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The third edition of Raidue's talent show, X-Factor, has concluded without any particular twists.
The winner, in fact, was Marco, the protégé of Morgan's team (16-24 age category), who had been hyped up since the beginning as the new absolute phenomenon. He won effortlessly despite having a visibly off night (probably affected by emotions and the fear of winning) and despite a vocally superior performance by his rival Giuliano (a sort of Fausto Leali for our generation, but with more pop-soul appeal), who was the representative of the 25+ category captained by the unremarkable Claudia Mori (replacing superSimo Ventura in this edition). There were also the Yavanna, three semi-awkward elf-like figures with fake pointy ears who, over three months, transformed into semi-divas, but they never managed to make an impact and, to be honest, should not have gone beyond the first episode (to be kind), yet somehow found themselves in the finals, as if by some elven magic, to the delight of the show's indispensable dispenser of philosophical wisdom and anchor point, Mara Maionchi.
The final was structured as follows: duet with a guest (songwriter of the song), cover, and original song. Giuliano opened, immediately stepping on the accelerator with a perfect interpretation of "Caruso", very soulful, as Lucio Dalla himself, who was favorably impressed by the duet with the young singer, would later say. Certainly the best performance of the night. Next were the Yavanna, doomed from the start, tackling Max Pezzali's "Come Mai", which was all dominated by Pezzali, with the three relegated to backing vocals. Marco couldn't have done worse in his duet with Alex Britti on "Oggi Sono Io", yet his voice seemed to betray a certain emotion in the early stages of the song and, even in the more intense moments, he managed to be vocally overshadowed by Britti, who meanwhile effortlessly handled the guitar.
The solo cover segment wasn't particularly thrilling, with only the Yavanna’s good performance on "Zombie" worthy of mention, a song they rendered respectably despite rock not being their usual domain. Certainly a sort of "moral redemption" in light of past atrocities.
The original songs, already previewed in the previous episode, were honestly lackluster: a series of clichés and tunes palpably overdone and heard a thousand times before, unlikely to leave a lasting impression outside the show, at least not in the long run. There's the Yavanna's plagiaristic take on Pappalardo with the pathetic "Una Donna Migliore", Giuliano's overly recycled pop-soul "Ruvido", and the contrived "Dove si Vola" where Marco insists on excessive vocalization or some improbable notes at all costs, which, in my humble opinion, weighs down the song itself. Yet, despite everything, it was his intense way of interpreting the songs that proved to be the winning strategy with the voting public, combined with his "artistically" more interesting journey, thanks to Morgan's always original choices, enabling his contestant to smoothly navigate through giants like Bowie, Talking Heads ("Psycho Killer" his signature piece), Beatles, Nina Simone, just to name the most important ones.
The victory was thus predictable but all in all deserved, considering the generally low level of the opponents: except for Giuliano (who joined midway through the show), there was little that could truly challenge him. I can only think of the adorable Ornella, with aspirations of being an Italian JLo, for whom I spent lavishly to send text votes (at least two 50 euro cards were tragically used), unjustly eliminated in the early episodes. Certainly, if someone like Marco had participated in X-Factor 2, among giants like Ambra Marie, Noemi, Enrico, he would not have had an easy time of it, but so it is.
Now he faces a promotional tour and an album of original songs, besides the unknown of the Sanremo Festival, since, as a novelty this year, the winner has the right to participate in the famous Italian festival, which has reached its significant 60th edition. Considering Marco Carta's victory in the 59th edition, it is reasonable to think there might be some hope for Marco as well. It would be an important launching pad. We'll see what happens.
I'll end with a brief aside on the program itself, which in my view is well-conceived, a well-executed television product in terms of direction and set design, all decently hosted by Francesco Facchinetti (who only tries to overdo it during the presentation of international guests – embarrassingly so yesterday with American rapper 50 Cent, who was left speechless at Facchinetti's request for an impromptu rap), and fun due to the now proverbial squabbles between the judges, certainly better than many other shows of the same ilk; nothing like the boring "Amici" by Mario De Filippi and the like. The music is the absolute protagonist.
"If you're a singer... on television you need to go to the only place where you'll be listened to for what you do. Today that place is X-Factor" Adriano Celentano
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