Nicholas McDonald singing Someone Like You: X Factor 2013 Video and Comments

This weeks X Factor UK live shows saw contestant Nicholas McDonald significantly raise his game, singing Someone Like You by Adele.

So far during the 2013 series the 16 year old had delivered solid, consistent performances, but had previously failed to stand out as a true contender to win. The Scot frequently appeared to possess strong, yet somewhat non-distinctive vocal abilities.

Well this Saturday X Factor viewers witnessed young Nicholas shift things up a gear. Performing the modern Adele classic Someone Like You, best of British week would likely make or break Nicky’s competition. Thankfully for Mr McDonald’s growing army of fans, it turned out to be the later. How much was the quality of the song and how much was Nicholas himself is hard to judge, but Louis’ boy easily done the track justice, managing to steal the show.

Here’s the full ITV, YouTube video of Nicholas McDonald singing Someone Like You:

Other than the short section in a higher key towards the end, Scotland’s finest pretty much delivered a straight cover of the Adele original. Which despite sounding safe and predictable on paper, actually worked out really well. It would arguably have been tougher though for one of the shows female contestants to pull this song off, while escaping with as few Adele comparisons.

It’ll be interesting to see how Nicholas can follow up on this success in next weeks live show, where the theme will be The Best of The X Factor.

Judges Comments

Sharon Osbourne: “You know what, you never ever fail. Every week you deliver every single time, you have such a fantastic voice. I can’t believe the emotion that you put into the song. . . You really do have a good heart. 16 years of age, I can’t believe it. It was a great song choice too.”

Gary Barlow: “Nicholas well done, you were very, very reliable. Just one little thing for me, just turn the individuality knob up a little bit. Because you know when your singing a song as well known as Adele, you know we’ve heard it on the radio for two years now. You’ve got to add more of yourself into these performances, but other than that it was a great performance.”

Nicole Scherzinger: “Nicky blue eyes, my Nicky blue eyes, if I could have you sing to me everyday I would. Your voice is so soothing and calming, I can’t wait to buy your album, really.”

Louis Walsh: “Nicolas, that was the vocal performance of the night, it was the most honest performance as well.”