Last weekend, XFactor celebrated their 10th year anniversary. Contestant Nicholas McDonald also had a celebration of his own as it was his 17th birthday. What better present to have than to not only make it to the quarter finals in the competition but also, to receive a birthday cake by the XFactor team which was brought out by host Dermot O’Leary.
The remaining six contestants put on an amazing show and their fabulous performances raised the roof throughout Saturday evening, well almost! For the third time, 16 year old Tamera Foster forgot her lyrics. Once is acceptable, twice is forgivable, but three times, well, there is just no excuse really, especially when you are so far into the competition. Foster’s performance was off to a good start as she sang ‘ Impossible ‘ by James Arthur, but it took a turn for the worse when she proved it was indeed impossible for her to remember the remaining lyrics to the song. As the crowd in the studio stood watching, the room, that was less than a minute ago filled with applause and screaming fans was silent. Some looked at one another in shock, a few hung their heads in shame and others just stood, staring, trapped in the moment. It was as if for a second everything came to a halt and what we were witnessing was not really happening. However, Foster persevered until the end of her performance and waited to hear the judges comments. ” Don’t worry Tamera, it’s only the third time that you have forgotten your words, you deserve to win, better luck next time hey”.
Said no judge never !
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Gary described Foster’s performance as a car crash ” It’s hard to watch, it’s really hard to watch. I don’t know how to solve this problem. On the live shows, it is excruciating watching a car crash happen”. Whilst Louis began his feedback with a compliment ” You are the person with the most potential in this competition to be a worldwide superstar” but it was then overshadowed with his remaining comments such as ” It’s so frustrating to watch someone who can be a potential superstar messing up her words. You can’t do it anymore”. He later took another dig at Foster after Sam Bailey’s performance when he told Foster to watch and learn. Sharon was less harsh as she joked “Don’t get down on yourself, You tick all the right boxes, you’ve got it all going on. But just think, if you were lip syncing, there would be something else coming out”. As expected, Nicole stuck up for her act Tamera by stating “I am proud of you tonight, because you kept on going, and you fought through it, and you ploughed through it, and you know what? You’re only 16, little pumpkin pie”.
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Really Nicole? So what if she is only 16, I would argue that Tamera’s age has nothing to do with her forgetting her words for the third time in this competition. Especially when other contestants who are of similar age such as Nicholas who had only turned 17 that night, Luke Friend who is 17, and Hannah Barret who is also 17 haven’t forgotten their lyrics.
Backstage, I was rubbing shoulders with the likes of Sam Bailey, Hannah Barrett, Nicholas McDonald, Luke Friend and Rough Copy. Unfortunately, Joey (member of Rough Copy) was not there as he had been rushed off to an emergency dentist as he had chipped his tooth during his performance that night. This came as an utter shock to me as I was sitting fairly close to the stage. Yet I did not realise Joey had hit himself in the mouth with the microphone, as he took it off the stand causing it to chip his tooth, what a trooper! Tamera did not stay backstage to mingle, take photos or sign autographs which was understandable. However, I was later told that she tends not to participate in the weekly backstage after-show get-together.
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Kaz (member of Rough Copy) expressed that he feared that Rough Copy and Tamera will be in the bottom two, I tried to reassure Kaz that his group had such an amazing performance that being in the bottom two is something that they do not need to worry about. But Kaz was already convinced, and he was right.
XFactor celebrated their anniversary in style. It all kicked off with former contestants JLS singing thier ‘Everybody in Love’ song alongside the other contestants. Next was an outstanding duet performance by Mary J. Blige and Jessie J, where they sung ‘Can You Hear What I Hear‘ and last but not the least, One Direction took the stage, singing their hot new single ‘Story Of My Life’. Wooooooo! The crowd cheered, but the cheers shortly turned into boos. As it was revealed that Rough Copy and Hannah were to have a sing off against one another in order to stay in the competition.
The talented, powerful vocalist, Hannah gracefully sang ‘I’d Rather Go Blind’ by Etta James. This was followed by a mind blowing performance that was awarded with a standing ovation after singing Oasis ‘Stop Crying Your Heart Out’ by Rough Copy. How did this happen, why were these two phenomenal acts in the bottom two?
Three out of the four judges voted to send Hannah home but not before expressing how they felt about this situation. Louis took the opportunity to have another nip at Tamera by saying that ‘at least these two acts remembered their words’. Sharon declared her love for Hannah but afterwards explained that as it was her third time in the bottom two, it was her time to go. Gary kept it short and sweet “Both acts were amazing last night but the act that I am sending home is Hannah,” he said. Whilst Nicole speech was a little emotional, “I just can’t believe this. These two acts should be in the finals. I am so disappointed and furious with the British public right now that my girl is in the bottom two for the third time”.
As the ultimate decision was made for Hannah to leave the competition, she did so, but not before saying a few touching words. “I just want to say I feel so blessed, those are my boys, they are my brothers and if there was anyone I had to battle against, it’s them lot. I am rooting for them. I am so blessed to be here and I thank God for everything that I have.”
After this weeks shocking outcome, next week is so unpredictable.
Stay Tuned !
By Sanchez Nelson