Downward Spiral

I really got my hopes up about Danyl going, but I knew for a fact that he would've had more votes than Miss Frank, so that pissed on my bonfire. At least one of the two I thought would go in the next couple of weeks went. Now Lloyd, please fuck off.

This. This is the key issue that last night's show raised.

As for the whole Miss Frank would never win it thing, I absolutely agree. That said, it's ridiculous that they've gone out in week 3, when of all the acts left, the added exposure and time to gel would have done wonders for their future marketability. Lloyd can stand there week on week and sing the same fucking note for two minutes and still not get any more interesting.

Thoughts from last night in some semblance of order.

Olly: I can't fault him on the fact that he's been good, and pretty consistent week after week. But I STILL can't see him as a viable recording artist. Everything about him screams 'cabaret' and whoever told him he could dance needs to be bloody shot. Unless he pulls out something genuinely spectacular, then he'ss just going to look like a one-trick pony week after week.

Jamie: I bloody love him. Not his strongest performance, but then again it's not the strongest of U2 songs. I hope he stays out of the bottom two tonight, but even if he doesn't, there's no way they'll send him home.

Danyl: Week on week, Danyl is producing the best performances. Last night's was no exception, that was a superb arrangement, oscillating between the Muse and Nina Simone ends of the 'Feeling Good' spectrum and nailing a pretty cool Bond-esque vibe. On talent alone, he's head and shoulders above the rest. That said, he bloody well knows it, which makes him slightly less likeable. On the plus side, it will make him an awesome performer and may finally produce an X-Factor artist who could produce some semi-consistent touring revenue.

Lloyd: Fuck me, that pretty much made my ears bleed. Sod back-flip-gate, why not point out the fact that he can't sing and that Cheryl was a moron for putting him into the top three.

Joe (aka Shergar): Yes, vocally it was alright, but can we never use the words 'sexy' and 'Joe' in the same sentence again please? Thanks. It was alright. I absolutely agree with Simon's comment at the end though: yes, he can sing. Very well in fact. Sadly there's nothing about him which screams 'interesting' or 'marketable'. That smile will only take him so far. He needs to develop some semblance of a personality or edge is he has a prayer of making it anywhere in the music industry.

Miss Frank: Apart from the whole thing being in danger of falling apart at the end, I loved this performancee. They've got a real Mis-teeq quality about them which is far from a bad thing. That said, Shaniece has yet to sing in tune, which makes their harmonies sound fucking awful. It's such a sshame because the other two have got great voices and are being dragged down by poorer vocals from their third member. All that criticism aside, they're a great act with genuine marketability about them. Sod the vocals, at the end of the day, that's the only really important thing here.

John and Edward: Well... it was different... Except it wasn't. It was exactly the same car crash as the week before, except with marginally less of a twin-cest overtone and a poor woman who looked like she was about to be raped by the two of them half-way through. I've given up even bothering to have an opinion on these two. They'll make it to the final 6 at least, but I can't help feeling that there would be nowhere near as much ambivalence to them if they fucked off and did Eurovision instead.

Lucie: Fuck me she was dull. It was a good vocal (not a great one). The beginning was very good, I actually wanted to like her. But listen back to the high notes at the end. They were completely nasal because, as I've said all along, she just hasn't got the power to hit those big, strong notes. It was the best she's performed so far, but again, I want to see something marketable about her before I start changing my opinion on her.

Stacy: I am seriously worried for this girl's health. Genuinely. Every time on that stage when the music stops, she looks fucking terrified. When Cheryl gave some severely mild criticism she looked like she would burst into tears. I wouldn't be surprised if she withdraws half-way through with a nervous breakdown, I'm that worried by her. It was an OK performance, lacking the power of previous weeks, but she is without a doubt the best female vocalist this year.

Rachel: YES YES YES! It was a fun, slightly less serious performance where she didn't stare down the camera looking like she would rip someone's throat out. It was all going so well: finaly, I thought my faith in her abilities would be vindicated by some votes. And then she opened her mouth at the end. I mean, seriously, what the hell was she doing? In acting as manically as Stacy she stripped away all the coolness and attitude which made her interesting in the first place. I think she'll end up in the bottom two and end up going tonight, which is a crying shame as I thought it was her best performance yet. Vocally, and commercially, she is still head and shoulders above about 50% of the other competitors, but I just can't see her lasting beyond tonight . I'd love to be proven wrong.

It was a real mixed bag this week, but then Big Band always is. Sometimes it produces some amazing performances, other times people forget that the only redeeming thing about swing music is the charisma of the person performing it. Bottom two predictions tonight: Rachel and... Lloyd. Surely? I mean, come the fuck on Wales, Scotland had the right idea last week, it's time for you to follow suit!

Oh thank Christ for that. I had a genuine fear we had another Leon on our hands but thankfully everyone has seen sense.

Rachel needs to start pulling out performances like that survival song. I really like her, and I think that with the right material she could go far but if Dannii has learned anything from this weekend, it's don't give the girl a song sung in a high register. Bad things seem to happen.

Other thoughts: the John and Edward joke has well and truly worn off now. Take it to Eurovision. Miss Frank were horrendously out of tune at times, but I'm so glad they're through. I think a big performance is in them and hopefully it'll come out sooner rather than later.

I'm not entirely sure why Simon thought it was a good idea to give Danyl another ballad as, frankly, he doesn't handle them very well and he's best when he gets to bounce around the stage like an idiot (c.f. his audition). Jamie did very well with the material he was given, and I'm still picking him to win the whole thing. He's floating nicely just under the radar now, but I really wouldn't be surprised if he went all the way. Olly. Ugh. Just... I don't get it. He's a poor man's Robbie during that whole "Swing When You're Winning"... fiasco. Let's put it this way, if he sells a million albums after this competition is over, I'll eat my own piss.

Cheryl's group was by the weakest tonight: Joe... he's alright, but I simply can't warm to him. Lloyd. Just fuck off. Awful song choice, yes, but he hasn't once shown that he has anywhere near the talent to be a successful recording artist.

And Dannii, well, Stacey once she hit her stride was brilliant, but I think nerves are really getting the better of her at the moment. Her utter lack of confidence makes her extremely endearing; I'd be very happy to see her in the finals, but it is going to be her achilles heel if they're left unchecked. And Lucy's appeal still escapes me. An utterly anaemic voice, struggled with the up-tempo dance routine, seriously, apart from a pretty face, what has she actually got?

This weekend really wasn't as strong as the first week. The show needs a phenomenal performance, in the vein of Ruth Lorenzo's Purple Rain last year, to give it a real kick up the arse. At the moment all of them are pretty much coasting at a time when they should really be trying to get their noses out in front early.

Kandi Rain probably weren't going to get very far, but I did like their song choice for the sing-off, even if the execution was somewhat akin to fingernails down a blackboard.

If next week is a Whitney Houston week, as seems pretty likely, I think we're going to see a fair few car crashes. Sadly it'll mean that Lucy wheels out that utterly bland 'I Will Always Love You' rendition which perplexingly had everyone salivating at the auditions.

Right, first off, was I the only one that watched it? Secondly, who's your money on?

After tonight's show, I was very impressed by Rachel, Miss Frank, Jamie Archer and, bizarrely Kandi Rain.

Lloyd, Lucy, John and Edward should probably leave now before it gets embarassing.

I think I'm the only person in the world who loves Blitzball, aren't I

I'm glad I've only fought one battle in that case. Although I heard that the Fallout Trophy patch did something similar but it never affected me one iota. I'm hoping the lucky streak continues.

Of course, given that my PS3 still seems allergic to connecting to the PSN it may never be an issue :-/

I got Disgaea 3 at the weekend having become unbelievably addicted to Disgaea 1 and I can't wait to get properly going with it. The level of depth and customisation offered by the first game was just staggering so factor that onto a Blu Ray disk WITH downloadable content and I'm seriously worried that I might never leave the 3 yard radius in front of my TV set.

That said, my PS3 seems to be hating the internet at the moment. The bloody thing will rarely, if ever, connect, and when it does the download speeds for comparatively tiny files are so slow as to be ridiculous. The demo of Wet took 39 minutes last weekend which surely can't be right, can it?

Harriet Jones says hi.

In all seriousness though, that was fucking quality, as have all the episodes thus far. I think for the first time they've hit a genuine stride with this show. These extended storylines suit the show and the characters much better than the previous episodic outings.

Without (hopefully) giving anything away, I thought episode 1 was fantastic. The Torchwood team are a lot tighter now they only have three main characters to focus on(don't get me wrong, I love Owen and Tosh, but this new dynamic is brilliant). There was a lot less of the facepalmingly corny dialogue which has punctuated previous series and the scenes with the children by the end were becoming extremely spooky. A great first episode and I can't wait for tonights.

I can't wait for the new Scissor Sisters album. It's been rumoured to be coming out in the first half of 2009...which it hasn't...and there's been like, no news. So, yeah. I want them to hurry up, please.

THIS. This times a billion.

Verrry quick feedback since I feel that both entried deserve it. Number 2 had an absolutely herculean effort against them. To make Chavo a legitimate WHC threat is almost inhuman. But you all gave a phenomenal effort. Right until the finish. To my mind ending Wrestlemania on a pull of the tights is just a stretch too far. Obviously the rules required that Chavo won the belt, but to have him do so in such a fashion was a little anti-climactic.

Number 1 had, in many respects the easier raw materials to walk with. Making Kane into a deadly monster isn't that difficult after all. However, what sealed the deal for me was the video package, the extremely evocatikve way you presented Kane tearing through the roster and goading Batista into accepting the match on his terms. That, for my money, earned you guys the vote. But barely. If entry 2 don't walk away with this, you guys deserve all the props for sticking through this and producing a well-written engaging entry against all the odds.

(Y) Awesome. Impulse purchases FTW.

Do SingStar mics work with Rockband/Guitar Hero?

This may well be a stupid question to ask given that it's out today but...

Sacred 2. Has anyone played it (most likely the PC version) and would you recommend it? I'm drawn in by the idea of it, but equally I really don't want a game that's like Marvel: Ultimate Alliance (e.g. basically hit as many buttons as you can and hope you connect with something).

Hmmm, how about the possibility of a Vagrant Story sequel? Man, that'd be a dream come true because that game was disgustingly awesome.

Now THIS I can get on board with...

Oh sod right off!

I was thinking more along the lines of Valkyrie Chronicles and The World Ends With You but I concur something FF related is more likely, but its by no means a done deal I would argue.

Is there anything to say that these three titles are going to be FF-related though? Don't get me wrong, I'll be as excited as anyone if we get more FF goodness on the way but Square Enix have been pushing through quite a few new game IPs recently.

Meh, these things happen - and to be fair you had the hardest job, IMO. I would have had a go at putting something together but I just haven't had the time. A real shame but in all honesty, potentially after three months, I think I might have been pretty burned out of writing for this. Looking forward to seeing this unfold from the sidelines (Y)

According to Gamespot the DLC packs will be coming to the PS3 in June. X-Boxers: are they any good, as they seem to have gotten some mixed reviews.

Link

Oh God if it was 9 there wouldn't be a question! Thanks guys, I think I'm going to stick with my gut instincts and pass on it :-)

Ugh. Enormous nay.

Definite yay. One of the best in the series.

This is the kind of dilemma which is caused by having a 10 quid HMV voucher with no idea whatsoever as to what to spend it on.

Kirk, how accessible is the game for someone who's never really done the MMORPG thing?

Buying Final Fantasy XI - yay or nay?

Oh man, Jack. Jack just... isn't needed now their on the island. I honestly wouldn't mind all that much if they killed him off, because he's done nothing so far apart from screw things up for Sawyer and Juliet looking after the rest of the returners. In series 1-4 he was the leader, in series 5 at the start he was needed to convince the others to come back, but now we're back on the island he's served his purpose. We don't need him as the leader any more because Sawyer can easily do the job better considering he's lived on the island for three years now, so all Jack really does is stare at Kate occasionally and bitch about being out of the loop.

Sayid is another one that doesn't really have anything to do now he's back on the island, but that's easily forgiveable as Sayid does a good job of just standing around, being awesome. I know I was one of the people complaining about Rose and Bernard not being around, but thinking about it it's probably a good thing, seeing as they'd probably just do nothing or end up being canon fodder.

This.

Jack for me has got consistently less interesting as the show has gone on. Between them, Sawyer and Locke have the leader role covered, leaving Jack with nothing to do but hang on the sidelines. The only thing for him left to do is to be killed off, in my view.