song during my mom's funeral, but Donna
Summer actually passed away on the day of my 21st birthday. With that
said, I am proud to announce that everything about this added up. Excuse
me if my gay side comes out right now, but everything from the
microphone and the stand to the beginning acoustic performance to the
use of Robyn's "Show Me Love" beat to the dubstepped chorus....it was
divalicious and F-A-B-U-Lous (I wanted to make a Fergie reference, but
let's stay in the good zone here). There is no flaws here, I can legit
hear this on the radio, and this is the true definition of a diva.
8. Fifth Harmony "Hero" This should not have been done for Diva
Week, this should have been done if they made it to the finals. As I
have mentioned before, their harmonies are like an army, but their solo
voices really stood out this week. There is a moment that is simply
angelic when there are 3 girls doing harmonies, 1 girl doing a solo on
the lyrics, and 1 girl just killing it in Mariah fashion. This is a
night that I will never forget.
9. Carly Rose Sonenclar "My Heart
Will Go On" In all that is gay and holy, what the fuck is in the
water tonight? I mentioned earlier that Diamond should stop trying to do
big songs, but the opposite is said for Carly. I noted in my rankings
that she is my pick to win, and this performance seals the deal for me.
In the beginning, it is beautiful, but the moment it truely kicks in
this little girl basically releases the soul of Celine in a combination
of beautiful vocals and amazing instrumental (Small Guitar Solo for the
win). This is the winner.
10. Vino Alan "Let's Stay Together"
As much as it pains me to say it, this is where the show starts hitting
the brakes. The performance wasn't bad, but it suffers from 2 things:
The fact that honestly it really wasn't as good as it should be, and the
fact that he had to follow up 3 acts that defined diva. Vino, I like
you, but this was just average for me.
11. Emblem3 "No One"
I'm sorry for the inturruption folks, but we are back on our regularly
scheduled program of divas. This is not an insult on them, as they are
truthfully the only males who got these theme down (even after Tate's
Shania cover). I honestly forgot what Emblem3 truely sounded like until
this song, which took Alicia Keys and basically made it into a nice and
mellow sound. They really did a good job this week, and as I have
mentioned, I can really see them heading towards the finals.
12.
CeCe Frey "All By Myself" This was a bad way to end the show. I get
that it's CeCe's redemption song, and the song choice was good, but
honestly, it just was not good compared to everything else I have heard
tonight. I liked her notehold in the middle, and I loved the fan effect
which no other diva went for, but this was almost as bad as Eye of The
Tiger (Almost).
Automatic Elimination: Lyric 145 There is
nothing that I can say here that I havn't said earlier. All I can really
say is that it really is a shame that they were turned into a joke group
and not a true hip hop group.
Final Showdown: Jannel Garcia (L)
vs. Paige Thomas (W) Jannel chose Hoobastank's "The Reason" while
Paige chose Coldplay's "Paradise", both of which are excellent choices,
and quite frankly neither of these girls should have been near the
bottom or even IN the bottom. Jannel started off first, and I must say
in all my years of liking The Reason yet hating the overplay, her
version was not only more emotional but more listenable then the actual
original song. Paige stepped up to the plate and as he proved with Donna
Summer, she took this and tore a new hole into it. Also whoever was in
charge of instrumentals did an excellent job of adding the little
heartbeat drums in the middle of the performance. As I have mentioned,
neither deserved the bottom 2 from this week's performance. Jannel went
home 3-1, with Demi trying to save her by voting to send home Paige. I
did not want to see either go home, but someone had to, and between the
2 of them, Paige has had a better track record during the Live Shows. I
am sad Jannel went home, but that is the name of the game folks.
So, with that said, I will leave you guys with my final rankings and see
you guys next week :)
My Top 10 (Minus Lyric 145 and Jannel
Garcia) 1. Carly Rose Sonenclair 2. Vino Alan 3. Emblem3 4.
Tate Stevens 5. Diamond White 6. CeCe Frey 7. Fifth Harmony
8. Arin Ray 9. Beatrice Miller 10. Paige Thomas If you have any
opinions or comments, please let me know at Slackercub@yahoo.com.