Daniel Evans: 'Open Arms'

When Joe McElderry sang this other Journey tune on last year's X Factor, Simon Cowell was especially impressed with his performance of what he called "a song nobody knows". Now, the follow-up to 'Don't Stop Believin' may not have made a massive splash here back in 1982, but after Mariah Carey covered it in 1995, Britney Spears took it on the road in 1999 and two American Idol contestants had a crack, Cowell's comment shouldn't have rung true. Truth is though, few of us even remembered Daniel Evans singing it on The X Factor as recently as 2008, because despite all that exposure, it's still so very, very dull.

"I think if you recorded that song in the morning, you'd have a No.1 record with it," Louis Walsh told McElderry at the time - and, interventions from agitprop rap-rockers aside, he was probably right. But that has nothing to do with the song itself, which is an overrated, overwrought dirge that's always threatening to slip into a coma. In fairness, Daniel Evans's take on it isn't much worse than anyone else's. The production is restrained but not cheap-sounding, while the realistic Evans turns in a surprisingly comfortable vocal for the most part. The result is far from wonderful, but it really doesn't deserve to do any worse than quite a few X Factor winner's singles.