Historically speaking girl bands have never had the smoothest of rides on ‘X Factor’. In fact the same could be said for the Official charts. When everywhere you look there are boy bands body popping out left, right & centre, doing relatively okay, girl bands never seem to have the same success. Apart from the hey day of the Spice Girls which saw 3 or 4 years of female pop domination (Spice, All Saints, B*Witched, The Honeyz), the Ladies of late seem to have little luck. Girls Aloud, The Saturdays and the ever changing Sugababes are the few acts who’ve managed to keep the UK Girl Power flame burning, all be it a little less brighter than the 90’s. But could all that be about to change?
If we take a trip down memory lane at some of the Girl Bands Simon Cowell and his ever changing line-up (wonder if he’s taken inspiration from Mutya and her mates!) have promised superstardom and the potential of a place on Now 156 to, it’s clear to say that they’ve never really hit the mark. ‘Hope,’ were billed as the next big thing after being thrust together from a collection of dodgy reject solo entries. He did the same with the boys, but they were about as memorable as a Mikey from Boyzone solo record. Hope had a good run on the show, thanks to Simon and co saving them every time they were plopped in the bottom 2. But despite Simon assuring us they were the next ‘Spice Girls,’ *cough cough laughs into cup of tea!*, they faded into X Factor obscurity, never to be heard of again. Perhaps ‘No Hope,’ would have been a more appropriate band name.Back in Season 2, we had the lovely Conway Sisters; a Corrs / B*witched Irish 4 piece. Even Simon realised these were a no go and allowed them to mentor themselves. See ya later ladies! And then last year we had Belle Amie. But lets face it, when you’re named after one of the biggest gay porn companies, you’re never going to be taken seriously!But this year the tide seems to have turned. And for once we have a girl group riding that tidal wave. The group in question is ‘Little Mix!’
Despite a name change and some cruel press comments to begin with, the newly named ‘Little Mix’ have shimmied on collecting an ever growing army of Little Mix Lovers in their wake. There’s something very likeable about these girls. They can sing, they’re fun, they not overtly sexualised and they have chemistry! A lot of the bands have this fake camaraderie that is about as real as Jordan’s left boob. This doesn’t seem to be the case with these girls. I understand some of the pre-performance VT clips are edited and manipulated beyond belief but from the clips of the girls they really do appear to have gelled.But besides the chemistry success, they are bloody good at what they do. Their Halloween rendition of Katy Perry’s ‘E.T,’ was the highlight of the night and this weekend’s ‘Don’t Let Go,’ was arguably my favourite performance of the whole season.
X Factor this year has been dogged by freaky twists, Judge histrionics, Barlow tactical putdowns, Marcus & his dodgy bow ties, bullying and Frankie ‘Coke’-coza, so it’s often forgotten that the show is about the acts and whether or not they will make it in this post TOTP, musical download universe we live in. And out of everyone left in the competition, I’m backing Little Mix all the way. As a self confessed girl band addict, I’m waving my Union Jack tea towel at the TV every weekend in support of these wee lasses. And even though I’m a traitor to my home town by not shouting for Amelia Lily, I’m sorry - but I’ve been LittleMixed!
