After a slow start Australian X Factor's second week brings out the talent

After an opening week packed with outstanding talent Australian X Factor could be forgiven for being unable to keep up the pace into it's second week. Monday night's show seemed to confirm it with several 'good' performances but nothing that blew us away. However, last night's episode definitely put to rest any fears that we'd seen all that the competition had to offer us.

The first act to elicit that "they've got something" response was boy band Fourtunate.



Having reached bootcamp last year the past 12 months clearly hasn't been wasted, as shown by a YouTube channel packed full of treats like this a capella Marvin Gaye & Jay Sean mashup:



The second act to show they had hod something special to offer was singing a song that has suffered terribly at the hands of auditionees in the past, Minnie Ripperton's "Loving You".

Somehow 17 year old Sarah Main managed to do the impossible, not only managing to perform the song without invoking a "nails on a chalkboard" reaction when aiming for the infamous high note, but also reminding us that despite all the botched renditions we've heard over the years, the original is actually a great song.

The Flaming Lips & a very naked Amanda Palmer cover "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face"

The result is a thing of beauty on so many levels, but obviously very NSFW.

The Flaming Lips and Amanda Palmer - The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face from Delo Creative on Vimeo.

Bad boys, bankers & Miss Universe contestants - Australian X Factor wraps up week one with a bang

Unlike it's British originator, down under the show airs on Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday nights and so far this week we've been met potential stars in the forms of 14 year old Vendulka Wichta and this year's first auditionee Bella Ferraro.

Last night's episode saw a motley crew of contestants hoping to make their way through to "super bootcamp". Matt Gresham has used a focus on music to turn around his life and - with a little help from Bob Marley - dazzled the judges with his unique style.



Former Miss Universe contestant Kristina & student Jo came together to form Good Question, and were eager to prove`they are far more than merely pretty faces.



Also choosing to choosing to mix things up with a number showcasing both his singing & rapping abilities was bank teller William Singe.



Closing out the shows for this week was factory working single dad Hayden Maurirere, with his performance of the Chris Cornell version of Michael Jackson's 'Billie Jean'.

Meet Bella Ferraro - First contestant on this year's Australian X Factor and already tipped to win

Her absolutely stunning rendition of Bon Iver's 'Skinny Love', patterned on the cover by Birdy, had judges Ronan Keating & Mel B predicting that she'll not only win the competition, but go on to equal the worldwide success of Adele.



It would be easy to dismiss such lavish praise on the basis of a single performance, but like many aspiring singers she's been showcasing her singing talents via YouTube, even if she's been doing so via a blank screen.



In the intervening year she seems to have grown in confidence enough to appear in front of the camera. Here she covers The Killers 'Mr Brightside' alongside her friend Morgan, whose X Factor audition airs later this week.

With their '5 people on 1 guitar' cover of Gotye nearing 133 million views on YouTube, what's next for WOTE?

Creators of one of the most viral videos of all time Walk Off The Earth's cover of "Somebody that I used to know" probably helped Gotye far more than themselves

If you have somehow failed to see it yet you can click the picture to watch the video.

Here they team up with Julia Nunes, who returned with a new video earlier this week, to cover "Some Nights by Fun, who released their video for the track last week.

Chatroulette Me Maybe

Every time I think that the internet has finished with the covers and parodies of Carly Rae Jepsen's earworm, another one arrives and blow me away in spectacular fashion.

Weezer give an astounding rendition of Radiohead's "Paranoid Android"

I wasn't expecting much from this but it's actually pretty darn good.

Bon Iver sings 'I Can't Make You Love Me' but you'd have to be heartless not to

Absolutely sublime



Via: The Daily Rock

Having a lazy Sunday? This will appeal to you

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I love me some lib dub!

Here's one from the UK athletics department... no this UK is the University of Kentucky

A Lady Gaga cover, brought to us by... Lady Gaga?

While Lady isn't adverse to remixing her own tracks this isn't her performing a cover of herself. Instead, it's an acoustic cover of Judas (the video of which I shared yesterday) performed by drewby1xo.



This is the second time I've come across a cover after Gaga linked to them herself (you can read about the previous one here). It's nice to see an artist embracing the 2.0 approach to their music.

Is it just me that finds geeky cover songs awesome?

Here's a D&D parody of 'Like a G6':



Of course it reminded me of this:



Via: Daniel Soh on Facebook (but not really)

How My Mind Works - a quick peek behind the curtain of my blog

This is mainly an excuse to show you a string of videos that I thought were cool, under the pretext of explaining how I hop around on YouTube and make my seemingly random selections for posting on the blog.

First up is a video I saw while watching a livestream by zekkyou:



Apparently it's based on an American advert. After finding it I had a quick look at the other videos on the channel (MissAlissa15) with this being the first to catch my eye:



To me, that is a great, quirky YouTube video and a clear sign that this is a channel of quality. A fact supported by these further offerings:





Of course, having watched that last one I had to go compare it to the original:



Every time I hear this song I of course think of the masterpiece that is Grosse Pointe Blank and so went looking for a video of it to share with you. The trailer is terrible and full of spoilers so I figured this was a better example to use:



Finally, I couldn't resist sharing this epic interview fail featuring John Cusack:



Now you have an idea as to how I find these strange, weird and wonderful videos to share with you. Normally I would have only shared one or two of these but for every video that makes it to the blog, there arre three, four or even more that lead me there.

MGMT + Lady Gaga = Epic Weezer performance

Weezer combine two great songs and turn them into something just a bit more special

Song selection, the key to any successful roadtrip

YouTube stars Rhett & Link are currently on a road trip across America and as we all know, driving without music is hellish. Luckily the two have an extensive knowledge of appropriate songs and the angelic voices necessary to do them justice.



You can watch their adventure so far using the playlist below:

Here's that bluegrass cover of the Mario Bros. theme you've been waiting for

Don't pretend that you haven't.

Sam Tsui goes Gaga

My man-crush on Sam Tsui continues.

Katy Perry takes Lady Gaga down a country road

Here's another cover of Lady Gaga's monster of a hit 'Born This Way', this time it's Katy Perry providing the vocals and giving it a distinctly country music style that I really dig.

Update: The original video got pulled but here's another one.

Little girl's cover gets more views than Lady Gaga's original (and leaves me crying in a manly fashion)

A few days back I shared the latest video from Lady Gaga. Currently it has a mere 14 million views while the gem below has nearly 21 million.



I've always said that you can tell a great song by its cover versions and this is no exception, as evidenced by the big macho tears it caused me to shed.

Lizzie Marie - Kings Of Leon "Sex Is On Fire" Cover

I'm scared to look at how long it's been since my last post but here's one for you:



I don't know who Lizzie Marie is but I like the way she's changed the song around a bit and made it her own. What do you think?

The Live Lounge on Radio 1 has been responsible for some great covers over the years (along with a few atrocities). Personally I'm a fan of Leona Lewis's cover of Snow Patrol's "Run" but I know many can't stand it. Any that stand out as particularly good or bad in your minds?