By Anna May @AnnaMayMight

Well…it’s happened…and I think we all knew it would. I am now enjoying Let It Shine.

I know. I wasn’t going to say anything, but I feel I owe it to the person who reads my reviews to just admit it. So...Malcolm from the corner shop…this is for you. Everyone else can stop reading now and click on something else.

So, Malcolm...what has happened between my last review of Let It Shine and this one? Probably, as I said before, the live aspect has kicked in and it’s just changed the whole dynamics of the show.

Firstly, instead of Mel being stuck in the randomly furnished backstage area, mollycoddling all the boys as they stressed about their first performances, she’s now out front, where she jolly well should have been from the start. Yes, I enjoyed her bant with the boys and it was all very nice, but there WERE two members of Take That back there as well. Surely their previous boy band experience should've automatically given them authority to take charge of the nervous wannabe Garies.

Garies? Garys? No. Whatever…I’m not putting double ‘r’…if people want to pronounce it ‘Gairies’ they can…whatever.

So, yes, having both presenters out front has really made a difference…and the funniest thing about these two very mismatched personalities is exactly that! They are so different in their presenting styles, it just works.

Whilst we can appreciate Graham Norton’s finely honed skill at singlehandedly presenting anything he’s asked to, I don’t think there’s anything funnier than watching him try to move things along, using his tried and tested techniques, only to have Mel Giedroyc answer back and carry on doing whatever she wants. “Have you finished?” he asks her, as she dances round him like a 70s Saturday Night Fever throwback. “NO!” she shouts…and carries on! But he takes it on the chin and I really hope, if Gary does make another show to find a girl band, he brings Mel out front from the outset.

What’s also helped this show is the shift from single auditions to the early creation of bands and a competition that now sees the boys doing what they’d be expected to do if they win…and also proving they can work together as a team.

I had wondered how the cream of the crop would ultimately be picked, so a public vote to eliminate two bands, from which five boys are then saved to form a new band, is working pretty well…I think.

Thank you, Martin Kemp, for the intro to last week’s show. No more nude Gary, no more dominatrix Dannii. Just a very enjoyable performance. Phew!

I’m so very glad to see the back of the five star ratings and strange feedback from some of the judges that just didn’t make sense. Now we’re down to the nitty gritty of finding a band for…what’s it called again…oh yes, The Band.

Even the judges’ comments have changed from being patronizing and weak, to helpful and honest…even harsh when warranted. Dannii and Martin are now giving great critique that shows them to be far more qualified to sit on the panel than they may have previously been credited, given the seemingly forced feedback a lot of viewers were moaning about in the first weeks.

That said, I didn’t watch the last two shows from the individual auditions, but I don’t feel I missed out, which kind of says it all really.

I feel the series has gone very quickly, considering it was split into VERY LONG shows that lasted for YEARS and YEARS and YEARS! We’re already up to the final next week. But how will the final five be chosen in the end? I’m still not happy that one or two members of a couple of these bands aren’t up to scratch and could be swapped around to allow better singers a chance to win. We’ll see. Surely Gary has a few favourites of his own by now…and he IS in charge.

Let’s not forget the band members themselves. We have our favourites here already and are so glad Jonnie and Jazzie have been saved by the judges…again. Will Drive ever get through without having to be saved? I hope so. I’m actually not surprised they ended up in the bottom two this week. The song they were given, as much as I love a bit of 80s music, was so boring and made them sound…well…boring.

Yes, Nightfall are good and still in the game. Then again, Iron Sun were doing pretty well until the whole band was sent home this week in favour of all the Drive boys. Sadly, that meant another of our favourites, Clinton, went home too. Booo! We liked Clinton a lot.

Five To Five seems to be getting their fair share of public votes too. Anyone else keep shouting out, “Crackerjack!” every time their name is mentioned? Just me then. Oh…and Malcolm.