THE X FACTOR: A Night of Rain, Creeps, and Planet Paula

The X Factor returned to television with its third round of auditions this week, in none other but the very rainy and very windy cities of Chicago and Seattle. The rain didn't seem dampen the contestants' spirits however. The night included a wide range of performances; some of which left me misty eyed and yearning to hear more and others left me wondering what sort of strange drugs the contestants ingested before heading onto the stage.

Kicking things off in Chicago, the "not dating" blonde duo McKenna and Brock took the stage as they put their own take on The Zack Brown Band's "Colder Weather." Paula claimed their vocal blend was "really lovely" and the other judges enjoyed it as well, earning them yeses across the board.

After a slew of no's which included a terrifying rendition of "What's Goin On" sung by a mother and daughter duo (sporting some matching sunglasses and trendy orthopedic socks), a 31 year old contestant named Mark took the stage. Perhaps it was his description of how he sees his life as an algorithm, or his creepy choice of song, but I can honestly say that this guy had one of the strangest performances of the night. I think L.A. put it the most poignantly when he said "it sounded so bad but it felt so good." Strangely enough, this oddball performance earned him four yeses across the board (even though, clearly, in my opinion, this guy possessed not a shred of vocal talent). Interesting.

Next up came, by far, my favorite performance of the night. A scruffy, 30 year old, burrito slinger named Josh took to the stage to sing "At Last" by Etta James. Nothing about his burrito slinging persona really seemed to fit his song choice, but I can honestly say that I was very pleasantly surprised...and so was Simon. He brought down the house and earned himself four yeses across the panel. Bravo Josh, bravo.

Soon after Josh rocked it out, a 14 year old, Justin Bieber fanatic named Drew took to the stage to sing none other than "Baby" by the Biebs. Strangely enough, this was by far the most creative performance of the evening. She turned the up-tempo pop tune into a ballad for voice and piano. She changed the notes enough to fit perfectly with her unique tone. The judges loved it and Paula claimed it was "commendable, original, daring, and bold." I agree whole heartedly...nice job Drew.
 
Soon after Drew left the stage, a four man boy band named For Sure brought down the house with a performance of "End of the Road" by Boyz II Men. It was certainly a bold choice considering one of the judges, L.A. Reid, co-wrote and produced the song, but they didn't let that stop them. Paula commended them on their harmonies and Nicole thanked them for "making it a concert" for them. Although the judges loved it, I have to say, as far as vocals go, the soloists were either screaming or flat on most of the high notes. It's interesting the judges didn't feel the need to point that out.

Wearing a Sinatra inspired hat, 21 year old named Philip Lomax next sang "Fly Me to the Moon." It was certainly a solid performance and I personally always appreciate a good Rat Pack inspired singer. Simon claimed he had "great charisma" as he consistently worked the crowd, and the rest of the judges loved it as well.

Bringing the night to a close, the 19 year old Tia came out to sing "Impossible" by Shontelle...acapella. She certainly had a good look going on, but the acapella turned out to be her downfall. I don't think I've ever witnessed someone change keys so frequently in a song when there were no keys to be changed. This left the judging table evenly split. Simon felt very strongly however, and urged her to sing something else. As she plowed through her next selection, "It Don't Mean a Thing" it became painfully obvious that although this girl has star quality, her key changing issue was not just a fluke. Through some coaxing from Simon and the rest of the crowd Nicole caved and granted her the opportunity to move on to the next round. Let's hope Tia will be able to handle her keys a little better with a backing track.

Don't forget to tune in to THE X FACTOR tomorrow night at 8pm for the next round of auditions. Check back in to BroadwayWorld for another recap!

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THE X FACTOR is produced by Syco Television and FremantleMedia North America. Rob Wade and Siobhan Greene are executive producers for Syco Television. Cecile Frot-Coutaz, Richard Holloway and Andrew Llinares serve as executive producers for FremantleMedia North America.

Photo Credit: Ray Mickshaw/FOX