On The Rak

Dec 2, 2017 by Rob

It is unclear at time of posting whether the 3 finalists will be performing the traditional duets with star names tonight. But it is presumably on the cards for Grace to be joined by someone performing ‘Live And Let Die’, Rak-Su with ‘Mamacita’ and Kevin with ‘Whole Lotta Love’.

Rak-Su have sung both of tonight’s songs twice already on the live shows so there is certainly a lack of freshness about those choices. While they have done well on the iTunes chart, they also risk being too samey. But that won’t prevent the mentors going into max eulogizing mode.

‘Live And Let Die’ is a song designed for a dramatic stage show but vocally it doesn’t seem an ideal fit with Grace. On the plus side for her, her first audition song, ‘Roots’, will be heard again. It is probably the best of her original material and this was the track that propelled her into this series when she performed it on the first audition show.

‘Fast Love Pt. 1’ was the song Kevin sang from the pimp slot in week 3 of the live shows but only managed to win the public vote that week by a small margin, before going on to lose the prize fight to Lloyd.

‘Whole Lotta Love’ again provides a window for him to brandish his guitar and pretend he is Jimmy Page. Older viewers may enjoy it but most X Factor viewers under 30 probably won’t even know who Led Zeppelin are.

Based on series-long treatment it is safe to assume Rak-Su will get the kitchen sink treatment and will be fanfared for the win over the two nights. By all accounts their homecoming at Vicarage Road this week didn’t go very well when they performed during half-time. It will be fascinating to see how Syco manages to edit it as a triumph.

TPTB have played a clever game in this series being a font of positivity and giving the illusion of being a benevolent force while in fact being more ruthlessly efficient than ever in controlling the public vote, and containing acts outside of Rak-Su.

One would assume Syco would ideally want its two prize, post-show assets standing on stage tomorrow night waiting to hear who has won. But if it is taking no chances with Rak-Su, it might prefer to take Grace out in third place.

From a value perspective this has been an underwhelming series, with the elimination markets killed off by the new format unless you are a fan of piling into short-priced favourites in-running.

A shock result this weekend would be wholly discordant with this series, so the prediction here has to be Rak-Su being called the winner of X Factor 2017 tomorrow night.

Saturday’s setlist:

Grace Davies: Wings – Live and Let Die
Grace Davies: Original – Roots

Rak-Su: Original – Mamacita
Rak-Su: Original – Dimelo

Kevin Davy White: Led Zepplin – Whole Lotta Love
Kevin Davy White: George Michael – Fast Love, Pt. 1