Never a fan of reality tv shows! Maybe back in college time I was very excited about Survivor 1 - Sabah or maybe America Next Top Model Season 1, or maybe American Idol 1 (I watched it half way and didnt follow through Kelly Clarkson's crowning!) That's about it! In fact I never had affiliation towards TV! Everytime someone turns on the TV, I will be like oh well! I am going into the room! So practically the 50 inch at home here is just a redundant mighty piece of furniture until hubby turns it on! I don't watch every show but just two, Private Practice and Bones and now X-Factor USA 2. (Makes 3)
Initially when my auntie got so excited over X-Factor USA 1, I couldn't understand it! Now I do, maybe a little! Still alright it was quite addictive! Today is the crowning of X-Factor Champion and I am glad the family man WON! Here is what I think about each Top 13 contestants.
13. Jason Brock (Mentor: L.A. Reid)
Well sorry mate! I do not get it when L.A. Reid choose to keep him over Travie Mccoy lookalike David Correy. I think David is a better choice and his slow rendition of Kelly Clarkson's - Since you been gone was nicely done! Anyway it doesn't matter coz Jason doesn't last long enough and was send home! Honestly I expected this elimination, oh well no need to explain! America sees it the same way as me!
12. Lyric 145 (Mentor: Simon Cowell)
This group being eliminated came as a shocking result for me and hubby! We both find this group really entertaining! In fact I was rooting that they will stay around for a bit longer as there are far more worst contestants than them! One thing I find annoying is that, they kept changing their songs at last minutes! It was so the week before and then the same again the week they got eliminated! But none-the-less they were really of entertainment value and I would love to see them come back or maybe sign on to an independent record! They were really creative with their song especially the one where they do a crossover between Katy Perry's E.T. & Queen's We will Rock You
11. Jennel Garcia (Mentor: Demi Lovato)
Well I never find this one impressive! Like Simon repeated gazillion times! This is a 5 Million dollar competition! For me is not worth 5 million! Another thing that I find annoying about Jennel is that although she said she is a dance teacher?! But her dancing on stage just doesn't sit with me too well! Demi shouldn't approve of her prancing around the stage doing "Club Dirty Dancing" all the time! She kept doing that "twirl her hips, put her hands up and shake her hair crazy" dance routine on every single song! But one credit that I would like to give to her is indeed she has one of the best singing vocals around!!
10. Arin Ray (Mentor: Britney Spears)
This guy is the returning act from previous session! I like his smooth voice, he has got the style and he has got the voice BUT sorry to say he lost his focus! He forgotten what he is here for! His goal shifted from the 5 million prize to one of Fifth Harmony Girl Group's member! Plus I believe that Britney did a very lousy job with all her contestants! She only focuses on one maybe 2 of her contestants and letting the rest go to waste! Plus she tends to "over-furnish" her acts with way too many decorative backgrounds from dancers to hanging ropes to rise high and low stages! Which I find it a bit distracting! Thus costing her one of her good contestant Arin Ray! This young man reminds me of Usher! But if he is going to join for the 3rd time, he better keep his focus on the prize and not something else! (One example would be: Theme of the week : Giving Thanks! And he choose Hero by Enrique Iglesias, he said it was dedicated to his brother but yet its obvious he is de-railed! But then what is the mentor doing!!!)
9. Beatrice Miller (Mentor: Britney Spears)
Well I would blame her initial elimination reason to Britney Spears! Britney did not put a full heart into nurturing this really talented girl! She neglected her talents in fact and failed to dress her for the occasion. Instead of choosing a worthy song for her, she was made to sing songs that is obviously not suitable for her husky voice! Her mentor chose "man/guy" songs like Iris by Goo Goo Dolls, Chasing Cars - Snow Patrol for her to attempt! (Lousy choice) and not to say her costumes! Well why do you let a 13 years old wear frumpy clothes and colorful hats while performing! It is a far cry from the way Britney dress and train Carly! (That is another story ya!) Her voice is very special and she has this very adorable look! I like her a lot BUT by the end of the sing-off when she is at the bottom two along with Cece Frey (The one character that I dislike!) I am ready to send her off and retain Cece! When she performed her "Final Showdown" song "White Flag" (So obvious! She given up) she is sobbing and perform without hope and fire! If she wants it she has got to fight for it but she didn't and for a moment there i admire Cece (always the bottom dweller) for her fire to continue fighting even though this is the million times she is at that position!
8. Paige Thomas (Mentor: Demi Lovato)
I love this girl. She very strong and indeed she has the power in her vocal! I hate to see her eliminated as she is the other act that I am rooting for other than Lyric 145! I was very disappointed to see her go although I know she is good but NOT good enough! Sadly! I was relieved when she was safe when she goes against Jennel but like I said that wasn't enough to keep her in the competition! A competition where 5 million is at stake! A lot of people were saying she is Rihanna wannabe! But I do not care because through the entire competition she has shown her determination to win and she kept on fighting till the end! I wish her well in everything that she is doing now!
7. Vino Alan (Mentor: L.A. Reid)
This is yet another shocking elimination. One that I was disappointed to see go! Because he has kept a constant run at number 3 all this while! But then his tantrum throwing and complacency has booted him home! The moment he got number 3 for the third time he remarked "Number 3 is very good indeed! I think America feel what I am doing!" At this point of competition complacency kills (ok in any point in life as well! We gotta keep on fighting to progress) L.A. Reid rebutted him, in which I agree "There is only one place! Number 1, there is no place for Number 3! Number 3 is not Number 1! You gotta progress, gotta do something that is different! I can see L.A. genuinely wanted all his acts to win and that resorted him to do a drastic move to pick songs like You've lost that lovin' feeling, a very far cry from Vino excellent performance of previous week "God Bless USA!" With that song I can almost see him winning but "Lost that lovin' feeling" really made your contestant "lost" L.A! (Kudos to him for his effort even though he was at a tantrum throwing mood when he was told he is going to mentor the over 25s! He was professional! - In fact I didn't know he is such a big shot because he has always appear humble in the show)
6. Cece Frey (Mentor: Demi Lovato)
From the last of the young adults! I am waiting for her to be eliminated! Been hoping everyday! She is still around till now is not because she can sing but because she has this sobby story to tell! Everybody has been through hard times but she complaining again and again about how she hated going back to work at the post office is getting very boring! I didnt get her leopard spots painting although I think similar ones on Jadzia Dax (Star Trek - Deep Space Nine) looked very sexy! But then for Cece it is week after week of poor performance and criticism from the judges and yet she stayed around! For one time I had to agree with Britney when she remarked toward Cece's performance by saying "I just don't get it!!" As she continued to stay in the competition she became cockier! I already hated her but she makes me hate her more by saying this when the judges criticized her performance as usual by saying "If they are not going to write that cheque someone will!" and when L.A. Reid told her that her performance wasn't worth 5 million she replied "But I am still here!" so bye bye and you are lucky you stayed till number 6! Actually to be honest I don't get her "Eye of the Tiger"performance, trying so hard to be Ke$ha and also her almost out of tune worst than karaoke session "All by myself" and her poorly performed out of all notes and failed to hit the ending high note of "Wind beneath my wings" she covered her poor performance by simply shedding tears! Well played but not good enough! As it is time to go when we watched for the final time she slaughtered Katy's Part of Me! Ouuch! I was happy to see her go!
5. Diamond White (Mentor: Britney Spears)
Diamond is such a talent! She reminded me of the late Whitney Houston! But her mentor wasted her talent, utterly destroying her by leading her the wrong direction! That is not counting Britney lopsided decision to eliminate her and keep Arin Ray instead! Later Simon Cowell step in and bring Diamond back because they decided it was a mistake to eliminate Diamond! So ever since then Britney has never invested into Diamond! The songs that Britney picked for Diamond are songs from huge octaves divas! I wonder Britney herself could carry any of those tunes! (Shame!) Time and again Diamond was put to challenge from songs like I have nothing by Whitney Houston to Halo by Beyonce to Because you loved me - Celine Dion to I wanna Dance with somebody - Whitney again! (Now you see what I am saying) Diamond has shown her ability to sing and live up to these legendary tunes and I love the way everytime she goes on stage, she hit those notes wonderfully! I believe that she could stay longer or maybe win the show if her mentor put a little bit more effort on this one instead of heavily investing on her number 2!
4. Emblem 3 (Mentor: Simon Cowell)
Maybe America finally saw that they do not need another One Direction! They are at number 4 thanks to so many screaming teens out there! Usually they scream louder than what was being performed by the boys blinded them to their votes! Well we all are young once and my time was the Backstreet Boys (Well indeed they are talented! Ha! Ha! See younger days!) This is the same as that! This one I have to agree with Demi, they are becoming so predictable, they came out, stand together and sing a verse, then start to come forward and jump around the stage, they rap and then they end the song! Actually they are ok but vocally still a little bit short of breath! As I watched them performed "No one - Alicia Keys", "Secrets - One Republic", "I am a Believer - Monkees", "Just the way you are - Bruno Mars" and poorly singed "Hey Jude - Beatles" all the songs are lack of emotions although I would say they are interesting to watch but still not good enough and Simon was rooting for them to win this or at least go on to the final!
3. Fifth Harmony (Mentor: Simon Cowell) - Previously known as Lylas then 1432
Indeed like their song "Anything Could Happen" they stayed on till the final! Well to be honest I find their song "Anything Could Happen" very entertaining! I love it! I love the song after I heard Fifth Harmony performed it! In fact it is better than the original and everybody knows I am sucker for pinkish stuff and beautiful fairytale dreams and their backdrop had me loving it! I love how they hit the final high note for the song Anything! It is impressive! But as this is a race to find someone with the talent, only one song that impressed doesn't do the work! Although these girls are just adorable and very lovely but its not enough to win them the grand price. In fact only 2 out of 5 girls could sing and could really carry tunes well. Overall they were really nice to have around although I cannot remember half of what they sang because it didn't "WOW" me!
2. Carly Rose Sonenclar (Mentor: Britney Spears)
This girl could sing! And she could sing VERY WELL! That is thanks to Britney for putting all her effort into this act alone! At least all the other teens in the category that sacrificed has brought Carly to this stage! We knew the moment Britney saw her she exclaimed "I saw myself in you when I first started!" So obvious and from then on Britney has invested in her entirely, from songs choice to costumes to choreography but I am well to say that Carly has not disappoint in any of her performances. But there is one thing that I think she need to work on, her facial expression at times can be a little over-done when singing! So maybe that is required for hitting big notes?!? (I don't know because I am just a humble karaoke singer! Maybe I should try that, it might make me hit higher notes! Ha! Ha!) But overall I enjoy how she was always on top of her game interchanging number 1 with the X-factor winner! The song that I find most entertaining is "My heart will go on - Celine Dion" & "Over the Rainbow" that got her the number one spot on week 4 & 5 of the competition! This girl has definitely make an impression in the music industry and I believe her life can never be normal again as she has proven herself to be far more talented than Britney herself!
1. Tate Stevens (Winner) (Mentor: L.A.Reid)
I am glad to see him win! Like hubby always said "America needs someone like Tate! A man committed to his marriage and love his family in the entertainment industry!" We were praying that he will win this competition and I am happy to see him crown winner! I am never a fan of country music! Never Ever! Accept for Carrie Underwood, other than that nope! Don't know any country song! I used to think country music is boring! But then everytime Tate took the X-Factor Stage I will be very entertained and I will be very attentive towards the songs he sang. He became better and better throughout the competition. His final few weeks' performances were the best! I personally like Bonfire & Fall & yeah also Anything Goes! Most importantly he dedicates all his songs to his wife, that is really a good man! And he deserved to win this as his reason to win is to give his family a good life! Kudos man! And praying for your many success! Buy a country album from Tate?! Maybe my hubby will! As he is already showing great support for him!
