The X Factor: Times of Trouble

Tonight on The X Factor two more acts will go home as the teams are whittled down to eight contenders. We re-watch the good, the bad and the ugly from last night’s performance episode in an effort to kill about 8 minutes of the hour and then we get going…

The first elimination of the night is the act with the lowest number of votes and that act will also not have the opportunity to sing for a save. Unfortunately…Khaya is that person tonight. Wow. Really? This kid just couldn’t drum up support, huh? That’s really a shame because she’s more talented than several of the remaining contestants.

The final elimination comes down to Tim and Carlito...so Paulina is going to have to choose between two of her guys. Tim takes on “You Raise Me Up” by Josh Groban as his save me song and he sings it well. Again, no one is calling this guy’s voice into question. It’s his lack of stage presence, lack of personality, and lack of entertainment quality that puts him below the other contestants on this show. Carlito, to this point, has had the opposite problem. He has many qualities of a true entertainer, but his vocals just aren’t always stellar. He chooses “Beneath Your Beautiful” by Labrinth and Emile Sande…which was also just performed on The Voice. Sigh. Carlito should stay away from any future a capella attempts, as evidenced by the first half of the song…but the second half is much better. He looks more confident, he’s working the sexy, and it also looks like he’s working the Demi.

Kelly and Demi vote to send Tim home, giving Paulina and Simon a chance to tie it up. In the event of a tie, the person with the lowest number of votes is automatically eliminated. Paulina votes to send Tim home though so we don’t even have to hear from Simon. Interesting.

I think between the two guys Tim was the right choice. Hell, I think Tim was the right choice tonight regardless. Paulina now only has Carlito and Josh remaining, with Simon retaining Alex & Sierra and Restless Road, Demi holding on to Rion and Ellona, and Kelly keeping Lillie and Jeff. It’s still an even playing ground on The X Factor but we will definitely see a shift in numbers again next week. Can Carlito fight back? Will the boys of Restless Road loosen up and have some fun? Will Simon and Kelly finally get into an all-out fight (my money is on Kelly)? We’ll see what happens when the Top 8 take the stage next week. Til then!