Tonight on The X Factor, the top 8 performed - whether you missed the show or just want to re-live a performance, read on for a full recap! The theme is supposedly "Number One Hits" tonight, but who cares? They toss the restrictions out the window the minute they have to limit someone's song choice to something as silly as a theme.
Diamond White kicks things off with Whitney Houston's "I Wanna Dance with Somebody." I think it's a good idea for her to branch out into songs that are more fun, so it pains me to say that this was so not great. It sounded like she was being overpowered by a karaoke track (even though, if I'm not mistaken, there's a live band) and the dancers did nothing but distract from what little we could hear of Diamond's voice. "I give you an A for effort, but I'm going to give you a B for execution," LA says.
She's followed by Vino Alan, who chooses "You've Lost ThaT Loving Feeling" by the Righteous Brothers. Vino doesn't sound good either. The X Factor actually really has some stellar voices this season, but I'm just not hearing it so far. "To be honest, I do think that you had a lot of soul in your voice, but I wasn't totally entertained," Demi tells him.
Paige Thomas doesn't think that Demi understands her vision. "I want to dance," she says. Demi tells her that when she does all of her big productions, she placed low (truth). Paige meets in the middle to stage a lengthy performance of "Never Gonna Give You Up" by Rick Astley with backup dancers, but no overdone costume (remember rickrolling? Is that still a thing? If so, well played, Paige). It's not terrible, but I'm a little bored by it. Britney and the rest of the judges love it, though: "I think that this was a legitimate risk to take, but I think that it worked," she says.
Fifth Harmony chooses Kelly Clarkson's "Stronger," a choice that seems a little bit dubious but actually succeeds despite cheesy video clips of each of the singers standing in front of fake flames on the background screen. One of the girls (Ally?) lost her grandfather this week, and she's an understandable mess, but the rest of them pull together. "What a fantastic performance," says Simon.
Mario Lopez makes an awkward transition before a commercial break, and next to hit the stage is Carly Rose Sonenclar with Adele's "Rolling in the Deep." The beginning is a little rough, but the end more than makes up for it because - as always - her voice is incredible. "Even your second best is better than everybody else's first best," LA says. I'm totally sticking by my early prediction: Carly's got this one in the bag, and she's a genuinely nice young lady to boot.
Keith Urban's "Somebody Like You" is Tate Stevens' song. He's gunning for number one, saying that he needs the five million or else he goes back to paving roads. I mean, not to say that $5 million is pocket change, but I doubt that he's going to return to his job regardless - plenty of people have done plenty with their singing careers with a lot less exposure than Tate's had on The X Factor. Even though it's very likable, I don't know if Tate's performance this week will put him back in that number one spot. The judges certainly like it. "I'm sure we'll be seeing you accepting a Country Music Award someday," Britney predicts.
Tired of being in the bottom two, Cece Frey says that she's going to make "Lady Marmalade" her best performance performance. This week, she's encrusted her forehead in gems and enlisted a bunch of backup dancers who are dressed like rejects from a Japanese game show, but actually...it might be her best performance yet. "I hate that I'm going to say this, but I actually enjoyed that circus," LA says.
Emblem3 will close out the show with "I'm a Believer" by the Monkees. Sorry, but I just don't like these guys - like, seriously, why is that one guy always wearing a tank top? And why couldn't they just sound terrible so that they could've gone home awhile ago? Because, all said, this isn't bad at all. There are cheesy background dancers in flag-print denim shorts, the one guy's wearing camouflage pants and another keeps going back for more high fives from the audience - and this isn't even a bad performance. "I just don't understand what Simon's doing with you guys," Demi says.
What did you think of this week's performances? Who rose to the top and who fell flat? Tune in tomorrow to see if your opinion matches America's as more contestants head home!
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