Well, maybe I'm just getting old. Maybe there's a dip in standards. Maybe I'm being ultra-picky because I feel so ill. But did anyone else think that tonight's The X Factor was a bit shit? Not including a couple of great performances, one incredible one, the standard and atmosphere was so slow-burning and damp that I almost gave up.
Ignoring all the rubbish, I want to talk about just the best act, for now. Then I'm going to have a little rant about Louis Walsh and his (deliberate or not) racially offensive comparisons.
So. Matt Cardle! What a show! He sang The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face - the song he nailed at Bootcamp - and once again delivered a pitch perfect performance. I cannot put into words the level of emotion his performance stirred in me tonight. Last week I said that Cher was gave the performance of the series so far; this week Matt topped it. He was superb!
Katie was also great, as was Rebecca (I suppose) and TrayC, although I don't like her as an act. I think she's boring. But overall, tonight's show passed largely without consequence. Once most of the acts had sung, I instantly forgot their performances. Mary was just awful! I think Wagner and Mary are in danger of leaving us tomorrow night - and deservedly so! There was an element of bad feeling, on the show and in people's reaction to it, tonight. Nerves, opinions, emotions and egos were all sky-high, on and off the stage. If Wagner stays tonight I'll consider not watching any more*. Give me an X Factor show with Diana Vickers, Olly Murs, Cher Lloyd, Katie Waissel, Rhydian, Jedward (yes, I know!!) and maybe a handful of others I can't think of at the moment and I'll be happy...
...But please, lets not have another bloody week of whiny, screeching ballads and bloody leather-and-studs rock'n'roll knock-off shit, please! And for heaven's sake, get rid of Louis "I'll deny the Holocaust next" Walsh! Any more of his offensive, borderline racist head-nodding bollock-filled opinions and I swear I'll cry!
So far this series Louis has described Paije as "like a cuddly little Luther Vandross", "so, so soulful - and so's your voice" and reminding him of "a young Lenny Henry"!!! LENNY HENRY?! What the hell is that meant to mean?
Basically, what he means is that Paije, being a chubby black kid (Louis seems uninterested in his vocal talent), is a bit like any other chubby black person. Because that's how ignorant and out-of-it Louis Walsh is. This is a man who thinks that skin-thin stereotypes are all you need to win a talent show. His tainting of Storm Lee as "a rocker" and of Mary as "a normal person" (for which read Old, Fat and Irish) and Wagner as a fucking ladies man!
Dear God! I know I never talk to you, not believing in you and everything, but please! Please, get Louis Walsh out of the public's view and into some 'old people's home' where Al Jolson DVDs are still deemed acceptable entertainment. The man is annoying, insulting and talentless. He is racist, sexist and out of touch - completely! Yours "Faithfully", Gareth Bundy.
Hopefully, next week, I'll have something nicer to talk about. As it stands, I'm sorely disappointed in The X Factor. Very, very poor show!
*This comment carries the same sincerity as Simon's "I'll leave the country..." remark from last year.
*This comment carries the same sincerity as Simon's "I'll leave the country..." remark from last year.
