Recap: 'The X Factor' Results Live-Blog - Double Elimination
Which two acts weren't thankful on Thanksgiving Eve?
Melanie Amaro on Tuesday's "The X Factor"
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It's not just Elimination Wednesday on "The X Factor."
It's DOUBLE Elimination Wednesday.
Time to let the craziness ensue after the break...
8:01 p.m. ET. No time to dilly-dally tonight! We're kicking things off with Kelly Clarkson's Daria-esque animated laser presentation of "Stronger." Kelly's a good enough performer that I suspect that people on my Twitter feed won't find much to discuss beyond the impressive tightness of her dress. Grow up, kids!
8:03 p.m. "Oh, Bravo, Kelly Clarkson. What a set of pipes! Extraordinary," says the always impressed Steve Jones.
8:04 p.m. The judges are already seated. We aren't going to waste time introducing them. Instead, we're going right into the recap of last night's show, which should give me time to get this recap posted!
8:08 p.m. "That was last night. And what a night it was," Steve Jones raves. But we're a while from results. First, Bruno Mars and our Pepsi Choice Something-or-Other. And? Commercials!
8:13 p.m. Oh God. Tonight's Group Lip-Synch is YOUR fault America. The circus theme? Your fault. The revolving turntable? YOUR FAULT. The hip-hop background dancers? YOUR FAULT! Drew's red wig and her tiny black hat? YOUR FAULT. Rachel Crow's yellow jacket and pink highlights? That's probably her fault, but dressing Melanie Amaro as rough-trade police constable? Yeah. Totally YOUR FAULT.
8:16 p.m. "Nicely done, America," Steve Jones says contemptuously. [He didn't actually say it contemptuously. But I wish he did.]
8:17 p.m. Steve gets to results business by calling Lakoda Rayne and Drew to the center stage. Yikes. One of these acts got the fewest votes and is heading straight home. If it's Drew, you and I are gonna have issues, America. If it's Lakoda Rayne? We're cool.
8:18 p.m. The act who got the lowest number of votes last night is... LONG PAUSE. It's Lakoda Rayne. "I'm happy... I love you guys," Drew tells Lakoda Rayne. The FrankenGroup promises that we'll see them in concert EVERYWHERE. Threat or promise, ladies?
8:20 p.m. So that's it for all of Paula's Groups. Does that mean she gets to pack for Hawaii? Or does she just get to get hammered each week and tear into the other judges' acts without any fear of reprisals? Let's all root for the latter.
8:25 p.m. Steve Jones is getting VERY close to Howie Mandel in the audience. Was he not warned? Howie Mandel is currently the most uncomfortable man in America and Steve Jones has no clue. Oh, Steve...
8:26 p.m. Bruno Mars time, yo. I like Bruno more when he's tapping into the retro vibe he mines so expertly. This song isn't bad, but it could be sung by any number of talented contemporary vocalists. The breaking heart behind him is very sad. He closes with a humble, "Thank you."
8:29 p.m. "No, Bruno Mars. Thank you," Steve Jones says obsequiously.
8:30 p.m. All of the finalists who aren't Drew and The Late Lakoda Rayne return to the stage accompanied, once again, by "Carmina Burana." Just because. [I hope some website uses a "Down the Drayne" headline. I won't, because I don't like spoilers in my recap headlines. But that one's free for anybody out there who wants to use it.]
8:31 p.m. The second act voted through is... Chris Rene. The third act through is... Rachel Crow, who squeals loudly into Simon's mic. Through next? Burrito Josh. And now? Commercial!
8:36 p.m. More results! We're still going in no particular order and the fifth act through is... Melanie Amaro. My using her picture with this recap totally saved her. And all of Simon's Girls are safe. That leaves Marcus Canty, LeRoy Bell and Astro. This may or may not end up being intriguing. So which act is safe? It's... Astro. [Yeah, "No particular order" my butt.] This pretty much confirms the theory I posited last night that the total number of Astro voters offended by Astro's behavior last week was... ZERO. Lots of people who didn't like Astro anyway were a little peeved, but they don't count.
8:38 p.m. "I'm feelin' kinda funny," Marcus says. LeRoy describes himself as "scared."
8:42 p.m. So it's Marcus vs. LeRoy. This is gonna be an interesting choice for the judges... I hope they make Paula the deciding vote. Every week from now on, it should all be on Paula.
8:43 p.m. Marcus is first to sing for his life. He wasn't very good last night, but the judges were so wrapped up in how much he loved his mother that they couldn't bring themselves to tell him. He's much less emotional on this performance of "You Lost Me." And, as a direct result, he's much better. I think the judges will be looking for an excuse to keep the far more commercial Marcus and I think he probably gave them enough.
8:46 p.m. Mr. LeRoy Bell is next. He's singing "Don't Let Me Down," which is a pretty good clearance for a secondary performance. If it's just about vocals and absolutely nothing else, I'd give LeRoy the advantage over Marcus any day of the week. Michael Bolton/Bryan Adams/Bob Seger affectations aside, he's just got a great voice. But I know why the judges are probably going to reference that whole $5 million contract thing in saying that a 20-something R&B vocalist is a better commercial bet than a 60-year-old adult contemporary crooner.
8:53 p.m. OK. Let's make Paula cry.
8:53 p.m. L.A. Reid is up first. You know he's sticking with his guy. But he's still gonna waste time. WHAT? L.A. Reid says that if it were based on "sizzle," it would be LeRoy, but if it were "consistency," it would be Marcus. That's EXACTLY backwards. L.A. Reid makes his plea on Marcus' behalf and finally says it pains him to send LeRoy home. Nicole's up next. And she's gonna stand by her guy. Why do we have to waste our time on this format? Who's going to vote against their people? She sends Marcus home.
8:56 p.m. Paula thinks they're both going to go on to have major record deals and sell lots of albums. She's wrong. But based on tonight's performances, Paula votes to send Marcus home. Interesting. That means it's up to Simon to either send Marcus home or send this to America's vote. "I'm gonna let the public decide tonight," Simon says. WEENIE! So it's 2-2.
8:57 p.m. So how did America vote? The act with the lowest number of votes was... LeRoy Bell. That's disappointing, but not surprising. "I'm actually feeling OK," LeRoy says, calling it "a great ride" and "an incredible journey."
8:58 p.m. Really, three cheers for LeRoy Bell, who may have the best genetic makeup in human history. We should all be LeRoy Bells when we get to be his age. Or even 10 or 15 or 20 years younger.
What do you think, readers? Did the right two acts go home?
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Login or create a HitFix account Login SignupPuterBoi
November 23, 2011 at 9:25PM EST Reply to CommentDaniel...I can promise Lakoda Rayne that I will not see them in concert....ANYWHERE.
dan PuterBoi - But they're so darned pretty! Not enough? Oh well. Darn you, America and your hatred of mediocre groups!
November 23, 2011 at 9:34PM EST-Daniel
PuterBoi Daniel...I called out Chris Rene as the winner of this competition the first time I saw him and no matter how LA tries to sabotage him he continues to thrive. I think he has touched a nerve out there.
November 23, 2011 at 9:42PM ESTDrew Melbourne My problem with Chris Rene is that he is both the worst singer and the worst rapper in the competition. I don't see how he breaks into the top 4.
November 23, 2011 at 10:22PM EST
November 23, 2011 at 10:26PM EST-Daniel
Trey
November 23, 2011 at 9:40PM EST Reply to CommentThe irony here is that Marcus and LeRoy probably gave the two most emotionally moving performances last night, apart from Melanie Amaro (Rachel's was moving mostly just because of her back-story).
Not necessarily the best performances, however. So it's not a shock they're here.
dan Trey - Everybody was afraid to tell Marcus that he was too emotional last night and that the song suffered for it. I thought LeRoy was very good, but I expected him to be gone weeks ago, before I realized how much America hates Groups.
November 23, 2011 at 9:42PM EST-Daniel
Bella
November 23, 2011 at 9:56PM EST Reply to Commentbruno mars didn't mime.
November 23, 2011 at 10:02PM EST-Daniel
JC
November 23, 2011 at 10:01PM EST Reply to CommentOdd, I thought LeRoy was awful tonight...guess Simon (and Dan) and I aren't in sync.
Trey
November 23, 2011 at 10:03PM EST Reply to CommentWas Steve Jones rushing you on your live-blog? You both referred to LeRoy as Nicole's "girl" and attributed his farewell quotes to Marcus. LOL.
November 23, 2011 at 10:08PM ESTFixed! Thanks...
-Daniel
briguyx
November 23, 2011 at 11:45PM EST Reply to CommentI realized while reading this that as producer, Simon might well have known beforehand the vote totals and let America choose via deadlock who goes home rather than looking like the bad guy.
Teresa Agree!
November 24, 2011 at 11:56AM ESTKyle
November 24, 2011 at 12:54AM EST Reply to CommentHow is that annoying Brian still there?! I can't stand that kid! His attitude us awful and he doesn't even sing!
If Leroy had busted out the full Michael Bolton Captain Jack Sparrow last night, there is no way he'd have been in the bottom 2 tonight!
November 24, 2011 at 12:57AM EST-Daniel
Teresa
November 24, 2011 at 11:55AM EST Reply to CommentThe X Factor is corrupted by conflicts of interest
The Fox Channel’s X Factor, a singing competition, is one of the most unfair, if not corrupt, ‘reality’ shows on television today. People who view this show should think about why they support its lack of ethics and its ill treatment of contestants and the public who is asked to vote for potential winners.
It’s especially interesting in today’s political climate, where both Occupiers and Tea Partiers renounce corrupt and greedy politicians that accumulate wealth at the expense of everyday Americans, that The X Factor is not a target of public rage and disgust. It’s entire structure’s goal is to make a very few people extremely wealthy.
Here’s why the show is unethical. The four people who judge the acts — Simon Cowell (judges girls), Paula Abdul (judges groups), L.A. Reid (judges boys), and Nicole Scherzinger (judges people over age 30), also mentor the contestants. They have a strong influence over what songs the contestants sing as well as their make-up, clothing, and staging — lighting, backup singers and dancers, and special effects.
This would be like going to court with your attorney after being charged with a crime, and learning that the judge is the prosecuting attorney’s mentor. You wouldn’t stand a chance.
This is a serious conflict of interest, but it gets worse — the judges are also competing against each other for the glory of being the judge whose act wins the competition. Therefore, if a judge sees an act as a liability, he or she can choose an unsuitable song and influence other aspects of the performance that would put the contestant in a bad light. Judges can, and do, insult one another’s acts in a tawdry attempt to influence the public.
How the show works. After the judges choose what they think are the top acts during auditions in several cities, each judge is assigned an equal number of acts. One judge gets all the girls, another all the boys, another performers over age 30, and another judge is assigned groups.
Artists in the different categories perform in front of their judges at the judges’ homes, until the final group of 16 is selected. Then, all acts perform in Los Angeles, and The X Factor viewers vote for their favorite acts. It is not a “one man, one vote” situation like a political election, however. People can vote as many times as they want for two hours after the show. Land lines, cell phones, and computers can all be used to vote, putting people with access to all three at an advantage.
The day after the performances, a second show is aired to announce who will be going home. The bottom two vote getters are announced, and the judges vote on which act they will send home. If there is a deadlock, the person with the lowest number of votes goes home.
This year, the judges tweaked the rules for the November 22 show, announcing a few days ahead, without giving an explanation, that they would send two acts home— the act with the least number of votes, and then one of the two next lowest vote getters. They deadlocked in choosing which of those two would go home, and the person with the least number of votes of the two was sent home.
This last minute announcement was unfair because if people had known about it before voting started, voting may have been done differently.
The X Factor producers insist that an independent firm tallies the votes and the vote is not revealed until the live show’s emcee announces it. Some outcomes in the voting have the Blogosphere speculating that voting is rigged, and that the judges are told the results before the show.
The end result will be that the judges will pick the winner from the two remaining acts, not the voters, although the show is promoted as being one in which the public chooses the winner with the most “X” factor.
The November 22 show is not the first time the rules were bent. After each judge picked her or his final four, Cowell told the world he had made a terrible mistake in sending one of the girls home. He made a huge show of traveling to her home in Florida for a “surprise” visit, where, coincidentally, the girl’s family was all at home sitting around the house. That gave Cowell one more act than the other judges when the voting segment began.
It all seemed pretty staged. Cowell is not a humble person who would admit a mistake. The fuss he made about his snafu brought a huge amount of attention to his act, and as of this writing she is in the final 7.
X Factor’s winner will receive a $5 million recording contract paid out in five $1 million installments. The contract’s terms are not known and will probably ever be revealed but most certainly the presentation of that annual check with depend on performance and other factors. If the winner is a success, the show’s owners and investors — especially Cowell and Reid —will become even richer than they already are. This probably makes them think the conflicts of interest are acceptable, as well as their not leaving the winning choice up to the voters.
Josh Turn off your tv then!
November 25, 2011 at 1:19AM ESTLili
November 25, 2011 at 1:16AM EST Reply to CommentI'm sure Marcus will turn into an Usher next week. The i'm-a-little-baby-and-i-love-my-mommy attitude is gonna go.