Despite it being the 27th October, both of last night’s TV talent shows would like you to think it’s Halloween so they can add a sort of spooky theme to this week’s episodes. X-Factor’s Halloween episode usually sees one of the contestants sing ‘Thriller’ however this year, we saw dancing Dermot O’Leary giving his unique interpretive dance performance of the Michael Jackson hit. Lucy Spraggan performed a spooky disappearing act by being too ill to perform, receiving a bye to next week’s episode which sort of made Dermot’s comment about nobody being safe fairly redundant.

First up this week was Kye Sones, who didn’t have to look back at his bum notes with Gary as his mentor praised his performance and his flawless turn in last week’s sing-off. A lot of us, including myself, equate Kye with slow songs, but this week he got a bit more energetic with Robbie Williams’ ‘Let Me Entertain You’ and luckily, he also got to perform it in front of Robbie himself. It didn’t seem to me that Robbie was that bothered, though he did applaud Kye’s enthusiasm and energy, something that he believes we hadn’t seen from him before…

To be fair to Kye he did have some enthusiasm, going into the crowd and clapping his hands, but I still don’t feel he’s connecting with the audience at home, which is why he ended up in the bottom two last week. Louis agreed with this tassertion as he wasn’t sure if his performance was enough to keep him out of the bottom two, however the female judges disagreed with Nicole telling Kye he was entertaining and Tulisa added that he came back with a boom.

Judging by their VT this week, Union J have mainly been using a handheld camera to record events, however it was so shaky, it almost reminded me of a found footage film. The boys have had a big week which included attending the Skyfall premiere and going to Rylan’s birthday party, but their main pastime seems to be looking embarrassed while girls scream at them a bit.

The staging of the performance suggested that Union J were indeed in some sort of low budget horror movie as they were surrounded by a multitude of dry ice while jumping around on an abandoned car. Their performance of Beyonce’s ‘Sweet Dream’ was a marked improvement on previous weeks as they were one of the few acts that took the judges’ comments and board improving their harmonies for this week’s show. This fact didn’t stop Gary and Tulisa criticising them for playing it safe, and both feeling they should spice it up however Nicole felt it was a simple and honest performance.

Rylan’s week consisted of his birthday party, in which he got a full-on lapdance from his mentor Nicole as well as meeting Robbie, who confessed he was a big fan and telling Rylan to ignore whatever Gary Barlow says to him. Inevitably, Rylan performed another mash-up this week consisting of Britney Spears’ ‘Toxic’, Mouse T’s Horny and Nicole’s ‘Posion’ while he was carried around by dancers wearing ill-fitting suits accompanied by fake pony tails on their heads. I have to say, of all of his performances up to this point, I feel this was Rylan’s most polished and entertaining, however that still doesn’t mean he deserves to be in the competition over the acts that have already gone home. As always Louis praised Rylan’s fun factor while Tulisa told him that he entertained everyone when he was on the stage and he bought out Halloween to the fullest. Gary brought out the sarcasm for his judgements, telling Rylan that it wasn’t any worse than last week and that the dancers were quite good while his own mentor Nicole simply sung Horny back at him.

In his so-called ‘master class’ Robbie praised Ella ‘she’s only 16′ Henderson for giving mature performances beyond her years as when he was her age he was a self-confessed Muppet. Ella was also at the Skyfall premiere, getting compliments from a lot of celebrity fans including both Kelly Brook and the film’s director Sam Mendes. I think we can all agree that Ella is a fantastic singer, however I don’t feel that Evanescence’s ‘Bring Me to Life’ was the right song choice for her, especially as she was trying to Adele it up. Ella’s staging was a little odd as she was dressed in a red cape and there were trees around her while later we got red smoke billowing on to the stage which in a way did distract from her vocals. While Gary and Louis were still full of praise, Nicole truthfully told her that it was her weakest performance to date describing it as anti-climactic and that he sung it all in the wrong key. I have to agree with Nicole to an extent as Ella was hindered by a dodgy backing track but despite this she still delivered one of the best vocal performances of the night.

One of the spookiest things that has happened over the course of The X-Factor live shows is the disappearance of Chris’ nerves, however he claims that the competition has helped him to grow as a person. Unfortunately he doesn’t seem to have grown as a performer as he continues to perform tracks from Now That’s What I Call 1986! this time giving us another cheese-filled rendition of Cutting Crew’s ‘I Just Died in Your Arms’. Every one of Chris’ performances reminds me of John Barrowman on Tonight’s the Night, and that comparison was stronger here as Chris wore a jacket very similar to the one Barrowman’s character wears in Torchwood. Nicole tried to be supportive to a point, saying that she just wanted to give Chris a hug and telling him that his performance was like a 1980s Halloween pop opera. Louis disagreed calling him a future cabaret star while Tulisa criticised Gary for constantly giving Christopher cheesy 80s classics to sing instead of something more contemporary. Gary then started to hit back at Tulisa telling her she had ‘fag-ash breath’ while she then turned this insult around telling him he smelt of red wine while a bemused Dermot O’Leary had to try to calm things down. The last word here was with Christopher, who delivered the line which has now become his catchphrase when he told Dermot ‘I must be doing something right.’

District 3 met Robbie Williams in full winter attire, with the hat-wearer of the trio going for a long green and white striped number which meant that he really won’t feel the benefit when he goes outside. Robbie’s advice was for them to relax a bit more and to have fun when they were on stage, however this advice seemed to take away from their vocals, which weren’t as polished as they normally are. Dressed up as Alex from A Clockwork Orange, the boy band performed yet another mash-up this time unsuccessfully mixing The Police’s ‘I’ll Be Watching You’ with Ne-Yo’s ‘Beautiful Monster’ while jumping around on stage. Kicking off the judgements was Tulisa, who gave the boys some constructive criticisms telling them to watch their breathing when they started to dance as they lose the power in their vocals. Gary wasn’t so kind, describing the performance as a musical mess while Nicole was bemused by what the boys were wearing so has obviously never seen A Clockwork Orange. It appears to me that Louis only concentrates on one of his groups every week, and this it was Union J, however he did put out a plea for the female fans to vote for his three piece mainly because he doesn’t want to lose another act.

Jittery and nervous Jahmene was a little more confident this week after performing at a party hosted by Samuel L Jackson, who praised the young singer’s immense talent. The staging for his performance of ‘Killing Me Softly’ was incredibly bare-boned while his outfit looked like he’d accidentally put in his maroon trousers with his white shirt and turned it a light shade of pink. I have to say, Jahmene is growing on me slightly and there’s no denying his talent as this was by and far one of the best performances of the night, with all of the judges praising him once again. Louis told him he was the best singer in the competition by a mile while Gary complemented him on the fact that he didn’t have to employ any vocal gymnastics to make his voice seem superior.

A fortnight ago, Jade came out of nowhere and delivered the best performance of the night by singing a simplistic version of Amy Winehouse’s ‘Love is a Losing Game’ however, since then I haven’t been wowed by her. Her opening VT concentrated on her relationship with her incredibly adorable daughter as well as seeing her attend the Bond premiere with the other girls. The performance itself saw Jade dressed up as some sort of fembot with a bolt through her neck while going through the motions on the Sugababes’ ‘Freak Like Me’. It’s quite clear that the producers want Ella to be the straight-up singer in the girls’ category, meaning Jade has to do more of these Lady Gaga-esque numbers that really don’t suit her. I feel the judges really laid into Jade with Gary worrying about her chances, Nicole just not getting the performance and Louis saying that there was a lot more style than substance. If Jade does come back next week I really feel she should be given similar songs to Jahmene and simply have her sing them straight to camera as it’s ultimately what works best for her.

Finishing off this week was James Arthur, who is now best mates with Labrinth as the two performed on stage together during one of his gigs in Manchester. To further his Emo look, James came donned guy-liner as he was accompanied to the stage by druids as he kicked in to his performance of Marilyn Manson’s version of the Eurythmics’ ‘Sweet Dreams’. Once again, James was arguably the best act of the night, which wasn’t hard this week, and I feel his intensity comes across on every show. All the judges agreed with Louis saying that he brings something new to the show, Tulisa describing him as a relevant performance and Gary complementing him on his brilliant artistry.

After watching X-Factor’s Halloween Week, I have to say I was very underwhelmed as there was no real stand-out performances, with most acts playing it safe or just having a bad night. Aside from Union J, Ella, James and Jahmene anyone could really be in tomorrow night’s bottom two, and I’d say the acts most in danger of going home are Chris, Jade and District 3. The only really memorable segment of the entire episode was Gary’s incredibly personal attack on Tulisa’ breath which I felt was uncalled for, and I feel he needs a strict telling off from Dermot on tomorrow’s results show.

Were you as underwhelmed with tonight’s show as I was? Who were your favourite acts? Leave Your Comments Below. And don’t forget to check out what we thought of last night’s acts by clicking here to go to our Unreality X Factor Charts!