The Pop Factor: Season 3 • Boot Camp: Part Two in Bratislava (Solo Male)

Monday at 11:032 days

01 Darin - Fantasi (fast becoming a Darin stan and love that he’s slaying this competition in non-English too. The biggest bop of this category by faaaaaar, that chorus and the instrumental drop after are Rob-coded through and through)

02 HRVY - hesitate (eaaasily my favourite HRVY entry to date, everything else, while I like them, has felt like jumping on a reggaeton/Joel Corry trend but this is just straight up a really well produced pop song, feels quite Scandipop, hope this isn’t what takes him out)

03 Sam Smith - I'm Not the Only One (probably my favourite Sam ballad? Not sure what exactly pushes this above the rest but I think it’s kinda beautifully understated and I really like the lyrics)

04 Sam Fender - Get You Down (the only song I know and really like by him is Seventeen Going Under and this feels very much in the same lane so I guess I have a second that I really like now! This expansive stadium ready anthem kinda sound is where he shines for me)

05 Calvin Harris & Sam Smith - Desire (not my favourite Calvin moment and not a patch on Promises but Calvin’s sounds are sounding much better in the context of this competition for me because he’s the only dance act so the energy is often a nice boost)

06 Roosevelt - Montreal (he’s so hit and miss! The production is always there but sometimes the songs as a whole don’t feel exciting but this is one of his better so far)

07 Damien Rice - Cannonball (I actually do like this, even though I’m not wildly enthused! Maybe cos I’m familiar with the song from Little Mix whereas I’ve not known anything by him so far. Pleasant x)

08 Tom Grennan - Boys Don't Cry (I like the 80s soundscape but there’s something a bit “by numbers” about the melody of it that left me a bit uninspired)

09 Gary Numan - My Name is Ruin (I don’t think this would be last if it ended at 3:23, I was genuinely thinking this was good but then it restarted again for no reason not once but TWICE (5:49), and I ended up feeling trolled and annoyed by the unnecessary length to what was literally a finished song)