Mac Attack

With the judges powerless to intervene and a weird Barry Manilow theme injecting a degree of cheese into proceedings, it was always going to be an eventful night and so it proved…

MacDonald Brothers – ‘I Can’t Smile Without You’

All the good work the boys had managed to do last week was completely and utterly undone by an incredibly tiresome rendition of a song that probably needed something special to make it halfway decent in the first place.

Sharon called it a feel good performance but it made me feel anything but good and they really didn’t inject anything into to it that possibly justify the cost of a phone call.

Such an insipid and tuneless offering must have disappointed even a fair percentage of their legion of devoted fans. It just reminded me why I wanted them out weeks ago.

Ray – ‘Mandy’

Middle of the Road should be safe ground for Ray and you don’t get much more into easy listening territory than this song.

The song should have suited him down to the ground but it wasn’t anywhere near the best vocal performance he’s given in the series, which made me wonder if maybe the nerves had got to him.

I had wondered if he’d been ill but Simon’s comments about changing the arrangement made things made sense because it felt a little underprepared.

Ben – ‘I Made It Through The Rain’

I was pleased with Manilow’s comments to Ben because at times I’ve felt that he hasn’t been doing enough to connect with the audience.

There seemed to be more of an effort in that direction this week but I can’t really say that I was left with the impression that Ben actually believed what he singing.

It was a confident vocal performance but I’d rather have heard Barry doing it any day of the week.

Leona – ‘Could It Be Magic’

I’ve never really been a massive fan of this song. I even thought the Take That version was a bit on the tacky side.

Leona took it and made it into something special.

That is magic.

Half Time Report

After the first set of songs Leona was obviously streets ahead of the rest but my fear was that so many people would think that she was a dead cert to go through that they wouldn’t bother picking up the phone.

While I was critical of Ben and Ray, I was fully expecting them to redeem themselves with their second songs while I genuinely didn’t know what to expect from the Macs.

MacDonald Brothers –‘Shang-a-Lang’

What a load of rollers. Bay City Rollers that is.

I can imagine this would go down a storm several hours into a particularly boozy Hogmanay party.

Watching it stone cold sober, I can’t say it did much to get me into the party mood and it was yet another charisma free performance.

I’m obviously missing something here because I honestly can’t see what the attraction is with this pair.

Ray – ‘My Way’

Taking on a song that has been a hit for legends such as Sinatra, Elvis and Sid Vicious was a brave move indeed.

Ray delivered probably his best vocal performance of the entire series here and backed that by using his acting talent to hit his peak in the competition.

I still can’t see him shifting shed loads of albums but I can certainly see him being a box office smash in theatre.

Ben –‘Somebody to Love’

I absolutely loved the choir though it’s a stunt that could have easily backfired because there were definitely points where I was hoping that Ben would shut up because I preferred them to him.

That said he did a more than a decent job on a song that is not the easiest in the world to sing.

He needed to get back on the money here and he took a risky path to achieve it but it worked.

Leona –‘Without You’

Not much to say about this performance really because you can really can run out of superlatives for some performers.

A star is born.

The Verdict

No one can lead a charmed life forever and it was certainly high time that the boys took their final bow, particularly after Ray had given his best effort of the series.

I was just glad that Leona and Ben had progressed and things are shaping up for a great finale.