The X Factor UK 2014 Results: The Six Girls Advancing To Judges' Houses Are...
Tonight was night one of the three-night Boot Camp event on The X Factor UK 2014, as the Six Chair Challenge is back. The Girls category kicks things off, and the resulting night of performances were pretty interesting, to say the least.
But how did it all play out? Read ahead for a brief recap of the contentious Boot Camp results...
BOOT CAMP
But first, we have to find out which judges will be mentoring which categories:
So Simon Cowell has the Over 25s, Mel B has the Boys, Louis Walsh has the Groups, and Cheryl Fernandez-Versini has the Girls category. This is Cheryl's first Six Chair Challenge, and her category was ultimately chosen to start things off, which doesn't bode all that well for one of the show's most notoriously indecisive judges ever, since she was already stressing out about the challenge after learning which category she would mentor.
But how did the Girls do?
Overall, we had some very impressive performances. Lola Saunders tackled CeCe Peniston's "Finally", Lauren Platt took on the King of Pop with "Man In the Mirror", Emily Middlemas worked the stage with "Anything Could Happen", and Kerrianne Covell sang a lovely rendition of "Gravity" by Sara Bareilles.
Credit: ITV
But there was also controversy galore. Since this was Cheryl's first experience with the new twist, there was a bit of a harsh learning curve, as the judge found herself repeatedly booed for her decisions, such as cutting early favorites Ten Senah, Kayleigh Manners, and presumed frontrunner Monica Michael:
Also among the cuts that the crowd didn't love was 25-year-old Shanay Holmes, who sang Emeli Sande's "Read All About It" to earn a chair, only to get swapped out later for Kerrianne Covell.
But one of the most controversial decisions of all came when Cheryl cut judges' favorite Chloe Jasmine.
Of course, the uproar here stemmed less from Chloe's elimination and more from the fact that it wasn't permanent: Simon Cowell was able to convince Cheryl to give Chloe another chance, adding fuel to the fire of all those pesky favoritism rumors, since the singer was already given an unaired second chance to redo her arena audition after messing up the lyrics and breaking down in tears -- a clip the viewers never saw.
“I've made a mistake. I've made such a big mistake,” Cheryl said after her six seats had been filled for Judges' Houses. “I want to bring Chloe back.”
Cheryl then apologized to Chloe, who had earlier had a seat despite singing a REALLY strange rendition of The Backstreet Boys' "I Want It That Way" (in what might have been the night's worst song choice).
"I want versatility in my group going forward. If I had all six girls who represent the same thing it would be boring," Cheryl said, by way of apology. "I want someone who can do something different each week and you can do that. I'm missing that when I look up there. ... I want to put you in my top six."
This meant singer Orla Keogh was eliminated, a decision that infuriated Mel B. “I think that was a big mistake,” she said.
Credit: ITV
But that wasn't the only controversial moment during the Six Chair Challenge, as a new twist was implemented: no contestants under 16 could be swapped out. This meant if Cheryl gave a spot to a contestant under the age of 16, she would not be able to change her mind. The decision would be permanent, and that singer would advance to Judges' Houses. This became a bone of contention once 15-year-old Emily Middlemas took the stage, but her performance went over so well with the audience that it almost would have been foolish for Cheryl not to give the girl a permanent spot.
However, the twist didn't do much to help those right on the cusp of the cut-off age, such as Chloe O'Gorman, who got the crowd cheering with her rendition of Whitney Houston's "I Didn't Know My Own Strength".
all this just meant that the over 16s would have to work harder to earn a spot and keep it. Enter Stephanie Nala, who impressed with her rendition of Chris Isak's "Wicked Game".
RESULTS
Ultimately, Cheryl was able to narrow her category down to just six singers.
So who made it through to Cheryl's Judges' House round?
Cheryl's Girls are...
Lola Saunders Emily Middlemas Lauren Platt Kerrianne Covell Stephanie Nala Chloe Jasmine
Credit: ITV
It's really not a bad group at all, although Stephanie Nala comes across as cannon fodder to me. I genuinely have no idea how Monica Michael didn't get a spot, and I think it's a decision that will come to haunt Cheryl. I also think Orla deserved the spot over Chloe, just judging from the Boot Camp performances. And I say that as someone who's been a staunch Chloe supporter since her first audition. That said, Chloe could be good simply for variety's sake, but she runs the risk of a Katie Waissel-sized backlash if she keeps advancing over more talented singers without delivering at a high enough level.