The Mad-Dog will perform Mrs. Robinson at the second live show of X Factor 2026, on Thursday, October 29. For the band from Sassari, Paola Iezzi chose Simon & Garfunkel’s classic, using the version by the Lemonheads as a reference, with one specific request: to create a performance that brings the two interpretations together.
The assignment came during the Daily on Monday, October 26. After their debut with Kasabian, the four musicians will have to take on a song that spans two different eras in music, from the 1960s to the alternative rock of the 1990s.
Paola Iezzi’s request: connect the song to the present
When presenting her choice, Paola Iezzi encouraged the group to use the song to talk about what is happening today, recapturing the revolutionary spirit of the period in which it was written.
The brief is therefore about the meaning of the performance as well as its arrangement. Mad-Dog are being asked to find a connection between a song from the past and their own sensibility, offering a personal take on a highly recognizable title.
The meeting of the two versions will be one of the things to watch during the live show: how can they bring together the original’s melodic quality and the electric drive of the Lemonheads’ reinterpretation?
From Simon & Garfunkel to the Lemonheads
Written by Paul Simon, Mrs. Robinson is associated with Mike Nichols’s film The Graduate, whose soundtrack features parts of the song. The complete version appeared on Bookends, the album Simon & Garfunkel released in 1968.
In 1992, the Lemonheads released a faster, rougher cover, characterized by electric guitars and a driving rhythm. This is the version assigned to the band from Sassari, who will nonetheless have to maintain a dialogue with the original as well.
The next challenge after Club Foot
For Renato Marchisio, Davide Dore, Luca Pintus and Jacopo Sale, the assignment comes after qualifying for the second live show with Kasabian’s Club Foot. On October 22, the band opened the competition and made it through the first round thanks to the viewers’ vote.
Mrs. Robinson now marks a new step in the group’s journey on Paola Iezzi’s team. Tune in to hear the result on Thursday, October 29 at 9:15 p.m., on Sky Uno and streaming on NOW.