The X Factor: Season Finale. The Winner Is…

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All I Want for Christmas Is You, All You Need Is Love, Bells Will Be Ringing, Britney Spears, Carly Rose Sonenclar, Christmas (Baby Please Come Home), Demi Lovato, Don't Stop the Party, Fifth Harmony, Groups, Khloe Kardashian, Kiss You, L.A. Reid, Mario Lopez, One Direction, Over 25s, Pitbull, Simon Cowell, Tate Stevens, Tate Stevens Wins X Factor, Teens, The Climb, The X Factor, X Factor, X Factor Results, X Factor Winner

The X Factor: 2.28 – “Season Finale. The Winner Is…”

It’s finale night! Carly Rose Sonenclar, Tate Stevens or Fifth Harmony is going to be crowned the winner of the second season of The X Factor. I’m going to be fast-forwarding during a lot of the results show tonight. There’s going to be 2 hours of filler before they eventually get to the reveal of the winner. [Note: I will update with pictures in a little bit. I wanted to get this post up ASAP so people could get a recap quickly.]

The first 15 minutes is completely useless. The judges and the contestants arrive on a red carpet that is put together outside of the studio leading to the main stage. The final 3 contestants arrive in big limousines and sing along to “All You Need Is Love”, which I’m pretty sure is pre-recorded. Or at least the opening portion before they arrive on the stage is recorded, but the actual stage performance is live. It’s really a badly produced number and not a great way to kick off the show.

I fast-forward through some of the show which apparently contains a clip show of L.A. Reid moments, before Tate Stevens comes out and sings “Bells Will Be Ringing”. The parts I pay attention to are pretty solid. He would’ve been better off singing this during one of the live performance shows when it would count. A recap of his journey on the show is shown, but I completely skip that.

The Fifth Harmony girls are next on the stage. A montage of Simon’s best moments are shown before he introduces the girls. They sing the Mariah Carey version of “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)”. Darlene Love’s version is one of my favorite songs of all time, so of course I’m not going to love this completely. It’s decent though. The set looks amazing and their costumes are cute. Apparently this is going to be their schtick from now on. Colorful costumes and crazy set pieces. It’s a little too late but it’s a decent performance that I stick around the whole time for instead of skipping.

Carly Rose is the last one up to perform a Christmas tune. They saved the big one for her. She sings Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You”. I have to say, these Christmas performances are really enjoyable and much better than the duets they performed last night. The contestants, especially Carly Rose, would’ve put on a better show and made the reveal of the results more interesting had these performances been shown last night. The dancing toy soldiers behind Carly Rose are a little ridiculous, but it’s still enjoyable and I’m still holding out hope that Carly Rose can win the show somehow.

Time for the first reveal of the night. Mario & Khloe are going to reveal which act is eliminated first, therefore making them the third place act in the competition.

Third Place Goes to…Fifth Harmony

Not a complete shock. I thought they could’ve possibly ended up being the runner-up with all of the pimping the judges did for them last night. The show really pushed hard for them these last two weeks. Simon looks pissed. But he should be happy two of the groups got to the Final 4, compared to last year when the groups went home 3 out of the first 4 eliminated. The Groups were much stronger this time around and Simon should be happy with that, at least. That means it’s down to Carly Rose Sonenclar & Tate Stevens, as it’s been throughout the entire season.

There’s some more time filling going on with the show. I DVR through most of it. But from what I can gather: Khloe talks with Carly Rose & Tate’s families. Then there’s a recap of the entire season: auditions, boot camp, judges’ houses, live shows. Then Mario talks to the judges about their favorite parts of the season. Then Khloe talks with the previously eliminated contestants from the Top 13.

Pitbull hits the stage next. He performs his latest single, “Don’t Stop the Party”. I can’t stand Pitbull so I have no problem skipping this either. If I didn’t stop the DVR and see Mario & Khloe introduce him, I would’ve thought they invited Psy to perform on the finale.

That’s followed by another musical guest: One Direction performing “Kiss You”. The show is really trying to push the relevance of The X Factor by bringing them back again. It’s like the producers are saying: See! This show can produce somebody relevant! Too bad it hasn’t happened for the U.S. version yet.

Up next…Carly Rose & Tate perform together. Carly Rose starts off by singing “The Climb”. She looks incredibly nervous and I don’t think her voice is holding up that well. Britney actually looks pretty emotional from watching her contestant perform. It looks like Tate is also going to be performing this. I have to say, I haven’t been the biggest fan of his, but this isn’t really fair for him. The show is obviously made for a younger artist to sing. He’s at a disadvantage and it really shows that he lacks as a vocalist compared to Carly Rose.

It’s time for the reveal! I have to admit, this results show went pretty smoothly. It took me about 20/25 minutes to get through the whole thing on the DVR. I could still get the main points of what was going on without having to stop and actually watch it. I might’ve killed myself if I sat through the entire thing live though. The magic of modern-day television comes through! They’re not bullshitting around. They are getting right to the reveal.

The Winner Is…Tate Stevens

Which means that, The Runner-Up Is…Carly Rose Sonenclar

I can’t say I’m surprised. Tate was in the top spot for most of the season. I don’t really have much to say. The show really needs him to do well though. They need some credibility as a television show for finding musical talent. It’s a little bit anti-climatic since the show has been building up to his championship all season long. I’m glad Carly Rose did so well on the show and can go out with her head held high. I think she’s going to end up being pretty successful without having the actual title of the winner. Tate performs “Tomorrow” as the show comes to a close for the season.

That’s it for this season! I hope you have all enjoyed reading my recaps. I’m going to find something else popular to recap because this was my most popular topic on the blog. My readership is going to go down. So if you regularly read my blogs, let me know what else you want to see that will keep you coming back! I hope everyone has a great holiday season and a happy new year! I’ll be doing some semi-regular blog posts over the next few weeks until something else comes up to recap. Look for my Best of the Year in Television posts coming next week, or maybe even this weekend if I’m ambitious enough. Thanks again!

The X Factor: Final Performance Show, Who Will Win?

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Britney Spears, Carly Rose Sonenclar, Demi Lovato, Fifth Harmony, Groups, Jeffrey Gutt, Khloe Kardashian, L.A. Reid, LeAnn Rimes, Little Big Town, Mario Lopez, Over 25s, Recap, Simon Cowell, Tate Stevens, Teens, Television, The X Factor, TV, Who will win The X Factor?, X Factor, X Factor predictions

The X Factor: 2.27 – “Final Performance Show, Who Will Win?”

The final 3 acts will take the stage tonight and one of them will be crowned the Season 2 champion on tomorrow night’s results show.

The show opens with Simon talking about the tragedy at Sandy Hook this past Friday. He introduces the Top 13 performers and they sing a rendition of “You Are Not Alone” in honor of the 26 people that died. It’s a touching tribute that I’m not going to comment extensively about. But I think it’s worth finding a video of the performance on YouTube. It was heartfelt.

That leads into the show intro, the judges being introduced, and Mario & Khloe trying to hype up the energy of the show. It doesn’t really work. The show really tries to make an effort to make it seem like it’s a big deal to win the show by cutting away to the contestants’ home towns and the big parties they are having there. The contestants will each perform 3 songs. tonight. The first round will have the contestants repeating a memorable song choice/moment they’ve had this season so far.

Carly Rose Sonenclar – Teens – “Feeling Good”
The show does a nice job recapping her journey on the show up until this point. She really has grown a lot from initial audition. She’s become a more mature performer and her vocal control has improved greatly. Carly Rose picks “Feeling Good”, which is the song she originally auditioned with in South Carolina. This is another terrific performance from Carly. I have to admit, while her vocals are always flawless, her performance quality could be improved slightly in some cases. This wasn’t the case for this one. She showed a lot of personality here and this is exactly what she needed to do tonight to win over the audience. The judges loved it. L.A. said this topped everything else she’s done, Demi said she’s going to be inspiration to a lot of young girls, and Simon thought she sang it better tonight than in her original audition.

Tate Stevens – Over 25’s – “Anything Goes”
More recapping of the journey from the audition to the final show. Tate is a likable guy, I just wish he had more of a personality and more of a unique voice. He’s my least favorite part of each performance show. I think he has a good chance of winning the whole thing. It wouldn’t be great for the show, but I wouldn’t count on it not happening. The judges really liked it. They all had positive things to say, but they weren’t as enthusiastic as they were with Carly Rose. I wonder if they’re trying to be middle of the road to make sure he doesn’t win. Not sure…

Fifth Harmony – Groups – “Anything Could Happen”
Once again, the show does a great job of recapping their journey from auditions to the finals. They finally showed Camila Cabello’s audition (well, the introduction part, where she says all she does is sing karaoke and watch One Direction videos). They also have a nice heart-to-heart in some fancy L.A. restaurant with Simon Cowell. I’m slightly rooting for this group. I think they are one of the most interesting acts this season and their performances also differed. I think it’s a little odd that they are repeating the same song they did the last week. The intro was a little different and I don’t think they did the second verse in the first performance. But it was the most entertaining of the first round so I give them a little credit for the choice. L.A. said it was magical and they are now the ones to beat (really?), Britney said it was spectacular and girly and fun, and Demi said that they were powerful and she hopes America comes through and votes for them to win. I have to think that the show wants to set up a shocking winner by overpraising the third place act.

*Round 2 will feature some surprise guests in the performances. Surprise shouldn’t be used because FOX had a press release announce the special guests already.*

Carly Rose Sonenclar – Teens – “How Do I Live?” – Special Guest: LeAnn Rimes
This is really awkward. The arrangement is really soft and doesn’t do anything for Carly Rose’s voice. LeAnn Rimes comes out halfway through the song and doesn’t sound very good at all. It sounds very strained and hoarse compared to the flawlessness of Carly Rose’s pitch. This isn’t going to help Carly Rose win and it pisses me off that they wasted a performance tonight for this. They don’t get critiqued by the judges (the guests probably wouldn’t agree to that), so they have a cute interaction afterwards with Mario & Khloe and Britney says that they were awesome together.

Tate Stevens – Over 25’s – “Pontoon” – Special Guest: Little Big Town
This really isn’t fair to Carly Rose. She had to sing a song that was popular in 1997 while Tate Stevens gets to sing one of the most popular songs right now with one of the hottest country acts in the country. It’s a solid performance and Tate gets to show off a little bit personality than he has in previous performances. It’s not a knock-out performance but it was much more entertaining than his first performance this evening. His interaction with Little Big Town was a little awkward though.

Fifth Harmony – Groups – “Give Your Heart a Break” – Special Guest: Demi Lovato
So this is the second repeat of the night for Fifth Harmony. And I have to take back what I said earlier, I think that they skipped out of judges’ comments this round because of Demi performing with one of the groups. This performances becomes more about Demi than the girls of Fifth Harmony. It really looked like Demi was performing while the other were just providing background vocals. I have to say though, this was much stronger this time around then when they performed it a few weeks ago. It looks like Carly Rose was the weakest this round, and that’s unfortunate, because she’s the one that the show needs to win.

*Round 3. Not sure there’s a theme for this round. Doesn’t seem like it. Good or bad thing?*

Carly Rose Sonenclar – Teens – “Hallelujah”
This song is so overdone. Can a week go by without somebody performing this song? I love Carly Rose but I don’t like the production of this performance. A choir comes out and doesn’t add anything to the performance. I actually preferred Jeffrey Gutt’s performance from the audition rounds. (Speaking of him, the show really missed the boat by not having him go further in the competition, especially compared to Tate and Vino.) The judges loved it. Britney said that Simon should give her the $5 million dollar check right now. Unfortunately, I don’t think Carly Rose is going to win because she didn’t have the blow-away night that she needed to get the votes from America. I hope I’m wrong.

Tate Stevens – Over 25’s – “Tomorrow”
I have no idea who sang this song originally and I have no interest in finding out. This performance can be lumped in with all of the other ones that Tate gave throughout the season. It didn’t impress then and it doesn’t impress during the final performance night. Britney said it was great, Demi said she’s going to miss seeing him perform on this stage every week, and Simon said that no matter what happens Tate is going to be a big star.

Fifth Harmony – Groups – “Let It Be”
This was a solid performance. Although they really didn’t sing as a group during this song. It was like five soloists each taking turns with a portion of the song. Dinah Jane stole the song from the other four members. Her little section was the strongest. I think the show might’ve missed the boat by not having her compete as a soloist this season. The judges really liked it. They were positive but not over-the-moon about it. Simon says that Fifth Harmony deserves to win the competition. He might be biased but he honestly believes it. Yeah yeah…

OVERALL:
I should prepare myself for Tate Stevens winning. That’s what the show was leaning towards tonight and he had the performances that are going to win over the voting audience members. I would be shocked if he doesn’t win the whole thing. It’ll be a fitting end to a disappointing season. More surprisingly, I think Fifth Harmony will end up being the runner-up. The judges really stumped for them tonight and overpraised their decent performances. That leaves Carly Rose. She deserves to win, but having the first slot and being forced to sing with the terrible LeAnn Rimes didn’t do her any favors. My biggest hope tomorrow is that she at least gets 2nd place. But she deserves to win the whole thing.

The X Factor: Results Show, The Final 3 Acts Are…

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Bridgir Mendler, Britney Spears, Bruno Mars, Carly Rose Sonenclar, Coming Home, Demi Lovato, Emblem3, Emblem3 Eliminated, Fifth Harmony, Finalists, Groups, Khloe Kardashian, L.A. Reid, Locked Out of Heaven, Mario Lopez, Over 25s, Ready or Not, Recap, results show, Simon Cowell, Tate Stevens, Teens, Television, The X Factor, TV, X Factor Results

The X Factor: 2.26 – “Results Show, Who Will Make It to the Finals?”

The finalists will be revealed on tonight’s results show. But it was reported in the media yesterday that L.A. will not be returning to the show next season. He wants to focus more on his record label but he’s loved his time on the show. It’s still early so the decision could be reversed. It wouldn’t be a huge loss though. Bring someone more interesting in his place to liven up the show a little bit.

The show opens with the final 4 acts performing “Coming Home”. The only impression I get is that Tate seems completely out-of-place, especially being about 20 years older than the rest of them, and he’s washed out and doesn’t make any impression. A commercial break is next followed by a recap of last night’s performances and the contestants talking about how much they want to win. Another break before the first results are revealed.

Act #1 Going to the Finals…Fifth Harmony

This is pretty shocking. Everybody, including the group members themselves and Simon, are completely shocked by this. Britney looked very worried and L.A. can’t believe what just happened. The girls are hugging and crying and can’t believe they’re good fortune. They seemed earmarked to go home last night. Now one of the Top 3 vote-getters from last week are not even going to make the finals. Who will it be?

Before more results are revealed, Bridgit Mendler comes out and performs her single “Ready or Not”. I’ve never heard of this girl in my life and the song is the most generic thing I’ve ever heard. She would’ve never made it on a show like this. No problem DVRing past this trainwreck. More results are next.

Act #2 Going to the Finals…Tate Stevens

No surprise here. He’s been in the Top 2 vote-getters since the first live shows and now he’s officially in the finals. L.A. is extremely happy. Tate thanks everybody and has problems formulating a thought because he’s trying to stop himself from being too emotional. Don’t be scared to that! It humanizes you and makes you less of a robot, which is what you sometimes appear to be in the pre-recorded material on the show. This means that one of the early frontrunners, Carly Rose Sonenclar or Emblem3, will be leaving the show and won’t even make it to the finals.

Bruno Mars performs “Locked Out of Heaven” next. I love Bruno Mars and can’t wait to listen to his new album. Doo-Wops & Hooligans is one of my favorite albums from the past couple years and I’ve heard his new album is just as good and better in some places. Mars is a great live performer. He’s basically copying the same performance he did on SNL in October, but I can’t blame him. It’s pretty terrific and he shows why he’s one of top acts in the music industry today.

Time for the final results…

Act #3 Going to the Finals…Carly Rose Sonenclar

ELIMINATED: Emblem3

A pretty shocking turn of events. Emblem3 seemed to be the judges’ favorite act from the beginning of the live shows and hey constantly pimped them every week, despite the quality of their performances. Carly Rose is shocked but she and Britney are happy they are still in the competition. Emblem3 seems to be taking it well. They’re happy with what they did the competition and how they’ve grown every week. Simon is very disappointed, but he knows that Emblem3 will have a huge career. One Direction didn’t win the U.K. version, so I guess it’s very possible that could happen for them as well.

Next week is the finals. In all likelihood, it will be a battle to the death between Tate & Carly Rose. Fifth Harmony should’ve even bother trying next week. Just enjoy your final moments on TV, ladies.

The X Factor: Semi-Finals, Top 4 Perform

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Britney Spears, Carly Rose Sonenclar, Demi Lovato, Emblem3, Fifth Harmony, Groups, Khloe Kardashian, L.A. Reid, Mario Lopez, Over 25s, Recap, Semifinals, Simon Cowell, Tate Stevens, Teens, Television, The X Factor, Top 4, TV

The X Factor: 2.25 – “Semi-Finals, Top 4 Perform”

Sorry everybody. I was busy this week and I didn’t get a chance to watch the show on Wednesday, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to watch the results show live on Thursday, so I waited til I could have time to recap both of them. It’s late but hopefully you’ll still be able to enjoy my recaps and critiques of the performances. Next week is the finale, so only one act will be eliminated this week. All of the contestants will be performing 2 songs this week again. The first song choice is the contestants’ choice, the second one is a song that will get them to the finals. The wording of that from Khloe didn’t really make sense but we’ll see what happens.

Tate Stevens – Over 25’s – “Bonfire”
Tate is picking this song and dedicating it to his best friends back in Missouri. He wants to show the audience what it feels like to be sitting around a bonfire. The performance is actually stellar. The most entertaining he’s been in a couple of weeks and I could see this doing well for him on the radio. I don’t think Tate is a revolutionary performer or vocalist, he just knows how to play to his limited strengths and I think that’s why he’s got a great shot at making it to finale night or possibly win. The judges loved it, except for Britney. She doesn’t think it was his best performance. She gets booed by the audience and she doesn’t like that at all. It’s nice to see Britney be the dissenting opinion for once.

Carly Rose Sonenclar – Teens – “Your Song”
They showed a really sweet moment between Carly Rose & Diamond backstage after last week’s results show. Diamond says that she’s going to text Carly Rose every day and keep voting for her because they’re best friends. It was really nice. Carly Rose is singing “Your Song” for her father because it’s one of his favorite songs. Carly Rose is fantastic. The performance isn’t her most dynamic but her vocals are the best in the competition and she kills it. The children’s choir wasn’t necessary but it was still a very solid performance. L.A. and Simon both thought she was great but could be better. Demi has the most bizarre critique of the season. She starts off by saying that she’s the most trustworthy now because she has no contestants left in the competition. She said it was predictable but she liked it. Simon calls her out on her confusing comment.

Emblem3 – Groups – “Baby I Love Your Way”
The two brothers of the group pick the song because it’s their parents’ favorite song then they have a Skype date with their other sibling, a sister who lives in Washington. The opening of the performance is really awkward. They are laying down on the stage looking up at a camera, until the tempo kicks in and they get up and do the same performance they do every week. It’s pretty clear that I don’t like these guys and this performance felt like it belong in the late 1990’s. A little reminiscent of 98 Degrees or a lesser boy band. The judges loved it though. L.A. said this was their $5 million dollar performance and Demi is impressed and is glad they took her critiques to heart.

Fifth Harmony – Groups – “Anything Could Happen”
Fifth Harmony is coming back from a bottom two appearance last week and they want to work hard to make it to the finals. They pick Ellie Goulding’s “Anything Could Happen” (I love that song! One of my current favs.) because anything could happen in this competition. I have to admit, they completely won me over with this performance. The staging is a little weird. They were sitting down during the entire opening and apparently they are at a whimsical tea party, which doesn’t really fit the song at all. But it’s the most entertaining and charismatic performance they’ve had all season. They really should’ve been this group the entire season. This should’ve been the image Simon was pushing all season. An all-girl group with a Katy Perry vibe. L.A. said that this was their best vocal of the season, Britney loved everything about it,  and Demi thought it was cute.

*Time for Round 2. The mentors and the contestants are picking the song they think will get them to the finals.*

Tate Stevens – Over 25’s – “Fall”
L.A. picks a song that I’ve never heard of from an artist I’ve never heard of (Clay Walker), so I’m not looking forward to this. Tate is dedicating this to his wife. I want to believe that he’s sincere about it. I just feel like this a manipulation attempt by Tate, L.A. and/or the producers to make sure that he makes the finals and panders to the audience to make sure it happens. His vocals are better than his first performance. He just doesn’t interest me as a performer and I’m not anticipating any of his output after the show is over. Britney thought Tate’s been hit-or-miss but this was a direct hot, Demi talks about Tate’s love for his wife, and Simon thinks that Tate is a lock for the finals.

Carly Rose Sonenclar – Teens – “Imagine”
Britney chooses “Imagine” because it’s an unexpected choice and thinks it will get Carly Rose the extra bump to get to the finals. Britney also wants her to play the piano during the performance. Carly Rose isn’t completely confident about it but she knows she needs to step out of the box to get herself to the finals and possibly win. I don’t think was Carly Rose’s best performance by a long shot. The song choice wasn’t great and it didn’t fit her very well. Her voice was great as usual but it wasn’t a slam dunk that it could have been. L.A. and Demi both thought it was a risk that worked, but Simon was a little confused by the arrangement and thought Carly Rose should’ve stayed at the piano to make it a more focused performance.

Emblem3 – Groups – “Hey Jude”
I’m not going to spend a lot of time talking about them. The pre-recorded is all about the younger brother named Keaton, which I didn’t know or care about until now. The vocals here are nice and the music is different from their usual California surfer/beach music that accompanies all of their performance. I think their biggest problem is that they take themselves too seriously instead of just accepting their flaws and making the best of what they have. The judges disagreed. L.A. said it was risky but paid off, Britney said it was an A-level performance, and Demi agrees with L.A. but they still have a lot of potential to become better.

Fifth Harmony – Groups – “Impossible”
Simon and the girls picked this song because it was the song they sang at the Judges’ House round, which is where they first performed together. Simon added in some lyrics in Spanish to make a little different from the first one. This performance wasn’t that strong, not even compared to the one they did at Simon’s house in the earlier round. The Spanish is awkwardly inserted into the song. Ally Brooke looked like it was the first time she had ever attempted to speak Spanish. L.A. thought the song choice was lazy, Britney didn’t like it and would be surprised if they made the finals, and Demi said she likes them but is worried they are going to be eliminated.

OVERALL:
I won’t comment too much because I know who goes home during the results show. Fifth Harmony seems to be a shoe-in for an elimination. Their votes have never been the highest on the leaderboard and they seem to have less of a fanbase than the other three acts. We’ll see during the results show.

The X Factor: Results Show, Top 4 Revealed

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Britney Spears, Carly Rose Sonenclar, CeCe Frey, Demi Lovato, Diamond White, Emblem3, Fifth Harmony, Kesha, Khloe Kardashian, L.A. Reid, Mario Lopez, Melanie Amaro, Recap, Simon Cowell, Sony X Headphones, Tate Stevens, Television, The X Factor, TV, X Factor Results, X Factor Results Show

The X Factor: 2.24 – “Results Show, Top 4 Revealed”

We’re back for another results show. The semi-finalists will be revealed tonight as two more acts are eliminated from the competition. First of all, I really liked Khloe’s outfit last night. Tonight it looks like she pulled something out of her mother’s closet from the 80’s. I can’t even describe it. Look for a picture online to believe it.

Khloe & Mario introduce a clip package recapping last night’s performance. Then they introduced Melanie Amaro. It’s interesting in the introduction clips they completely edited around Nicole Scherzinger or Paula Abdul giving her positive critiques. The show wants to pretend they never existed. Melanie is on stage on some kind of contraption that raises her 20 feet in the area. It looks awkward and she seems uncomfortable. She gets better once they get off of that device and that’s when I reach for the fast-forward button.

Commercial followed, by another commercial featured in the show. Mario talks about the Sony X Headphones before getting clarification on their greatness from Simon, who helped develop the product. Then Mario throws to a clip package featuring the contestants wearing the Sony X Headphones everywhere. FOX has to pay some bills apparently.

Time for the first elimination of the night. The act with the lowest number of votes and eliminated from the competition is…CeCe Frey.

CeCe is finally gone. The show should be thankful for this. She was bringing down the overall quality of the show and they needed her gone if they wanted to be taken seriously as a talent competition. Demi is upset, and is rocking CeCe’s cheesy leopard spots in support of CeCe. This also means that nobody is left in the Young Adults category and Demi is out as a mentor. She must be slightly happy about that. She doesn’t have to put in as much time with the show and can still collect a pretty nice paycheck.

The show takes a real commercial break and then comes back with Mario & Khloe announcing who is safe and who is going to have to sing for their lives.

Acts Through to the Top 4/Semi-Finals:
*in order called out by Mario & Khloe*
Emblem3
Carly Rose Sonenclar
Tate Stevens

Bottom Two: Fifth Harmony (Groups) & Diamond White (Teens)
I called this yesterday. It was pretty obvious this was going to the bottom 2 this week. It’ll be interesting to see who goes home from this pairing. Diamond is more liked by the judges but I think Fifth Harmony could pull out a semi-final spot if they really nail their last chance performance.

Before they get a chance to perform, Kesha takes the stage and performs her new single “C’Mon” from her new album Warrior. I would’ve rather seen her perform “Die Young” but this song isn’t half bad. I’ve been looking forward to her new album but haven’t had a chance to give it a listen yet. Put that on the to-do list. After a commercial break, it’s time for the last chance performances.

Fifth Harmony – Groups – “Anytime You Need a Friend”
Their vocals are pretty solid here. The staging is a little bit awkward. When they get to the chorus they begin to interact with each other and sing the chorus to each other. It’s a little cheesy and takes me out of the performance. Camila gets a few nice moments to shine. I think they have a good shot of surviving tonight’s elimination.

Diamond White – Teens – “I Hope You Dance”
Oh god, I already dislike this performance because of the song choice. The song is so old-fashioned and doesn’t fit Diamond’s style at all. Her vocals are strong but the song choice just destroys it for me. She should’ve picked something more current and showed off what she would do as a contemporary artist.

Votes to Eliminate
Simon: Diamond White
Britney: Fifth Harmony
L.A.: Diamond White
Demi: Diamond White
ELIMINATED: Diamond White

I’m not surprised and I think the judges made the right call. Diamond has been in the bottom two multiple times. She’s a solid performer but this competition wasn’t for her. She should be proud of herself. She was sent home in the Top 16 show but was given a last-minute reprieve and managed to take herself to the Top 6. Diamond looks on the bright side. She says that Cher Lloyd came in 5th place and she still did pretty well for herself. She wants to follow the same path. A classy exit from Diamond.

Now it’s time to see what the leaderboard looks like.

Contestants Standing in the Voting
1st Place: Tate Stevens
2nd Place: Carly Rose Sonenclar
3rd Place: Emblem3
4th Place: Fifth Harmony
5th Place: Diamond White [Eliminated]
6th Place: CeCe Frey [Eliminated]

Tate Stevens is back in the top spot after two weeks of Carly Rose as the reigning queen. I don’t think it was based on performance. Tate got the pimp slot last night which means that he was the last thing people saw before voting. Pretty predictable.

Next week the Top 4 will perform in the semi-finals. Only 3 will make it to the finals on December 20th. So basically, based on the leaderboard results, Fifth Harmony will be making a likely exit next week.

The X Factor: Top 6 Perform

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Britney Spears, Carly Rose Sonenclar, CeCe Frey, Demi Lovato, Diamond White, Emblem3, Fifth Harmony, Groups, Khloe Kardashian, L.A. Reid, Mario Lopez, Over 25s, Pepsi Challenge, Recap, Simon Cowell, Tate Stevens, Teens, Television, The X Factor, Top 6, TV, Unplugged, Young Adults

The X Factor: 2.23 – “Top 6 Perform”

I won’t be spending too much time recapping tonight’s episode. The Grammy nominations are also coming out tonight and I’d rather spend more time on that than this mediocre competition show. That being said, tonight the contestants are performing two songs. First, an Unplugged song. Not a big production, just stripped down vocals with minimal music accompaniment. The second song will be the Pepsi Challenge. People from home have selected the song for the contestants. [Note: I will update with pictures later. I’m focusing on the Grammys right now.]

CeCe Frey – Young Adults – “The Edge of Glory”
Blah blah blah. CeCe thinks that people are starting to get here since she was in the bottom three last week. I don’t think so. She just got lucky because she should’ve been shown the door last week. Tonight she’s singing “The Edge of Glory”. Her vocals are okay. But I think Demi and the producers have really dazzled up her performances previously because her voice is so ordinary and not unique at all. And that really showed through here. L.A. really liked it, Britney said that it was good not great, and Simon said that she wasn’t worth the grand prize.

Emblem3 – Groups – “Just the Way You Are”
Emblem3 are able to go out shopping this week and not get mobbed by a cast of extras. Their performance this week is pretty good. The most I’ve liked them in some time. The chorus was strong but some parts of the verses were really pitchy, especially the guy who usually raps. L.A. and Britney really liked it while Demi still thought it was predictable and reminded her of what the Jonas Brothers were doing 5 years ago.

Carly Rose Sonenclar – Teens – “As Long As You Love Me”
Carly Rose has been in the top spot the past two weeks and is nervous about taking on a Justin Bieber. She’s not completely comfortable with the song during rehearsals. Well that changed, because she absolutely nailed this performance tonight. This was relevant, current and better than Justin Bieber’s version by a mile. She brought a lot of power to the song and gave it her all. She worked hard on making it work and it paid off. The judges loved it, as they should. I hope she ends up #1 again.

Fifth Harmony – Groups – “Set Fire to the Rain”
Fifth Harmony is worried because Ally is going to be missing most of the week while she attends her grandfather’s funeral. The performance was a mess. Fifth Harmony was one of my favorites earlier on in the live shows, but the cracks have only gotten bigger and their flaws have gotten worse. They didn’t really mesh well together with their voices. This is such a tough song to sing and the choice itself didn’t do them any favors. They will definitely be singing for their lives tomorrow.

Diamond White – Teens – “It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World”
Diamond does this performance really well. Although I wouldn’t necessarily call this an Unplugged performance. There was a lot of accompaniment at the beginning and the background vocalists were very present throughtout the entire thing. Despite that, it was a strong performance and Diamond’s vocals were the best they’ve been in a few weeks. I think she’s towards the bottom of voting this week. She could be in danger but she deserves to stick around for another week.

Tate Stevens – Over 25s – “Livin’ on a Prayer”
Tate improved a little bit last week with an uptempo song. He’s back to boring me this week. His personality is so bland and the stripped down music isn’t doing his voice any favors. I feel like I could walk into any country western bar and find somebody exactly like him. This wasn’t very good and I liked it even less than CeCe’s performance, which says a lot. The judges even had some issues with it. I would hope that this lands him in danger, but he has the pimp slot this week and that will save him for singing for his life.

*Round 2: Pepsi Challenge. Viewers voted on which song the contestants will sing. They also voted on the staging, the hair and the clothes, etc.*

CeCe Frey – Young Adults – “Part of Me”
At least they’re not wasting time with more B-roll packages introducing the contestants. They go right into CeCe’s performance. This is like a companion to her “Lady Marmalade” performance last week. This was a huge mess. She can’t keep up vocally with all of the movements. CeCe should realize that America tried to sabotage her this week. I can’t imagine anybody taking this performance seriously. She is definitely going home tomorrow. The judges were mixed. L.A. didn’t love it, Britney said it was entertaining and she always looks like she’s having fun, and Simon appreciated her defiance.

Emblem3 – Groups – “Forever Young”
This is a really awkward performance. They don’t really do anything interesting and they never really mesh with the rhythm of the song. They seem to be a little confused vocally and it showed completely. Usually their vocals are the strongest part of their performances and this time it was their weakest. I didn’t enjoy this very much. I think they’ll be safe and around until the finals. The judges were mostly positive. Demi still has some major issues with them, and I agree with her on most of them.

Carly Rose Sonenclar – Teens – “If I Were a Boy”
A Beyonce song! I immediately like it already. Honestly though, this isn’t my favorite Carly Rose performance. I don’t think she would ever pick a song like this for herself nor would Britney/the producers select this for her. America is to blame here. Her vocals are still terrific though. The set looks weird too. There’s flaming garbage cans and street lamps that are nowhere to be found on any street in America. Demi thought her vocals were phenomenal but wants to hear something more uptempo. Simon disagrees with that.

Fifth Harmony – Groups – “Give Your Heart a Break”
This was a huge improvement over their first performance tonight. The group still has some issues, but their vocals were much better and the performance overall was pretty strong. They needed this to be good to stay alive and it was. I think they could still be in trouble but it’s not a done and over deal. They should be thankful for the second chance tonight. I did have some issues with their clothes and the hip-hop arrangement, but it was still strong. I’m back to mildly liking them again.

Diamond White – Teens – “Diamonds”
What a predictable song choice. Diamond singing “Diamonds”. She even descends from the the ceiling in a diamond shaped infrastructure made out of metal. It’s not hard to match Rihanna’s vocals, but there’s something a little bit off about the performance. The song relies a lot on the production effects. It doesn’t work good on a show like this and I feel Diamond’s performance showed that. Her vocals were good but something was off. I think she’ll be singing for her life tomorrow with CeCe Frey.

Tate Stevens – Over 25s – “If Tomorrow Never Comes”
I DVRed through most of this show and it still felt like it went on forever. Tate doesn’t interest me at all and this performance doesn’t change that for me. It’s another mid-range country vocal performance and it does nothing for me. I don’t think he’ll be #1 again this week, despite getting the pimp slot. But it wouldn’t surprise me if he did.

OVERALL:
I thought Carly Rose was once again the star of the show. It’ll be a shame if she doesn’t win the whole thing. My predictions for tomorrow: CeCe will be immediately eliminated. Diamond White & Fifth Harmony will have to sing for their lives, and Fifth Harmony will be eliminated.

The X Factor: Results Show, Top 6 Revealed

Tags

Britney Spears, Carly Rose Sonenclar, CeCe Frey, Demi Lovato, Diamond White, Emblem3, Fifth Harmony, Khloe Kardashian, L.A. Reid, Mario Lopez, Paige Thomas, Recap, results show, Simon Cowell, Tate Stevens, Television, The X Factor, Top 6 Revealed, TV, Vino Alan

The X Factor: 2.22 – “Results Show, Top 6 Revealed”

Another double elimination this week. The show opens up with Mario & Khloe introducing the judges (Britney is wearing a weird hat) then a couple minute recap of last night’s performances. Time for the results.

The first person eliminated tonight is…Paige Thomas.

Pretty shocking actually. I didn’t even have her pegged for the bottom three. But I don’t think she’s a very talented vocalist and she never connected to the audience very well. Paige takes it pretty well, it seems. She storms to the center of the stage before Mario & Khloe can even make it there. She isn’t so much gracious as she is pissed. She tells Khloe that she’s content because she can go home and put in some more work. “I’ve got bigger and better things to do.” She puts down the show and Demi, a little bit. Not a classy way to go out.

Next up, last year’s runner-up Josh Krajcik performs his new single, “One Thing She’ll Never Know”. He’s pretty talented and reminds me that I think I might’ve preferred last year’s crop of talent to this one. Slightly. I definitely miss Paula. After a commercial, Mario & Khloe talk about the Pepsi Challenge. I don’t really remember that at all. Back to the results.

Acts Through to the Top 6:
*in order called out by Mario & Khloe*
Fifth Harmony
CeCe Frey
Emblem3
Carly Rose Sonenclar
Tate Stevens

Bottom Two: Vino Alan (Over 25s) & Diamond White (Teens)
I called it! I knew these two would be singing for their lives tonight. I can’t believe CeCe didn’t even make the bottom three. The show needs her to go home at this point if they want to be credible as a singing talent competition. This should be an interesting choice for the judges. Vino has done pretty well with the voting public and might have a better chance. Diamond is better for the show though. She’s a better performer and appeals to the target audience much more than Vino.

Before they perform, Alicia Keys comes out to perform “Girl on Fire”. I hate that song so I have no problem skipping this. Commercial break and then it’s time for the last chance performances.

Diamond White – “I Was Here”
Side note: Melissa Rycroft used this song during her freestyle routine on DWTS this song. I think it’s interesting that this might be Beyonce’s most popular song from her last album and she didn’t release it as a single. Diamond’s performance was pretty good. The background vocal track is a little awkward and drowns out her voice a little bit in the middle. Diamond is a more interesting performer and they would be fools to let her go. After her performance, Khloe comforted her and Mario said, “You were there”. WTF is wrong with him? He said that with a completely serious face too.

Vino Alan – “Trouble”
The opening is really terrible. First of all, he looked pissed off on his walk to the mic stand. And his voice/tone is completely different from anything he’s been using all season and it comes off phony. He’s also really pushing his voice in some parts. Really forced. I want to like Vino but I think Diamond deserves to stay over him. The judges will likely prefer his theatrics and keep him in the competition.

Votes to Eliminate
L.A.: Diamond White
Britney: Vino Alan
Demi: Vino Alan
Simon: Vino Alan
ELIMINATED: Vino Alan

The judges made the right choice. All of them pretty much said the same thing, they love both of them and they hate to make the choice. Vino looks pissed after he’s eliminated. He says something that’s common of most contestants on here: I didn’t get a chance to show what I wanted to show. Maybe that’s the problem of the show. The contestants aren’t being authentic and are being pushed in insincere directions by their mentors and/or the producers. This also leaves the Over 25s category down to only one. L.A. is in the same boat as Demi.

Now it’s time to see what the leaderboard looks like.

Contestants Standing in the Voting
1st Place: Carly Rose Sonenclar
2nd Place: Tate Stevens
3rd Place: Emblem3
4th Place: Fifth Harmony
5th Place: CeCe Frey
6th Place: Diamond White
7th Place: Vino Alan [Eliminated]
8th Place: Paige Thomas [Eliminated]

4th time in a row that Carly Rose & Tate Stevens have been in the top two spots. Again, this is the danger of the show revealing the complete voting results every week.

The show is back on Wednesday night, where the Top 6 will perform for a chance to be in the semi-finals. So there’s probably another double elimination next week or the finals will have 4 people in it. The show has been holding its cards this season so who knows what will happen. Until then, peace out.

The X Factor: Top 8 Perform

Tags

Ally Brooke, Britney Spears, Carly Rose Sonenclar, CeCe Frey, Demi Lovato, Diamond White, Emblem3, Fifth Harmony, Groups, Khloe Kardashian, L.A. Reid, Lauren Jauregui, Mario Lopez, Over 25s, Paige Thomas, Recap, Simon Cowell, Tate Stevens, Teens, Television, The X Factor, Top 8 Perform, TV, Vino Alan, Young Adults

The X Factor: 2.21 – “Top 8 Perform”

The Top 8 perform Billboard Top 10 hits this week. The show bullshits around for the first 8 minutes. Mario & Khloe announce that there will be ANOTHER double elimination tomorrow night. The lowest vote-getter will be eliminated, then the next two bottom vote-getters will have to sing for their lives and have their fate decided by the judges.

Diamond White – Teens – “I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)”
Diamond is nervous this week because it’s an uptempo song and she hasn’t been successful with those in the competition so far. Britney reassures her and says that everyone knows that Diamond can sing, it’s about becoming a better performer now. It’s actually a pretty fair assessment from Britney. The performance starts, they completely slowed it down to a ballad. It picks up for the chorus and it gets much more interesting. It’s an interesting arrangement. There’s an awkward moment with the contraption that the creative built for her. Plus the male dancers look much older and it comes off a little creepy. Also, apparently these performances are going to be longer. Not sure if that’s good or bad yet. L.A. was lukewarm, Demi was slightly more positive, and Simon loved it. He was very impressed with her performance. One of his highest praises of the season.

Vino Alan – Over 25s – “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin'”
Vino is upset about getting third place again and he’s not getting along with L.A. Vino was shown rehearsing “If You Don’t Know Me By Now” and L.A. hated it. L.A. changed it during the soundcheck. There’s a weird moment where the show cuts to Mario & Khloe throwing to commercial instead of the performance. Vino takes the stage and it is incredibly awkward. I don’t think he’s really feeling the song and you can tell it was thrown together at the final hour. There’s a brief moment of relief when he goes back to interact with the band (which we never see) and the background singers, but it’s so boring that I am extremely tempted to DVR through the rest of it. Why won’t it end? Britney, Demi & Simon all hated it. I think Vino will be singing for his life tomorrow if not being instantly eliminated.

Paige Thomas – Young Adults – “Never Gonna Give You Up”
Paige didn’t like her performance last week. She enjoys the big outfits and the numerous background dancers. That’s what she wants to be as an artist and she doesn’t want to do ballads. Paige brings this up with Demi and Demi brings up the good point that every time there’s been a big production number Paige has been in the bottom and had to sing for her life. Paige goes against Demi’s advice. So Paige chooses to Rick Roll the audience. They really slowed up the tempo at the beginning of the song. It works for a second but Paige loses focus and she loses my attention. This is not a well staged performance at all. It has the same problem of Vino. It picks up towards the end when the background dancers appear. There’s a sad moment towards the end where Paige asks the audience to sing along and nobody does. L.A. loved it and called it her best so far, Britney liked it, and Simon thought she finally sounded like a legitimate star. He also pushed that Paige was responsible for the performance and she shouldn’t listen to Demi anymore. Demi defends herself and blah blah blah.

Fifth Harmony – Groups – “Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)”
Normani talks about missing Arin after he was eliminated last week. There’s also a portion where they talk about Ally’s grandfather dying this week. It’s actually a moving moment where the other girls rally around her, but it’s almost undercut by the show’s use of the overplayed “Fix You”. But Ally is dedicating her performance to her grandfather this week. The performance is okay. I think they’ve made Lauren the defacto lead. She’s got a unique look but I don’t think her vocals really stand out from the others. All of the judges offer their condolences. L.A. said it was good but wanted more harmonies (I agree). Demi wanted more movement, but Simon loved it, of course. I would say the group would be in trouble but pessimistically, I think the dead grandfather story is going to give them some added votes.

Carly Rose Sonenclar – Teens – “Rolling in the Deep”
Carly Rose doesn’t have a big dramatic story this week. She spends some more time with her brother, which includes having a cupcake fight in some upscale bakery. Britney chose an Adele song for her this week because she wants to raise the bar even higher for the competition. The performance is pretty strong but not up to par with last week. One thing that Britney’s contestants have going for them is that their performances are always well staged. Just when you get tired of one part, it shifts gears and keeps you entertained. It’s true once again here. Carly Rose’s vocals are insane and the different arrangement of the song allowed her to add her own flourishes without copycatting Adele. L.A. and Demi were positive but not glowing. Simon thought the first half of the song was good and the second half was sensational. He also tells her that she has a very good shot of selling records outside of this competition.

Tate Stevens – Over 25s – “Somebody Like You”
Honestly, I was only half paying attention to the pre-recorded piece. He loves his family and he’s taking a risk with the song was what I gathered from it. I like that he did an uptempo song this time around. It was much more entertaining and showed off more of his personality. I’m still not invested in him as a person though. I can’t really put my finger on it. When the judges give him criticisms, he just doesn’t seem present enough for me and that prevents me from liking him further. He’s just so bland, which probably works for country music. I don’t know. The judges were all positive though. I assume he’ll be safe and back in the #1 spot tomorrow.

CeCe Frey – Young Adults – “Lady Marmalade”
CeCe is pissed about being in the bottom two again. She criticizes America while she does it too, which help her with the votes this week. She also can’t figure out why she hasn’t been doing well in the votes. Well, she was edited as a villain in the early audition rounds and you can’t really recover from that with mediocre vocals. The performance is a complete and utter mess. Her vocals are all over the place. The big production looks cheap and phony. CeCe doesn’t even attempt the choreography. She just walks around while the other dancers work around her. I hope this finally sends her home. L.A. and Britney said it was entertaining. Simon hated it. He compared it to eating “62 slices of cake” and tells her to pack a suitcase for tomorrow. I hope that he’s right.

Emblem3 – Groups – “I’m a Believer”
First of all, I have to discuss the opening video of them. They were shown shopping in Hollywood but they had to run and hide for cover when a group of screaming girls found them. That was staged. 100% fake. The performance itself was completely mediocre. They do the exact same thing every week and I was pretty sure they performed this song already. The staging and the background dancers. The performance can’t end fast enough. L.A. loved it and said that he would sign them in a second to his record label, Britney didn’t like the song, and Demi thinks that they are predictable every week and they’ve lost their sparks. They completely talk over her for whatever reason. Demi actually has a good point for once. Also, Mario walks right in front of Simon’s camera at the end of the judging.

OVERALL:
Some good points tonight, but mostly another mediocre night. Predictions: CeCe is immediately sent home tomorrow. Vino Alan & Diamond White will have to sing for their lives. With Vino hopefully going home.

*My favorite moment of the night. Britney was clearly engaged and paying attention during Emblem3’s performance. I love her, but she’s just collection a $20 million dollar paycheck.*

The X Factor: Thanksgiving Results, Top 8 Revealed

Tags

Arin Ray, Beatrice Miller, Britney Spears, CeCe Frey, Cher Lloyd, Demi Lovato, Groups, Khloe Kardashian, L.A. Reid, Mario Lopez, Over 25s, Recap, results show, Simon Cowell, Teens, Television, The X Factor, Top 8 Revealed, TV, Young Adults

The X Factor: 2.20 – “Thanksgiving Results, Top 8 Revealed”

Hey everyone! I’m going to keep tonight’s recap short and sweet. It’s Thanksgiving and I’m completely full from all of the good I’ve eaten today. The show started about 18 minutes late because of the overrun from the NFL game. They did a recap of last night’s performances. Then it was followed by a school that FOX & Best Buy helped out earlier this week, which then paved way for a Top 10 Group number. I completely fast-forwarded through all of that. Then it was time for the first of two eliminations of the night. The lowest vote-getter is automatically eliminated.

The first person eliminated tonight is…Arin Ray.

This was completely expected. The show never really knew what to do with him and the two-in-a-row ballads didn’t help him out. He was a good vocalist but you also need to have a marketable personality on this show and that’s what he mainly missed.

Cher Lloyd performs next. She was a contestant on Britain’s X Factor and has done really well in the music industry, mostly with her single “Want U Back”. She performed her new single “Oath”. It was okay but I only managed to last for the first 30 seconds before I DVRed to the rest of the results.

We’re back to the results. Mario & Khloe are going to reveal which acts are safe and which are in the bottom two.

Acts through to the Top 8:
*in the order called out by Mario & Khloe*
Diamond White
Vino Alan
Carly Rose Sonenclar
Fifth Harmony
Tate Stevens
Paige Thomas
Emblem3

Bottom Two: CeCe Frey (Young Adults) & Beatrice Miller (Teens)
*These two will have to sing for their lives. This is CeCe’s second time in the bottom two and this is Beatrice’s first time. I’m not really surprised by this. I know I predicted the two groups to be in the bottom, but I’m actually glad they weren’t. CeCe’s vocals were terrible and her compelling backstory wasn’t enough to save her from the bottom. I like Beatrice but I think her voting group clashes with Diamond & Carly Rose, who were much stronger than her last night. Hopefully the judges do the right thing and save Beatrice.

CeCe Frey – “Because of You”
Wow, she took on the Kelly Clarkson song “Because of You”. Gutsy move. Clarkson songs can be pulled off if the person has unique vocals. And CeCe doesn’t even come close. She’s terrible once again. This is truly awful. I don’t have faith the judges will see that though.

Beatrice Miller – “White Flag”
Beatrice is really emotional tonight. She was crying during the entire results announcement and she barely kept it together when it was revealed she was one of the bottom two. She keeps it together for the most part, but she’s shaky for sure. Her vocals are interesting and I think that alone deserves to keep her here over CeCe.

Time to vote for which act to eliminate. The judges will decide who goes home. If it’s a tie (like it was two weeks ago), America’s votes will be the deciding factor.

Votes to Eliminate
Demi: Beatrice Miller
Britney: CeCe Frey
L.A.: Beatrice Miller
Simon: Beatrice Miller
ELIMINATED: Beatrice Miller

Simon basically becomes the deciding vote here. Simon says that it looks like this is becoming too much pressure for Beatrice and she can’t handle it. “It’s not your time right now” and his vote sends her home. I kind of agree with his statement. I wouldn’t have cared if she went home next week, just not before CeCe Frey. I don’t know why the producers and judges keep supporting her when she’s so awful. They are bringing the quality of the show down by keeping her around. This is also makes the 2nd contestant from the Teens goroup to go home tonight. Now a great night for Britney’s team.

Now it’s time to see what the leaderboard looks like.

Contestants Standing in the Voting
1st Place: Carly Rose Sonenclar
2nd Place: Tate Stevens
3rd Place: Vino Alan
4th Place: Emblem3
5th Place: Diamond White
6th Place: Paige Thomas
7th Place: Fifth Harmony
8th Place: CeCe Frey
9th Place: Beatrice Miller [Eliminated]
10th Place: Arin Ray [Eliminated]

Once again, the Top 3 are the exact same people. Although Carly Rose & Tate switched places. That’s not a huge surprise because Carly Rose got the pimp slot and that probably propelled her past Tate.

The show is back next Wednesday night where the Top 8 perform and the results will be shown on Thursday. Happy Thanksgiving everybody!

The X Factor: Top 10 Perform

Tags

Ally Brooke, Arin Ray, Beatrice Miller, Britney Spears, Carly Rose Sonenclar, CeCe Frey, Demi Lovato, Diamond White, Dinah Jane Hansen, Emblem3, Fifth Harmony, Groups, Khloe Kardashian, L.A. Reid, Mario Lopez, Over 25s, Paige Thomas, Recap, Simon Cowell, Tate Stevens, Teens, Television, The X Factor, Top 10, TV, Vino Alan, Young Adults

The X Factor: 2.19 – “Top 10 Perform”

Last week Lyric 145 & Jennel Garcia (two of the more interesting acts this season) were eliminated last week. We’re down to the Top 10 now. The theme of tonight’s show is “Giving Thanks”. The contestants will take about somebody that they are most thankful for and the song choice is going to pay tribute to that person. Mario (in a weird maroon suit) & Khloe also announce that there will be another double elimination this week. The lowest voted act will be immediately sent home and the other two lowest vote-getters will have to sing for their lives.

Tate Stevens – Over 25s – “I’m Already There”
Tate is most thankful for his father. He was also a country singer but gave up on his dream because he wanted to take care of his family and be a father. Tate also did the same thing but now he’s getting a chance at doing what his father never got to do. A nice narrative, actually. This is also Tate’s strongest performance so far. The show really needed to give him a boost of personality and I think the narrative they pushed this week was successful at doing this week. I was impressed this week, mildly. The judges were slightly mixed. Britney loved it. Simon & Demi also really enjoyed it but saw a few flaws in the performance.

Diamond White – Teens – “Because You Loved Me”
Diamond talks about her mother and how much she gave up to see her daughter’s dreams come true. Diamond tells Britney about her mother almost during on the operating table during a surgery, and Britney really had no reaction. I thought this was a decent performance from Diamond. One thing that Britney has going for her contestants is the staging. I think all of her acts are still here because she knows what to do in each performance to hide their flaws and accentuate what they do well. The reveal of the choir behind her worked well. The judges loved it. L.A., Britney & Demi gave her a standing ovation (Simon didn’t but he gave her some of the highest praise he’s given on the show so far).

Emblem3 – Groups – “Secrets”
The two brothers in the group picked their “spiritual leader” as the person who most inspired them. He runs some kind of wilderness camp. The other guy picked an older dude that took him into his home when he was 18 and lost. Not really digging these stories compared to Tate & Diamond’s so far. I hate the song choice. We heard about 1,000 times during the Boot Camp rounds. It just seems tired at this point. Once again, the lead guy (sorry, I’m too lazy to remember or care about the names) is the strongest vocalists and carries the other two during the performance. L.A. had some issues with the performance and their lack of emotion, but the others were very positive.

Arin Ray – Teens – “Hero”
Arin chose his brother as his biggest inspiration. Not really too emotional. The song choice of Enrique Iglesias’ “Hero” is a little inappropriate because it’s about a romantic relationship. But there was a funny interaction between Arin & his brother during the backstage footage where Arin explained not to take the meaning of the song too literally. The performance is okay but I think he will be in trouble this week. Ballads haven’t worked for him. Britney should’ve given him something uptempo to erase the memory of last week’s mediocrity. L.A. and Demi didn’t enjoy it. Simon asked Arin what the problem was and Arin admitted that he just wants to be himself on stage and he hasn’t been given that chance yet. Britney liked it and didn’t even address what Arin had just said. Her writers probably weren’t prepared for Arin saying that. But Khloe makes her acknowledge it when she comes out and Britney just “completely agrees” with Arin’s statement.

CeCe Frey – Young Adults – “Wind Beneath My Wings”
CeCe’s hero this week was her sister who had cerebral palsy and died when she was 7 years-old in 1991. How am I supposed to hate her this week? I’m putting her backstory aside, because her vocals were terrible here. But I think that she’ll be safe this week just based on her narrative of her sister this week. Once again, CeCe is a compelling person and I just wish she was on another show that didn’t require good singers. The judges really sidestepped her vocals and just applauded her backstory this week.

Fifth Harmony – Groups – “I’ll Stand By You”
The show has to really power through the inspirations because there are 5 people in the group with 5 different inspirations. The most compelling: Ally Brooke was a premature baby and had a birth weight of just over 1 lb. Their performance didn’t work for me. It just didn’t connect to me. They really relied on Dinah Jane Hansen and she’s probably the least interesting vocalist of the group. I wasn’t very impressed and I think they are going to be in trouble this week. It’s a shame because they are one of the people I actually look forward to watching perform. The judges really liked it though, so what do I know?

Beatrice Miller – Teens – “Chasing Cars”
Beatrice’s inspirations this week are her two younger sisters, twins from Vietnam. There’s an interesting moment in the opening where Arin asks if they are going to come to see the show and Beatrice mentions that they probably can’t afford to fly to L.A. (oh please, Simon Cowell can afford it). But she is surprised by them earlier in the week and it’s a really touching moment. It’s a decent performance. Her vocals are interesting but I think her emotions got the best of her and it made her pitchy in some places. The judges really enjoyed it though and Britney almost cried. That’s a sign of improvement and life for her.

Vino Alan – Over 25s – “God Bless the U.S.A.”
Vino is dedicating his performance this week to the U.S. military. His grandfather was in the military and Vino performs shows for the troops all the time. I hate the song choice though. I mean, really, how fucking obvious is that? It’s also manipulative because who is going to criticize him for that (besides me sitting behind a laptop)? Vino’s vocals are strong but I can help but feel manipulated by the song choice. Sorry. The judges loved it and gave him a standing ovation. I bet he’ll be the #1 vote getter this week. No doubt in my mind.

Paige Thomas – Young Adults – “Everytime”
Paige is dedicating her song this week to her mentor Colleen. She took Paige in as a teenager and acted like a mother towards her. Pretty gutsy song choice, singing “Everytime” with Britney sitting just a few feet away. It’s a ballad and Paige isn’t the best vocalist. Her voice is all over the place and I wish she would have went home instead of Jennel. She’s not good at all. Britney thought it was beautiful, L.A. said it won’t get her out of 10th place and Simon was mixed on it.

Carly Rose Sonenclar – Teens – “Over the Rainbow”
Carly Rose is dedicating her song this week to her brother. She really looks up to him. She also tells a story about her mother having a stroke in front of her and her brother helping their family through that time. Her brother also surprised her backstage earlier this week and it’s a really sweet moment. She’s come one of my favorites in this competition and her performance this week was phenomenal. Her vocals were unbelievable and the arrangement of the song was absolutely beautiful. The show really hit a new high with this performance. I think Vino is still going to be #1 with the votes, but Carly Rose absolutely deserves it. Incredible.

OVERALL:
Carly Rose took the show to a new level this week. That performance is going to be remembered for a long time. All of the other singers that are on this show needed to reach that level of excellence. The show needs to raise the bar for talent expectations and I think that moment could be the breakthrough moment. In terms of elimination: I think Arin Ray is going to be the lowest vote getter and immediately sent home. Then I think the two groups: Emblem3 & Fifth Harmony are going to have to sing for their lives with Fifth Harmony being eliminated. Unfortunately. I hope I’m wrong though.