Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-10812216-20180908151649/@comment-36760404-20180912220021

My review on the show and predictions.

Christina Wells - Seems she had similar treatment to Amanda last week, put in the opening slot with a VT and judges comments talking about how she is now proud of herself and what she has done, which demotivates votes as it gives the impression that she has furfilled what she wanted to achieve so no need to push her further.

Da RepubliK - They gave a decent performance, in my opinion their best, and Simon was so wrong to buzz them. They were never gonna get through anyway unless they got a pimping of pimpings in one of the final slots with massive pleading for them to be in the final, even with that it would've been a tall order, but it was not anywhere close to buzz worthy.

Noah Guthrie - This wasn't a push or a hatchet job, was just kind of average treatment. His performance, was EXACTLY the same as Kevin Davy White's performance of this song on X Factor. I mean the whole arrangement of the song was the same. And that was used to suppress Kevin after two massive pimpings which saw him top the vote.

Daniel Emmett - Kind of similar to Noah, it wasn't a push or a hatchet job. It just didn't include a moment like his quarter finals performance did, and I get the feeling as far as producers are concerned, he has served his purpose on the show, which was to come back from being a wildcard and get through as an underdog to the semi finals to prove wildcards can do that.

Angel City Chorale - They gave probably their best performance yet in my opinion, and the fact they did things such as pay tribute to the victims of 9/11, as well as their diversity when it comes to race and background which was promoted, could give them a shot.

Aaron Crow - His performance for me had a promising start but it kind of deflated a bit for me as the act went on, there was just too much faffing about before the centerpiece of the act. And the inclusion of Simon picking the number of the box that Howie was in causing Aaron to not go by what Simon picked felt quite scripted as that is what happened last time, only with Howie doing it to Simon.

Vicki Barbolak - I was expecting to see a hatchet job on her considering Samuel J Comroe is in the final and I didn't feel like there was room for both, but she got given a good edit that will appeal to the working class demographic and she could well go through. I guess the reason they seem happy with two comedians in the final is they prefer that to having an overload of singers so she was given a push to increase the variety. Which is good because I think she is really good at what she does and I enjoyed her performance.

We Three - It seems their hatchet job has continued, and their continued hatchet job is a very familiar story on X Factor, an act having a lot of pre-lives hype, and then having continued hatchet jobs performance after performance. Its not that they get lost in the upgrade from the minimal production judge cuts has to the live shows, I actually liked this performance and found the song quite catchy. But the judges comments were so damning especially Simon who was unneccessarily harsh by calling it a mess. They do still have a shot of getting through based on their pre-lives hype but they are gonna need to either get through in the top 3 (which is unlikely) or via the Dunkin' Save, as unfortunately I think whoever is in a judges save with them, the judges would complete the hatchet job and can make a case to put them through, which is a shame because they are very talented and good at what they do, they just haven't been given the chance to fly in the live shows.

Glennis Grace - The VT I felt turned into intentions to suppress her vote by talking about her son and how she is missing him, which gives people a reason not to vote to allow her to go back to her son, but from then on it was a push, the performance she gave was very solid and was easily her best performance yet, which has given her a very realistic shot of making it.

Brian King Joseph - This was the biggest push of the evening and it was a pimping of pimpings from the VT to the judges comments. The edit was perfectly executed by the producers to motivate votes. The VT talked about his condition and mentioned how violin is his only escape from his condition and how much he needs this. The staging was a masterpiece, it gave him the image of being a rockstar and he also showed he was credible and commercial and adequate for a post show career. I also get a lot of Tokyo Myers vibes from him, modernising a fairly ancient instrument and doing something current and relevant. And Simon associated the word win with him in the judges comments. The producers clearly threw the kitchen sink at this production in order to make him stand out and to motivate votes, and I don't see any reason why it will not pay off.

Courtney Hadwin - I was a little confused as to why she was given the pimp slot for the second time running, especially after watching the show as I think swapping her and Brian around would've made more sense. In terms of her edit, after having a massive push living up to her pre-lives hype she was given a little suppression in this performance, she didn't go as crazy as she has done in her past performances and she was given so-so comments from the judges although Howie associating the word win with her still clearly shows she is earmarked to be in the race for the win. I am presuming because of her ongoing popularity producers were worried she was going to be a runaway winner, which after the last 2 years is something they seem to want to avoid this year. So this edit was designed to suppress her a bit but not enough to get her out of the race for the victory.

This is my results prediction for tonight;

Moving on immediately; Courtney Hadwin Brian King Joseph Glennis Grace

The first two on this list are locks. I think its between Glennis and Vicki for that final spot but due to her running order slot, I think Glennis will just edge Vicki.

In the yellow zone; We Three - Wins Dunkin' Save Vicki Barbolak - Wins Judges Choice Angel City Chorale - Loses Judges Choice

We Three had a massive hatchet job done on them as mentioned above but I think their pre-lives hype will see them get enough votes to be in the yellow zone and they are the most internet friendly out of the three acts, so that could well be their saving grace. You can't count out someone like Noah Guthrie being in the yellow zone though and if he is there he will win it due to his internet popularity, which would put We Three in the judges choice, and as I said above I don't see the judges picking them in a judges choice vote. However I think Noah will miss out. If the judges choice is between Vicki and ACC as predicted, then the judges continued support for Vicki will probably see her win that. The guaranteed eliminees I think will be;

Christina Wells Da RepubliK Noah Guthrie Daniel Emmet Aaron Crow