X-Factor USA recap
Dec. 22nd, 2012 03:09 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
elen_nareSo, a couple of months ago my sister got me into the X-Factor (yes, I know it started further back than that, but we got it late, then sped up with several episodes a week so the final was live). And, yeah, I got pretty hooked. We'd actually watched it last year, too, but I think I was even more interested this year - partly the contestants, but also partly the judges. And since I'm sure you're all fascinated, here are my thoughts on it! Mainly the final - I've been avoiding going into it online, because until the final we were behind the US and spoilers would have been incredibly annoying! (So consider that your spoiler warning if you're watching it and behind).
Judges:
Finalists:
Well, may as well start with the winner's announcement and final song:
To be honest, Tate was my least favourite of the finalists - he was good, but I really liked Carly Rose. I suppose he does need it more, and I may be biased by not being a fan of country music. I'm not saying he sucked, or he didn't deserve it - he's a great country singer, I just liked Carly better.
The runner-up:
I picked this video of Carly Rose because it was slightly my favourite out of her performances in the final, but really, I could have picked any. She's just amazing - seriously, that voice and that stage presence at 13? As Simon said, she's an alien ;) I'm sure she's going to be a star.
Third place:
I also really liked Fifth Harmony - they were my second favourites, and if the show had run a bit longer, they might even have become my favourites. I thought it was amazing how well they performed as a group when they were put together as one in the show, and they were really fun. I'm happy Simon's signed them up.
As to why I picked this performance: a) it was great, but b) remember when I said I loved Simon and Demi arguing? All through the show, they've had this fascinating bickering/fighting/arguing/bantering/teasing/sort-of-flirting dynamic (seriously, all through the show; they did a "typical/funny moments highlights" for each judge, and Demi's was all about her bantering with Simon!) that I really enjoyed watching, so I loved this performance - Demi singing right at him, and then Simon's comments.
I think it was my favourite of the final - and it was the subject of my one and only x-factor tumblr post. Of course, tumblr being... well, part of the internet, people ship them. I was interested to see that it splits into two big camps: romantic fics, and dad/daughter genfics. I don't actually fall into either - I like them as they seem to be now, friends who tease and even flirt with each other, and if you're looking at it in terms of family dynamics, Simon is obviously the bossy big brother and Demi the cheeky younger sister IMO - but I found I actually preferred the romantic fics. Which was kind of weird at first ("seriously, self? you're reading fic about two real people getting together, when you're not even sure you think they should?" was roughly my reaction), until I realised that in those, they tend to sound more like themselves, while in dad/daughter fics Demi's often written as a five-year-old. Yeah, she's a lot younger than Simon, but she is actually an adult. Both types are equally fictional and probably equally (un)likely to be anywhere close to the reality, so I'd rather have characterisation that reads truer to me. My favourites are non-romantic friendship fics, but those are few and far between..Yes I read RPF occasionally don't judge me!
Anyway, there you go - my thoughts on the X-Factor. Which would probably have never seen the light of day if some neighbours weren't having a party with music so loud you can hear it perfectly in my house. It's 3am by now. So you can blame them ;)
Judges:
- LA Reid drove me nuts as a mentor, especially in the beginning, when he was giving all his acts utterly wrong songs (and his hissy fit over having the Over 25s, seriously? It was a fantastic category!). He got better as the show went on, and he was ok as a judge I suppose, though I disagreed with him at least a quarter of the time. I didn't hate him, but he was probably my least favourite.
- Britney Spears was brilliant as a mentor - I always liked what she did with her acts, even when she picked risky songs and they didn't turn out perfect I could see why she'd done it. As a judge, not so great - she suffered from not wanting to be mean, I think? If she liked it she'd talk a bit (a lot of it consisting of the word "amazing"), but if she didn't it was just "I didn't like it"... she was still ok.
- Simon Cowell was pretty good as a mentor (though I could see what Demi complained about with Emblem 3 especially, he did great with Fifth Harmony), and I loved his judging - sure, he's overly mean at times, but he's honest (and I do have a soft spot for British sarcasm, being occasionally prone to it myself :P).
- Demi Lovato wasn't great as a mentor - I could sort of understand the reasoning behind some of her ideas, but a lot of the time they didn't work. I did like her as a judge, though; I usually agreed with her, and I loved her arguing with Simon. From last year, I remember mainly Simon and LA arguing, but that annoyed me - as I recall, it tended to get very vindictive, especially to each other's acts. Simon and Demi seemed friendlier, a lot of it was more teasing, and even when they criticised each other's acts it was almost always "I hate what Simon/Demi has done to you".
Finalists:
Well, may as well start with the winner's announcement and final song:
To be honest, Tate was my least favourite of the finalists - he was good, but I really liked Carly Rose. I suppose he does need it more, and I may be biased by not being a fan of country music. I'm not saying he sucked, or he didn't deserve it - he's a great country singer, I just liked Carly better.
The runner-up:
I picked this video of Carly Rose because it was slightly my favourite out of her performances in the final, but really, I could have picked any. She's just amazing - seriously, that voice and that stage presence at 13? As Simon said, she's an alien ;) I'm sure she's going to be a star.
Third place:
I also really liked Fifth Harmony - they were my second favourites, and if the show had run a bit longer, they might even have become my favourites. I thought it was amazing how well they performed as a group when they were put together as one in the show, and they were really fun. I'm happy Simon's signed them up.
As to why I picked this performance: a) it was great, but b) remember when I said I loved Simon and Demi arguing? All through the show, they've had this fascinating bickering/fighting/arguing/bantering/teasing/sort-of-flirting dynamic (seriously, all through the show; they did a "typical/funny moments highlights" for each judge, and Demi's was all about her bantering with Simon!) that I really enjoyed watching, so I loved this performance - Demi singing right at him, and then Simon's comments.
I think it was my favourite of the final - and it was the subject of my one and only x-factor tumblr post. Of course, tumblr being... well, part of the internet, people ship them. I was interested to see that it splits into two big camps: romantic fics, and dad/daughter genfics. I don't actually fall into either - I like them as they seem to be now, friends who tease and even flirt with each other, and if you're looking at it in terms of family dynamics, Simon is obviously the bossy big brother and Demi the cheeky younger sister IMO - but I found I actually preferred the romantic fics. Which was kind of weird at first ("seriously, self? you're reading fic about two real people getting together, when you're not even sure you think they should?" was roughly my reaction), until I realised that in those, they tend to sound more like themselves, while in dad/daughter fics Demi's often written as a five-year-old. Yeah, she's a lot younger than Simon, but she is actually an adult. Both types are equally fictional and probably equally (un)likely to be anywhere close to the reality, so I'd rather have characterisation that reads truer to me. My favourites are non-romantic friendship fics, but those are few and far between..
Anyway, there you go - my thoughts on the X-Factor. Which would probably have never seen the light of day if some neighbours weren't having a party with music so loud you can hear it perfectly in my house. It's 3am by now. So you can blame them ;)
