The X Factor Australia 2016 Mid-Season Report Card
With lots of GIF action, obvi
Believe it or not, there are just eight days until the finale of The X Factor Australia 2016. It’s been the most unique, experimental season of X Factor anywhere in the world — so let’s check in on all elements of the show and grade how everybody’s been doing with the idolthreat X Factor Mid-Season Report Card.
Judges
Adam Lambert
Lambo has consistently been the best judge on the panel. His critiques range from entertaining (throwing shoes) to technical (commenting on specific tones and techniques) to just plain real. But he’s not been the nasty judge just for the sake of it; his feedback has usually been spot-on, and usually ends with decent advice as to how to improve.
Grade: A
Iggy Azalea
Iggy has been entirely inept and clueless for the entire season, being knocked out three weeks out from finale despite having Brentwood and AYA on her team. She’s been responsible for some of the worst act mismanagement since Nat Bassingthwaighte’s Groups in 2014. She’s directly copied some of Adam’s more generic critiques from earlier in the night because she can’t think of her own critique (the “award show” compliment keeps on popping up). Last week, Dundo called her out on live TV because she was texting under the desk during the live show and didn’t realise she was on next. She even said one performance was “like something at the VMAs, or the MTV Awards,” apparently not realising the VMAs are the MTV Awards. She’s been probably the worst mentor the Australian X Factor has ever seen, but she has been highly entertaining and extremely GIF-able, so it’s not all bad.
She also said “fuck” directly into a microphone on live TV during an elimination show. I mean, what an icon. Come to Brazil.
Grade: D-
Guy Sebastian
Guy’s just been Guy. He’s been here before. He knows how it all works, he knows how to get short, sharp critiques out, and he knows how to mentor his acts.
He hasn’t done anything too spectacular — the most experimental he’s gotten with his acts was giving Chynna a dance remix of a U2 song — but when you’re sat next to Iggy Azalea, “steady as she goes” is all you need to look like you’re doing a great job.
How on earth his act Chynna got booted is baffling.
Grade: B
Mel B
Hurricane Mel has triumphantly returned. Endlessly entertaining, as ever, Mel’s done quite a good job with Beatz, and deserves to make the final with them.
She also remains endlessly quotable, as the gif shown demonstrates.
Her only mistake was picking Vlado over any number of other acts she could have taken from the remnants of Three Chair Challenge, but he’s still there, so he’s doing something right.
Grade: B+
The Final Five
Amalia
A beautiful voice, that’s certain, but... can you remember a single song she’s done across the competition? What she’s singing is not connecting with the audience in a way that makes her stand out, and that’s a big problem so close to the Final.
Grade: B
Beatz
Had a really promising Three Chair Challenge performance, but have consistently missed the mark in the live shows. I mean, yeah, they’re good, but you just want them to just explode, y’know? They’re vocally pitchy at times, and they’ve got a long way to go , but they’re very likeable, and the Australian public seems to be behind them. They also have the added advantage of not being mentored by Iggy . I do miss seeing them with their “colours” though. That was kinda cool.
Grade: B+
Davey
Davey won’t win — I maintain he’ll come fifth — but he’s extremely likeable, and I can see him having a really solid touring career once the show finishes. He’s not really winner material though, and if he did win, he’d need the greatest winners song in X Factor history to chart (which he won’t get). Does seem like a top bloke though.
Grade: B-
Isaiah
The most hit and miss contestant of the season. The first week of the live shows, he was totally forgettable; then he did Let It Be, and it was the performance of the night, and possibly the season; and then he did the most asinine version of Pharrell’s Happy, and it was back to being average again. He’s definitely got charisma, but he needs to improve that strike rate drastically. Step up and make a move, Isaiah. The contest could be yours.
Grade: B
Vlado
Seems to be doing well for someone who manages to turn quite good song choices (Ariana’s Into You, MJ’s Thriller) into uninspired, underwhelming, very pitchy performances every single week. He’s improved in the last few weeks, but in order to actually win, Vlado needs to lift, and quickly, or Isaiah will steal his spotlight.
Grade: C+
Things That Are Not Judges Or Contestants
Jason Dundas
Jason was good during the auditions, but became the most annoying sports commentator of all time in the Three Chair Challenge by standing backstage and repeating exactly what the judges just said they were going to do, just to make triply sure everyone knows what’s going on.
The first few weeks of the live shows were awkward, but in the last few weeks, he’s loosened up heaps and seems to have said to himself “stuff it, I’ll do what I want and enjoy myself,” which has worked a treat.
If we’d had a slightly longer season, he’d have settled in wonderfully.
Grade: B-
Special Guests
The special guests each week have ranged from the perfect (new queen of pop Zara Larsson) to the downright embarrassing (Disturbed, pictured). All-up, with the exception of Disturbed, it’s been an excellent season for guest performances, so well done all concerned.
Also, special shout-out to 19-year-old Melbourne producer Throttle, who got LunchMoney Lewis and Aston Merrygold on to perform his track Money Maker with him. Throttle wore a Keep Sydney Open t-shirt because he’s a legend.
Grade: A-
Format and Twists
The reason X Factor produces artists who actually go on to have a career, as opposed to the knockout competition that is The Voice, is that seeing the same acts competing each week allows the audience to become emotionally invested in an act, and want to vote to save them. With the week-one quadruple elimination, and the double elimination going from the final seven to the final five, viewers simply haven’t established that connection with the contestants like in a normal season.
Funny you should mention that, ModestyChild, if that is indeed your real name. Because it was a short season, something needed to be done to speed the show up, and it definitely eliminated the mid-season lull the show has experienced in the past few years.
Mass eliminations as twists wasn’t the answer, though. With seven contestants — literally half the field — eliminated in the space of three weeks, viewers don’t care about any of the contestants enough to make such mass eliminations shocking. It’s not worth becoming emotionally invested in a contestant, because “hey, if three people get kicked out next week, who cares?”
A more logical approach would have been to only have a final nine, not a final twelve, do away with the “Underdog Judge” concept, and eliminate one act a week, to allow audiences time to build a connection with a favourite. Alternatively, if you insist on having four judges, allow them to bring two acts each; a final eight, with single eliminations each week, and the top three acts in the Final.
Or, hey, if you insist on a final twelve, eliminate two each week for the first few weeks, like on the first season of Australian Idol. Each week you’d have a bottom three, and the judges would need to vote for which of the three acts needed to be saved from elimination. Votes for a bottom three can’t split evenly between four judges; so either one will be safe in a 2–1–1 vote, or there’ll be a split 2–2–0 vote, the act with no votes is instantly eliminated, and of the other two, only the act with the most votes is safe.
Anyway, let’s move on. Katie, you’ve started watching because you’re a Lambo fan. What do you reckon?
I hadn’t noticed this, but now that you mention it, the only thing that really feels like it drags is the first twenty minutes of the Elimination Show, which really feels like watching the ads and trailers before a movie in a cinema.
The format changes had potential, but needed more thought and predictability — let the elimination results be the only unpredictable thing about the show.
Grade: D+
Social Media
SO much love for the TXF social team. They’re using Twitter quite well to provide updates, and the week they accidentally let a sassy tweet go through to the broadcast rather than just the ones glowing with praise was excellent. More of that, please.
They’ve been interacting with fans, which is nice, and they’ve also been quietly uploading their best GIFs to Giphy, so that the best moments of the season live on forever. Well done, team.
Grade: B+
Final Scorecard
C+
There’s a lot to work on for next year — if in fact it even returns next year — but X Factor: Next Generation has been a step in the right direction for a show that really needed to breathe some new life into the format. All formats grow; American Idol began as a standard format show, and over the course of fifteen seasons introduced the Save to save someone who had just been voted out, a Live Twitter Vote, and a switch to one episode a week with verdicts just before each act performed. With a few minor revisions, next year’s X Factor — if it returns — could really have potential to be the best season yet.
