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| Saturday 20th September - Evening Showdown |
| There are only 2 weeks left in the competition, and with the competition so close it gets harder and harder to guess who will be next on the Fame Academy chopping block. |
Click on the link below for a review on that section of tonights
show...
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| Alistair kicked off tonight's show by giving a sweet and soulful performance of "Lately" (Stevie Wonder). He tenderly caressed his microphone stand (well he has been a long time in the Academy!) and didn't seem at all threathened by the line "…this time could mean goodbye…" ! News on the street is his popularity is rising, but will Richard Park continue to castigate the boy from Castleton? |
| Mr Park true to form, steamrolled in, "my issue with this where Alistair is concerned is that it's a little high and a little whiney", though he did concede that Alistair sang the song at the right pace! |
| "A little high and a little whiney? Reminds me of someone!", retorted Alistair and even Richard had to raise a smile! |
| David Grant, with softer voice managed to cut deeper "Emotionally, it was a mile wide and an inch deep" ouch! |
| Robin 'he's always nice to me' Gibb came to the rescue, he liked the performance…" if you hear a voice like that on the radio you're going to say that guy's got a good voice... and that's where it ends " But Carrie disagreed "I think the public are voting for what they want to vote, so I'm... I don't pick up the phone, so... Is it good enough to have a long-term career? No! No!" Affable Ali simply smiled to himself. |
| "Lock up your sons…it's Carolynne!" warned Cat Deeley. Before singing, Carolynne had to endure montage clips showing her at her lowest points since entering the Academy, poor little chick, there are times when you just don't need cameras in your face! Happily she seems over it now and it was a feisty rock chick that strutted onstage to belt out Celine Dion's "Think Twice" . She looked resplendent in her off the shoulder dress (yes it's black!) Replete with 2 sparkling crucifix pendants, Carolynne vocally flogged her flock of followers into a religious frenzy! She betrayed no hint of the self-doubts that had plagued her earlier in the week. Did her crucifixes fend off the evil spirits? Onto the panel… "Well done Carolynne… deep down inside you I think lurks a very interesting, not to say a very exciting person… you to have a future!" Wow! When Richard is nice he's very nice! |
| Carolynne received plaudits all round. "I think she did really well, I'm shocked!" said David. Robin agreed "I think you've got one of those voices, when you find the right song you excel." Carrie also approved, "I think week on week Carolynne is really building an identity and a sound, I think your voice has improved so much". |
| Next we viewers were whisked over to BBC 3-land where Claudia filled us in on the weeks events. |
| James had a (surprise, surprise!) moany Sunday, feeling, once again, overlooked for an outing. This time for the Radio One 'Big Sunday' event at Cardiff, his home town! Alex and Alistair were the lucky duo who headed off for a warm Welsh welcome. Just like a Victor Meldrew, James couldn't believe it! Things improved though by Tuedsay, when he escaped both the Academy and his moaning ways to accompany Carolynne and Carrie to the Premier of "The Italian Job", all was smiles and the feedback from the fans was good. |
| The Academy then played the dating game with Carolynne. Looking beautiful but slightly embarrassed, Carolynne gradually relaxed in the company of Paul Danan (Sol from Hollyoaks) who last week came through the stringent vetting panel comprising Carolynne's male co-Academians (comedians for short). All ended amicably with a couple of polite goodnight kisses and the promise that the two will hook up when Carolynne gets out. |
| Alex, Alistair and Peter enjoyed a fun soiree at the Top of the Pops Studios. Alex said she felt like 'Charlie in the chocolate factory' and Alistair did a half decent job when he did the intro for Seal. |
| Back to the competition, and it next up was James. Fame Academy Watch had high hopes for James this week, as did David Grant. We see clips of David coaching James for his performance of John Lennon's "Woman". David was determined to get real emotions out of James and he succeeded! You could see how James was really suffering from missing his "munchkin", his pain was etched on his face in a way that we never really seen in him when he's onstage. No wonder he's such a moody sausage - he's been "missing Munchkin like mad"! |
| Onstage James put his heart into the song, though the intensity factor seemed a little lower than his rehearsal. He gave a good tuneful performance, which Richard Park, to the heckles of a munchkin, described as "truly appalling" and "out of tune"! David himself said he "watched the performance and believed that he (James) meant it!" A mixed reaction, and a difficult one to call as far as the public vote tonight. |
| For our next course Cat presents us with the man whose performances registered ten on the Richter scale, Peter! |
| Peter's clip shows him living his "Pete-Rock 'n' Roll" dream, which includes a nice cup of tea followed by some hilariously manic behaviour in the Academy dance studio, boy that tea must be strong! To 'Psycho Pete', (as James calls him), "it's just all about having fun, and that's the bottom line". |
| Peter's performance of the Cure's 'Friday I'm in love' was as usual engaging and quirky. Looking like someone out of Sgt. Pepper, he mixed it up a bit and once again showed that he can sing as well as perform. |
| Patrick noticed Peter banging his head with the microphone as he finished his set, " what's all that about?" he asked. Sheepishly Peter admitted "I forgot some of the lyrics, don't know if anyone noticed". Carrie, always one to support his cause, laughed it off for Pete and proceeded to give the hysteria graduate a glowing reference, as did David, whilst Robin's was positive if somewhat non-commital. The only harsh words came out of the mouth of Richard, who then generously reduced his criticism by 10% because Peter "ain't a Goth"! |
| Even better than a Cornish pasty, Alex was saved till last. Her video clip showed her being mobbed in Cardiff, "it was mad when we got there, people just wouldn't leave us alone". The meaning of the 'Fame' part of Fame Academy seems to be hitting her square in the face. "Everyone kind of knows my name..." she exclaims with surprise. She tries to explain how it feels to Daivd during a coaching session on "…(fans were) going, 'arrrr, there's Alex from the Fame Academy', and you like… I'm just me y'know?". Though shocked, Alex comes over as a grounded gal and seems ready to take on the responsibilities that come with the fame, "…it kind of opened my eyes to what, like, we give to people, and how much effect we have on people, and it means so much to me that I can give to someone. I'm going to keep giving." Good on you Alex! |
| She sang "Here Comes The Rain Again" and along with the rain she gave us a rainbow of a T-shirt and a pot of gold of a performance. For one so young her stagecraft is uncannily natural. Without a trace of affectation she always seems to sing straight from her heart, or as David eloquently puts it she "sings the song like she wrote it." This week the panel verdicts were all positive. Even Richard who tried his best to throw in a few negatives couldn't help from gushing "you were the best!" as his final words to Alex. |
| With all their solos performed we were treated to another competition, the Girls vs Boys ensemble showdown. Carolynne and Alex gave a bouncy rendition of The B 52's "Love Shack", which was followed by Ali, James and Peter with the Beatles "From Me To You". We at FameAcademyWatch think the girls just shaded it performance-wise. |
| The singing and atmosphere was enthusiastically soaked up by admiring guest celebrities Jonathan Ross and Ricky Gervais (who would prefer to evict one of the teachers!). When asked who should go, Jonathan stuck his neck out in agreement with Richard's critique of James' performance. |
| Who will go tonight? Will the public agree with Jonathon and Richard? Only two can be saved tonight and things are as unpredictable as ever |
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