After last week’s MLB series rain delay, which had areas of the U.S. watching a partial airing of FOX’s The X Factor while another part saw nothing, the network aired Demi Lovato and Simon Cowell’s decisions on Tuesday.
Demi’s choices were very dramatic as her team of young adults are hungry for the chance to launch their careers and they possess some of the strongest voices in the competition.
As it was on Season 1, the groups weren’t as hard to whittle down. But, they may have an upper hand in the competition with Simon’s competitive drive and perfectionism. Perhaps, what the groups needed was someone like him championing them last season (Sorry, Paula Abdul!).
Note: Spoilers if you haven’t watched Tuesday’s Judges’ Homes conclusion.
Demi’s approach to choosing her finalists seemed to take in two major things. First, do they have vocal talent? And second, is there something unique about them that will stand out against the other teams?
She started off with two yeses in the Young Adults. They were belter Jennel Garcia (despite seeming insecure in her performance) and country/R&B artist Willie Jones (who she thinks is an absolute original).
Rapper Nick Youngerman was sent home despite his charisma and fun stage presence (the same one that had Britney Spears up and dancing during his audition). I don’t think that Demi felt that he had a chance of winning with rap amid this very talented group of vocalists.
That left her with two more spots and three singers to go. A tough group – all three with great voices – Paige Thomas, CeCe Frey and Jillian Jensen. What it seemed to come down to was whether Demi felt they had that necessary superstar spark. And so that meant that Jillian, whose stage presence can be diminutive compared to the other women, was let go.
Simon had probably the most refreshing presence during these eliminations. He was straightforward and unemotional. But, of course, what did I expect?
What I didn’t expect was for Simon to put his money on hip-hop group Lyric145. Rap is going to have a hard time winning this competition. It just feels like apples and oranges. But when I looked at the rest of the groups, it was clear that there wasn’t enough quality vocals to keep otherwise. Plus, a male-female rap group may provide the dynamics that could keep audiences entertained.
He then let a fish off the hook by sending R&B duo Dope Crisis home. I can’t even tell you what I thought of their Judges’ Home performance as they’re that unmemorable to me.
Sister C was a toss up for me. They’re sort of high-noted harmony isn’t exactly my thing. But, Simon seemed to feel that America would like them and support them in the competition. We’ll see. They seem like an acquired taste to me, so hopefully they’ll stick around long enough to change my mind.
Bro group Emblem3 was a no-brainer (despite one guy missing his cue during their Judges’ Homes performance). They’re creative, original, handsome and have a bad boy appeal. Not to mention, the guys will try to find any reason to take off their shirts i.e. the one member jumped in the pool after finding out they’re moving on.
As I mentioned earlier, the groups aren’t a deep well of talent. But, all you need is one winner, right? So, when it came down to boy band Playback versus the pretty amazing sounding girl group LYLAS, there was really no tension there – no matter how much The X Factor tried to edit it in. Playback was going home and LYLAS would continue on to live shows.
For a recap of Britney Spears and L.A. Reid’s picks, read my post from last week. Or, watch the video above.
What do you think of the finalists? Did any of the judges make a mistake that could cost them the competition? Sound off in the comments section below.
Below, watch FOX’s hilarious mash-up of The X Factor and the presidential debates.
