Umpteen established artists have insisted that, were they to enter The X Factor, they wouldn’t get beyond the auditions — the point being that they possess too much personality to appeal to judges in search of a singer they can mould. Just Jack, on the other hand, began his show at Shepherds Bush Empire looking like a bloke who had progressed to X Factor’s boot camp stage but was in no way expected to win.

Pleasant and eager to please, but lacking any sense of stagecraft, he delivered a performance the bulk of which could be summed up with a single word: bland.

In his defence, the 34-year-old popster has always styled himself as an ordinary bloke, whose songs revolve around wry commentary on ordinary lives. Even his stage name (his real name is Jack Allsopp) underlines his lack of pop-star pretension. But an apparent absence of ego is not an appealing attribute for a frontman and, three albums into his career, Just Jack should have at least learnt how to connect with a crowd.

“Normally, I walk round and try to work out what to say at this stage,” he told fans after opening with his former single Writer’s Block. “But I can’t think of anything.” At times, he was so inept that you wanted to hop down, hug him and tell him to keep doing his best.

The pity was that some gems lurked in his lengthy set list. Glory Days and No Time, both from the 2007 Top Ten album Overtones, were fun, catchy pop-rap tracks perfect for an office party. Better still, songs from his current album, All Night Cinema, had some great “geezer” lyrics and smart backing tracks, notably the frisky 253, Doctor Doctor and Astronaut, about a boyfriend who would rather stay at home and masturbate than work.

A four-piece band and female backing singer beefed up the sound, but thin, synthesized strings and featherweight beats put paid to any songs that were supposed to be broody — several ended up like PG-rated Massive Attack.

Only in the final half hour did Just Jack make any effort. He bounced around for Doctor Doctor and fans followed suit, the old hit Starz in Their Eyes still sounded great and dedicating The Day I Died — which briefly morphed in to Nena’s 99 Red Balloons — to his unborn child meant that only the hard-hearted didn’t leave at least wishing him well.

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