This is why we need instant replay…

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[5.12]

Iain Mew: I can’t think of any other X Factor contestant whose first single has been released a year later and still felt so much like a continuation of the audition process. Look, it says, Misha can do tough and can do fun, can sing and do toasting bits, can belt out a completely gratuitous dramatic intro, and sound great doing all of them. It’s true, too, and especially as someone who barely watched the series, it’s initially a great rush hearing such a talent emerge so confidently. What prevents the appeal from lasting is that there’s not much of a song underneath. There are hints that a proper banger is lurking in there somewhere, but it’s underwritten, the synth wobbles are barely window-dressing and the promise of “more bass and more treble” is just a tease. Still, we can carry on imagining how great it will be once she’s given some songs to work with. 
[6]

Katherine St Asaph: The most exciting X Factor single not by (pond-jump alert) Tora Woloshin or Tiah Tolliver. It’s also “Not Myself Tonight” adapted for a standardized toasting test, but you’ve got to realize the league we’re in.
[6]

Brad Shoup: I can’t believe it took me so long to type “jack of all trades, master of none”.
[3]

Will Adams: The haphazard intro reminds me of when radio stations play snippets of disparate songs to advertise “what’s coming up” after commercials. This radio station, apparently, is offering wedding band-level Jennifer Hudson followed by karaoke tribute-level Rihanna. I think I’ll switch to a different frequency.
[2]

Anthony Easton: I like the finger snaps. Every point for the finger snaps. 
[5]

Alfred Soto: She sounds giddy, ready for action (points for the stuttered “I dunno”), but I’m not one for sports metaphors, not when the beats aren’t squelchy or hard enough.
[4]

Patrick St. Michel: I didn’t follow Misha Bryan’s run on The X Factor so I don’t know whether the ballad-teasing intro is some sort of show reference, a gag about her time on the contest or a totally earnest display of her range. I’m just glad it’s a fake out, because once “Home Run” gets going and falls into fidgety dancehall mode, this gets really good. Despite Misha B having a voice that commands attention whether she’s repeating the word “done” or referencing “Wait (The Whisper Song),” the little details of the song charm as much. Specifically, the way her voice stutters right before the chorus and the little giggle after the line “more bass and more treble,” like we’re eavesdropping on an inside joke. 
[8]

Alex Ostroff: The intro is impressive but unnecessary, so let’s not bother with it, shall we? I was initially surprised that Misha B’s first single turned out to be this electro dancehall dub concoction, but given that she first caught my eye with a “Rolling in the Deep” cover that veered into dembow, this is a natural extension of what she was already doing. “Home Run” is — much like Cher Lloyd’s Sticks n Stones — a reassertion of the personality that Misha toned down for a voting public (and judges!) who see women with strong presence and talent as cocky, arrogant or otherwise undeserving. Her mixtape remix of TLC’s “Unpretty”, suggests that she can big sister just as well as she can boast and that there are plenty of sides to Misha B that we haven’t seen yet, but this one serves as a decent (re)introduction.
[7]