Carly Rose Sonenclar of "The X Factor"

Credit: FOX

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We're getting closer to the end on "The X Factor." Tonight? We eliminate two more singers and cut down to what the show is calling The Semifinals. 

We'll also enjoy performances by Melanie Amaro and Ke$ha. Or we'll try to enjoy them. 

Click through for the full results live-blog!

8:06 p.m. ET. Zzzzzz. What? The recap of last night's show is over? Whew!

8:09 p.m. Melanie Amaro time. This is a pretty generic song. And Melanie has, herself, been rendered basically generic. I'm not longer sure if she was distinctive last season or if we dreamt that she was notable.

8:10 p.m. Ah. There's a big note from Melanie. Even though every second of this song is over-produced pop nonsense, she's still got that voice that they couldn't contain if they tried. And I'm sure they have.

8:11 p.m. "I have tons of wonderful people that just love me," Melanie says of how life has changed for her. Melanie tries to thank the judges and Mario Lopez interrupts her. We need to sell things, Melanie!

8:16 p.m. "Obviously music is at the core of our contestants' everyday lives," Mario Lopez says before giving Simon Cowell the opportunity to plug his headphones.

8:16 p.m. But that's not all. There's a full extended commercial for the headphones featuring our Top 6.

8:17 p.m. Unclean. Unclean.

8:18 p.m. Make this stop.

8:19 p.m. Whew. Now time for the slow parade of the Top 6 and their mentors. The very slow parade.

8:20 p.m. Somebody's going home immediately... And it's CECE FREY. Whew. Cece hopes that she's taught everybody at home to love who they are. Demi Lovato's sporting matching leopard-print face schmutz and she pretends to cry, telling Cece how much she'll miss her. That was not especially believable, Demi.

8:21 p.m. That's it for Demi Lovato as a mentor. Guess that didn't go so well, did it?

8:26 p.m. Let's send people to safety. Our first act in the Semifinals is... Emblem 3. OK. That's not surprising. The second act in the Semifinals is... Carly Rose Sonenclar, because I used her as the image with this recap.

8:27 p.m. And in the last non-surprise, Tate Stevens is off to the Semifinals, meaning that it's Fifth Harmony versus Diamond White for the last spot. Diamond is focused on killing it, but she's honored to be in the Top 5. One member of Fifth Harmony vows that they're going to bring it. Mario says they're going to fight for survival in just a few minutes. Sadly, I suspect that nothing nearly that exciting will take place.

8:32 p.m. If Diamond and Fifth Harmony actually battled for survival, Fifth Harmony would win, of course. There are five of them. They'd tear Diamond to bits. It wouldn't be fair. So I guess I'm glad that Mario was being hyperbolic.

8:33 p.m. "This is just getting harder and harder," Khloe says backstage. THAT'S WHAT SHE SAID. Anyway, the ladies of Fifth Harmony seem nervous. Little do they know that they have to wait for a performance by a non-singer, Ke$ha.

8:34 p.m. No contemporary artist makes me feel as old as Ke$ha, who launches into her new single, which is basically a raunchier rewrite of "Tick-Tock." That's a very big moon behind Ke$ha and what, pray tell, is Ke$ha even doing? She's not singing. She's not dancing. She's writhing a little, but she's barely putting any effort into her lip-syching.

8:35 p.m. Who. She's making her hands glow. And she's surrounded by the cast of the new musical "Feral Cats." Boo. Why is Ke$ha kicking the cats? Who thinks that's cool?

8:37 p.m. Khloe and Mario like saying "Ke$ha."

8:41 p.m. Fifth Harmony will perform first, even Simon would prefer not to. Smartly, Fifth Harmony does a cover of "Any Time You Need a Friend" that includes a tiny bit of harmony on the chorus. But the first two solos are both flat. It's up to Dinah to save the group, as she has done several times this season. Was the last soloist Ally? She was awful. 

8:45 p.m. Diamond White follows the subpar Fifth Harmony performance with a very earnest, but certainly superior version of "I Hope You Dance." She closes strong enough that the judges shouldn't have any real doubts. They will anyway, but I think this is a Diamond victory.

8:48 p.m. Simon praises both artists, but of course he votes to send Diamond home. Britney votes to send Fifth Harmony home. Shocking, right? L.A. Reid wishes they weren't both so lovable, but he votes to send Diamond White home. That means it's up to Demi Lovato. I think she could get away with going to Deadlock. She reassures both acts that they'll have careers, but she votes to send DIAMOND WHITE home. Oh well. "I'm thinking of Cher Lloyd right now. She came in fifth," Diamond says, smartly. 

8:51 p.m. I can't say that I understand that decision by L.A. Reid and Demi Lovato, but I also can't say that I care enough to get emotional about it. Diamond had, indeed, been in the bottom group before, so it made some sense to keep Fifth Harmony, because they hadn't. Fair enough. "The future is ahead of you and the world is yours," Britney tells Diamond.

8:57 p.m. Let's learn the voting ranks: 4th - Fifth Harmony. 3rd - Emblem 3. [Simon still thinks they can win, even though the Top 2 has been the same each week since they started doing this. "This is a very nervous moment," L.A. Reid says, looking at Carly Rose and Tate. "It's up to America," Britney says sagely.]

8:59 p.m. In Second... Carly Rose Sonenclar. That puts Tate Stevens in first. Tate thanks us for doing our thing. L.A. Reid babbles through the closing credits.

9:00 p.m. Not much to say about that. The Top 3 was always going to be the Top 3. So if I think Diamond went home a week early and Fifth Harmony is going to go home a week late, who really cares? Neither of them was going to win. So... Business as usual on "The X Factor," I guess.

What'd you think? Did the right two acts go home?

Daniel Fienberg
Executive Editor

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A long-time member of the TCA Board and a longer-time blogger of "American Idol," Dan Fienberg writes about TV, except for when he writes about movies or sometimes writes about the Red Sox. But never music. He would sound stupid talking about music.