The brave Spinoff knights meet at the television roundtable to discuss week 12 on X Factor NZ, including Steve’s real age, Shelton’s fake hat and Stan’s copycat tears.
Robyn Gallagher on the Charity Single
Remember the charity single? It was released only three weeks ago, but a very a strange thing is happening in the charts. It’s being massively overshadowed by Rachel Platten’s original version of the song.
The all-star X Factor version of the song debuted at No. 13 in the singles chart, but it’s been downhill fast since then. The charity single can now be only found in the bleak hinterland that is the New Zealand artists chart, lurking after Six60’s album track “White Lines” (disappointingly not about cocaine).
But Rachel Platten’s original is enjoying new life in the charts. It’s currently at No. 27 in the proper singles chart, and an even more impressive No. 2 in the iTunes chart, while the X Factor’s version lingers at No. 55.
That’s not surprising. The X Factor‘s cover is not an improvement on the original for the simple reason that it adds a guitar solo from Brendon Thomas. If you like uplifting anthemic pop, you will know that it does not need a guitar solo. A shout-along section, yes, but not a self-indulgent, ’80s-style guitar solo.
Maybe the X Factor single has raised a couple of hundred bucks for the children’s charity, but a valuable lesson has been learned: if people are given a choice, they will pick the bright, poppy original over a muddled cover version with a fricking guitar solo.
Let’s just forget the charity single ever happened and cross our fingers that the winner’s single – all four of them – will at least be enjoyable.
Calum Henderson on Broad Truths
Talia Smith on Shelton’s Industry Hat
This week Shelton tried to remind us all that he knows a thing or two about music by banging us all over the head with the term “Industry Hat”. I guess being part of such successful bands as Blindspott (who doesn’t get misty eyed hearing ‘Nil by Mouth’ and associated memories of drinking Cody’s in small town New Zealand) and of course I am Giant (who have brought us such hits as ‘???????’) gives him the power to wear the powerful “Industry Hat”.
Josh Davis Definitely Watched X Factor
Wow what a week on X Factor New Zealand, a show I am for sure still watching. On Sunday night, as I was watching the show, I thought to myself “Boy howdy, these young performers sure are singing songs chosen by their mentors that are in line with this week’s theme.” And how right I was. Of the six performers, some performed with poise and aplomb whilst others did less well and boy oh boy did they hear it from the judges. Those performers unfortunate enough to be human women were in for the harshest treatment from the boyish middle-aged dude with the hat. What really struck me about the judges comments after each performance was how they were spoken in English which was very fortunate for me because that’s the only language I understand!
Last night as I again watched the show (it’s on two times a week! What fun!) I predicted who would be in the bottom two and I was incorrect (the two performers I predicted would be in the bottom two were not in the bottom two). At the end of the show we lost a talented young performer but my god do they have a promising future in the big time singing industry! My god there are more episodes next week! I look forward to again watching the show and writing words about that show because I love the show.
Renee Church on Stan Bedingfield
We had a doppelganger in our midst again this week – for reals this time. Check this out, New Zealand, it’s Stan Walker after his dear Nyssa’s performance. He was affected by her cover of Aaradhna, so much so that he was in tears.
But may I bring you to exhibit B – Daniel Bedingfield doing the same thing when his X Factor winner Jackie Thomas sung in season one! (Don’t ask me what song she was singing, that task is simply too hard to take on).
So what does this all mean? Is Stan drawing inspiration from Dan? Or was Dan drawing inspiration from Joe Irvine from the future? You’ll have to wait until never to find out.
Eli Mathewson on Warming Up the Crowd
I was at the show warming up the crowd this week and my best warm-up move was this:
They’d been giving out little X Factor temporary tattoos and a girl in the front of the mosh had a spare. I asked if I could put it on so we put it on my arm like a dark mark from Harry Potter. She poured some water from her drink bottle onto the tat and then spilled quite a bit of water on the stage. Then I wiped up the water with my jeans by dragging my butt over it.
So if you thought the crowd was extra rowdy this week, that’s why.
Also, I’ll say it: #BringBackBroad He’s done a lot of clunkers but he killed it this week. Also he was very adorable after the show and all the staff seem to really like him (hot goss from the inside).
Jack Riddell on Flute Dreams
More Tull, less Vibes please and thank you Mikey.