X Factor Australia 7 Wrap-Up: 25 Best Performances

To that obligatory countdown. 3 new judges. 28 episodes. 9 live shows. 3 judges' smack downs. 1 winner. This has been a pretty fun season. Sure, there were a few who stood out week in and week out, but I'd be lying if I wasn't thrilled with the finalists as a whole. Not only was this group pretty diverse, but they all were incredibly talented. I'm glad I decided to cover the show this year or I would've missed the fascinating talents from this side of the world.

Again, this is VERY subjective and I guarantee that there will probably be some performances that are nowhere to be found on your list that may be as high as 10 or something on here. But please respond maturely, flames don't make me particularly happy.

Without further ado, here are X Factor Australia 7: 25 Best Performances!

Movie Trailer: Captain America: Civil War

I know. I know. A couple of years ago - was it 2012? - I promised to take this segment of DAM NATION seriously and more updated than usual. I'm trying and I'll start with the newly released trailer of Captain America: Civil War.

Synopsis*: An incident leads to the Avengers developing a schism over how to deal with situations, which escalates into an open fight between allies Iron Man and Captain America.

Cast: Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Paul Rudd, Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Bettany, Anthony Mackie, Jeremy Renner

Release Date: May 6, 2016



*IMDB

The Voice 9: Top 11

Is it deliberate? For the second live show of the season, the show somehow packed the boring and terrible performances at the top of the show and the good ones at the end. Why? Save for Zach who closed the show (!!!) last week, I thought the first few minutes from both episodes were almost too embarrassing to watch.

Oh, and thank you coaches for giving good song choices this week - although Gwen and Pharrell tripped with a couple of their choies.

On with the show!

X Factor Australia 7: Finale

It's been a fun season! To be honest, I didn't expect to enjoy this as much as the past two seasons, but I found a couple of people who I was willing to root for. In fact, this was possibly one of the strongest groups I've seen on X Factor Australia. Every single one of them managed to deliver strong performances and no joke acts this year - yes, I'm looking at you X Factor UK.

I'm actually thrilled with how this season went and without further ado..

X FACTOR AU 7 WINNER IS..

X Factor Australia 7: Top 3

I stubbornly underestimated this Finale. You see, I always do a Wrap-Up of every show I cover listing the best performances of the season and I must confess, I'm done with that post for X Factor Australia 7 including an edited video of these performances. 

I mean, based on historical trend, save for American Idol Season 13, finalists, more often than not, are already exhausted from all the months and weeks of singing and for them to churn out an outstanding performance at the final stretch of the competition is almost next to impossible.   

So color me surprised when one of the finalists delivered one of the best, if not the best performance of the season. No, I'm certainly not complaing, I'm just in utter shock. 

Oh, and good job, Australia! I just realized earlier that they've been pretty spot on with the elimination order this year. The three best acts actually made it to the Finale. United States and United Kingdom, please take note!

On with the show!

X Factor UK 12: Top 7

Given the song choices this week and the apparent theme of "Love & Heartbreaks", I knew that I was in for an awesome show. The show ended and I was left feeling nothing. Haha. Have I been watching too much reality singing competitions lately that I'm becoming irritatingly overcritical? Don't get me wrong. I saw a couple of good to awesome performances tonight, but only one of them truly made an impression. Hoping for the best next week?

On with the show!

Movie Review: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2

Let me get straight to the point: While The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 was a fairly satisfying conclusion to the franchise, I couldn't help but shake off the feeling that this could've been a lot better. Don't get me wrong. The film was solid on most sides of the spectrum. The direction was sharp, the cinematography was stunning, the visual effects served the story extremely well, and the acting, for the most part, was good. Yet I was still terribly underwhelmed. The main culprit? The uneven pacing, which pulled me out of the film. The last act, for example, was way too rushed and oddly muted that what could've been the most emotionally resonant part of the movie left me cold. Then, of course, there were scenes that extended way beyond their welcome. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 was mostly entertaining, but it never reached the heights it was trying to achieve for its final installment. It never felt important or grand and as a send-off to one of the most hyped franchises of all time, I was genuinely expecting more. 7