All the zippery and frippery and over-staged karaokery in the world can't disguise the feeling that The X Factor NZ appears to have lost its own x-factor or perhaps failed to ever quite find it.
Now down to the last six performers standing, last night's episode (TV3, 7pm) in the endless singing contest series was a lame, tame effort - Glee minus the fun.
A fairly profound lack of head-turning talent doesn't help, of course. Two good-looking but thinly gifted singing groups (Moorhouse, Gap 5), a pair of unremarkable girl singers (Jackie Thomas, Cassie Henderson), a boy with a big voice but little character (Whenua Patuwai) and poor lost singer/songwriter (Benny Tipene) failed to raise any sparks.
It was up to the judges for that sort of thing, but we might all be getting a bit tired of their schtick - mad-eyed Daniel Bedingfield poncing about in a new ugly outfit, Stan Walker wearing glasses for added IQ (forget it). And English ex-singer Melanie Blatt doing what she does best, dispensing that kind of casual cruelty these shows demand.
Of course, she's The X Factor judge who isn't going to have to sing for her supper - or, it must be said, for her credibility on a show that puts everyone through the performing hoops except, apparently, her.
