tournament ATRL's The X Factor: Season 2 | Round 3 - Bottom 2 (pg.35)

[J Legend X]

Sorry for my late entry, this week I've been sick but was not here to pull a Lucy Spraggan or be eliminated by default!! hahahaha .. hope you enjoy it

@KillingYourCareer @Lémur @mxtthewdelrey @Queen Conchita

 

https://picosong.com/wQhm5/

 

Lush Life (Pop/Rock Version) - J Legend X

[Yomaku]

6 hours ago, KillingYourCareer said:

I'm watching the most popular Italian talent show and the judges are being RUTHLESS. I'll follow their example this week!

Lehitraot

[feelslikeadream]

Here's my entry. It's an original song I wrote in high school. I decided to leave the juvenile lyrics in for effect  Also I had to send in the audio through a voicemail so it sounds a little strange at times. @KillingYourCareer @Lémur @mxtthewdelrey @Queen Conchita

 

https://instaud.io/3yak

One Last Time

(A Fefe Original)

[Galah]

3 hours ago, J Legend X said:

Sorry for my late entry, this week I've been sick but was not here to pull a Lucy Spraggan or be eliminated by default!! hahahaha .. hope you enjoy it

@KillingYourCareer @Lémur @mxtthewdelrey @Queen Conchita

 

https://picosong.com/wQhm5/

 

Lush Life (Pop/Rock Version) - J Legend X

I'm most impressed that you found a style to perform Lush Life in that Zara hadn't already after doing pop, dance, country, acoustic and remix with Tinie Tempah.

[URBAN]

10 hours ago, Bawdee said:

 

Bodak Yellow (Acoustic Cover) - Bawdee

 

because i'm suuuuuper punctual, here's my entry for this week. i figured i could switch up the genre of a rap song i like and try to make it my own. personally, i wanted to do an original song but i kept having inspiration issues and that went out the window. ugh, we stan writer's block. anyway, here's bodak acoustic yellow in all ha glory.

 

@KillingYourCareer @Lémur @mxtthewdelrey @Queen Conchita

 

xoxo

Legend!
 

[Overprotected]

Excuse the lateness I didn't have time until today so here's a cute piano cover of Mitski's Fireworks, it's a bit messy cause I'm not really used to playing and singing at the same time 

https://vocaroo.com/i/s0hwYSCeWBW3

 

 

@KillingYourCareer @Lémur @mxtthewdelrey @Queen Conchita

 

Edited April 15, 2019 by Overprotected

[Kelp]

Omggggg you did Mitski. Gag

 

ill do my judging tonight

[KillingYourCareer]

My ruthless judging is coming in a few hours. I haven't heard any of the songs yet.

 

[Kelp]

Lémur's Judging

 

@URBAN - Love this! Your voice fits the song really well, you sound really nice and the rap was super fun. It honestly sounded like a professional song outside of the recording quality which you can’t really control. If you wrote this yourself this is especially outstanding (I couldn’t find an original version)

 

@Fa1x intelectual - I appreciate the effort you put into this and the description, but you sounded really out of your element here. I think your mentor was right, this does sound a lot like the original, and I didn’t really feel like you were putting the emotion into it. For future rounds, although it’s good to show diversity, make sure you’re working your strengths into your entries.

 

@Yomaku - I…. kdjfklasjkd. Well you dragged Selena so bonus points for that. This is very very creative and fun! Overall this was cute but I was also just really confused. The singing could use some work for the future mainly with regards to staying on pitch – make sure you hear the pitch in your head before you sing it.

 

@Kylie Jenner - You literally need to get signed by PC Music this sounds exactly like their style of music LOL. Honestly? This was a bop, I was getting my life. It was painfully catchy, the writing was actually the tea and was nice and tongue-in-cheek too. I couldn’t always hear what you were saying though which I feel like is important for what you do :/ otherwise great!

 

@ultraviolence.xx - Another amazing entry from you! You are really good at giving emotion in these slow songs. Again, not showy, but clear and concise. I still really liked this, but hopefully in future rounds you can show us more diversity. I would have given this a 10 were this to not following your last entry which had a lot of the same ideas (slow song, vocoder effect, drenched in reverb, etc)

 

70-year-old Emily - Wow

 

@Sanctified - The writing on this song is very strong! The way the super loud white noise goes in and out every time you stop singing honestly kind of hurt to listen to. I felt the emotion in this so that’s good! I think this was a considerable improvement from last round but vocally it was a little flat, it felt like you were scared to be loud while you were recording it.

 

@J Legend X - I really appreciate you trying out an upbeat song this round! This was surprisingly a really good song for you, you made it your own and the timing of the more dramatic vocal moments was good! Some of the higher belts parts were a little off key.

 

@feelslikeadream - I don’t want to come after anyone for not having a microphone but this literally sounds like it was recorded by a serial killer in his basement. I like the melody on this! I think you could have better delivered the climactic parts of the song vocally with some more power behind your voice. Overall though this was very pleasant and I enjoyed it!

 

@Bawdee - When I saw the song choice I was like no matter what this will be interesting lol. Tbh in my opinion this was the most creative rearrangement of a non-original song this round by far, and it worked well! You sound good and very in control. Honestly I lived for the laughing, it was very lounge singer really amused by herself. In the future try to keep your singing more out of your vocal fry / throat.

 

@Overprotected - I LIVE for the song choice, you reminded me how much I love this song. The thing about singing while accompanying yourself is that you can really only focus on one thing at a time, so the other one sort of goes on automatic. In this entry it felt like you needed to focus on the keyboard and so your vocals weren’t getting the attention they needed, and in the end I would have liked more attention to detail and passion in your singing. You’ve shown us in previous rounds you’re very talented but this wasn’t your week unfortunately.

 

@IMadeYouReadThis I could barely hear you on this tbh. I don’t mean to come down hard on you for production but it’s hard for me to judge when the mixing is so off. Your singing isn’t bad but I don’t really feel passion in it. Overall, not awful necessarily but I think you couldd do better than this.

 

Here are my scores:

10

9

9

8.5

8.5

8

7

6

5

4.5

4

2

 

Overall the round was very strong, I was impressed by a lot of people. Everyone who got an 8 and above blew it out of the water

[ultraviolence.xx]

4 minutes ago, Lémur said:

 

@ultraviolence.xx - Another amazing entry from you! You are really good at giving emotion in these slow songs. Again, not showy, but clear and concise. I still really liked this, but hopefully in future rounds you can show us more diversity. I would have given this a 10 were this to not following your last entry which had a lot of the same ideas (slow song, vocoder effect, drenched in reverb, etc)

yeah that was what initially gave me pause when I had the idea, but I decided to go with it anyway because it was fun! I told mxtt I wouldn’t do vocoder for the rest of the competition LMAO

[Galah]

1 hour ago, Lémur said:

@Sanctified - The writing on this song is very strong! The way the super loud white noise goes in and out every time you stop singing honestly kind of hurt to listen to. I felt the emotion in this so that’s good! I think this was a considerable improvement from last round but vocally it was a little flat, it felt like you were scared to be loud while you were recording it.

I know what you mean about the white noise, it was an ugly byproduct of me recording vocals before making the instrumental (and having to splice it) which I will never do again. You’re also dead right about the “scared to be loud” comment, it’s a battle I’m constantly fighting. Hopefully I get the chance to continue to improve.

[J Legend X]

1 hour ago, Lémur said:

@J Legend X - I really appreciate you trying out an upbeat song this round! This was surprisingly a really good song for you, you made it your own and the timing of the more dramatic vocal moments was good! Some of the higher belts parts were a little off key.

Thank you so much... I love pop/rock as a genre and a friend mad this track a couple of years ago for me to sing somewhere lol... so I had to milk it... some of the higher belts I decided to go for 3rd below of the original notes because I've been sick but I had so much fun doing the song !!

[Yomaku]

@Lémur sgaggas I'm glad you enjoyed it overall, I didn't know what to do with this round so I focused mainly on trying to make it 'different' to fit the theme  , thank you for your critique!

[KillingYourCareer]

6 hours ago, Lémur said:

70-year-old Emily - Wow 

Please be professional and give Emily a deserved review. The song was inspired by her experience with Simon Cowell.

[KillingYourCareer]

@feelslikeadream - I don't know whether the tragic vocal production was intentional or not, but it totally suits the song as it gives it that retro vibe and some extra emotion. I felt you a lot in this piece. You should use your higher register more, since it's what you do best - and not everybody has that!

 

@IMadeYouReadThis - you were too lazy had no time to record another song so you had to go with this one. You know I disapprove because your vocals can't be heard at all, but better than nothing.

 

@URBAN - you know I love this and I really pushed you to submit this one over the other song. It's fun, it's contemporary, it sounds like a song a Latin artist would actually release and dominate the summer with. You did a great job, I insisted to have you in my team and I don't rihgret it!

 

@Fa1x intelectual - I'd be lying if I said I enjoyed any of it. Be it the strange instrumental cuts, the poor quality production, or the clear problems you had with your voice (were you yawning near the end?), I can't find anything redeemable about your performance. Also, even after the paragraph you wrote I'm not convinced this song suits this week's theme as it's indeed too similar to the original.

 

@J Legend X - I loved the instrumental, it's exactly what Lush Life would sound like had it been recorded in 2003. As for your performance, it was vocally flat with some out-of-tune oooh!'s here and there. I feel like the expectations we built from your audition were once again deluded.

 

@Yomaku - the kol hakavod at the beginning had me screaming, then Charlotte Perrelli came through... with a lyric revamp! This was very entertaining and it felt like a slap in the face to last week's result. You did a great job. Kol hakavod indeed.

 

@Bawdee - a stripped down rework of a vulgar rap song is always funny, and you seem to agree considering you giggled twice during your performance. I found it entertaining, I love how you kept all the swearwords. Your voice is very pretty as always.

 

@Overprotected - it was sleep-inducing and emotionless, and I feel like it failed to represent this week's theme - you were supposed to show your personality and artistry, but you gave us a generic piano cover that could have been done by anyone. I appreciate that you played the instrumental yourself but that's it.

 

@Kylie Jenner - am I a bad person for bopping to this? Probably. This insensitive bop has all the elements I want in a song - it's witty, it's entertaining, it's catchy. It truly kept me perched throughout all the almost five minutes of it, and it got stuck in my head. Although I'm detracting half a point from your score because of moral reasons.

 

@Sanctified - is this really you? Your voice sounds so nice without all the auto-tune, it's emotional and rich, so please don't use any of it ever again. As for the song itself, cringe-inducing intro aside, I found it very well done. Thank you for serving something different this time, you've won me over.

 

@ultraviolence.xx - the production here was excellent and this is exactly what I wanted to hear this week - a personal rework of a song. Your performance completely suits the theme, you've done a great job in every way. I can tell you spent time perfecting this!

 

70-year-old Emily - I can feel all of your anger and thirst for revenge in this dramatic piece of pop excellence. Simon Cowell did you wrong, but you know what, you ARE a soldier, and you're coming to destroy.

 

The level was high this week overall, so congratulations to most of you guys and girl.

[Galah]

15 minutes ago, KillingYourCareer said:

@Sanctified - is this really you? Your voice sounds so nice without all the auto-tune, it's emotional and rich, so please don't use any of it ever again. As for the song itself, cringe-inducing intro aside, I found it very well done. Thank you for serving something different this time, you've won me over.

Oh wow I was not prepared for this at all. I'm still very self conscious but this tournament has already helped me so much with that, and to hear something positive about my voice is just... gives me even more motivation to keep trying. The autotune is DONE. I probably didn't need to add the intro, but I was concerned a piano ballad wouldn't be seen as "Uneek" enough. It really means a lot since you hated my audition so much, thank you, and I'll keep trying to improve!

[URBAN]

@Lémur omgggg thank you so much!! I did write this myself, so to see you praise my song has left me shook.

 

@KillingYourCareer thank you so much for having faith in me and for giving me your honest input, couldn't ask for a better mentor.

[J Legend X]

1 hour ago, KillingYourCareer said:

 

@J Legend X - I loved the instrumental, it's exactly what Lush Life would sound like had it been recorded in 2003. As for your performance, it was vocally flat with some out-of-tune oooh!'s here and there. I feel like the expectations we built from your audition were once again deluded

thanks for your inspirational and constructive criticism   

[Kylie Jenner]

y’alls morals are going to do me in!

[Kylie Jenner]

but another positive satisfied customer nonetheless! thank you

[Yomaku]

The pandering worked

[Yomaku]

Also the kol hakavod bit with poland 2016 is the new hit audio in my whatsapp friends group, whew.

[IMadeYouReadThis]

10 hours ago, Lémur said:

 

@IMadeYouReadThis I could barely hear you on this tbh. I don’t mean to come down hard on you for production but it’s hard for me to judge when the mixing is so off. Your singing isn’t bad but I don’t really feel passion in it. Overall, not awful necessarily but I think you couldd do better than this.

 

2

2

Ouch.

 

If you guys keep me here, I will be providing you guys with quality recordings as this was a one off desperate case... See below

----

 

[IMadeYouReadThis]

I think I need to slightly justify myself here.

 

I have a lot of reasons for submitting this for this week. Initially intended to send in a far superior original song, although recording that proved to be a BIG challenge, as my equipment really let me down. As a result, I had to send in this crappy crappy demo that I had recorded over an instrumental that we had worked on about a year ago. These vocals were simply the placeholder vocals to see how the vocals would fall on the instrumental. I intended to record new vocals over this. Which ended up not happening... because....

 

1- I have been swamped with deadlines for my thesis, spent the entire week in the library trying to write it up until Friday

 

2- On Friday morning, I left the UK to go on a trip with a friend, came back to London on Sunday night, and flew back home for easter yesterday morning... So I physically had no time to work on this week's task at all...

[IMadeYouReadThis]

A BIT ABOUT THE SONG! I would really appreciate if you guys read this, it's the first time I'm sharing it.

 

Last year was a really complicated year. I was thriving academically for the first time in years, but living away from home (4 hours on a flight) kind of took its toll on me, with a LOT of health problems in the family, with me not knowing if I'd make it in time to see some family members again. 

 

Thankfully, the family issues kind of resolved themselves (at least back then, now is a whole other can of worms), and we went on a family trip to Thailand sometime in August. While sitting at an adorable beach bar on this incredible, gorgeous island, sipping a drink out of a pineapple, I just had a sudden realisation that this was the first time in months, maybe years that I was having a moment where I didn't have a single worry in my mind.

 

No academic worries.

No homesickness.

Not worrying about people's healths.

Not worrying about money.

Not worrying about my own mental state.

 

It was just a pure moment of bliss. 

 

Which is when the melody and the lyrics to 'The Ocean' kind of popped into my head. 

 

After the holiday, I collaborated with a producer from the USA to create the instrumental. I was meant to record actual vocals for it, but the plan fell through because of.... well... life...