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| Day 2 - 16 to 24s - Boot Camp with Simon Cowell - X Factor 3 |
| Simon Cowell sets his day one survivors the task of performing in groups. The 30 youngsters have to sort themselves into 10 trios, work out their own arrangement, rehearse it and perform it for Simon and Sinitta. |
| "Everybody's trying to do different things to shine, so it's going to be so hard" admits Leeds lass Stacey Barnes, 19. |
| Kate Thornton reminds us that 20-year-old Hari Blanch has done this kind of thing before with Eskimo Blonde. Hari thinks the task is "good fun... I've got really involved in arranging the song. I'm excited about it! I just hope we don't mess up... fingers crossed." |
Sounds good? Well, unfortunately, when the time comes Hari does mess up. It's not so much that she sings badly, but considering she was so involved in the arrangement it would have been good if that arrangement showcased all 3 voices. Instead, as Simon points out, Rochelle, the girl in the middle, comes over very much as the lead singer. Hari seems to have interpreted the task as a technical test of her arranging abilities rather than her performing skills. Afterwards, sounding a little piqued, she admits "I don't really know what he expected". |  |
| Disco dancing award winner Stacey is more in tune with what's required and she definitely does some "different things to shine". |
For starters she powers out her 2 co-performers, Gathan and Ray, as they perform Britney Spears' "Hit Me Baby One More Time". Half way through she does a one-arm handstand and at the end she does an eye-watering high kick! Simon sums it up, telling the lads "You two were her backing vocalists... That is what's known as a 'musical mugging'... (Sinitta laughs)...those two just got mugged big time!" Gathan and Ray seem a little depressed after hearing Simon's analysis, but Stacey is frank and unapologetic, "Everybody goes in there and gives it their best shot... We're not going in as a group, we're going in as a solo artist." |  |
| Stacey is one of those boot campers we haven't seen a lot of so far, but she's clearly strong spirited and is starting to make an impression. |
 | Ashley McKenzie and Gemma Sampson sing in the same group and we see them lose their way as they sing "Walk On By". Maybe they're taking the lyric too literally! Simon warns them if that were to happen in a live show then "we're all screwed". |
| Half-way through the day Simon decides to pare the numbers down to the final 14. Fallers at the half-way fence include Rochelle (who sang with Hari) Irish lad Rudi and Gemma Warburton (from "Gemma and Joe"). |
| Of the 14 remaining singers, 7 will go through and 7 will go home. Simon wants to see each of them perform one more time. He gives them a choice of six songs and just 60 minutes preparation time. |
| One of the first to sing is Ray Quinn. He's singing Lionel Richie's "Easy" but he makes it seem quite hard. He loses the lyric after the first line. |
He asks Simon if he can read the words as he sings. Simon agrees. Ray recovers as well as he can, but when he gets outside and meets up with Kate Thornton he tells her "I blew it!... I let myself down big time". |  |
| A few others have their own type of disaster. Swansea's Samantha Elphick messes up the high notes on Daniel Bedingfield's "If You're Not The One", and Leona (right) croaks like she's either got a throat infecton or a worn out voice box. |  |
 | Shaun Rogerson seemed to be less nervous on day 1 of boot camp, but on day 2 the nerves are very much with him. He has difficulty getting started and even when he does his vocal breaks down a few times. Shaun eventually gets through it, but not too comfortably. |
 | Shaun at least brings out the best in Simon Cowell. After the 16-year-old leaves the room Simon declares "I have never, ever, willed someone to do well so much in my life." Somehow that's not hard to believe! |
To follow, it's lovely Leona Lewis who has chosen to sing Mariah Carey's "Hero" and she sings it really well. We get our first proper glimpse of scouse student Carlo Muscutelli next. He's singing "If You're Not The One" and his voice sounds impressive and strong. Cute and pig-tailed, Gemma Sampson has chosen to sing "Easy", and unlike Ray before her, she makes it sound very easy. |  |
Stacey Barnes' rendition of "Hero" is nice enough, although it doesn't come over quite as well as Leona Lewis' earlier version. However, Stacey's big personality helps her carry it off. Ashley McKenzie's singing of Christina Aguilera's "Beautiful" is also in the "nice enough" category but it doesn't exactly send us into somersaults. That's primarily because we can't do 'em, unlike Ashley who is shown on ITV2's The Xtra Factor back-flipping and somersaulting all over Avington Park! Flipping heck that boy's definitely got the fleX factor! |  |
| The last person to sing is Nikitta Angus. As always she's fascinating to watch but unfortunately her vocal is pretty rough in parts. We remember her original audition when she really seemed to feel her song but today she seems distracted and almost disconnected as she sings "Hero". |
| It's time for that final cut. With Sinitta's help Simon selects his top seven. Their names are... |
- Ashley McKenzie. 20. He has the fleX factor, big hair and a big voice.
- Carlo Muscutelli. 19, Scouser and student.
- Gemma Sampson. 23. She looks pretty in pig-tails and sounds pretty singing Summertime.
- Leona Lewis. 21. Soulful and sexy north London BRIT School graduate who has previously recorded an album.
- Nikitta Angus. 17. She lost her mum to cancer last year, but her mum told her never to give up singing. Nikitta's aunt is "25s and Over" boot camper Katie Angus.
- Shaun Rogerson. 16. Wigan lad with "the voice of an angel". His nerves are getting better, but he hasn't quite mastered them yet..
- Stacey Barnes. 19, from Leeds. Stacey is also an award winning disco dancer.
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| There are a few shocks in Simon's line-up. We were sure he'd choose Hari Blanch because last year he repeatedly sang her praises. Perhaps Hari needed to sing her own praises a bit more this time? Also out is Samantha Elphick, the pretty mum from Swansea who gave a really strong audition but unfortunately couldn't quite reach the same standard during boot camp. |
| Oh and what about Ray Quinn, the cheeky chappie with the winning smile? How come he's not in Simon's seven? Poor Ray cries his eyes out on camera after hearing the news. It's tough, but Simon's decision is final... isn't it? |
| Well, er, no actually. Simon is still in the performance room with Sinitta when he announces "We've made a mistake, I'm not happy... we shouldn't have got rid of Ray". He walks across the room to 2 of the production staff and says "I just want to bring him back. I just know I've made a mistake... I want to make this a final eight." The production chap tells him this will mean extending Louis and Sharon's final groups to 8 as well. |
| Kate Thornton is sent off to look for Ray and bring him back to Simon. Ray looks startled as he arrives. |
 | Simon speaks, "I'm sorry Ray to put you through this. I'm going to make this short and simple. I've changed my mind. You're through!" "You're jokin'!" cries Ray, covering his face for a moment, "Sound!" Simon smiles broadly and gets up to give Ray a hug for all he's been through. |
| Now Ray's already won a Soap Award for best dramatic performance, but as far as we know Simon hasn't... not yet anyway! |
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