JAPAN V GREECE
Guest referee: Carl Smith — Senior Writer, Sugarscape
Sky's The Limit — 'Only Human' (The X Factor)
“As a rule, Japanese popstars are better than regular popstars. The glossy videos, the slick choreographies, the killer choruses – they’re generally the Spice Girls to the rest of the world’s Girl Thing. But how is The X Factor Japan shaping the future of J‑pop, exactly? Well if Sky’s The Limit are anything to go by, we can expect something along the lines of Rough Copy accidentally stumbling into Westlife’s Lucky Voice karaoke booth five minutes before their hour’s up. ‘Only Human’ screams SAVE ME SONG, and while I can’t actually understand a word of the VT I can only assume they were told to ‘strip back the performance’ and ‘concentrate on the vocal.’ In short, when you compare these boys to bands like SHINee it’s all just a bit shit. ”
Maria Elena Kiriakou — ‘Hurt’ (The Voice)
“Christina Aguilera’s contribution to the Voice franchise is just unparalleled really, isn’t it? So it’s only fair that, somewhere in Greece, Maria Kiriakou gives ‘Hurt’ a bash. She’s got all the makings of a good popstar – strong seriousface, an overactive smoke machine, officially very good hair and (as a sidenote) THE VOICE. Not entirely sure what’s going on with the mimes on a show so against lip-syncing, but there you go. It kills me to say it given your usual dedication to the cause, Japan, but Greece have got it in the group stages."
Carl's full time score:
Japan 1 — Greece 2
Now you can vote for your own favourite.
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