Michael Jackson Week - Top 7 - 11/30/11

Hello all. Well on this last day of November our contestants will be performing the songs of Michael Jackson. Each of our contestants start out this show commenting on how great Michael Jackson was as a singer and performer. We then hear that Paula Abdul is out of the competition since all of her groups have been eliminated. She will be the only impartial judge due to this circumstance. Nicole Sherzinger has only one over 30 left but feels she has a good one left. L.A. Reid comments how hard his three remaining guy acts are working. Simon feels the pressure knowing one of his three remaining girls may be eliminated.

It is time to face the music!!

Loved the opening to welcome Steve Jones as there were several dancers performing to the song "Bad". Steve lets us know that two more acts will be eliminated on the results show. Now here comes our judges as the song "Jam" is being played. I took notice of Nicole's dress which was a little strange but I liked it.

I am sure many of you know of the fantastic career Michael Jackson had during his lifetime. Some key notes are he has sold over 750 million albums worldwide. His signature "Thriller" sold 70 million on it's own. His legacy continues as Cirque Du Soleil is currently featuring his music on the "Immortal Tour" which is covering the United States and will soon be in Las Vegas, Nevada. How wonderful to see some of Michael's family as brothers Marlon, Tito and Jackie are introduced on stage. More surprise as Michael's mom Catherine and his children Prince, Paris and Blanket are in the audience for tonight's show. Boy his kids are cute to say the least.

With that being said let's get to the performances:



Up first is Josh Krajcik (Nicole's only remaining act). Being totally out of his comfort zone he is performing the song "Dirty Diana" and briefly plays the guitar during the number. He definitely gave this song a rock edge as I felt like I was watching a concert. I liked how he made it his own however he did have a rough start I thought. L.A comments that his performance was cool. Paula calls it a show-stopping performance. Simon thought the spectacle of the number was great but felt Josh got lost during the number which he blames on Nicole. Nicole answers Simon by saying "We like to take a risk" and then tells Josh how proud she is of him. I pretty much liked it myself. My grade: B+

For heavens sake when is Astro Bradley ever going to do anything other than rap words he made up and walk around the stage. His number was "Black or White" but in all honesty I could not understand a word he was saying except for that phrase. Nicole thinks he had fun but this was not her favorite performance by him. Paula sort of agrees but does mention that his words are important and he might even win this competition (huh?). Simon thinks his rap is part of the new generation that is coming (jeesh I hope not). L.A. of course is proud of him and calls him amazing. Oh yuck!!! My grade: F

We briefly hear some comments from Catherine, Prince and Paris regarding Michael and how much they like this show.

Now comes the boring Drew who sits in a chair and slowly does the song "Billie Jean". Her words are sort of muddled in the beginning but as the song progresses it gets better. Why on earth would Simon make her sing the song this way. I even think Drew was not happy doing it this way as she mentions she would like to do a more up-tempo performance which is brought up during the comments from Paula who liked the vocal but thinks the visual is missing (how true). L.A. on the other hand liked it and thought she made it her own. Nicole likes her but she also did not care for the chair thing. Simon gets nasty and comments to Paula that the main reason she has no acts left is because there was too much dancing from them. Glad the audience booed him on this. Simon ends his comment with saying that Drew sang the song beautifully. Maybe but oh so boring. My grade: C

I was really disappointed in the performance that Rachel Crow gave to the song "Can You Feel It". Definitely a bad song choice although the visual was good. Because of so much moving around Rachel seemed out of breath and I honestly felt no connection to this number. L.A. evidently did not either as he comments this was not the best he had seen of her. Nicole says good job but she too did not feel the connection. Paula adores Rachel but felt this was the wrong song choice. Simon on the other hand thinks Rachel put on a show. My grade: B-

Another "breathy" performance as Marcus Canty takes the stage to do the song "P.Y.T.". Visually his whole number was very good as Marcus really has the dance moves down and overall his singing was not totally bad except for some pitchy spots. Nicole and Paula loved it and give favorable comments. Simon however does not think the vocals were that good. L.A. calls Marcus inventive but I think maybe he thought the vocals were not spot on either although he did not mention this (just a feeling on my part. Overall it was fairly good I think. My grade: B+

I am awe-struck with how handsome Chris Rene is becoming as this competition goes on. Tonight I liked his rendition to the song "I'll Be There". Maybe not the best vocal but one thing is for sure Chris connects to the audience. I even liked his little bit of rap he did. Nicole says she feels his spirit. Paula mentions the connection and also comments on how good he looks. Simon (mr. nasty tonight) says the vocals were shakey even though he liked the ending. L.A. says "great job". My grade: B+

My top performer of the night is Melanie Amaro who does a fantastic version to the song "What About Us". I loved her vocal and was also impressed with how great she looked. L.A. calls her the best of the night. Nicole agrees. Paula says she is flawless and georgeous. Simon could not be more proud of her and says she is amazing. I think so too. My grade: A+



Well I am not happy that two acts have to be eliminated again this week. My choices to go are once again Astro and Drew. Seems a Pepsi challenge is going on to pick songs for the remaining 5 next week. If you are interested in doing this visit the X-Factor website. One last note before I sign off is I wish I could have picked the songs for our contestants to sing tonight as I would have definitely picked different ones. Oh well.

I will be back later with the results show and I am hoping some of you voted for Josh and Melanie, I know I did but I also cast some votes for Marcus and Chris. With that being said; toodles for now!

now that Leroy Bell isn't with them i have stop watching.

depending on who is in the final 2 i might watch that - maybe.

I was totally disappointed with all the performances. The one that got on my nerves the most....ASTRO! Rapping Michael Jackson???? Sheesh, is this the only kind of singing this boy can do? Even Chris Rene did better than him. With that being said....NO COMMENT! Just disgusted.

The three I hope to go through would be Josh Krajcik, Rachel Crow and Melanie Amaro. Chris is a close second.

I agree, MJ is one of my all time fav performers. Plus the fact that his family was there. (disapointed they didnt sing) To top that off Paula is a friend of the Jacksons. You would have thought they would have really worked harder to nail it. The only one who truly made me hear MJ again was melanie. I think Josh did the best he could considering his style of music. Oh and as for MJ's kids.. could someone please tell Price number one to SPIT THE GUM OUT? he did the same thing at his dad's funeral.. UGG!