X-Factor season 7 live show 4: Boys performance reviewed (30th October).

Paije Richardson: Back to Black

An incredibly boring and uninspired version of Back to black. Paije couldn’t really reach the lower notes (1.16) and goes out of tune during the belted note (1.36) and to top it off he ends terribly too.

Matt Cardle Bleeding Love

Perhaps the song was too high for his natural tessitura because his voice sounded incredibly whiny throughout the performance, while lacking its usual softness and warmth. The belted notes seemed forced and unnatural, and pitchy in parts. It was a bad week for Matt.

Wagner O Fortuna/Bat Out Of Hell

No comment. Lolz.

One Direction Total Eclipse of the Heart

Two weeks and two Bonnie Tyler songs butchered. There is one good singer in this group and the rest just sound out of tune whenever they try giving it a go. Suspiciously they all manage to sing intune during the chorus though, which makes me think there is a backing track playing during certain parts. Harder to watch than the group themselves is Simon (1.49) who is now only seeing pound signs where once there used to be teenage boys.

X-Factor season 7 live show 4: Girls' performance reviewed (30th October).

Mary Byrne: Could it be magic

If this is Louis’ idea of Mary doing modern music then it pretty much shows what decade he's stuck in. Although she had a slight problem with her timing, and some of the notes sounded a little pitchy ( see 1.59 "baby I want you") she carried the song off well enough.

Cher Lloyd: Stay

Dynamics need better control. Sounds like a foghorn when she yodels between the soft and the harder tones at the start. Her voice is shaky throughout and seems to go out of control at points. There’s no doubt she can hold a tune, but this song was too big and far out of her comfort zone to work.

Rebecca Ferguson: Wicked game

Amazing arrangement, amazing voice, I loved it. She did go out of tune on some of the longer notes (1:58)  but this stems from her lack of confidence (watch how abruptly she ends the last note.)

Katie Waissel : Bewitched

Katy had a pleasant, smoky and consistent tone throughout the song and no problems with tuning or timing. But ultimately the whole performance felt flat, boring and came across more style than substance.

Treyc Cohen : Relight My Fire

Started off really well with the slow intro and I was hoping for big things. Unfortunately, although it was a solid vocal performance, it was totally forgettable. Sure Trayc can sing, but, ironically, that’s not enough in this competition.

Belle Amie : Venus

Two words; “strangled” and “cats”. Terrible. I think the coffins are a bad omen for them.