The fourth round of X Factor auditions featured “America’s best kept secret”, a ‘Kingpin’ guitar player – and a surprise appearance from Robbie Williams’ dad!
It was all about the guitars on the ITV talent contest tonight, as newbie judge Louis Tomlinson tried to win over his boss Simon Cowell and find the next Ed Sheeran.
Ayda Williams took the opportunity to shade her husband’s infamous ‘Rudebox’ era when one hopeful impressed with their rapping skills.
That wasn’t the only Williams family drama, with Robbie getting his father Pete to take over at the judges’ desk while he sat in the audience.
Meanwhile, Simon failed in his attempt to break up a male vocal group, and the return of an X Factor favourite almost ended in disaster.
Catch up with all the action in our results rundown below…
Kiki Piesare (4 Nos) – South London mum Kiki says she’s often told she looks like Janet Jackson, but unfortunately she didn’t sound nearly as good as the ‘All For You’ singer during her performance of the Dreamgirls song ‘One Night Only’. The judges grimaced as she failed to hit the big notes, and eventually Robbie put his hand up to stop the audition. “You radiate loveliness. Unfortunately, you can’t sing,” he said bluntly. “I thought you were actually going to be good Kiki, but it didn’t work out that way,” sighed Simon.
Burgandy Williams (4 Yesses) – Burgandy’s personality instantly won over the judges when she gave her showbiz age as 28 (she’s actually 41) and described herself as “America’s best kept secret”. She then commanded the arena at Wembley with her Aretha Franklin cover, even stopping to let the audience sing the iconic ‘R-E-S-P-E-C-T’ line. “Burgandy, my new American best friend, your voice is incredible!” exclaimed Ayda. “It was so much fun to watch you perform, there was so much passion, I couldn’t stop smiling,” added Louis.
Roy Robson – Louis was eager to “see someone with a guitar” on tonight’s episode, much to the chagrin of his boss Simon. First up to try and win over the Syco chief was nuclear power plant worker Roy, a ‘real life Homer Simpson’ who had only been playing guitar for five weeks. He performed an original track called ‘One Night Stand’, but the judges ended up making him do the walk of shame. “That song wasn’t working and it wasn’t quite good enough,” Louis reacted. “This what I call, I’m afraid, a busker audition,” sniped Simon.
Ollie Swain – Ollie was next to give the guitar a go, but his acoustic take on ‘Feeling Good’ failed to resonate with the panel. “I like you, but you’re gonna send people to sleep,” mused Robbie. “I was expecting a bit more energy,” admitted Louis. “You’re a good-looking guy, good voice, but so predictable,” explained Simon.
Tommy Ludford (4 Yesses) – Simon visibly winced when he saw another guitar man take to the stage, but Tommy was finally the one to win him over. The 20-year-old kitchen porter performed his original song ‘Kingpin’, which he described as “all about me”. An ecstatic Louis grinned: “That is exactly what we needed to prove Simon wrong! I absolutely loved that.” Ayda then had a cheeky dig at her hubby. “You just went from the kitchen prince to the prince of Wembley!” she proclaimed. “I love your rapping, and rapping is really difficult. Rob tried it on Rudebox, I think we all know how that went!”
Athena Manoukian (3 Yesses) – Athena boasted that she’s already doing well in her native Greece, having gained 70,000 likes on her Facebook page. Now she’s entered The X Factor to “gain more fans from the UK” – but the super-confident songwriter divided the panel by mashing up the Beyoncé and Emeli Sande versions of ‘Crazy In Love’. “There was moments I found it a bit cheesy,” confessed Ayda. “There’s a lot about you that’s absolutely amazing,” continued Robbie. Louis turned Athena down, but Simon gave her the third yes she needed, smirking: “I could never say no to this audition.”
Tre Amici (4 Yesses) – Tre Amici had an unexpected start to their audition when Robbie declared that he needed a break – and got his dad Pete to fill in at the judges’ desk. Things only got tougher for the three-piece group when Simon decided their performance of ‘Nessun Dorma’ wasn’t working and asked member LeRoy to sing it solo.
He gave it a go, but soon declared he “can’t do it” alone and got his best friends Martin and Richard to join back in. The move won a standing ovation from the audience, and Simon reluctantly joined in. “I’m glad I’m not on next, I’ve been here all afternoon and that’s the best we’ve seen,” joked Pete. “What you just did has stolen my heart,” said Louis. “I knew by doing this the three of you would be better,” said Simon. “I suppose I have to admit… maybe I was wrong.”
Scarlett Lee (4 Yesses) – The episode concluded with a familiar face in Scarlett, who competed in last year’s series but was cut by Sharon Osbourne at the Six Chair Challenge. In a bid to demonstrate how she’s grown since then, she began with an original track, ‘Survival’. However, Simon again interrupted, telling her: “This is probably the sixth time I’ve heard you sing, I’m not sure there’s gonna be another time. That was a four, I want a ten.”
The music mogul gave her one more chance to convince the judges why she should be on the show “through singing”. This time, she belted out The Greatest Showman track ‘Never Enough’, and was met with rapturous applause from the entire audience – including Simon. “You just made the best save I have ever, ever seen,” said Robbie. “It was so big and I felt so privileged to be part of what will undoubtedly change the rest of your life,” gushed Ayda. “You are an amazing singer. Honestly, it was magic,” concluded Simon. “I would love, love, love to be mentoring you.”
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Take Our PollThe X Factor 2018 continues next Saturday at 8.25pm and Sunday at 8.00pm on ITV.
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