THE X FACTOR: The Final 5 Perform Live!

Are you ready to dance? Tonight, the contestants will be performing dance songs. We now are down to the top 5 finalists and are just a couple weeks away from crowning the winner of The X Factor! The remaining contestants will be performing tonight for a spot in the Semi-finals. They must bring their A game because they are singing 2 songs each. They are once again competing for your votes and one more contestant will be leaving the competition tomorrow! Only 4 will be moving on to next week's Semi-Finals!

We learned later in the episode that there was an error with the Pepsi Challenge songs that America chose for the contestants, so those will be performed next week. They instead had to choose their second song, but only had 24 hours to prepare. This is definitely going to up the stakes!

Melanie Amaro opened the show with a bang! She sang an upbeat version of "Someone Like You." Her performance was very strong. Her vocals were powerful and she put her heart into the song. The judges enjoyed her performance. Nicole said, "You looked and sounded like the rock star diva that you are." Simon said, "You would have a hit record with that version." For her second song she sang "When You Believe." Her performance was amazing. She sounded beautiful and this was definitely one of my favorite performances of the night. The judges loved her performance. L.A. said "You really thought of that last night and it was that good today?" (It is incredible that she prepared that in one day!). Nicole said, "I'm in awe of you right now."

Marcus Canty sang "Ain't Nobody" and made a great comeback after being in the bottom two last week. His performance was full of energy and so much fun. His vocals were great and he owned the stage. The judges liked his performance. Nicole said, "You took us to church and the dance club at the same time! You have earned your spot to be here" (He definitely has!). His second song was very good, but the first performance seemEd Stronger. The judges had mixed opinions. Paula said, "That was one of your best performances," and Simon said, "I thought you were much more comfortable on the first song" (I agree, he shined in his first performance).

Next to perform was Rachel Crow. She sang "Beautiful Girls." She is back in the competition! Her performance was very entertaining and her vocals were strong. The judges loved her performance. L.A. said, "You're such a little star!" Paula said, "I think this is your best performance in the whole competition." She sang "Music and Me" as her second song. Her vocals were beautiful and her performance was great. The judges praised her. L.A. said, "I love that you picked that song for yourself. Your vision of you is so inspiring."

Josh Krajcik sang "We Found Love." It was something very different for him and he made it his own. It was great to hear a rocker take on Rihanna! His performance and vocals were solid. The judges had mixed reactions to his performance. Paula said, "I think you nailed it," but Simon said, "I think you have a very good voice, but the song was completely inappropriate." He did a great job on his second song as well. His vocals were very powerful. The judges liked his performance. Simon said, "Compared to the first song this was a massive improvement." Nicole said, "Josh is like the male Adele."

Chris Rene was up next. He sang "Live Your Life." He wrote his own verses and added a great lyric about him winning the competition. His performance was very good and he was really entertaining. The judges enjoyed his performance. Nicole said, "It sounds like its your own song" and Paula said, "This is one of the most fun performances I've seen." For his second song, he did an original song, "Where Do We Go From Here." His performance was amazing! His vocals were strong and the song was great. It was similar to when he sang an original song at auditions and was a reminder that he really deserves to have made it this far in the competition. This was one of my favorite performances of the night. The judges loved his performance. Paula said, "This is what I've been waiting for" (Me too!) and Simon said, "That was a stroke of genius!"

Wow that was a crazy night! Everyone did very well and even managed to keep their cool after only having one day to prepare for their second song. This shows just how talented these contestants really are. Once again, America has a very tough decision!

Tune in to THE X FACTOR tomorrow at 8pm for the Results Show. Check back in to BroadwayWorld for another recap! Visit TheXFactorusa.com for up-to-the-minute news, videos and information. Become a fan of THE X FACTOR on Facebook at www.facebook.com/TheXFactorUSA and follow the series on Twitter @TheXFactorUSA.

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