X-FACTOR 4TH LIVE SHOW 29/10/16

Hi everyone...

I didn't update my blog last week, been pretty busy and to be honest felt a little uninspired after "Diva" week. I thought it was actually one of the worst weeks I've watched overall entertainment/quality wise, even Matt I thought had an off day. Relley shouldn't have left though...

Anyway, onto the week just gone... I thought it was a big improvement on last week but still lacking that real star quality.

I will briefly some up the performances (from what I remember) in a brief sentence:

GIRLS:

Gifty: I enjoyed it though didn't know the song, no way did she deserve to go...
Sam: An improvement but her lack of vibrato can sound a little grating...
Emily: One of the best though I fear she may become a one trick pony...

BOYS:

Matt: Better than last week but still preferred his first 2 weeks, the high vocal trills are getting samey..
Ryan: Pretty bad, worse than last week and he's certainly lacking in vocals...

OVERS:

Honey G: For her it was good but I still don't think she should be in the competition...
Saara: Probably best of the night, strong vocal and deserves to go far...

GROUPS:

5AM: Valerie was bad last week but Thriller was better, need to focus more on vocals...
4OD: Wasn't keen, quite bland though week before I thought was decent...

BOTTOM 3:

The problem with the free app vote is that the teen girl vote will always be in Ryan's favour unless Matt is in the bottom 3 which is very unlikely. It wouldn't surprised if he's been in the bottom 2 for the last 3 weeks. I think 4OD deserved to be in the bottom 3 too though I was surprised about Gifty, Honey G should have been there but it was always likely she was going through...

JUDGES

People always scream fix and for the first time it was blatantly obvious that something was going on behind the scenes. The sing-off was pretty close and 4OD were much improved... however the way Nicole and Sharon gave Gifty a standing ovation but didn't with 4OD, then sent Gifty home without any explanation was very strange... Not one judge comment on the performances in the sing-off and Simon didn't even stick up for his act when Louis was urging Sharon to send his act home... it's almost like the 2 ladies were reluctantly following the script...

Anyway, I don't think Gifty was going to win but she was definitely one of the more talented acts in the competition. I think Saara has really stood out these past couple of weeks and although Matt hasn't been quite as good he's still up there in the top few... Emily seems to be gaining support though she can be a bit bland and 5AM seem a bit hit and miss. Surely Ryan has to go next week, it's not his fault he keeps getting through but he's so obviously out of his depth!

Let me know your thoughts below, see you next week!

X-FACTOR 2ND LIVE SHOW 15/10/16

Hello everyone! It's that time of week again... X-Factor!!!

Last week the act I expected to leave left, that was Bratavio which I think was definitely the right decision seeing how much better this week has been. I was very surprised to see Saara in the bottom 2 though and looking back thought she was 2nd best after Matt last week, I just felt Gifty was more current though this is about my personal opinion!

Anyway... it's a bit different this week because I'm writing this after the show. It takes away the fun of watching it live if I have to keep updating my blog!

Most, if not all acts improved this week and it was a MUCH better standard this week, I liked the motown theme.

Let's see how they did (hopefully I remember the correct order)...

FREDDY: Much better than last week but not so sure it was the right song for him, he has a good voice but it's not overly powerful for a song like "Ain't no mountain high enough". He doesn't stand out much plus he was first up so I expect him to be in trouble again.

EMILY: Again, much better than last week. However, like Freddy, does she stand out? It was a very pleasant performance though and I expect her to be safe tomorrow.

MATT: Brilliant, he can't really go much higher than last week but he needs to keep up this standard. He's still head and shoulders above the rest though the others are catching up a bit (only because they were below par last week). His higher range is very good but he needs to make sure he doesn't overuse it, we all know he can do it but he doesn't need to use it in every song he sings.

RELLEY: Again, better than last week (I didn't understand the praise she got last week) and she could be the underdog in this competition. Very good vocally and looked totally confident on stage.

SAM: I didn't really like this. I don't understand where the rock chick comments come from either!? She's obviously got potential but she really needs to up her game. There were some dodgy parts in this song and I'm not sure if it's intentional or not that her voice has a tendency to break!? Not quite Dianna Vickers style but it can sound like she needs to warm up more!

5AM: Very good, the first song was better though and I'd have preferred it if they just stuck with that. They've actually got good voices individually which I didn't see last week.

RYAN: He was better than last week but that's not saying much. He still stick out like a sore thumb though I think he did the best he could. His voice just isn't strong enough.

HONEY G: Well, she shouldn't be in the competition. What has rapping got to do with motown? Is she just going to write her own lyrics to every song? I just don't find it entertaining and I can't see her lasting outside the show. Everyone else has the potential to improve whereas she is going to be the same every week.

GIFTY: I think she's very good, she showed this week she can really sing too. She's current, has a great image and if she keeps improving like this then she could well be on her way to the final. Another dark horse.

SAARA: Not as good as last week I felt. I noticed this week her pronunciation wasn't on point. Obviously she's very used to singing "Let it go" but with new songs is she going to find it difficult to learn the pronunciation quickly? She sung it very well but not as good as last week.

FOUR OF DIAMONDS. I'd never seen these before so I was looking forward... I was actually very disappointed. It looked like something had gone wrong at the start... wrong harmony or someone forgot to come in. It didn't look comfortable and vocally were underwhelming. Could be out pretty soon.

Here's the order in which I'd rate them this week with last week's rating in brackets:

Matt (1)
Gifty (2)
Relley (6)
5AM (5)
Saara (3)
Emily (7)
Sam (4)
Freddy (8)
Four of Diamonds (N/A)
Ryan (9)
Honey G (10)

It was difficult to separate a lot of them but overall much better! Obviously, I think the bottom 2 should be Ryan & Honey G, and Four of Diamonds if it's a bottom 3. I expect though that Honey G will be safe again. I think it could be Freddy & Saara, certainly based on them being in the bottom 3 last week too. The public just aren't warming to Saara & Freddy had the dreaded first spot tonight.

I'll see you all next week, thanks for reading!

X-FACTOR 1ST LIVE SHOW 8/10/16

Good evening/morning everyone!!!

The X-Factor Live Shows have started and I'm looking forward as I haven't seen many of the acts perform yet, just a few youtube clips of the judges houses auditions. That way I'm not influenced by any judges bias!

Whilst the show was on I made a few notes after each performance so I can write it out properly now for this blog post! It also passed away the time whilst the tedious adverts were on!

I didn't realise until after the show that BROOKS WAY had been suspended. Surely they won't be allowed back next week as they didn't perform this week. Maybe they should have invited back another group who didn't make it through? Or maybe there just wasn't enough time, I don't know any details...

Anyway, first up was the groups and it was 5AM - they remind me of a much better REGGIE & BOLLIE. It was a decent opening to the show, decent vocals but they didn't blow me away. It could go either way with them (of course) but I reckon they could get quite far.

2nd was SAMANTHA, she has a good voice but was very shouty and had quite a harsh tone when reaching the higher notes which were a little monotone. Having said that she has a lot of potential and reckon she'll grow each week.

3rd up was SAARAA and I really enjoyed her performance. It was very theatrical which I like. Only criticism is that she lost control a little towards the end but she gave a very good performance and I hope the public warm to her because she's very talented. One of the best singers in the competition.

4th up was RYAN and after seeing his judges house audition I was surprised he made it to the live shows. This performance was not good, it was out of tune and very weak vocally. He may get the teen girl vote, a bit of a Lloyd Daniels.

5th was GIFTY and I think she could be the dark horse in this competition. She's not my style of music but she's got bags of potential and she definitely has talent.

6th we had RELLEY. She was Ok, not brilliant but she obviously has a strong voice though a bit pitchy at times. Feel she could blend into the background.

7th MATT TERRY and I did see a few of his previous performances, miles ahead of the other singers in my opinion and the definite one to beat. He's brilliant and his vocal control plus higher range is fantastic. The song choice was different but it really suited him and I'm looking forward to see how he progresses.

8th FREDDY. He started off well but it didn't really go anywhere. He has potential but he needs the right songs. He has a distinct voice but song choice is vital if he wants to stay in the competition. He has a very particular style.

9th BRATAVIO, well I usually like the odd joke act every so often as long as I find them humorous. The thing with these is that I don't find them entertaining and they're the obvious weak link in the competition. Weak vocally and very attention seeking. The taller guy reminds me of Rylan!

10th was EMILY and she started well though she did go off pitch. The performance was a little all over the place but she has potential.

11th and last up was HONEY G and she was actually not as bad as I thought she was going to be, she was on pitch but surely she can't last for more than a few weeks. She probably will as this is X-Factor but she shouldn't. She's not very good.

So that is my 1st Live Show Review! Overall it was a slightly underwhelming show, I'm usually quite optimistic but MATT was the only 1 I really enjoyed. It's also worth noting that I made notes before I heard any of the judges comments so I wasn't persuaded. The bottom 3 in my opinion without a doubt have to be the following:

RYAN
BRATAVIO
HONEY G

If 1 act is leaving then it has to be BRATAVIO but if 2 are leaving then HONEY G should leave. RYAN has potential but the other 2 aren't going to progress I feel.

Here's my overall order of who I think performed the best on the night:

MATT TERRY
GIFTY
SAARAA
SAMANTHA
5AM
RELLEY
EMILY
FREDDY
RYAN
HONEY G
BRATAVIO

Let me know what you all think! I feel that SAMANTHA and EMILY will progress the most during the course of the competition, maybe FREDDY.

I'll probably post tomorrow (or later) so I'll see you all then! 

Green Day - Boulevard of Broken Dreams (cover by Barry John Evans)

Hi everyone, this is my first live cover where you can properly hear my voice! A lot of you have followed my journey over the past few years so you'll know how hard I've worked to get to this stage. I thought it would be best to show you a raw version where there's no autotune or any of that rubbish, just a microphone and a karaoke backing track! I'm always looking to improve and I've come a long way from not being able to sing a note in tune a few years ago. All feedback appreciated! Bless you all x

April update + video links!

Hi everyone, it's been a while!

I started updating the blog again when x-factor was on towards the end of last year but to be honest I lost interest towards the end. I couldn't take it seriously with an act like Reggie & Bollie making the final, nice guys but couldn't sing very well... it's amazing how far it's fallen since those exciting early days. It's just become more obvious each year as to how manipulated the whole thing actually is...

Anyway, so what's been going on with me musically?

In the past month, not very much at all! I've been bogged down with coursework which is due in in 2 days so it's straight back to that after this has been posted.

Towards the end of the February, I got a merit on my grade 3 exam! The hard work had paid off and I'm just waiting to get started on my grade 4 after this other coursework is done and dusted.

I had to sing 3 songs as well as completing some theory, the whole thing was around 30 minutes. The 3 songs I sung were Crazy by Gnarls Barkley, Love me again by John Newman and Heroes by David Bowie. In fact I posted a clip of my version of Crazy sung during the exam on youtube, I kept my phone in my pocket on record... it wasn't perfect but considering it was my first time performing in front of anyone then I'm pretty content with how it went:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6l0P1QmdINU&list=PLvX-06vtGjR4Nks2KGGAgC8JCdWUslCBi&index=1

I will tell you more about grade 4 when I have time but it's looking like I will be singing Town called malice by The Jam, Broken Strings by James Morrison and Let her go by Passenger!

I've also uploaded an old clip to youtube of me hitting the soprano C which you've probably seen before:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YC5q-9338oI&list=PLvX-06vtGjR4Nks2KGGAgC8JCdWUslCBi&index=2

That's all for today but soonish I will be back to update you on what else is happening!

Barry x

X-Factor LIVE SHOW RESULTS: WEEK 5.

Hello everyone!

Apologies for not posting last week, I'll be completely honest and say I thought the show was pretty dull and no-one stood out for me...

Anyway, we're up to...

X-Factor Live Shows: Week 5

and at last it's not a double elimination! It was actually a pretty decent show last night...

I'll rate the acts in alphabetical order starting with 4th Impact...

They've gone under the radar a bit recently but I think they deserve to be in the final. They gave some strong performances and were solid. Vocals were great (whistle note was impressive) and so was the dancing. They seem to have a big fanbase worldwide but not sure how big their fanbase is in this country. They should be safe.

Che really messed up singing Adele's Hello. The second half of the song was actually very good but the fact he missed half the songs lyrics means he should be in the bottom 2 again this week. He may get the rebound vote as his second song was actually very good.

Lauren was the only act really slated by the judges which is ironic because I thought she was overall the best of the night! I actually thing her vocals are stronger than Louisa's. Her second song in particular was very good even thought it's not her typical style. I imagine she'll be in the bottom 2 but I don't think she should be.

Louisa was great singing Jealous but I thought her first performance was actually pretty poor. She could be in danger for the sing off but then they all could be. She had a sore throat and I don't think the fact she over sings everything helps that.

Reggie & Bollie yet again were praised by the judges... however they're vocally very poor, dire actually. I'm getting a bit fed up of the cheesy big performances and although I think they're safe, they should be in the bottom 2 along with Che.

The 2 favourites for the bottom 2 (Lauren & 4th Impact) are the 2 I thought performed best last night!

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The results show is underway and Carrie Underwood is about to perform, I've heard great things about her...

She's good but from the hype I was expecting her to be on Leona Lewis's level...

Ollie loves reminding Che he forgot the lyrics last night... maybe it makes him feel better about his gaffe the other week!?

Rita is performing next, will be interesting as I haven't heard her sing live... maybe I won't if she's miming!

She's actually very good... though no need for all these people on stage, it looks like a pitch invasion! Not sure who the men are either...

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RESULTS!!!

So as predicted, Lauren & 4th Impact in the bottom 2... disappointing but then don't think I've agreed with the bottom 2/3 at all this series, the public's voting patterns are very strange at times!

4th Impact up 1st... love this song. Very good but I prefer it sung by a solo artist... not their best performance though, maybe not the most suited song for them.

Lauren is up now... well I think she's performing the better of the 2! Very well sung...

Well I think 4th Impact should go but it'd be a great shame. Neither of them should be going! By the the best sing-off of the series.

Caroline asked Rita to confirm who she was sending home... I recall earlier in the series they never did that... no consistency!

Down to Simon... I expect him to send it to deadlock which I'd be happy with... he has a soft spot for the girls!

Lauren doesn't look happy it's going to deadlock...

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4th Impact have gone, well I think the entertainment factor has gone now... I don't find R & B entertaining!

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So next week we have Che, Lauren, Louisa and Reggie & Bollie... pretty strong final 4 though for me there's an obvious weak link, needless to say who I think that is!

Thanks for reading, see you next week!

X-Factor LIVE SHOW RESULTS: WEEK 3.

Hi everyone,

So this is going to be a pretty quick post as I have stuff to do...

Max and Monica sent home tonight, no real surprises although I did expect Mason to be in the bottom 3 instead of Anton. Maybe it's just the rebound vote so I wouldn't be surprised if he's in the bottom 2 next week however well he does.

I think Max going home first was certainly the right result. Anton and Monica actually gave a very good sing off and both gave by far their best performances of the live shows so far. I was expecting Anton to be sent home but I can't see either act going much further in the competition anyway. I think Monica sang it better, better pitch although Anton put more emotion into his so it was a close call. I'm glad Anton has stayed because I find him interesting to watch!

Other than that the guest performers as usual were pretty weak. It seems to me as though the majority of the guests who appear on the show have trouble with their pitch? Maybe it's something to do with the sound?!

Oh... and Olly really fluffed his lines by telling Monica she was going home before they'd even gone to deadlock. I think since the live shows it's really stood out how good Dermot actually was and also just how inexperienced Olly is, I'm not overly impressed by Caroline either although I liked her on the Xtra Factor.

Anyway, they're my thoughts on tonights show. There's 7 acts left now and there's no double elimination next week thank goodness, I think it's unfair on the acts who finish bottom as they don't get to sing again.

I'm hoping next weeks theme will be a good one... we need rock week again!