The X Factor 2014 reached its semi-final tonight as the remaining four acts sang it out to secure their place in next week’s grand final.
Andrea Faustini, Ben Haenow, Fleur East and Lauren Platt went up against each other to sing two songs each in a bid to win praise from the judges and pick up votes from the public. Tonight each of the contestants performed a song they chose with their mentor and a festive classic.
Simon Cowell, Cheryl Fernandez-Versini, Mel B and Louis Walsh were all on hand as usual to offer their critique and argue with one another.
Keep reading to find out how each act got on…
Fleur East
The song: All I Want For Christmas by Mariah Carey
Our verdict: First of all lets start with the positives we loved Fleur’s attitude on stage as always the young singer brought energy and sexy dance moves. As for the song choice we thought it was ok, at the best of times a Mariah Carey song is a challenge and for us Fleur wasn’t quite up to the task singing All I Want For Christmas in a lower key and sometimes sounding pitchy. We also didn’t think much of the red latex dress she was wearing.
The comments: Mel B disagreed with us and thought Fleur looked great and sounded great. Cheryl on the other hand thought the song was too big for the singer. Mentor Simon thought Fleur made the performance fun.
Lauren Platt
The song: Stay Another Day by East 17
Our verdict: We’ve loved Lauren throughout this competition but this week her song choice didn’t inspire us. We love the song choice Stay Another Day but did not enjoy Lauren’s version and thought she played too much with her vocals making the song a little cringe worthy.
The comments: Louis did not enjoy the song but Mel B did although she said that Lauren had yet to peak in the competition. Simon also loved the song and said that Lauren deserved her place in the competition. Mentor Cheryl said the song gave her goosebumps.
Ben Haenow
The song: Please Come Home For Christmas by The Eagles
Our verdict: Although we didn’t particularly like the song choice for Ben we did enjoy his performance and thought that yet again his vocals were spot on. It was a bit cheesy and tacky but that’s what Christmas and its songs are all about.
The comments: Louis thought the performance was great and that the public should vote for Ben. Mel B thought Ben got it right and was impressed with his rendition of The Eagles song. Cheryl again mentioned how nice Ben was and that he deserved a place in the final. The Christmas songs seemed to hit the mark with all the judges with Simon saying he was all warm and fuzzy inside.
Andrea Faustini
The song: O Holy Night by Mariah Carey
Our verdict: Andrea is definitely one of the heavyweight contenders of this year’s competition and he proved to be one singer to watch out for by singing a Christmas hymn. Week after week Andrea has brought the big vocals to the stage and boy can this man sing. He also looked ravishing in his suit and really did make us feel christmassy. We loved it.
The comments: The judges were very complimentary and it would be hard not to be. Cheryl said that she was running out of nice things to say but was blown away and Simon did not like the song instead he loved it putting a big smile on Andrea’s face.
Lauren Platt
The song: Story Of My Life by One Direction
Our verdict: The second song that Lauren sang was more suited to her we thought. We loved her version of the One Direction hit. Lauren’s vocals were a lot better the second time around and the imagery during her performance was very cute. The 17 year old certainly deserves a place in the final in our opinion.
The comments: Louis agreed that the second song was better and thought the young singer was born to sing. Mel B didn’t think that Lauren was punchy enough. Simon on the other hand loved the song and thought also it was a lot better than the young singers first performance.
Fleur East
The song: Uptown Funk by Bruno Mars & Mark Ronson
Our verdict: Fleur decided to be bold for her second song choice and sang a track that most of the audience didn’t even know. The singer seemed to shine during this performance doing some impressive dance moves but also managed to keep her vocals steady and at the right pitch. This was to us the best performance of the evening.
The comments: Louis was completely blown away and said Fleur was a star. Mel B thought Fleur killed it and Cheryl high-fived Simon for his song choice and Fleur’s mentor said she’d just turned into a star.
Andrea Faustini
The song: Wrecking Ball by Miley Cyrus
Our verdict: What more can we say about Andrea Faustini that has not been said already? I would say we have run out of ways to say how much we love this young man. Wrecking Ball was a great song choice and somehow Andrea managed to make the song even grander than Miley Cyrus turning the pop song into a power ballad.
The comments: Louis said Andrea was perfect whilst Cheryl did not like the song choice. Simon thought the song was a risk but that it paid off. Mentor Mel B yet again told the italian contestant that he did not realise just how good he is.
The song: Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen
Our verdict: Hallelujah is a beautiful song and Ben did the song great justice. Adding a touch of rock and roll, Ben gave the iconic ballad a remake that was both stunning and contemporary. Ben was emotional and it all paid of as we thought we absolutely great.
The comments: Louis and Mel B completely disagreed and had a minor cat fight over the young lads performance with Cheryl told the contestant she thought he was going to be in the finals.
Tune in to The X Factor 2014 results show tomorrow night to find out which of the acts will make it through to next week’s final.
