Fleur East sings 'It's a Shame' on The X Factor UK 2014 (VIDEO)
Fleur East sang 'It's a Shame' on The X Factor UK 2014 Live Show 2 on October 18, 2014.
Pre-performance: Fleur talks about her weekly routine, as she keeps rewatching her performances to see what she's doing wrong and what she can do to improve. She compares the competition to The Hunger Games, and says she has to work hard if she wants to stay. Simon notes Fleur's transformation, and is more than impressed. I am, too. The lady is a real fighter.
Nick's Thoughts: Fleur sings "It's a Shame" by Monie Love, and this is TERRIFIC! Seriously, Fleur does it all: raps, sings, dances, works the stage. It's a complete performance, and Fleur delivers each element of the performance with real skill. If there's a complaint I can levy against this, it's that her voice is barely audible in places during the chorus, and I can't tell if that's her or the music drowning her out. Either way, I thought this was great, and I hope Fleur sails through to next week.
Judges: Louis loved Fleur this week, and compares her to a young Mel B or Kelis. Mel B takes offense, joking she's still young. She enjoyed Fleur's performance, but notes that the chorus was too much backing track and not enough Fleur. Simon sticks up for her, saying that Andrea had backing vocals on his performance too. Fleur sings a little bit of the track to prove it was her singing, although I'm not sure Mel was ever contending she wasn't singing. Cheryl says Fleur is becoming one of her favorite contestants in the competition. Simon, meanwhile, adds that Fleur is becoming a real artist. However, he still isn't over Mel B's critique, saying that it's unfair of her to imply that Fleur is cheating by using backing vocals, since it was what was right for the track. Fleur once again reiterates that she was actually singing on the chorus, and saying she worked her butt off. Although, once again, I don't think Mel was ever implying she wasn't singing, just that the backing vocals were turned up to cover for whatever deficiencies were there in her take on the chorus. I worry that her defensiveness might rub people the wrong way, but I suppose that's always the risk if you're the kind of contestant who speaks up. It's not always fair, but it happens.
But what do you think of Fleur East? Watch the performance video below: