Grumpy spice, violent contestants, Nandos and Asda all got a look in last night’s premier of the 9th series of the juggernaut talent show X FACTOR.
We knew that the stops would be pulled out this year to make the 9th year more explosive, more entertaining than ever – and the makers of X FACTOR certainly delivered on their promise.
Some highlights were Asda worker Jajmene Douglas who wowed the crowds and judges with his expert version of Etta James’s ‘At Last’ whilst Nando’s server Sheyi Omatayo was less than impressive with his rendition of Louis Armstrong’s ‘Wonderful World’. In fact the performance was so questionable that many Twitter users took to the site to lodge suspicions that he may have been paid by Nandos for the advertising.
Twitter user @justinehartley wrote:
‘That guy was clearly a paid actor advertising Nando’s[sic] #ItsANo
However it was Zoe Alexander, a Pink impersonator, who received much of the audience’s derision when she failed to impress the judges with her renditions of ‘So What’ and Emeli Sandé’s ‘Next To Me‘
After her performance a stollen faced Zoe waited for the judges comments.
Tulisa told Zoe:
‘Okay see the problem is, you came out saying that you wanted to find your own identity, it’s very confusing for me because I did feel like I was watching a Pink tribute act.’
Zoe then alleged that she had been told by the judges to sing a Pink track – a claim that Tulisa resolutely denied.
After receiving a “No!” from each of the judges, Zoe decided to vent her frustrations on a microphone, two cameramen and stage props. She screamed profanities at the judges, who looked on in disbelief.
She told the Sunday Mirror today:
‘They set out to make a total and utter fool of me. Even though this audition was in June, I’m still struggling to come to terms with what happened.
‘I used to be so confident and I trusted people. Now I just don’t trust anyone. I can hardly sleep – I’m basically a nervous wreck.’
However, a show official told the paper that Zoe wasn’t made to sing the Pink song, adding:
‘Contestants are not told what to sing, they make their own decisions.’
Another shocker was Spice Girl’s Mel B’s judging technique. Looking svelte, Mel B ridiculed many of the auditions with her no-nonsense candour and directness. The Spice Girl certainly took her role as Scary Judge seriously – However her scathing comments did receive support from Jonathan Ross who tweeted:
‘An watching #xfactor. Mel B rules!!’
It wasn’t until Ella Henderson, 16, performed a self penned track that Mel B finally thawed and said:
‘Whoever, or whatever you wrote that song about those words, I’m sure, hit a chord with everyone.
‘Your song writing is so clever. It made me go into my own little world, and go Oh my God – I felt like that at one point, and that’s hard to do as a song writer.
‘And when you sang it, you just made me believe every single word, I was right there with you. What we just witnessed was incredible, absolutely incredible.’
