Here we are. It's time for the Top 17 to be unveiled.
1) Tora Woloshin - Tora had given Simon some intangible and unexplainable doubts and Simon confirmed that slight reluctance. Tora's journey ended tonight but she'll be one to watch if she chooses to return next season or some other time down the road.
2) Simone Battle - Despite forgetting lyrics and bouts of inconsistency, Simon looked past her mistakes and took her based on her raw potential upside. Judging her on performance
3) Drew Ryniewicz - The most obvious "yes" of the deepest category, Drew was of course given the full torturous runaround before getting the inevitable affirmation of her dominance up to this point of the competition. Simon told her that she wasn't the best teenager of the competition and then after letting Drew dangle a bit, told her that she was the best in the entire competition of the day.
4) Josh Krajcik - Despite Nicole's own misgivings about whether his guy-next-door stardom potential, she unconvincingly head faked Josh and the rest of us for mere seconds before reaching the obvious conclusion. There was no way Nicole Scherzinger was leaving Josh behind.
5) Dexter Haygood - In what was certainly one of the stunners of the night if based solely on performance, Nicole just couldn't say no to the 49 year-old homeless rocker, even flat out admitting that she chose her heart over her mind. Dexter's personality and back story could well make him a fan favorite on the live shows. He just became a fan favorite but competitively speaking, it remains to be seen if he is a dark horse, contender, or favorite.
6) James Kenney - I took a chance and penciled him into the next round in anticipation of the usual reality show slow moving build up to an eventual chosen finalist. I was wrong. It remains to be seen if he'll choose to come back next season but the crowded Over 30 group made a potential dark horse expendable.
7) Christa Collins - In an incredibly dumbfounding move, Nicole Scherzinger elected not to take the lead singer of The Woolly Bandits. I wondered about this however when Enrique Inglesias seemed to have exhibited enthusiasm for her that Nicole did not share. Offering some lame explanation after Christa's rendition of Radiohead's "No Surprises" that she didn't sing with enough pain, despite the fact that Christa's mother was killed when she was very young, Scherzinger inexplicably deferred Christa's X Factor aspirations.
8) 2 Squar'd - The female quartet apparently had quit everything (jobs included), horrible recession and all, to pursue a dream that ended at Paula Abdul's palace. The barely shown foursome received the fate that most people expected.
9) The Brewer Boys - I had them being just out but I was hardly surprised that Paula chose them. She also debunked my theory that she was out to sabotage certain acts. Their viability in the live shows can go either way though but teenage girls will probably love these brothers.
10) Illusion/Confusion - In perhaps the most foregone conclusion of the Top 16 announcements, the barely seen trio failed to make the cut.
11) 4Shore - The aspiring quartet had changed their lives drastically to chase their X Factor dream but it came to an end. The group vowed that this would probably be it for them if they had failed to advance so it is probably the last we see of them.
12) Brian Bradley - The cocky 14 year-old rapper got a vote of confidence from L.A. Reid in being put through to the next round. It was widely believed that it was at least possible that he could be delayed by a year or more because of his obvious maturity issues but L.A. felt that there was no time like the present.
13) Skyelar Anderson - The talented but still unpolished teenager country singer impressed L.A. Reid but ultimately felt that he wasn't quite yet ready. The 16 year-old whose own tragic background got lost in the shuffle of the other heartbreaking stories will certainly be back at some point.
14) Nick Voss - Nick's last performance was not quite as strong as his past performances and it most likely cost him a spot in the Top 16. It's unclear as of now whether he'll mount another run on the show next season or not.
15) Phillip Lomax - In what I can surmount as a genuine shocker, the Rat Pack styled old school spirit made it through to the live shows. It still remains unclear how far he can go on the show but he has surpassed reasonable expectations up to this point and now we will see if he can coax more versatility out of his crooning voice.
16) Brennin Hunt - Brennin was definitely on the fence and one can't help but wonder just how influential Rihanna was in sinking his X Factor aspirations. Hunt had talked about being an old spirit at 26 but it remains to be seen what kind of future he holds. He took the bad news with the same cool grace that made him a contender for the Top 16.
17) Jazzlyn Little - In what was no shock to even Jazzlyn, the teenager was ultimately held back by her own confidence issues and insecurities. Simon definitely wants her to come back and I can't imagine she refuses his advice.
18) Tiger Budhill - Making Nicole cry when he proclaimed that his heart had just sunk, Tiger took the news hard that he wasn't advancing. It definitely had the ring of finality to it and it seems unlikely that he will make another attempt next season or beyond.
19) LeRoy Bell - In what was one of the most pleasant surprises of the evening, Nicole put LeRoy through. Having already seen Christa Collins get a raw deal, it was nice to see both Dexter and LeRoy get the chance to perform live. Bell could become a very fast fan favorite. His much younger than he looks earnestness and modesty could connect to multiple demographics.
20) Chris Rene - L.A. Reid tried faking us out, invoking Chris' struggles to stay clean and sober in the process, but in the end he fooled nobody as we could hear Chris' sister (and former contestant) Geena scream on the other end of his obligatory filmed phone call.
21) Lakoda Rayne - In what was no big surprise, the first of the two manufactured groups made it through. Paula laid out her concerns but still felt their upside outweighed those doubts.
22) InTENsity - Paula was somewhat more explicit in her criticisms of the group and they were even split down gender lines, saving her harshest but most constructive criticisms for the girls. The whole thing was kind of odd given that it was the show itself that decided to put a whopping ten kids together to form one supergroup but they ultimately got the nod.
23) Tiah Tolliver - Having Simon be her biggest supporter paid dividends despite his own concerns about her pitch and the fact that she only seemed to fully win him over. He oddly told her to work on her own confidence which struck me as interesting because her issues seemed to be Nicole and Paula related. Her ceiling on and beyond the show remains extremely high. I still believe she is a major star in the making.
24) Caitlin Koch - In perhaps the biggest shocker of the entire night, the 22 year-old rugby player-coach was sent home. She seemed to be a lock for a spot in the final four but despite what seemed to be one flawless effort after another, she was sent packing. It remains to be seen if she will give American Idol a much more visible go around than in Season 10 or if she'll come back on The X Factor next season but wherever she ends up, it's hard to fathom that we have heard the last of her.
25) Marcus Canty - L.A. Reid shared some doubts about Canty's star potential but I never got the feeling that Marcus wouldn't get the nod. He should be a major contender going forward with a potentially diverse fan base.
26) Tim Cifers - I wasn't completely surprised to see L.A. Reid pass on Tim but after passing on Skyelar, and rightfully so (he's still too unpolished despite his own vast potential), it was stunning to see Reid pass on a country singer with huge upside with the ability to tap into that Scotty McCreery-Lauren Alaina voting block. L.A. will regret this - or at least he should.
27) The Stereo Hogzz - In what came as no surprise, Paula sent the group through. Paula seemed confident that they will go very far in the competition and become huge. Granted, Paula is Paula, but it remains unclear what their live show ceiling will be.
28) The Anser - In what came as somewhat of a surprise to me, The Anser was not put through to the next round. Paula cited some specific examples as to why they didn't make the cut but I wonder if given another opportunity to go through the rigors again if some more hands on mentoring could straighten out some of the kinks and make them much more viable next season.
29) Elaine Gibbs - While I was hardly surprised Elaine did not get to advance, I was actually rather pleasantly surprised that she vowed to not give up on her dream. It remains to be seen if she'll appear on The Voice next instead of waiting for next season of The X Factor when she'll be 54 years old but it's great to see her decide to forge on. She could still have a decent career catering to an older, more R&B and perhaps even gospel oriented audience.
30) Stacy Francis - Nicole did her best to string her along in a very predictable effort to prop up the back and forth cutaway between her and Elaine Gibbs, but there was simply no way she was not advancing - especially after she had what was probably the best effort of all 32 acts in the final audition.
31) Rachel Crow - In a mild surprise, Rachel was advanced through to the live rounds. There were many questions about her age and ability to handle the pressure at just 13 years old but Simon put her through all the same. I can't help but wonder if Simon thinks that the window on her precious factor might expire if he delays her advancement and it's certainly not a bad choice by any stretch of the imagination.
32) Melanie Amaro - Let the controversial drama begin. Simon told her no on his France pool deck but almost immediately regretted his catastrophic error. There is no doubt that Melanie should have been put through the first time around but the made for TV drama could earn her some backlash by the voting public. She unquestionably has the one of the best voices of the entire competition but with Simon being able to call an audible while the other three judges must standby their own decisions, Melanie will now be the unfair target of peeved voters starting next week. If Melanie is still safe after the first few weeks, then she has a legitimate chance to win. If she falters early, angry viewers will punish her in their proxy anger really directed at Simon.
Here are the lists:
THE GROUPS
Lakoda Rayne
InTENsity
The Stereo Hogzz
The Brewer Boys
OVER 30's
Josh Krajcik
Stacy Francis
Dexter Haygood
LeRoy Bell
BOYS
Brian Bradley
Chris Rene
Marcus Canty
Phillip Lomax
GIRLS
Drew Ryniewicz
Simone Battle
Tiah Tolliver
Rachel Crow
Melanie Amaro
So there you have it. I am most disappointed with the results with Caitlin Koch and Christa Collins by far. I feel like Simon and Nicole both made huge mistakes not advancing them but overall I am not too terribly surprised or disappointed. The toughest groups were the toughest cuts as expected and there is plenty of room to grow for several of the acts advancing. Next we're live and then it's really game on. We'll see what the night holds next Tuesday. I will be doing some blogs on some of the contestants that failed to advance as well as some that did. Until then, stay tuned.
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