Guess you know what the theme was this week. After viewing comments from our contestants and judges the show begins with a welcome to our hosts Mario Lopez and Khloe Kardashian-Odum who inform us that once again two acts will be eliminated this week. Then comes the intro to the judges; L.A. Reid, Demi Lovato, Simon Cowell and Britney Spears (she looks pretty this week I think).
Before I get to the performances from our contestants let me comment on the premiere video that was shown featuring Will.I.Am and Britney Spears. The song is called "Scream and Shout". While this appears to be a good dance number overall I was not impressed. The song was way too short and does not really seem to have many lyrics to it. I doubt this song will be a big seller but I could be wrong since most of the music today is really not very good.
On to the performances......
Diamond White is up first and while this girl appears to be a clone of Whitney Houston I somehow never really get excited over her performances. Tonight she takes on another Whitney hit "I Wanna Dance With Somebody". Her song starts at a slower pace with her sitting on the stairs then develops into a lavish stage production as the pace speeds up. Vocally however she appeared off-key for me at times and frankly I was as Demi Lovato would put it "bored". L.A was not overly enthused either by giving her an A for effort but a B for execution. Demi liked that she had fun but wants her to bring more. Simon disagrees to some extent with Demi and mentions how hard it is to dance and sing but felt Diamond did it. Britney of course is proud and says she would dance with Diamond any day. My grade: B-
Next up is Vino Alan who I have really liked from day one. Tonight however it appears that L.A. chose badly for my guy. During rehearsal we see that conflict abounded on song choice with Vino actually getting mad. First he was going to perform Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes "If You Don't Know Me By Now" then it was changed to "Too Close" by Alex Clare. Finally they settled on The Righteous Brothers classic "You've Lost That Loving Feeling". Why on earth does L.A. keep giving Vino ballads to sing when he should be doing rock songs? I am worried for Vino this week since his performance was just so-so with this song. Britney feels they are seeing the same thing every week (I sort of agree with this due to so many ballads being thrown in Vino's direction). Demi agreed with Britney. Simon feels Vino has a good singing voice but this choice of song did not work for him. L.A. thinks Vino had some timing issues but was proud he took a risk. My grade: B
I have to give props to Paige Thomas this week as I truly enjoyed her rendition of "Never Going To Give You Up" originally by Rick Astley. She fought to do this song over Demi's objections and thankfully she did as I feel this was one of her better performances although she got a little breathy towards the end. L.A. calls it her best yet also. Britney thinks this was a risk that worked. Simon feels she looked and sounded like a true pop star. Demi actually had the nerve to act like Paige's performance was her idea when as we saw in rehearsal it wasn't. I am really getting sick of Demi. As for Paige, good going! My grade: B+
Hugs abound this week for Fifth Harmony. Sad news as we find out that Ally Brooke's grandfather had passed away this week. I really felt for this girl who says her grandpa would want her to follow through with a performance. Their choice as a dedication this week is "Stronger" by Kelly Clarkson. While it was not totally spot on (mainly in the solos) I thought they were quite good with this number. Although L.A. was sorry for the loss, he did not feel they were in harmony this week (huh?). Britney on the other hand felt the song worked for them. Demi calls it one of their best. Simon thinks they did fantastic. My grade: B+
I am a fan of Carly Rose Sonneclar but feel her song this week was one of the worst I have heard from her. The overdone number is "Rolling In The Deep" by Adele. The arrangement was terrible I think. Her vocals seemed kind of off for me in the beginning and once she got into the chorus the song seemed to be all over the place. L.A. sort of told it how it was by saying it was not her best. However the other judges went nuts with praise. Demi called it amazing. Simon felt the first half was good and the second half was sensational (wrong). Britney felt it was a challenge that Carly met. Sorry just can not agree. My grade: C
You all know I am not big into country music. However I think I will be buying music from Tate Stevens for sure. This week he performs "Somebody Like You" by Keith Urban. He plays the guitar and seems to really be enjoying himself doing this number. I really enjoyed it myself as his vocals were really good. L.A. calls him loveable and great. Britney feels that one day we will be seeing him at the Country Music Awards. Demi chimes in with awesome. Simon cautions Tate not to dance but feels he is back with a passion vocally. My grade: A
I'm afraid that CeCe Frey just can not get it right. This week she is doing the Patti LaBelle classic "Lady Marmalade". The production was very over the top but I think this movement made CeCe sound pitchy and out of breath. Demi should have left CeCe alone as she was so much better in the beginning during the audition processes. L.A. does think she is going down this week but sort of enjoyed the circus act he saw. Britney feels CeCe stepped it up. Simon with his strange comments feels like he was given 62 portions of chocolate cake and and only wanted one portion. He further states that the production was too distracting and she should pack her suitcase. This brings on a heated argument between Demi and Simon. Demi of course thinks CeCe did well. My grade: D
Speaking of seeing the same thing every week, Emblem3 has that down pat. This week they are doing The Monkees hit "I'm A Believer". It was cute and fun but once again it seems like the same type of performance they have given week after week. Had to agree with Britney that I was not into it. Demi agreed and feels they have lost their spark which brings another argument with Simon who thinks they are great popstars. L.A. does feel they have the X-Factor and would sign them. Whatever! My grade: B
Okay, final thoughts:
I think CeCe Frey should be eliminated right away since she has yet to give an outstanding performance. My other pick to leave is Emblem3 although I do think the teenie-bopper vote will keep them in the competition. I am fearful for my guy Vino Alan this week as I mentioned before. Also I felt Carly Rose Sonneclar was not good this week but her popularity should keep her around. Hard to say what will happen.
On the results show performances will be given by Alicia Keys and Josh Krajcek (looking forward to seeing him). Be back later with the re-cap. In the meantime have a wonderful day!
Toodles!
Front Page 
Subject: #1's By Our Contestants - 11/28/12 
Thu Nov 29, 2012 9:44 am
