Well, we finally made it to the live rounds and I must confess myself disappointed - but not with the talent. I am extremely disillusioned by the overtly staged internal pettiness of the judges, often dragging the contestants themselves into their silly and concocted proxy war. The shamelessness couldn't have been more contrived or planned. FYI to the team over at The X Factor: If you're going to have your judges bicker back and forth tonight, try a couple things that won't be too obvious. For starters, don't have them level the same charges back at each other and don't start ridiculous Twitter hashtags like #SimonvsLA in an attempt to garner momentum in creating your own internal Clash of the egomaniacal Titans rivalry. They clearly saw the friendlier nature of the rivalries over on The Voice and decided that it simply wasn't enough. They felt that NBC's hit show had the right idea but the wrong level of nastiness. And now I'm writing about this instead of getting to the actual talent. Ridiculous. At least pro wrestling actually has some integrity.
THE BOYS
ASTRO (The Artist Formerly Know as Brian Bradley) - Ripping the 1991 Kriss Kross hit "Jump" to start off the live shows, Astro was nothing short of outstanding. He customized shout-outs in the chorus, including calling his own number, The X Factor, Brooklyn, and his mentor L.A. Reid. Simon announced that it "just killed everybody" and also informed L.A. that he's insane if Astro isn't in the finals.
CHRIS RENE - Found his performance to be solid but surprisingly a little sleepy. Nicole questioned the song choice and Simon declared to Rene that he wasn't the best singer in the competition but that he was one of the best recording artists. I completely agreed and his mentor L.A. Reid told him he did a great job. It was more of a steady job and a safe job but it was safe enough to get him to the voting round where he should be on very strong footing and enjoy a very diversely supportive fan base.
PHILLIP LOMAX - This was one of the more curious performances of the evening. Singing The Monkees' classic "I'm A Believer" was a very random oddity. Nicole facetiously lamented that she wished he "had some more personality and charm" as well as confidence. Paula said it must be "tough having beautiful women hanging on you" but Simon dependably kept it real and told Phillip that he was "a race car driver put in a tractor" for the song choice but basically exempted the 22 year-old crooner of any responsibility for the performance. L.A. told him that he was proud of him and stated that he had "stopped impersonating Frank Sinatra" but it wasn't enough as he ultimately would send Mr. Lomax packing anyway.
MARCUS CANTY - Another of an all-night weird song choice list, Marcus belted out The Culture Club classic "Do You Really Want To Hurt Me?" with very controlled ease. His voice was powerful, even though it wasn't overpowering, and Nicole declared that he "made it look easy" and Paul complimented on him for being "like a veteran" and additionally declared that he had "owned it" although Simon dissented and asked L.A. "You thought this through" and inserted the charge that L.A. hadn't really taken the $5 million prize angle to heart enough while L.A. himself simply told Marcus that he made him proud by stepping up.
THE GROUPS
THE STEREO HOGZZ - I must admit that I've found them to be fairly inconsistent up to this point but I felt they started to truly hit their stride at Paula Abdul's house with their rocking rendition of the Marvin Gaye classic "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" and from what I heard tonight, they sounded very much on top of their game. However, what impressed me even more was that they cleaned up what I felt were a bunch of very noticeable choreography mishaps and their timing and movement was drastically superior to anything they had done before. I'm not generally a fan of any music that relies on dancing as part of it, especially if it's not classic Motown, but then again that must be why I think these guys can really recapture that sound. They simply brought it tonight and that's the direction they need to be guided towards and molded into. L.A. correctly stated "As much as I would love to have some criticism" he just couldn't find anyway. Nicole was equally correct in saying that they were both classic and modern (again with the Motown-modern pop hybrid model) and Simon told Paula, "You did a very good job" and that he loved the band" and also noted that "There's nothing like you on the charts right now but there should be" and as usual, Simon was astutely correct.
THE BREWER BOYS - In what was certainly a well attempted effort in being artistic, the brotherly duo mashed up Hall & Oates' "Rich Girl" with George Michael's "Faith" unplugged but with some minimal strings. It was decent but odd. L.A. told Paula "I got the feeling that was out of your comfort zone" although Nicole alluded to some of her old bedroom wall posters and declared that she'd have pictures of The Brewer Boys on her wall now if still a teenager. Simon criticized what he felt was very throwaway choreography and that it didn't shine. Paula felt they nailed it - before cutting them from the competition anyway.
INTENSITY - I initially didn't know what to think of this "Footloose" rendition but about halfway through the performance I changed my mind in a more positive way. L.A. said, "That was really impressive. That was thoroughly entertaining." Nicole oddly exuded that it was a "pumpkin patch of yummy pumpkins" before Simon gave a very lengthy and dead-on rant about how they were the equivalent of a "music miracle" and that they were the "new young Glee" and that he loved the choice of "Footloose" because it is "very current right now" and Paula simply informed the ten piece group that they rose to the occasion. By the end of the performance I completely agreed. However, I'd also add that while they are definitely up Glee's avenue as well that they feel to me to be even more High School Musical oriented. With the rise of The Stereo Hogzz and Lakoda Rayne however, they will have to be even better to stick around.
LAKODA RAYNE - I thought this was one of the strongest performances of the night - by far. What really impressed me about this rendition, to Paula Abdul's great credit, is that she shrewdly married the more pop flavor of the young foursome to their more country oriented disposition because at the end of the day, Lakoda Rayne is very pop-even-folk-country and they were definitely Dexter's Midnight Runners meet The Dixie Chicks. That is who they are. L.A. lavished them with praise and boldly but rather accurately declared that if they walked into his office that they would basically get themselves the kind of deal that is at stake in this competition. Nicole also gave positive remarks and Simon said that they were "better than I could have thought" and that there was a market for a group like Lakoda Rayne and I couldn't agree more. Paula simply stated her standard pride but whatever. I felt they put themselves into the conversation and probably moved the needle at least somewhat on the non-believers tonight. Lakoda Rayne 1, Haters 0. (Take that, haters.) P.S. I've written about them already and I will definitely be writing more about Lakoda Rayne again very soon.
THE OVER 30's
DEXTER HAYGOOD - I should just put a giant W.T.F. here because this was one hot mess. Starting with the bizarre song choice of Katy Perry's "I Kissed A Girl" to what was his reverting to a James Brown like impersonation to just flat out screaming too much, Dexter was all over the place. L.A. questioned the song choice while Simon said it was like the "weirdest milkshake in the world" before Nicole remarked about how he remembered the lyrics. It wasn't enough. Dexter went home and now we are left to wonder what is next for the homeless 49 year-old. Hopefully, he has things lined up now to help him transition back into a more stable lifestyle. However, it felt very bittersweet that we didn't see the real Dexter (despite what Paula clumsily said) because he could have been great live on the show and beyond and strong talent like my awesome new Twitter buddy Christa Collins, Elaine Gibbs, and James Kenney were left out. At any rate, I hope we haven't heard the last of Dexter. He deserves some success after all the hardships he's had to endure.
LEROY BELL - The oldest contestant sang a solid vocal but it wasn't enough to win Simon's full approval. Simon declared that he wished that he got to mentor him instead of Nicole because he feels like LeRoy has one of the strongest voices in the competition which certainly earned Nicole's wrath. L.A. had simply said that he would have given him a better song to work with and that he didn't get why he hadn't already become a star, but through Nicole's obvious anger towards Simon she elected to say that LeRoy was what the competition was all about.
STACY FRANCIS - Again with the George Michael. It felt shaky for the first twenty seconds but she was technically sound the rest of the way. L.A. said that "This time Nicole, you got this right" and complimented Stacy for not crying this time which elicited a small laugh from her. Paula thought it was "brilliant delivery" and storytelling but Simon dissented and said he didn't like what she was wearing or the song choice and that she was essentially a "church singer" and that she would require a "massive, massive shift in this direction" which puzzled Stacy enough to retort that she was a pop star. I somewhat digress from Simon here, especially since the song itself has a bit of a preachy element and undertone to it. I found Simon's analysis to be surprisingly somewhat off kilter.
JOSH KRAJCIK - The Burrito Master was the master of the stage tonight. In a very shockingly slowed down version of the Bob Dylan classic "Forever Young", Krajcik delivered the goods. There was plenty of his trademark rasp but also some very nicely down good and clear moments too with hardly any music backing him. L.A. said he has one of his favorite voices in the competition while Paula went further by saying that he has her favorite voice of the past decade. Wow. Of course, with the lovable Paula, it's a fine line between genuine complimentary rhetoric and flat out hyperbole. Simon openly conceded that he is one of the artists he fears the most and complimented his song arrangement by saying that it was "understated" but that he also "made a good point" and I couldn't agree more. Nicole, however, simply wanted props from Simon. I'll leave that one alone.
THE GIRLS
SIMONE BATTLE - With Simon declaring that this was where the competition really began, Simone took the stage in a total disaster of an outfit and just completely sold out on sex appeal with scantily dressed female dancers backing her but it just wasn't Simone's night vocally. She was definitely all over the place but L.A. Reid upped the harshness by saying that "everything was right except for the choice of contestant" and openly opined to Simon that she never should have been picked and that he "must be a very rich man if five million dollars must not mean anything" to him. Nicole then stated, "Well, that was predictable" before somewhat back-peddling all in the same breath. Paula "would have liked to have seen more" of Simone herself. L.A. then did the same thing after a back and forth with Simon over Simone. So L.A. totally dumps on Simone and then he says that his beef is with him, not her? Huh? Somebody please explain that one to me. This is where the back and forth banter "officially" confirmed itself to be completely manufactured nonsense. Something about a #SimonvsLA hashtag on the television before inner-judge fireworks explode. This was such bullshit and everyone knows it. Ultimately, the right call was made and Simone was not one of the three singers from his group to advance but not before Simone wisely plugged her new video which is rather timely dropping tonight online. Smart girl! No wonder why Simon loves her and I couldn't agree more with her business sense. I've never understood why more contestants haven't plugged themselves more while onstage.
RACHEL CROW - In what was a cleverly designed outfit intended to play up her precious nature, Rachel delivered a fairly strong vocal to somewhat tame responses from the judge. Well, besides Simon calling himself brilliant of course. Nicole didn't care for the song choice and Paula pretty much decided that Rachel can start forming an exploratory committee to run for president at some point after her 35th birthday when she's constitutionally eligible (although she didn't feel her range was highlighted enough), it was more than enough for Simon to move her through to the next round.
DREW RYNIEWICZ - In what was clearly one of the very best performances of the night, Drew delivered another slow and easy-going piano based classic performance to the classic theme from the movie Flashdance. L.A. declared that what pained him was having to give Simon a compliment. Nicole said she'd go to Drew's concert and blew Drew a rather vocalized kiss to her while Paula said that she connects to her audience very well and that she is very mature beyond her years. Simon then floored Drew by telling everyone "This is why I wanted to be back onstage on American TV" which solicited a very celebratory mouth-opening dance from the charming 14 year-old Arizona girl. Drew was clearly the best of the girls tonight and also possibly of the entire competition but the one fear I do have for her is that she is in danger of becoming Pia Toscano; a great, great voice with very few flaws (if any) and a very loyal fan base but she needs to be mindful of boxing herself into the slow going piano ballad renditions. We'll see if Simon recognizes this too. Just to be safe, she should stay away from "River Deep Mountain High" the first week she does steer clear of that.
TIAH TOLLIVER - In a very snowy setting and a very dark tone and music score accompanying her, she ably sang "Sweet Dreams Are Made of These" by The Eurythemics with a very subtle touch of Argent's "Hold Your Head Up" but after L.A. Reid's kitchen-oriented humor fail, Nicole predictably trashed Tiah while then kind of backtracking immediately after saying that, while Paul pounced on her pitch which led to Simon reiterating that they have never liked her and never well. However, it was Simon tonight who ultimately sent Tiah home along with Simone.
MELANIE AMARO - The only girl as good, if not better, than Drew tonight was Melanie. The last minute reversal by Simon Cowell during the conveniently dramatic judges decision round paid off huge dividends tonight. Melanie needed an ultra strong performance tonight to help make her more favorable to the potential voting pool and she delivered. Moved to tears when Simon picked her with Drew and Rachel to advance, Simon predicted that she could just win the whole thing and while he was obviously going to say that if she sang even well enough given what was on the line with her going into tonight, it was quite clear that she did in fact warrant that kind of praise. L.A. said, "We really did save the best for last" despite the song choice of "I Have Nothing" being "predictable" to him, she "knocked it out of the park" in his eyes.
Well, there you have it. Five are now gone and now it's the very evened out Top 12. I'll be curious how they are going to stretch this to December 22nd but I have to imagine that they will certainly break for Thanksgiving next month. Beyond that, it's anybody's guess.
My personal picks for who did well to exceptionally well tonight would be Astro, Marcus Canty, The Stereo Hogzz, InTENsity, Lakoda Rayne, LeRoy Bell, Stacy Francis, Josh Krajcik, Drew Ryniewicz, and Melanie Amaro. I will be updating my picks for favorites, contenders, dark horses, and wild cards in the upcoming days.
As always, follow me on Twitter and stay tuned.
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