XF Top 11, aka Themes? Really, XFactor?

So, Intensity (InTENsity?) got ousted last week.  Kind of surprising actually.  Now that the show doesn’t have to put up all ten of those kids and a parent/guardian, maybe they no longer need the Pepsi sponsorship?

Tonight is Movie night. AKA, generally generic, pick whatever you want, free for all.  With this many contestants, themes suck anyway.  In fact, I’m kind of disappointed that they are even doing themes at all.  It may be time to stray from this tradition.

1. Stacy Francis		“Queen of the Night” – Remember when Kelly C. had a demo of this song, and it was about 100 times better than this performance?  Ugh, Stacy, your vocal was a hot mess.
2. Marcus Canty		“Going Down” – Nice!  I have never been on the Marcus bandwagon, but I finally liked him this week.  He still seems like a relatively generic R&B star, but at least he is good at it.
3.Drew		“Fix You” by Coldplay – So LA has a point. She was good the last 3 weeks, but she needs to do something different with her voice.  Remember Amanda Overmayer?  Hard rocker from Indiana?  Sang the Doors a lot?  Also a one-trick pony.  And Simon warned her that people will get bored.  And they will with Drew, as well.
4. Leroy Bell		“I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” by U2 –  I kind of loved this.  The first verse I thought it was too copycat, but when he got into it, it got, like, really good!
5. LaKoda Rayne		“I Wanna Love Somebody Like You” Perfect song for these girls.  The harmonies were not quite on this week, but they are so great individually, I feel like that has to come with practice.
6. Astro		“Lose Yourself” by Eminem – All I have to say, is if this kid doesn’t win, this show is a sham.  He is so incredibly talented.  And LA is pushing him right now because he can take it.  And he probably works well under pressure.  Props to LA for knowing how to get the most out of this kid.
7. Melanie Amaro	+1/2	“Man In The Mirror” – Love this song!  Love her voice!  But I did understand what LA was saying.  She was predictable fantastic.
8. StereoHogzz		“Aint No Other Man” by Xtina – These guys are pretty good, but nothing to really write home about.  I liked the song choice for them, but I expect they will go home within a week or two.
9. Josh Krajick		“A Little Help From My Friends” By Joe Cocker – Wow, this is Josh’s best performance on this show.  I absolutely loved him on this song.  Fab, Josh!
10. Chris Rene	+1/2	“Gangstas Paradise” by Coolio – I think LA took some strategy from Astro and let Chris do a little more writing himself.  I would like to see him to a tad more singing and a tad less rapping, because I think he can actually sing.  But maybe we will get a better glimpse of that next week.  At any rate, it was leaps and bounds better than last week.
11. Rachel Crow	+1/2	“I’d Rather Be Blind” – I don’t know this song, but she finally showed what kind of chops she had.  And she finally lost the man chic!  She is a firecracker.  I don’t know what kind of fan base she has, but she sure has talent.  (Glee anyone?)

Best Tonight, Astro (again!) and Josh Krajick.  I also loved Lakoda Rayne.   I think the worst tonight was Stacy Francis.  I rarely find myself complaining about pitch issues on this show, but she had some serious infractions tonight.  This coupled with her Dead Man’s Spot could equal trouble.  I also think that Marcus Canty and StereoHogzz could beoth be out quickly.