‘The X Factor’ wasted no time Thursday night jumping into things. Straight out of the open, the top 10 acts performed “We Will Rock You.” I was impressed this week because the song was not lip synced and no one was out of tune. The only problem seemed to be people remembering the words. LeRoy Bell seemed to forget his lyrics. Or maybe he just didn’t realize it was his turn to sing. Hayley of Lakoda Rayne also seemed to mumble and slur the way through her part. Sure she was on key, but I had no idea what she said. Maybe she decided it would be fun to sing her part in Norwegian, which means I wouldn’t have understood what she said. We’ll just go with that. Hayley sings in Norwegian sometimes. Who knew?
Following the group performance was a recap of the 10 songs from Wednesday night. Then, the show wasted no time in getting to results as Steve Jones came out on stage and said it was time for the first acts to learn their fate. Can you say HIGH DRAMA? I thought shows causing these kinds of heart palpitations for me were reserved to ABC’s Tuesday night line up. LeRoy and Lakoda Rayne were the first acts to learn they were safe. Paula Abdul ran up on stage to hug her only remaining act. I felt sorry for Paula after the past few weeks, so it was nice to see her smiling again.
After that there was some sort of photo session bit. It turns out no one really cared about the photo shoot because at the end they got a free camera. So I just wasted five minutes of my life watching a commercial for a Sony camera. Where’s my free camera, X Factor? Please send to the Fox 4 studios now. Thank you in advance, Sony.
Next up was the week’s professional performance from everyone’s favorite Barbadian pop star, Rihanna. She “sang?” her latest number one hit, “We Found Love.” I was proud of Rihanna because her hair looks far better than it did for the better part of the year. She no longer shares the same hair color with Ronald McDonald, which is a huge plus. My problem with the song is that I’m not sure Rihanna sang live. In fact, I’m almost certain she did not. Because if she did, it sounded like she was performing live from the inside of a trash can. I’ll give her credit for even showing up, though, because she was just sick and had to cancel a string of concerts in Sweden and other European countries. Also questionable was her fashion sense. I’m thinking she stole Samantha Fox’s acid washed jeans from 1988. Not good. At all. All she needed to do was break into “Naughty Girls (Need Love Too)” and it would have been just like watching Samantha Fox perform live. Steve interviewed Rihanna after she sang, and she did have a good quote: “You have to love what you do. If you don’t, it’s a waste of time.” Truer words have never been spoken. If you’re not fully invested in something, than why waste your time with it? There’s my introspective moment of the day. Don’t expect any more.
Then it was time for more results. Chris Rene, Melanie Amaro, Josh Krajcik, Marcus Canty, Drew Ryniewicz and Rachel Crow were all named safe in that order. I felt REALLY sorry for Rachel because she was the last one called safe. She started crying, and I really couldn’t watch her cry. Plus, I almost had a heart attack waiting for Steve to call Rachel safe. After she was saved, that meant Astro and Stacy Francis were the bottom two. Stacy couldn’t even speak and Astro started acting a fool on the stage.
Stacy was first to sing her sing-off song. She busted out her version of “Amazing Grace.” Sadly, staying on pitch is not Stacy’s forte. The song did get better as she got deeper into it, so by the end, it was pretty good. She did what she needed to do in an attempt to save herself. She performed a church song, which was what the judges told her she needed to do the whole competition.
Astro performed second. But before he even started doing anything, he came on stage and said he didn’t want to perform because he didn’t think it was necessary. Now, if you’ve been reading the blog, you know I am not a fan of Lil’ Astro. In fact, I don’t think he should have lasted this long in the competition. But saying it’s “not necessary” to perform in order to save yourself is ridiculous. He needed to settle down. Then he did some rap version of “Never Can Say Goodbye” and basically called Paula crazy during one of his verses. I have a feeling MC Skat Kat is looking Astro up right now to scratch his eyes out. You don’t mess with Ms. Paula.
After these performances, I knew Stacy was going to go home, but I really hoped the judges would punish Astro for his attitude problems and send him packing. Little did I know his attitude problems were about to get worse.
Following the final commercial break, the judges began their voting off process. LA Reid began and picked Stacy to go home. Nicole Scherzinger picked Astro. Paula went with Stacy. Then it came to Simon Cowell. And Simon schooled Astro on his attitude. Astro was standing with his armed crossed, looking like he was about to throw a tantrum. Simon asked what his problem was. Astro’s reponse? “I don’t feel like I should perform for people who don’t want me.” That’s when the audience turned. They started booing Astro and chanting, “Stacy! Stacy! Stacy! Stacy!” It was one of the greatest moments of my life. Simon continued to tell Astro about how he needed to change his attitude and to think about what his Mom was watching at home. Then Simon voted to kick off Stacy. Ugh. At least the audience continued to boo.
Steve tried to talk to Stacy, but she could barely speak. She did however muster the strength to thank the judges for giving her a chance on ‘The X Factor.’ She also talked about how she’s had a hard life and how it was the greatest opportunity she had ever had. Stacy was a class act on her way out. Can we expect the same from Astro? Highly unlikely. I have a feeling America won’t stand for the way he acted. His time to be eliminated will come much sooner than some thought. You don’t act like a spoiled brat on national television and receive sympathy in return.