Last night was George Michael night on X Factor – a particularly ill-starred night as far as the contestants went, with a number of duff performances.
Yet again, Joe McElderry was the star of the show with his version of Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me. As Louis Walsh – Mr Rulebook for this year’s X Factor – pointed out, it’s technically an Elton John track and not a George Michael one. George only guested on it.
Surprisingly, though, none of the judges picked up on the fact that Stacy Solomon also sang a technically ‘illegal’ song. I Can’t Make You Love Me was indeed recorded by George Michael, as part of Double A Side back in 1997 with Older, but that was a cover version.
The original rendition was recorded by Bonnie Raitt. Clearly Louis, Cheryl, Dannii and Simon don’t know their music as well as they think they do.
I remember well when The Proclaimers burst onto the scene in the mid-1980s. Even though they looked as if they should be mocked with their geeky specs and extraordinarily strong accents, there was something undeniably compelling about their music.