The X Factor final 16 revealed . . . finally

X Factor recap: Last week's baseball playoffs rain delay left X Factor fans hanging out to dry when the final 16 show was first delayed and then cut short. On Tuesday, The X Factor finally returned to reveal their final 16 contestants.

Last week, the pecking order of FOX's network lineup was revealed and it seems that The X Factor can't quite compete with America's favorite past time. When the MLB National League Championship Series game between the St. Louis Cardinals and the San Francisco Giants ran long Wednesday night (Oct. 17) due to bad weather, The X Factor was delayed for approximately 40 minutes. Once underway, the show threw viewers another curve ball by ending the episode early, after ten of the 16 finalists were announced. 

The X Factor promised to run the entire episode on a special Tuesday night airing that was scheduled for 8:00 PM, but the show didn't actually air until 9:30 and then only aired the half that they didn't air last week. Thankfully, after all the stops and starts, we can reveal (in their entirety) the final 16 contestants who will be moving on to the live shows. As if that isn't enough to be excited about, live shows will also herald the premiere of the new X Factor hosts, Khloe Kardashian Odom and Mario Lopez. The X Factor will now be able to reach the saturation trifecta: a reality singing competition featuring a Kardashian and Mario Lopez's dimples. Fabulous.

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The first Judge to reveal her choices, was Britney Spears who arguably had the hardest task of all the mentors. With such a strong teenage base, Britney could neither lose nor win with her choices, since almost every contestant deserved to move on to the final shows. But Britney had to let two people go and she ultimately said goodbye to James Tanner and Reed Deming, leaving her with:

1. Carly Rose Sonenclar
2. Arin Ray (personally, I think this slot belonged to Reed Deming but who am I to argue with the Pop Princess, Britney?)
3. Beatrice Miller
4. Diamond White

The next to face some tough choices was L.A. Reid. Unlike Britney, whose biggest problem was identifying people to send home, L.A. Reid, who was unwillingly saddled with this years elderly contestants, must have struggled with actually having to keep some of them. This group was a bit easier to navigate since Tara Simone was an easy target for elimination. (I'm personally convinced that she was the root cause of L.A. Reid's misery over being assigned the over-25 group.) L.A. easily made the right call by wishing her and her vocal acrobats sayonara. Leaving L.A. with:

1. Jason Brock
2. David Correy
3. Vino Alan
4. Tate Stevens

Demi Lovato then stepped up to the plate and prepared to deliver some crushing blows to the adolescent group, who along with the teens, should have made up the majority of the finalists. Seriously, history has shown us that the groups will fall like dominoes in the first few weeks, proving to have wasted valuable opportunities for contestants who actually stood a chance at winning. Not surprisingly, she let go of Nick Youngerman, who aside from a gratuitous shower scene last Wednesday, received very little air time. A bigger surprise was that Demi also let go of Jillian Jensen, who she seemed to share a connection with since her first audition. That left Demi with:

1. Willie Jones
2. Paige Thomas 
3. Jennel Garcia
4. Cece Frey

Last but never least, Simon Cowell (who just received word that Fox has picked up The X Factor for yet another season) needed to decide which groups he would lead to slaughter. Half of the groups were newly formed by the mentors, which doesn't really impact the viewers much since no one can even remember the groups' names, let alone who their members are. Dope Crisis, experienced an actual crisis when Simon chose to give them the boot, leaving with them was the mentor formed boy band, Playback. Simon will bring the following groups to the live shows:

1. Lyric 145
2. Emblem3 
3. Sister C
4. Lylas

Tune in on Nov. 1, which according to the FOX website, is the next airing of The X Factor, assuming the World Series doesn't interfere. What did you think about the mentor's decisions? Who are you most excited to see perform on the live show? Leave your comments below.

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