The X Factor USA Top 12 – What You May Have Missed

I’m thankful to be able to continue writing my X Factor recaps on Pop Rock Nation. And while writing the “live blog” version of the elimination show has been a blast, because of how late I watch it on the West Coast, it’s not really “live”. Thus, I’ll write more of a recap/review of the show, with the idea that the people reading just want the big happenings and not all the minutia.

I’ll still have some of the minutia as I wouldn’t be me without the fun, but sometimes insignificant details. But we’ll hit all the big spots each week first and make them the priority.

How did the mentors put their acts into the finals?

There is no audience vote on this first show. That will start next week. Instead, with 24 contestants left, each judge was able to secure two out of their four finalists and keep them safe, at least until next week. The other two had a sing-off and their mentor had to choose between the two to decide who was safe and who was eliminated.

The problem with this was that when it came down to the final two, it was the most nervous sing-off of all time. However, based on who made it through, I’m not sure the decisions were based on the final sing-off as much as how different they wanted their final three to be.

For instance, LYRIC 145 doesn’t need to be anywhere near a final anything, yet Simon more than likely chose them because he didn’t want two young girl groups taking votes away from each other. And plus, LYRIC 145 is more different than any of the other acts.

Other than LYRIC 145, did the mentors make any mistakes?

Here’s who were sent home tonight: Willie Jones, Diamond White, David Correy, and Sister C.

Britney smartly sent through Carly Rose and Beatrice. As long as they don’t fail because of the pressure, they are shoe-ins for the top five. In fact, they sit one and two in my prediction. That left Arin Ray and Diamond White who are completely different artists. Ray is needed because he’s the only young solo male in the competition left. But there may not be anyone more likable than Diamond White. And her voice is clearly better than Ray’s. While it was sad to see Diamond go, it was probably the right move by Britney. It was shrewd and proved she wasn’t crazy, at least for one week.

So, the other decisions were correct?

I had Willie Jones making it to the top 12 during my prediction piece, but he wasn’t sticking around long. And I didn’t expect Jennel Garcia to do so well on Wednesday. LA Reid made the right decision with his choices. Tate Stevens won’t win the show, but with Sister C gone, he’s the only country artist left so he could stick around for a long time. David Correy was far too annoying to stay on the show for any significant amount of time. Demi kept the Paige/CeCe rivalry alive which should be focused on more since they spent so much time on it during the auditions.

And even though I loathe Emblem3’s image, it’s fair to say that they have a great chance to win this thing. Simon sees stars. The only thing that can stop Emblem3? Well, how about food poisoning/dehydration (we know what dehydration really stands for) or ruining hotel rooms.

How’s Khloe Kardashian

In a word? Terrible. In the first two shows, there have been many issues with Khloe.

1. She’s too tall. She towers over all the girls and most of the guys.
2. For whatever reason, Simon either can’t hear her when she asks him a question, or she talks too fast for him to understand.
3. She cuts the acts off mid-sentence if they’re not answering how she wants them to.

She also pauses and waits and seemingly can’t find what words to say when her timing with the mentors is off. My buddy @rcallen12 made a great call. We should start calling her Khloe Dunkleman.

Which are the best five right now?

Give me Carly Ray, Beatrice, Emblem3, CeCe Fray, and Jason Brock in the top five after this week. Though Brock has struggled so far, I still think there’s a certain charisma to him that will get him further.

What should we rename 1432?

Simon is asking America to help in the renaming of the former LYLAS and 1432. You can do so somewhere on the X Factor USA website.

By the way, they may have had to change from LYLAS because Bruno Mars’ sisters have a group named The Lylas.

I would name them New Eden’s Crush. Eden’s Crush was the all-girl group from the WB show Popstars. It was the first time we all saw Nicole Scherzinger who we’d eventually get tired of seeing.

Compare that to the current 1432. Pretty uncanny resemblance I must say.

Until next week …