I'd Do Anything - we see a different side to the Nancys

In the second live show we saw a very different side to many of the girls – which makes choosing and sticking to a favourite or even two or three so much harder!!

The first two Nancys to perform were Niamh and Cleo. Niamh belted out “I’ve got the music in me,” and Denise van Outen told her she was most certainly not a one-trick pony but a winning racehorse. Her only reservation was that Niamh looks a bit fragile for the role of Nancy. Cleo was in sultry mode, singing, “Feeling Good,” another strong vocal but the judges commented on her somewhat pained expression.

Next were Keisha and Samantha. Keisha attempted Pink/Shirley Bassey’s “Get the party started.” The judges were less than impressed, telling her it was too ‘kids’ party cutesy’ and didn’t meet the Bassey challenge - Andrew Lloyd Webber told her if she wanted to be like the girl from Tiger Bay she needed more tiger in her tank. I would be very surprised if Keisha is not in the bottom two tomorrow night. Samantha sang “See the day.” Whilst acknowledging that it was vocally very strong, John Barrowman told her it was an emotionally empty performance – a comment which was disputed by all the other judges. Denise said she totally disagreed and thought it was a fantastic performance, Barry Humphries said she was like a young Catherine Zeta Jones (though what relevance that has to this competition is unclear) and Andrew said she had the makings of a real Nancy.

After the anguish of being in the bottom two last week, Francesca had to put on a sterling performance tonight. Her song was Queen’s "Somebody to Love" from We Will Rock You. From being somewhat lacklustre last week, Francesca really put the grit and gravel into her performance tonight and showed her fighting spirit although appeared to me to slightly overact. However, I think we still have more to see from Francesca.

We then had a short break from the Nancys and saw the Olivers performing a group number to “Electricity” from Billy Elliott. They were great this week and are working really well together. This week Chester was the Oliver chosen to go through to the semi-finals –one of my favourites, he definitely looks like an Oliver to me.

Back to the Nancys and Rachel sang, “Beautiful,” but appeared to me to overact her way through it. However, John said the performance gave him chills and Denise called it vocally strong and mind-blowing. Sarah showed a more raunchy side tonight with “Take another little piece of my heart.” I thought Sarah was great; however the panel still felt she was too sweet and smiley and they didn’t see the street urchin yet. I hope Sarah will be there next week because I think she can and will show us that street urchin before too long.

Tara attempted “Without You,” but tried to hard to emulate the Mariah Carey version and frankly the song was too big for her, her voice straining on the top notes. Jodie was told she must be careful not to be ‘too cabaret’ – although that must have been hard to avoid with a song like “I’m Every Woman.” I really like Jodie but don’t think this song did her any favours and much preferred her performance last week.

The final two to perform were Ashley and Jessie, Ashley performing the very contemporary “Mercy.” This was a good attempt but was a little forgettable for me, although having said that I preferred it to her performance last week - don’t see her going too far in this competition however. Jessie showed a lot more vulnerability than she did last week. Singing, “Killing me softly,” she had managed to correct her posture problems from last week, although was still singing out of the corner of her mouth. However, it was a calm and contained performance which was vocally stunning, John even using the word ‘perfection’ to describe her performance. Andrew told her that she was pinning him to the back wall with her talent and she could go far.

We now have to wait a whole 24 hours for the results show, but in the meantime you can discuss the show further in the I'd Do Anything forum