Is X Factor (UK talent show similar to AI) being covered in the US?
I'm sure one season (S4?) of AI was shown over here but can't remember any others.
According to Simon Cowell, "America is buzzing" over one of the contestants, Leona. Now, lets get one thing straight, Leona sure can sing when she wants to, has a great voice and is a beautiful girl
But I don't like her shrill, OTT Mariah/Aguilera impression is all, where she'll pack about 12 notes into 1 just because she can. It was what spoilt the classic Bridge Over Troubled Water for me this week on X Factor. Why can't she sing the song softly?

When I saw American Idol S4 I thought vocally the contenders knocked spots off the X Factor S2/Pop Idol UK lot TBH.

My thoughts on X Factor 18/11/2006:

RAY: (Livin' La Vida Loca): Something different. For the last few weeks the songs he has sung have been given swing arrangements.
Good for him I guess, yet in the performance stakes CHICO knocked spots off him last season. Ray didn't (or couldn't) really dance, and doesnt have a recording voice IMO (but then neither did Chico).
ETON ROAD: (I Don't Feel Like Dancing): Thought this was cheesy but then the song by The Scissor Sisters is cheesy/camp so maybe thats a good thing.
ROBERT: (You Are Not Alone): He made a naff Michael Jackson song sound good tonight, he sang from the heart I think.
LEONA: (Bridge Over Troubled Water): The lovechild of Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston and Christina strikes again!
This beautiful, classic song gives me goosebumps when Art Garfunkel sings it, but this was not the case here. If Simon thinks Leona is so good, why dies she need a choir on stage? Seriously, Leona's voice is excellent and I wouldn't say no at all, but she was too OTT again tonight. More Mariah warbling at the end and in the middle, and do we need another Mariah?
She didnt "make the song her own" IMO.
BEN: (With a Little Help From My Friends): A powerhouse performance that suited him down the ground, he proved he can sing with the piano and was very good this week. He had a choir but I think he should have tried without it. Having said that, they added to the song (necessary high voices to Ben's growl) unlike Leona's performance.
McDONALD BROS: (Love Is All Around): Bland, mediocre wedding material.
But of course, Simon, smug git that he is, is rude to them (unfairly at times I have to say) so they stay in. They're just very mediocre, and thats the problem. I don't care how "nice" they are. Those who vote for them to piss Simon off, it is getting beyond a joke now. ROBERT was a better singer than them and had more charisma
JOURNEY SOUTH (X Factor S2 - 2005) were better.

No.

Short and sweet then Fair enough
I thought maybe it was as some of the seasons of American Idol were shown over here (Season 4 was).
So I don't see how "all of America is buzzing" about Mariah-wannabe Leona. I bet Simon is exaggerating, Leona is good I just find his drooling scary.
I heard Clay Aiken's (sp?) performance of "Bridge of Over Troubled Water" from one of the AI seasons, not sure which one, and it was far better than Leona's, despite the naff choir.
But nothing beats the Simon and Garfunkel original.

I youtubed Leona's performance. She can sing, but I don't like the timber of her voice. Simon looks weird wearing a tie.

I agree, she can sing certainly, but she is not very good at singing soft or in a low register.

Part of Simon's new deal with FOX prohibits X Factor from ever airing in the U.S. Also, Simon can never appear on camera on any other show besides Idol.

Didn't realise that, interesting.
How many seasons of Idol were there? What season was Clay on? (Not S4 I'm sure, I thought Clay came 2nd in one of the Idol shows).

Sorry to hijack... but I was wondering if anyone else is watching the first season of AI on Sundays? I didn't watch from the beginning way back in the summer of 02... so catching them now is a treat. Right now, they're into the week from hell in Hollywood. From the very beginning you could see that Kelly was a step above the rest... Even Justin at this point is very good. I think when it got close, his head got a tad too big and he suffered because of it. Tamrya was also excellent from the beginning. She got robbed!

I believe 5
1st- Kelly Clarkson
2nd - Ruben Studdard (Clay came in 2nd)
3rd - Fantasia
4th - Carrie Underwood
5th - Taylor Hicks

Actually, you missed one in there.
1st- Kelly Clarkson
2nd - Ruben Studdard (Clay came in 2nd)
3rd - Fantasia
4th - kvrdave
5th - Carrie Underwood
6th - Taylor Hicks

Kvrdave? How do you pronounce that?
I've just Youtubed Clay's performance of "Bridge" - despite the choir it's a powerhouse IMO, I preferred it to Leona's. That's something to hold that last note.

Clay should have won. In fact.. some say he probably did.
He's certainly getting the last laugh. All the way to the bank.

Clay's performance of BOTW was REALLY good actually IMO, superb, he has a really different voice to Leona's (obviously since he's a guy ) a deeper voice in some parts, that last note made me shiver. In some ways I can imagine this being used in church or something, it translates pretty well to gospel.
I do remember Clay actually, didnt he start out looking really geeky on AI 2?

Yeah, I totally missed the first season, but beginning with season 2 I have been hooked ever since, so I agree with you it's definitely a treat being able check out first season, with knowing the type success that Kelly Clarkson has achieved. I would like to revisit the other seasons as well, so hopefully it does well in the ratings so that they will reair the other seasons.

I find that rather doubtful.

According to Digital Spy, the winner of X Factor UK 2006 will release Kelly Clarkson's "A Moment Like This" as their first single.

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/s...d.php?t=488138

Might as well give Leona the contract now then
On the other hand, Kelly has a powerful voice, can sing better in a lower register and Leona cannot. "Evergreen" (winner's single on Pop Idol UK 2002) was written with Gareth in mind, yet Will, who was the outsider yet went onto win, completely turned it around on the night with his performance.

It might suit Ben as well if he sings on the piano (providing he's there). Leona will just imitate Kelly/Mariah IMO.

Found this at Digital Spy, this is a bit harsh IMO but its quite funny, does Simon think this is what "America buzzing" is?



When she can't a hit a note, she just wails/increases the volume, (based upon her "Bridge Over Troubled Water" performance). She can sing though, I agree she is trying to be Mariah Carey or whatever, and would imagine the American Idol girls would be better than her.
I don't know who "Jennifer Hudson" is?
Last season on X Factor UK (2005) Simon said Brenda (who was great) was "as good as I've seen in America" yet she didn't win

She finished 7th in Season 3, thanks to a racist America!

Not really, but the three black girls in the competition were all in the bottom 3 that week, so that means we must be racist. Even Sir Elton John said so.

She's got a big part in the movie adaption of Dreamgirls.

Thanks.
To be fair to Leona she is really an amateur (though she has had training over the others in the show AFAIK) and Mariah Carey etc are professionals, but I can't help seeing the simlarities with singers like that.
Did you see Leona's "Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word"? It was good but I liked Fantasia's better. Even Sir Elton John was moved by that.

Some are saying Oscar winning preformance.
Oprah did a whole hour on this movie yesterday and showed a clip of Simon saying that he's eating a slice of humble pie. (He was very harsh with her a few times..)

Maybe I should have been a little more specific. Simon can create and produce as many shows as he wants, but he can never appear on camera on any of them. Didn't you notice that he never appeared on camera on America's Got Talent and American Inventor?

Also, Simon was involved in a nasty lawsuit with Simon Fuller, the creator of Idol over the creation of X Factor. Basically Fuller thought Factor was a rip-off of Idol. So, the 2 sides eventually settled with the catch being that X Factor can only air in the UK and can never be imported to the U.S.

The right act went out this week of X factor 2006 UK (McDonald Bros.) - if you have a chance, YouTube Leona's performances this week of "Could It Be Magic" and "Without You".
No denying she can sing, she is good looking and has a good voice IMO but does she have the X Factor?
But her Mariah impersonations are very boring IMO. Her lower register is weak to non exsistent and she can "do" high notes but then its: Throw head back, close eyes, shake hand/clench fist, bend knees, wash/rinse/repeat. She doesn't ever look like she's having fun. It makes me quite angry to hear the judges heap praise on singing that, would it have been anybody else, be labelled karaoke.
At least Ben tried something brave and different, especially with his performance of "Somebody To Love" (2/12/06)