One day after the Top 12 performed, it was time to say goodbye to one of the acts on ‘The X Factor.’ After America voted, who would be eliminated? Would we find out early on in the show? Of course not! ‘The X Factor’ still had 59 minutes to fill.
The first ever elimination episode kicked off with a group performance featuring every act. Their mission? Perform a version of David Guetta and Usher’s current hit, “Without You.” The only problem? It was lip synced. And not a good lip sync at that. I was fine at the beginning when I only thought the performance was not live. But then LeRoy Bell forgot it was his turn. His voice came out, but the microphone wasn’t at his lips. Oops! It’s like a rehash of Britney Spears’ VMA performance of “Gimme More” when she was NOT prepared. Okay. So it wasn’t quite that bad. Perhaps LeRoy is too much of an artist to lip sync and was confused by the whole idea of it. I think the only person who didn’t lip sync was Astro, kid rapper, but he forgot the lyrics to his own rap! Oy. Perhaps next week’s group performance will be better thought out.
Following the group performance was a recap of all 12 performances from the night before and then some act called Outasight. I had never heard of Outasight, but he sang his song, “Tonight Is The Night,” which is currently featured in the Pepsi commercial. Cross promotion, anyone? Pepsi is a sponsor of ‘The X Factor,’ and the show’s winner gets to appear in a Pepsi commercial. Craziness! Then they showed some old Pepsi commercials, which made me nostalgic about the days when the Spice Girls were in one. Sigh. Those were the good old days.
Then it was time for the eliminations, which was very dramatic, but took up way too much time. Steve Jones ran through the acts who were safe as the cameras cut back and forth between all the acts. SUCH SUSPENSE! It actually was kind of suspenseful, to be honest. Marcus Canty, Drew Ryniewicz, LeRoy Bell, Astro, Lakoda Rayne, Rachel Crow, Chris Rene, Josh Krajcik, Melanie Amaro and Stacy Francis were all called safe (in that order). That left two of Paula’s groups in the bottom two: The Stereo Hogzz and InTENsity. You could tell from the look on Paula’s face that she was not happy. I’m guessing someone got yelled at BIG TIME during the break.
Once the final two were pulled out, they had to each sing one more time to let the judges decide which act would be eliminated. I like this aspect of ‘The X Factor’ because it prevents a Jennifer Hudson situation from happening on the show. The Stereo Hogzz performed first with their rendition of Samantha Sang’s “Emotion” (you might also know the song as it was performed by The Bee Gee’s and Destiny’s Child, too). I thought the vocals were a little shaky from The Stereo Hogzz and their harmonies had some issues. It seems like one of the five is always singing sharp and one is always flat, which doesn’t assist in making a good mix. But Paula was really into it, which I guess was good, since they are one of her acts.
InTENsity took the stage next to sing their version of Kelly Clarkson’s “My Life Would Suck Without You.” They were okay when they were letting the lead girl sing the verses, but when one of the boys took over — ooh boy. It was not good at all. I thought InTENsity was going to knock out The Stereo Hogzz until he started to sing. It’s sad to say, but that kid lost it for the other nine. I really wanted to like InTENsity, but the times they have performed, it was just too Branson. Maybe The Osmonds will take them under their wings and mold them into the next teen super group. They’d just have to get rid of that one bad apple. (Please excuse my knowledge of The Osmonds. It is much greater than it should be.)
After each act performed, the judges had to decide which to eliminate. Simon wanted to get rid of The Stereo Hogzz while the other three voted to eliminate InTENsity. Then there was a lot of crying and Steve claiming InTENsity was “inconsolable.” I did feel bad for those ten kids. Especially once they started to cry. I do have emotions after all. And there’s nothing worse than a child crying. Well, Kim Kardashian crying is worse. She’s an ugly crier. Just ask her sisters.
So…one act down, 11 to go. It’s seeming to me as if a girl will win the whole competition. Melanie or Drew perhaps? What do you think? Will it be one of them, or will someone else sneak in as the black horse? I guess we’ll find out come the week of Christmas!