The X Factor recap: The teens pull out all the stops
X Factor recap: On Thursday night, the "Teen" and "Over 25" categories performed for their X Factor mentors, Britney Spears and L.A. Reid. After hearing the teens perform, it is clear that L.A. Reid has a lot to be disappointed about.
Judges Britney Spears and Demi Lovato sign their names during a handprint ceremony at The X Factor season two premiere at Grauman's Chinese Theatre on Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2012, in Los Angeles. This week, Britney Spears learned that she would be mentoring the strong "Teen' category.
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
On Thursday night, L.A. Reid and Britney Spears had the opportunity to listen to their assigned categories perform at their homes. Well, homes that we'll just pretend are theirs since The X Factor has recently admitted that the homes featured in the show are not necessarily the homes of the judges. Their reasoning for misleading viewers is that this portion of the show is called the "judges' homes" so they have to pretend that the homes are those of the judges. So, lying to the viewers is okay as long as you're lying to perpetuate the lie you started when you named a portion of the show.
Got it.
Now that we've cleared that up, let's discuss the contestants. To say that the teens wiped the floor with the "Over 25" category would simply not be true. The teens have wiped the floor of every other category on the show this season and last. Period. When Beatrice Miller and Carly Rose Sonenclar performed for Britney Spears and will.i.am, a miracle occurred: The X Factor, simply by virtue of discovering those two young artists, was forgiven its past transgressions. By adding Diamond White and Reed Deming to the mix, they have managed to bank forgiveness for transgressions they have yet to make.
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The strength of the teen category might be the reason that L.A. Reid is so terribly disgusted with being assigned the "over 25" category. Well, that and the fact that Tara Simon is in the "over 25" category; who wouldn't throw a temper tantrum if they were forced to listen to her obnoxious vocal acrobats? Despite Tara's performance, Reid started to change his tune in the latter part of the episode, supposedly because he started to realize that his category, old and decrepit as they may be, might actually have some talent. (Although some would argue that it was actually Justin Bieber's soothing and angelic presence that mollified L.A.).
But it wasn't just obvious from their performances Thursday night that some of the over 25's have legitimate talent. In fact, L.A. Reid was very enthusiastic in his praise of both Jason Brock and David Correy during their auditions so when he described the "over 25's" as the underdogs in the competition tonight, it was perplexing. The stronger of the "over 25's," namely Jason Brock, Tate Stevens, Vino Alan and David Correy all delivered quality performances though it was David Correy who stood out the most amongst them with his rendition of Jessie J's "Domino." But even Correy's performance could not contradict the fact that Britney Spears was blessed with the most talented category in the competition.
In the grand tradition of The X Factor, they prolonged revealing results until next week, which gives us just enough time to make predictions on the top 16 acts that will move on to the live shows:
Teens
- Reed Deming
- Beatrice Miller
- Carly Rose Sonenclar
- Diamond White
Young Adults
- CeCe Frey
- Willie Jones
- Paige Thomas
- Jillian Jensen
Over 25s
- Jason Brock
- David Correy
- Tate Stevens
- Vino Alan
Groups
- Sister C (Original)
- Playbacks (Newly formed)
- Lylas (Newly formed)
- Lyric145 (Newly formed)
What do you think? Is the talent in the teen category some of the best of all the singing competitions? Who would you like to see in the top 16? Share your thoughts in the comment section.