Aww. Glad to see you haven't lost your ability to be an out-of-touch douchebag :love:

SuBo is a better singer, weirder and was there before Mary

^ :joker:

To me, it means doing something different. She at least attempted to do it in week 4 by actually moving around the stage, unfortunately it didn't impress me but I appreciate the effort. She needs to be a bit less predictable; the voting public are fickle and anyone perceived to be boring will not gain support as the weeks go by.

So what if she doesn't want to change her style? Rebecca doesn't change hers, Matt doesn't change his, Paije doesn't change his and so on. Why have one rule for most of the contestants and another for Mary? Because the judges don't pull the others up on it.

I loved Ruth, I think she is my fave contestant ever but vocally Mary is streets ahead of her. Ruth shouted a lot and she was awful from weeks 2-5 whilst in week 1 she was average at best. Shes also quite guilty of being a one trick pony but people overlook that too.

Mary's week 3 performance of I Who Have Nothing was absolutely stunning and one of the best performances X Factor has ever seen, yet the judges called her for being a one trick pony when the performance was brilliant. If she got a standing ovation everyone would be raving about it. Go on youtube and watch it back with no pre-concieved ideas, imagine its the first time you've ever seen her and you'll have a very different opinion.

There isn't one rule for most of the contestants and another for Mary - just the thread is discussing Mary, that's why it's being pointed out. Comparing Mary and Ruth from weeks 1-5 (as we've obviously not heard Mary's remaining performances yet) then yes, Mary has been much better, but Ruth's Summertime still stands out as one of the best performances from that series IMO, and that was in week 3; so she wasn't "awful" that whole time - I do agree that Mary's been more consistent in that timeframe though. Ruth generally did ballads, but she did dabble in singing rock songs too.

Just replied to you and then saw you'd added another bit to your post :tongue:. I also think Mary's I Who Have Nothing was fantastic - the reason I'm not mad on it is because she'd done it before in her audition, I want to see them singing something different every week - similarly I wasn't that impressed with Rebecca singing Make You Feel My Love despite it being sung fantastically, for example. My opinion stays the same. Great vocals marred by the repetitive nature of the performance.

Only in Weeks 1 and 2, I would say Mary has been great. 'Could it Be Magic' was weak as ****, last week's song even worse (There You'll Be).

[i missed week 3]

youtube it, youll love it. and Zee, forgot about Summertime but Ruth came into her own after week 6 and her second sing off performance. If she went in week 2 or 5 noone would remember her

Definitely; she took a long time to become memorable but I think once she did, it established her as one of the best over 25s the X Factor has seen because she did it so spectacularly. Her final performance of Always goes down as my favourite ever X Factor performance.

It's your comments about 'oriental people' (a racist term now) but that shows me you are that type who puts people into categories. For you the Thai, Japanese are all: "Those orientals".

You do that same thing with Mary but its called 'Ageism'. "Those Old style'" songs.
Like the 'Orientals' all 'look the same to you' it is the same way with Marys 'old kind'.
The songs all 'sound the same to you'.

I'm not necessarily saying you are a racist (or always a racist) or always an Ageist,
but,
you have that 'mentality' and you go around pre-judging (prejudice) from your own viewpoint as if it were the superior and informed one. 'Ethnocentric' but for music.

Sorry, truth hurts sometimes.

I've no idea how you've come to that conclusion, I've never been accused of being racist or ageist before, nor do I feel I've done anything to justify that label. The songs do not sound the same to me; the performances are visually the same to me - that has always been my point. I really don't understand where you're coming from, you're wrong.

WAT.
no WAT.

It is the mentality. When you say 'Those Orientals' as if they were all just some same style and look the same to you.

With Mary you have that mentality "Oh.. those are all the same kind of song and she looks the same each time".

We all have this issue 'naturally' (so to speak) and for example how you see all the Japanese, Thai as 'Orientals' is something called 'race recognition' and is so common it is used in courtrooms and police witnessing procedure to gauge accuracy.
I may have the same 'race grouping' problem as you except I travel often and although British Caucasian - I can distinguish Koreans, Japanese, Chinese, Thai and so on.
VERY different peoples.

Anyways,
with music I am faced with the similar problem as your racism and for example is the boy band.
Because that music is 'foreign' to my experience it 'appears' to me they sing and dance the same exact thing every week.
Same song.
Same dances.
It all looks and sounds the same and the same as 100 other boy bands. Couldn't tell you a difference.

The difference is that I am aware of this and I take responsibility and consider the 'other view'.
You don't.
You just assume your 'vision' is the correct one.

both Harry and Liam are really good singers :dance:

No way! Ruth Lorenzo has been the best in the 'overs'. She was amazing! :love:

But it was you who generalised in the first place; not me! I can tell the difference between Japanese, Chinese, Korean and Thai people because I have friends from those various backgrounds; they do not "all look the same to me." For whatever reason, you've decided that I'm racist and ageist without any apparent evidence and I'm not sure why you're continuing to throw this at me? You are extremely patronising if you think that I'm truly that ignorant; you don't know me at all. I am not an assuming person; I am very considerate when it comes to other people - and I cannot believe I'm trying to prove to someone that I'm not racist because he/she thinks I am, based entirely on me thinking that Mary Byrne isn't the best over 25/28 contestant that has been on the X Factor?! This is madness. I am not racist. I am not ageist. I've given my reasons for why I think Mary is not the best, the main reason being that she is a predictable performer. That is not a comment on her singing ability, nor is it a comment on anything other than why I think she is a predictable performer.

I don't really think it matters if they're predictable. She is still capable of performances which make your hairs stand on end (admittedly she hasn't done one for a while) but they're all predictable performers. We all know what they're going to do and whether they'll be any good or not when we see the song list

They all have their genres. Mary sings old ballads and theres nothing wrong with that, thats her comfort zone just like Rebecca's comfort zone is new soulful ballads but noone criticises her for that.

It is something of a 'non-complaint'.
Divers predictably stand at the top of the diving board to jump off.
Race Car drivers typically sit in their seats while steering to win.
President Obama predictably stands at a podium or in one spot to speak.

So yeah, I guess it is predictable Mary will stand before the microphone. Okay. I guess you are right about that.
She had the unique arm waving thing but I see she has some camera angles last weekend.
Strange sort of 'non-criticism criticism' you have here.

Again, not saying you are always a racist or fully a racist. I was just pointing out the similar 'ethnocentric' mentality you have with Mary and her age group.
But sure.. I bet you will tell me 'some of my best friends are in their 50s'. that is what ageists always say hehe

I'm nineteen years old.

Well I'm glad you're not saying I am a racist; I'm still a bit perplexed as to where that comparison came from, but I can assure you I'm not racist - if anything I spend too much time obsessing over being politically correct :laugh:.

I'm not sure if you are a racist or not but referring to people as 'those orientals' and obsessing about being PC are definitely 'warning flags' someone is a racist. But hey.. you have to live with yourself.

Whatever dude, I know that I'm not - that's all that matters.