X Factor UK 2015 – Ranking the Top 12
Hi everyone, it’s Eric! For those who don’t know me, I recapped AGT season 9 last summer and I’ve been commenting on the blog for a few years now. This season, I get to do power lists for my favorite show of them all, The X Factor UK. I saw some auditions while I was in London over the summer (including one audition from a finalist), and I would like to think I know this show pretty well, having watched it regularly since season 6 when we first saw Olly Murs. Now that we have our top 12, it’s time for me to embarrass myself and make some horrible predictions!
So I’ve been working on this throughout the weekend, and I honestly have no clue which of the top 3 on this list will win the show. By now, there is usually a clear favorite. This season, I count four. This makes my job much harder.
For this first list, I’m ranking the 12 finalists based on chance of winning the show. After this list, I’ll be ranking based on who I think makes it to the next week. In addition, at the end of the post I will also rank each week’s contestants based on which performances I liked best this week alone.
Top 12 in order of chance of winning
- Louisa Johnson – Louisa is amazing-she has a great tone, a great range, and she’s young and marketable. Simon was quoted as saying she is already the winner. And right now, I don’t disagree. She’s going to have to really mess up to lose her place at the top.
- 4th Impact – In my opinion, they are the strongest group I’ve seen on X Factor since Little Mix. Their problem is they do one thing (big songs with big choreography) really well, and everything else isn’t as good. So the question is-quite simply-can they keep the momentum going when they need to change things up every week? I’m not sure. Judges houses was a step in the right direction for me. For now, I think they are near the top of the pack.
- Che Chesterman – The thing about Che is that he is kind of boring and I can see Simon turning on him for that reason. But his voice is so spectacular that I can’t see him going home in the first few weeks. And if I’m wrong and Simon doesn’t turn on him, he could break into the finale and possibly even win.
- Seann Miley Moore – I was in the audience at Seann’s first audition as I’m sure many of you know. When he first walked out, I was afraid he was a joke act. Then he started to sing and I was thrilled they wouldn’t be making fun of him. Seann is my personal favorite (I’m biased due to having seen him in person) but in a season full of more marketable talent I can’t see him winning. If he does really well-think Adam’s Mad World style moments-he could make the top 2, but sadly that’s as far as I can see him going.
- Lauren Murray – Lauren is likeable, has a great tone to her voice, and I think she could be special. Do I think she’ll make it past top 5? No. I don’t. But I’m placing her this high because I think people will like her.
- Kiera Weathers – She is great. But to me, she isn’t special. While she has a great range, her tone is quite generic to me. This, plus some confidence issues I’ve seen, makes me believe she’s a mid-packer.
- Alien Uncovered – Their style is so unique and they are ready for the market right now. Having said that, their competition is 4th Impact and while some of you may disagree I think 4th Impact are the stronger group. So vote splitting + judge pimping makes me believe Alien Uncovered are destined to be mid-packers.
- Anton Stephans – He has a great voice and he seems like a really nice guy. Let me get that out of the way. But I don’t love his style of music. Simon hated Andrea’s faces last season and Anton’s faces are more exaggerated and his voice isn’t as good. So while the betting odds suggest Anton is going to make it for a while, I can’t see him going further than 7th or 8th place.
- Monica Michael*
- Max Stone – I never expected Max to make it through a week ago, yet he was by far the strongest over at judges houses, and earned his spot at live shows with his arrangement and strong vocals. The issue is that he lacks personality, AND he is a few years too old, AND there are so many people better than him. So best case scenario is he makes it to the top 5. I expect he’ll be gone in two or three weeks.
- Reggie ‘n’ Bollie – This year’s joke act (I think). If it weren’t for the incoming double eliminations I think they would make it to the usual 6th or 7th place where joke acts get cut. But if they are in the bottom spot, nothing can save them this season. So they need to have lots of real fans to survive. Or they need to not be the joke act.
- Bupsi – I can’t see her making it past the first live show. She’s too dated and her vocals aren’t strong enough. She looks destined to follow in Shelley Smith’s and Lorna Simpson’s footsteps.
- Mason Noise – Double eliminations mean he can’t get the lowest number of votes. That + the booing when his name was announced makes it hard to see him lasting past live show 1. I think Mason’s episode at the 6 chair challenge (and his prior comments from boot camp) doomed his chances of making it anywhere near the top.
My personal ranking for Judges Houses Performances
- Louisa Johnson
- Che Chesterman
- Seann Miley Moore
- 4th Impact
- Lauren Murray
- Monica Michael*
- Max Stone
- Alien Uncovered
- Kiera Weathers
- Bupsi
- Anton Stephens
- Mason Noise
- Reggie ’n’ Bollie
Update:
*Now that Monica Michael has returned to the competition, I think I should rank her too. For chance of winning, I would put her at spot number 9, bumping Max, Reggie n Bollie, Bupsi, and Mason down. Monica was awesome at judges houses, but that was when she was singing an original song. When she does covers, she isn’t as good. Having said that, I actually met Monica at her audition. She was super nice, spending time taking pictures with people who recognized her from the year before. So knowing a bit about what she’s like to her fans, I’m rooting for her to do well. And for my personal rankings, I’d put her above Max at stop number 6.
