It’s Down to a Man, a Woman, and a Group on ‘The X Factor UK’
ITV Reading Time: 3 minutes
The United Kingdom doesn’t celebrate Thanksgiving, which is a good thing, since their way of showing thanks to some very talented performers was to eliminate three of them this weekend, including two tonight. Who got cooked? Read on.
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Lloyd Macey
I admit that I’m a sucker for Coldplay’s Fix You. And I’m not alone, since it’s been used in countless TV shows, commercials, and movie trailers. Lloyd’s spare version, with an intense bass line, was pretty cool, though the kids holding lanterns was a bit much.
Nicole called Lloyd “the angel of music” while Simon said the song made him as happy as “Christmas.” Lloyd has the chops, but is he the total package? The UK audience had to make that tough decision.
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Rak-Su
The hip-hop crew performed the song from their first audition, I’m Feeling You. They roamed around a lit-up car that looked like something out of TRON. Their verbal gymnastics continues to impress me. OnThe Voice, individual performers compete on a pretty level playing field; I don’t understand how viewers can compare Lloyd covering Coldplay to these guys performing their own song.
Nicole said it wasn’t their best performance and was drowned out by boos. Simon said “We make shows like this to find artists like you,” but Rak-Su is his act, after all.
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The Cutkelvins
Is there room for two groups in the finals? The Cutkelvins brought an interesting weapon to their battle against Rak-Su — the ’90s song Show Me Love, by Robin S. It’s not a great song, though the trio jazzed it up by rapping in the middle.
It seemed like the judges’ love for the Cutkelvins had run out. “What a tough night,” said Sharon. “Someone has to go,” said Louis. “You guys are the underdogs,” said Simon. “I don’t know if that was cutting-edge enough to keep you here,” said Nicole (to more boos, the poor girl).
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Kevin Davy White
I give extra credit to Kevin for playing guitar with impressive skills. He also took a swing at Jimi Hendrix’s Voodoo Child and hit it out of the park. Both Louis and Sharon said they had never seen anyone like him on the show before. A black man, from France, who couldn’t get anyone to turn their chair on The Voice, playing guitar and singing American rock songs is pretty fantastic.
Nicole put it best: “You’re the Muhammad Ali of this competition and nobody else compares.”
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Grace Davies
Grace is one of only two women remaining — the other being a member of the Cutkelvins. She sang an original song, an Adele-ish piece called Wolves.
Simon said, “That was like listening to somebody who comes on the show as a returning artist with a hit record.” Louis said she had to be in the final, but I think he literally said that about everyone tonight. Best of all? In her post-performance interview, Grace said “Thank you so f____ing much,” on live TV.
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Results
No one was surprised that the Cutkelvins’ improbable run came to end. Rak-Su raps better, has higher energy, and writes better songs. If one group had to go, it wasn’t going to be them.
The same goes for Lloyd Macey. He’s a B+ performer competing against the straight-A artists of Grace and Kevin.
So now there are just three acts left. Next Saturday, all three will compete, and the lowest-scoring performer will go home. Then the final two will compete to determine the winner.
Who are you rooting for?
