The X-Factor Week One

The X-Factor has great judges. We all know Paula and Simon. LA Reid certainly has the experience. We like that he seems to have some taste. He wants the contestants to move him, and if they don’t, he’s not shy about giving them a “no.” He seems to be harder than Simon on contestants. His zingers just aren’t as sharp. Give him time though.

One of us has loved Nicole ever since she saw her youtube videos playing Maureen in RENT. So what’s wrong with this show so far? It’s overlong, overhyped, and it didn’t give us any auditions that blew us away. Or that we even liked without reservation.

Nearly everyone totally sucked. Where are the good voices? The judges and crowd were going nuts over the most mediocre performances. We were confused. We sat through 160 minutes this week (not including commercials), and it seemed to be mostly fluff and duds.

There were a few that we almost liked. Melanie, the contestant who sang “Listen,” by Beyonce did the song proud. She wasn’t as good as either Beyonce or Charice, but it was on pitch and showed potential. What we liked better was her little sister’s face through her song. So cute and funny.

Ern got choked up during the 42-year-old mom’s story and song. Her man knocked her around, left her and her two kids, told her she was too old to be a singer when she was in her early 30s, and made her doubt that she was talented. Then she succeeded in blowing the judges away with some belted high notes. Leeard didn’t like her voice, but both of us hope that deadbeat was watching her prove him wrong.

Dallas’ rugby-playing Caitlin Koch proved that the judges aren’t all about the belters when it comes to females. She sang in a sweet, quiet voice full of nice tone, and the judges went nuts and put her through. We didn’t really like her performance, and thought her voice was average, but it’s nice to see the judges go for a pretty voice rather than just the girls yelling.

Finally, Leeard is obsessed with Chris Rene, the addict who sang his original son, “Young Homey.” Not only does he have a powerful story and a deal with Simon to stay clean, he has a decent voice. Ern remains unimpressed, but he was in both of our top three. This either shows that he is good or that everyone else sucked. The other thought that not only is he a pretty decent singer, but he's also a good songwriter. Also, Leeard's such a sucker for stories like that. When he said that it was the third best day of his life (behind his son's birth and the day he got sober), she teared up. Ern is jaded about addicts from watching too much Intervention.

The last audition of the week, Alexander’s (excuse us, Xander), was hilarious. We liked his cracks to Simon but are pretty sure that no one liked his attitude. The judges handled that just fine.

So far, this show is lacking what a singing show should have: People who can sing.