I just realized that all of the high profile reality shows in the US are from Europe. American Idol was originally Pop Idol. America's Got Talent was derived from Britain's Got Talent. And The Voice came from The Voice of Holland.
The latest addition to that ever growing pool of reality singing competition shows is The X Factor US, which is another import from the UK. The show, which is the brain child of Simon Cowell and the reason why he left American Idol, promised to be the biggest in the genre. It got a coveted spot on FOX's fall lineup and boasted the highest prize in reality TV. Aside from a contract with one of Sony's record labels, the winner gets $5,000,000 and will star in the Pepsi Superbowl commercial next year. Needless to say, there was a lot of pressure for The X Factor US to do well.
The entire show had five different stages that contestants had to go through.
- The first, which viewers didn't get to see, is the initial audition with the producers to determine who would get to sing in front of the judges.
- The second stage is the audition in front of the judges and a live audience, where aspiring contestants will have to garner at least three Yes votes from the judges.
- The third stage is the boot camp, where the contestants are slowly culled down to 32 acts (eight for each category). Afterwards, the judges are informed about the categories that they will be mentoring.
- The fourth stage is held at the judge's homes, where each category's eight acts was brought down to four.
- And the final stage is the actual live shows, where the first cut from each category will be decided on by their respective mentors. The final 12 will then vie for the votes of the audience, with one act dropped every week until the final three.
There are four different categories that the acts fall under, with the judges acting as a mentor in each one.
- Girls (12-29 years of age) - Simon Cowell
- Boys (12-29 years of age) - L.A. Reid
- Over 30s (mixed gender; 30 years and up) - Nicole Scherzinger
- Groups (more than one member; any age) - Paula Abdul
So, what do I think about The X Factor US?
I liked it in general, since this is the one type of reality programming that I like to watch. Although, like most shows on their freshmen run, there are a lot of things that they need to work on. And the great thing is that The X Factor US received an early notice about their renewal for a second season next year, so they should have a chance to make the necessary improvements.
The Judges
One of the main draws of the show is that the judges will also have to act as mentors in their respective categories. Which means that whoever ends up with the winning act will have bragging rights until he or she ends up mentoring a losing act the following season.
A drawback to this style of judging/mentoring, though, is that the judges will be obviously partial to their acts. And since their names were on the line, the judges also took charge of song, arrangement, wardrobe and stage production selection. Which didn't always work. As for the banter and chemistry between the judges/mentors? It didn't always work, either. In this regard, the smaller production of The Voice and their judges/coaches did a far better job.
Oddly enough, I really wanted Simon Cowell back on my TV. And he was a better judge on The X Factor US. I don't know if it's because he also produced the show or maybe he just needed that year off from judging after leaving American Idol. I definitely think he did miles and miles better than the rest of the judging panel. He and L.A. Reid had the strongest categories, so their rivalry is expected, but L.A. needs to work on his judging. While Simon's chemistry with Paula Abdul on the judging panel is much appreciated, Paula still has the tendency to give out comments that I couldn't quite understand. Surprisingly, she did much better than Nicole Scherzinger, who switched back and forth between trying to please Simon and his producing cohorts to being vindictive every time another judge said anything bad about her contestants, her choice of song, her choice of stage production or her judging. And although she spouted the occasional good comeback, her choice of words ranged from a tad to a lot crazier than what Paula usually dished out. Makes you wonder how Cheryl Cole would have done as the original fourth judge, and Nicole continued with her original role as co-host.
The Contestants
I was pretty excited about the contestants, since there were pretty impressive performances as early as the audition stages. Melanie Amaro, who eventually won and could seemingly sing anything, and runner ups Chris Rene and Josh Krajcik were the obvious choices to make it to the final three. Although I was surprised that Drew, Rachel Crow and Astro exited as early as they did, falling prey to the tenacity of Marcus Canty's staying power.
I don't know how I feel about the groups category, since I think the heydey of girl, boy or mixed groups in the US have long since passed, unless you're aiming to sing in the country music genre. It wasn't a surprise when the acts in the groups category were quickly eliminated every week. And it didn't help that during the first live show, Paula decided to drop the group with the biggest potential, The Brewer Boys.
I have a burning question about one of the contestants.... What is the secret to 60 year old Leroy Bell's youthful appearance? Where the hell is that fountain of youth, Leroy? Where is it?!
The Production
When it came to the production setup, I had two complaints.
First, the sound mixing/production/editing/whatever. The auditions up until the judge's homes were previously recorded, so the audio was awesome. Unfortunately, come live auditions, there was a flat quality to the sound of the contestant's voices. I keenly felt this with Josh Krajcik, whose full bodied voice became less impressive than it actually was.
Second, the live show production. You definitely can't fault The X Factor US when producers tried to create the biggest, baddest stage set up in all of reality TV. So, they brought large screens, a sheer number of props and blinding lights. Then they included a score of backup dancers to add to the confusion. There are definitely times when everything just drowned out an act's performance. I opted not to post a picture of one of the said stage productions. I still can't get over how Nicole put Josh in a steel cage.
Favorite Performances
Even if I did feel that the production level was overwrought in the live shows, there were some performances that I absolutely enjoyed throughout the series.
- Every time Melanie Amaro sang "Listen" by Beyonce.
- Every song that Astro performed. I was put off by his attitude throughout most of the season, but every song he performed was enjoyable. And he wrote original verses for each one. He was so good, they were able to clear Eminem's anthem song "Lose Yourself".
- Drew's judge's homes performance of "It Must Have Been Love" by Roxette. Sublime.
- Josh Krajcik singing "At Last" by Etta James. I liked his audition version better than his finale performance, though.
- Every time Chris Rene sang his own songs. Whether it was "Young Homie" or "Where Do We Go From Here", he was definitely more in his element when he sang his own composition.
- Leona Lewis singing "Run". I know... she's not a contestant, but it was a good performance.
The Host
Steve Jones received a lot of criticism for being robotic or stiff when hosting the live shows. He seemed to rush everyone, contestants, judges and audiences alike. I kept waiting for one of the judges to snap back at him every time he cut in on a long winded judging monologue and said, "I'm sorry, but you have to make a decision". Although, when I think back to the footage during the auditions, boot camp and judge's home part, he was anything but unfeeling towards the contestants. Case in point, his thinly veiled disappointment at the ousting of Rachel Crow. He definitely showed more empathy than Carson Daly at The Voice. I think that, much like the competing acts, Steve ended up being swallowed whole by the crazy over production of The X Factor US. At the end of the season, there's still no word on whether Simon and his producing partners will retain Steve and all of the judges.
I think The X Factor US has the potential to do better, despite the challenges of airing during the fall season and living up to the shadow of the colossal American Idol. And based on Simon Cowell's current practice of taking every single suggestion into consideration and making adjustments, they should be able to make the necessary changes to improve the show.
But first, Simon and L.A. will make ridiculous amounts of money with winner, Melanie Amaro.
Happy viewing!!Labels: FOX, Must-Watch, Reality, Singing Competition, TV, TV Series, X Factor
