Excuse the lateness of this week’s analysis – we were in the studio audience, y’see – but, without giving away who goes this week, here were our opinions:
1 (5) Sophie: Well, she did well didn’t she?! A bit of a breakthrough for Sophie – ‘Reflection’ was great, a spotless vocal again, and, for once, a believable performance. She really gave it some in her duet with Steph as well. Might be too little, too late to go the whole way; but on the basis of tonight she’s ready to fight for her place in the final.
2 (3) Danielle: We loved Danielle alot more from seven rows back than we did on the screen; an indication that she would actually be rather good in a packed theatre. We’re warming to her slowly, if only as coming to terms with the fact she’s probably likely to win. ‘When You Believe’ was a decent performance, and her and Lauren’s ‘Popular’ was just great.
3 (2) Steph: Got handed a bit of a dick song this week; while the other girls had subtly-instrumented ballads, Steph had a balls-out super-ballad with the band at full volume to contend with. She got drowned out by them a little, but still put in a great performance; and, in contrast to what the panel said, we thought she was a pretty good actress in the VT clip as well.
4 (1) Lauren: Lauren was great again this week, but the others raised their game and found her standard. ‘Heaven’ was very strong – the vulnerability was lacking a bit, but obviously the vocal was all there, as ever. Acting-wise, in her VT she was far too over-the-top; but her duet with Danielle was fantastic.
