A Composite: How Ellona Santiago Has Grown As A Singer And Stage Performer Into A Star

 The X Factor Influence

The American television audience and, yes, even the world, has had an opportunity to see the blossoming of a young lady grow from being a singing "hopeful" to a full-fledged Star before our eyes, thanks to her being a contestant on this season's X Factor USA competition.  From audition to final performances on the X Factor's "Final 6 Showdown", here are her performances, with my own personal comments:

Who Will Prove That They Were The One Who Really Had The ‘X Factor’ Afterall? Let’s See What Simon Says!

Photo from The X Factor USA "Final 6 Showdown" 12/4/2013

I was forwarded a link to an article from the TV section of Examiner.com entitled "Restless Road, Alex & Sierra, Ellona Santiago, Jeff Gutt: Sony Music deals ahead", which outlined the possible future prospects of some of the performing acts/competitors on this season's 'X Factor USA' competition, and I felt compelled to write about it.  Or gloat, perhaps.   I'll quote from this article and add my own comments.

But first, let me say that from the very beginning I believed, and I still do believe, that Ellona Santiago was the very best performer on this season's show, by far.  Let me reiterate that: By Far.  I've proven this from the first article on this blog, "Ellona Santiago Will Win The “X Factor” Competition. Here’s Why:", to the most recent, "The ‘X Factor’ Final 6 Showdown – Two-Hour Special", where I critiqued all of the performances during that show and concluded by saying:

My opinion is that Ellona Santiago distinguished herself wonderfully both times that she sang and out-shined all of the other acts.

And now I'm reading an article which states that several of this season's 'X Factor' acts will receive Syco Music recording contracts.  Without further ado, let's see what Examiner.com's opinion of these performers is and see if it compares with my own thoughts.

The ‘X Factor’ Final 6 Showdown – Two-Hour Special

—>Based on “The X Factor USA” show on Wednesday, 12/06/13

On Wednesday night the X Factor was down to the Final 6 and this show was the Final 6 Showdown.  Each act would perform twice during the two hours.  Here’s how it went:

Is Ellona Santiago Really The Favorite To Win This Season’s ‘X Factor’ Competition? Now More Than Ever!

“It was a fantastic choice of song, the band sounded amazing, and you may now have a chance after that performance, Ellona, of you actually winning the whole show.” – Simon Cowell

When I first started this blog, my first article was “Ellona Santiago Will Win The “X Factor” Competition. Here’s Why:“.  I then proceeded to point out why I felt that Ellona Santiago was better than the rest of the ‘X Factor’ competitors.   I followed that article with one describing why “Simon Cowell thinks that Ellona Santiago is “The One” with the ‘X Factor’” based on his comments to Ellona over several weeks.  To recap, he said:

“That’s the one.” and “You are the girl I think I want to work with most in this competition.” after she auditioned with “Wings”.

Has Simon Cowell Changed His Tune Regarding Ellona Santiago? Or Is There Something Else At Play Here?

From the ‘X Factor‘ show on Wednesday, 11/20/2013

During many of the previous ‘X Factor’ shows, Simon Cowell has been highly complimentary towards Ellona Santiago.  Here are some samples:

What Does Ellona Santiago Have That The Other ‘X Factor’ Acts Don’t?

I’ll start with Ellona’s voice.  While everyone on the show has a pretty good voice, I believe that she manages the dynamics better than the rest, with the exception of Lillie McCloud.  I’d say that they’re even because they both are great with the volume control of their voices.   Ellona has a knack of moving from softer to louder very smoothly.  An example of Ellona’s mastery of dynamics is when she sang “Titanium“.  After the soft beginning, she brought her voice up, but still very controlled in the middle section.  But, she didn’t go into full crescendo mode yet.   In the third section, she starts off at a middle volume and then moves ever-so-smoothly to the final crescendo.   Perfect control throughout.