X Factor’s back
THE search for Britain’s next singing sensation kicks off tonight as The X Factor goes back to basics for its 13th series.
The show has ditched on-stage auditions for its original format of conducting them in a room.
Boss Simon Cowell is joined by returning judges Sharon Osbourne, Nicole Scherzinger and Louis Walsh with Dermot O’Leary as host.
Tonight’s show has its familiar sob stories, notably that of nightclub supervisor Christian Burrows.
The 19-year-old from Bolton brings the judges and fellow contestants to tears after being prompted by Simon to perform his own song Thunder Buddy about his dead brother.
Student Samantha Lavery, 16, of Durham, does an emotional rendition of Ellie Goulding’s Explosions, which she dedicates to her grandfather who put his own singing ambitions on hold to earn money for his family.
Simon, 56, tells her: “There’s no such thing as the perfect first audition, but that was a really good audition.”
Cowell also has high praise for Caitlyn Vanbeck, from Edinburgh, for her storming rendition of singer Kelly Clarkson’s Piece By Piece.
He favourably compares the 18-year-old student to the US star he discovered more than a decade ago on American Idol.
He said: “This is the first time I’ve been taken back to that moment.” Hankies aside, tonight’s show also wheels out its typical “joke acts”.
Eddie Lee, 51, of Glasgow, belts out a cabaret version of the Elvis hit Can’t Help Falling In Love, dressed like Simon and delights the judges by insisting he’s often mistaken for him.
However, it’s self-proclaimed “genuine urban artist” Honey G, a 35-year-old white recruitment agent from Harrow, north-west London, dressed in a full shell suit performing Work It by US rapper Missy Elliott, who brings the most laughs.
The X Factor, ITV, tonight at 8pm.