The final twenty-four singers were revealed on The X Factor this past Wednesday for the Judge’s Homes round that split the contenders into four groups.
Like the first season of The X Factor, the judges called back the previously eliminated hopefuls on one condition, they had to sing in groups and not as solo artists.
Judges Britney Spears, Demi Lovato, L.A. Reid, and Simon Cowell each took a portion of the singers to their houses for one final performance before the live shows begin next week. As we saw in the many X Factor previews for this week, the judges enlisted a number of guest mentors to help with the task at hand.
Simon picked Marc Anthony, Britney chose will.i.am, L.A. got Justin Bieber, and Demi worked with Nick Jonas, who sported quite the fetching haircut. Just saying.
The singers were put into four categories, young adults (ages 17-24), over-25s, teens, and groups. Britney got the teens, Demi took on the young adults, Simon took charge of the groups, and L.A. (who was visibly upset) received the over-25s despite the fact that his guest mentor was the teen-friendly Justin Bieber.
Unfortunately, despite the two-hour run, only Simon and Demi’s contestants got the chance to perform.
The Over-25s: The singers in the this group consisted of Jason Brock, David Correy (not sure about this one), Tara Simon (yawn), Daryl Black (who?), country singer Tate Stevens, and Vino Alan. Viewers were shocked that Jeffrey Gutt didn’t make the cut but it was the judges’ decision.
The Teens: Heading up the most fan friendly group were Diamond White, Carly Rose Sonenclar, Beatrice Miller, James Tanner, Reed Deming, and Arin Ray who was separated from his potential lady love, Normani Hamilton, who wound up on Simon’s team.
The Groups: For the most challenging category, Sister C, Emblem3, and Dope Crisis were the only original groups to make it through without any adjustments. However, one of the best surprise acts was Simon Cowell’s group Lyric 145 that combined Lyric Da Queen and One4Five. Finally, some originality! Also, Lyric’s eye patch? Yep, still want it.
Rounding out the remaining acts were the Lylas (which included former standouts Ally Brooks and Dinah Jane Hansen) and Playback, which included Austin Corini who danced around like a hungry squirrel during their performance.
At Demi Lovato’s house, The X Factor producers once again tried to pit Paige Thomas against Cece Frey. Let’s just say that the The X factor won’t be short on the drama when it comes to these two.
Although it pains me to say it, Cece did a much better job with her scaled back down performance of LMFAO’s “Sexy and I know It” (why do contestants keep choosing this song???). Paige’s rendition of Chris Brown’s “Turn up the Music” was a disappointment since she has yet to regain the vocal prowess she showed in her initial audition.
Jennel Garcia performed Katy Perry’s “I Kissed a Girl” and finally reverted back to her sexy self despite Demi’s less-than-helpful advice. Willie Jones (still torn on him), sang Tony Rich’s “Nobody Knows” again before Jillian Jensen took on Sara Bareilles’ “Gravity”. Jillian was good but not great, which didn’t come as a surprise when Demi told her to show more personality.
At Simon’s house in Miami, it was time for the groups. Lyric 145 were great with their performance of Miley Cyrus’ “Party in the USA”. Although it was a bizarre song choice for the rap group, they made it work. Hands down, LYLAS delivered my favorite performance of the night. Dinah Jane Hansen, Lauren Jauregui, Ally Brooke, Normani Hamilton, and Camila Cabello combined for a stellar version of Shontelle’s “Impossible”.
As for the Playback guys, Josh Metzler, Owen Stuart, Austin Corini, Brandon Hassan, and Johnny Maxwell chose the Hall & Oats hit “Rich Girl” while Emblem3 took on the Police song “Everything Little Thing She Does is Magic”. There’s a fine line between confidence and arrogance and Emblem3 has more than worn out their welcome at this point, especially after butchering The Police.
What did you think of the final twenty-four acts on The X Factor?