From the outset of this years competition I declared myself a big Sam Bailey fan, who I back to win the X Factor 2013. But for the grand final I think it’s time to bring out the BIG song choices.
Under Simon Cowell’s tutelage in 2006, Leona Lewis rose to fame during the X Factor live shows singing one huge song after the other. Week in week out it was Mariah hit after Whitney hit, she took on the biggest numbers and knocked them all out of the park. Proving without doubt she was a world class singer who could genuinely sing anything. Before the day’s of supposably needing to make each track your own.
Now I personally believe Sam Bailey is every bit as good a singer as Leona and she started off this years live shows on the right track. The 36-year-old began by nailing some of music’s biggest power ballads, including a big Celine Dion number.
As great as Sam’s voice is though, due to time restrictions her semi-final rendition of Beyonce’s ‘If I Were A Boy’ felt a bit too hacked up, giving her less chance to portray the songs true emotion. Though that’s of course no fault of the ex prison warden herself. It sometimes feels as if her voice is even too big for many of the weeks lighter song selections.
During this years X Factor, Sam has shown she has the voice to take on virtually any song around. I just hope for this years final, Sam takes the risk of being labeled predictable by taking on at least one benchmark Mariah, Whitney or Celine classic.
Before X Factor 2013 is done, it would be great to see one more performance from our winner elect that silences the few remaining doubters and cements a future big career.