MMTV: Mediocre Music TV
Edition #9: The X Factor Live Week 1 (Live Show/Results)

Written by: Wences Acosta

Now, here is a very interesting situation. The first week of Live Shows have past and I feel....very underwhelmed. These are the shows that make or break a contestant, and yet it just doesn't have the same feeling that it did last year. Let me start off with where the show went right, then where it went wrong (which is one major thing), and then I will go to the actual acts.

The Good: First off, I love the hype for when a contestant is going to come out. The color of an act as they are posing before their black and white picture comes out is brilliant. I also like the set lights after an act performs, as instead of the classic lights zooming in on the act, they do what I call The Seizure Lights which is just the lights flickering back and forth. This is somewhat the same way they are doing it in The U.K. this year (where the background statics until it is back to normal).

The Bad: Oh, is this bad....First off, they attempted at doing a "Halloween" show, but all they did was a few light effects. That only compares barely to the pain we have to sit through with our lovely co hosts. Mario Lopez I can forgive because as I have mentioned previously I have seen his work on ABDC and he is a very decent host. Sometimes he misses but for the most part he knows what he is doing. Khloe on the other hand, well that's a donkey of a different color. I had small hopes that she wouldn't be as annoying as her sisters, after all I never watch their shows such as "Keeping Up With..." or "... Take New York", but I had faith that X Factor would hire someone who could at least pass an audition. By the looks of things, she had to have put out for someone, because Khloe has only 2 emotions: Lost or Prompt Reading. She either has NO idea what she is saying or she clearly is looking at a Prompt. Another thing that bugs me even though it is supposed to be a good thing, is she likes to cause drama. Let me explain, Natural Drama such as when Simon feuds with a fellow judge is what this show runs on....Forced Drama such as Khloe asking Demi which member of 1432 (Lylas Version 2) was the "good one" or asking which song Simon would choose for Willie Jones, that is just annoying. I want to like her, but she is making this experience very painful.

Now, let me get to the actual acts, where this show really fails. There are very few acts that shine from Good to Awesome, Maybe 2 or 3 acts that are just Meh and not memorable at all, and then the rest are very VERY crappy. Let me just dive in with each of the categories...

Demi Lovato and The Teens:

#1: Jannel Garcia "Home Sweet Home"
One of the best acts in this night, as shocking as it is to hear from me. I was willing to write off Jannel because her personality went downhill, and she had a very bad version of "I Kissed a Girl" last round, however....Tonight was just her night. She chose a perfect song that I did not expect, she did it quite well and out of all the acts I would rank her towards the top. Well Done Jannel, you have made me a believer.

#2: CeCe Frey "Because The Night"
This was a Meh performance. On one hand, I loved the song choice, I had not heard it before this night and I liked the rendition that was done. However, her overall presentation and the way she executed it was very forgettable. I will not take anything away from her though, and say this was in the middle of the pack.

#3: Paige Thomas "What Is Love?"
Now, do not get me wrong, I love the song choice 100 percent and her outfit was fabulous. As cruel as it sounds, the downfall began when she opened her mouth. The song started on the right track but then slowly derailed as the tempo picked up. I want to give her props for trying this, but I will not be shocked if she ends up in the bottom 2.

#4: Willie Jones "Here For The Party"
Ok, I seem to have mistook Willie's talent for something else. Actually no, there is someone to blame here and that is Ms. Demi Lovato. Willie showed he can do country, but Demi had him do a song that was not his personality and was practically a sabotage in her own category. He needs to go.

Singoff: CeCe (W) vs. Willie (L)
CeCe chose "Out Here On My Own" from Fame (You Go Girl!) while Willie chose "You Don't Know Me" from Eddy Arnold. CeCe should not have been in the bottom though I can see why she ended up there, while Willie, as mentioned before, needed to pull out something amazing to stay in the game. CeCe had a very emotional performance that had me on the edge of my seats, while Willie didn't. Do not get me wrong, it was one of his better performances, but against CeCe this just wasn't his night. After last nights fiasco, I am glad Demi made the right choice.

L.A. Reid and The Over Agers:

#1: Tate Stevens "Tough"
*sigh*. Tate, my little country bear, this week, at least in his category, he was the best. Overall, he was just in the middle of the pack but let me explain. He came out and did a practical country song, and while it wasn't the best this week, it proves that he is the best when it comes to Country. I will give him credit on that,

#2: Vino Alan "Gotta Be Somebody"
I was honestly debating where to put Vino. On one hand, he sang a Nickelback song worse then the original (which is saying something), yet on the other hand the other 2 members of his team sucked. In the end, this is where he placed, where it wasn't the fact he was good, it was just David and Jason were worse. It pains me to say this, and I honestly hope he steps his game up in the coming weeks.

#3: Jason Brock "Dance Again"
Ok, I get that Jason wanted to go for the glitter explosion, but that was just a failed facepalm. I love the original song (even with Pitbull), and I want to say I was entertained in the beginning, but in my mind this performance just lasted too long.

#4: David Correy "Your Love is My Love"
Where do I begin? He could have changed the arrangement to fit his own personality but chose to go with the original, and to me it just seems like the moment he stepped into the Live Shows, he became a major douche. I hope he learned his lesson

Singoff: David (L) vs. Jason (W)
David chose "Since You've Been Gone" from Kelly Clarkson, while Jason chose "One Moment in Time" from (ironically) Whitney Houston. I liked David's performance believe it or not. Sure it was a bit whiny but honestly he did here what he should have done for Whitney. HOWEVER: THAT IS HOW YOU DO A WHITNEY SONG! Good Gay God, Jason completely hit a homerun here and it really is no surprise that David lost. Once again, it was a good choice and this time in L.A.'S category

Britney Spears and The Young Adults:

1. Arin Ray "Keeps Me Hanging On"
This is how you do it! He made the song his own, the dubstep mixed with piano instrumental was done brilliantly. and his presence just screams out "Mini Usher" which in this case is a good thing.

2. Diamond White "Hey Soul Sister"
Ah, Diamond, is there anything you can not do?. I liked her rendition if this song, even if it wasn't the best in her category (I ranked her 3rd best of the night), It was a little shaky, but the transitions in the beat from down low to upbeat is great, and her confidence towards the end shined especially in her "I Want The World To See" section. Well done Diamond.

3. Carly Rose Sonenclar "Good Feeling/Somethings Got a Hold On Me"
Ok, I know I have Carly Rose for the win, but listen to me just for a second. I have tried to like the performance, but the thing is her voice, while absolutely stunning, does not match up with the dancers and everything else Britney hooked her up with. Also, in a way, I LOVE her voice for "Good Feeling", but the other half of the song fell flat. I like her, and there is no doubt she has staying power, but every good girl has a bad day.

4. Beatrice Miller "I Won't Give Up"
After re watching her performance, I will say it is not as bad as I thought it was. Granted it is still bad, especially when compared to the others in her group, but not that bad. I will say this much, the main reason I hated this performance was the vulnerability factor of it all. Usually it is a good thing, but it worked against her. When she is strong, oh boy is she strong, but for the most part when she is singing low, part of me just wants her to speak up and take control and she doesn't.

Sigoff: Arin Ray (W) vs. Diamond White (L)
Arin Ray chose "I Look To You" from Whitney Houston, while Diamond chose "Sorry Seems to Be The Hardest Word" from Elton John. First off, Britney, what in the blue hell are you smoking? Whatever it is, turn it sideways and stick it straight up your candy ass, because these 2 did not deserve Bottom 2. Now, with that said, Arin went first, and with all overused Whitney jokes aside, he had a good performance. Not great, not bad, just good. It was listenable, but it wasn't a strong performance like this song needed. Diamond on the other hand completely tore the performance up, she didn't over do it and yet had enough strength in her voice to make it an emotional performance. Surely between the 2, Diamond is going to be sta,,,,GOING HOME?!? BRITNEY, SERIOUSLY WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU ON???. Arin's face says it all, and Diamond looks like she wants to snap on Britney, which I would not blame her one bit. In my opinion Britney just screwed herself.

Simon Cowell and The Groups:

1. Emblem3 "One Day"
There is a reason this group is towards the top of my list. First off to have the balls to choose a Matisyahu song is brilliant and out of left field. This song went directly into their style and there was no sign of failing at all. This was the performance of the week.

2. Lyric 145 "Boom! Shake The Room/Gangnam Style"
I can almost copy and paste what I said for Carly here. These guys are a hip hop group, and yet it feels like they are just running in Astro's shoes. This was a good hype performance, but for actual hip hop, it was lacking. Another BS move was the inclusion of lack of inclusion of Gangnam Style. It would be one thing if they remixed it, but all they did was include the chorus and move on like it never happened, as another person would call it, it was a "Big Lipped Alligator Moment" in which it just happened but is never mentioned again. It was entertaining don't get me wrong, but Simon is dropping the ball here.

3. Sister C "Hell on Heels"
I think I give these girls alot more crap then I'm supposed to. Granted, this week they stunk to high heaven in my ears, but for their genre they are actually very good. Doesn't matter that country is not my taste, because everyone has different tastes. With THAT said, solo wise they are good singles, but their harmonies suck. The only other positive that can come out is they weren't the worse group this week...

4. 1432 "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together"
...that is where these girls come in. After the Lyla fiasco, these girls became 1432 which stands for "I Love You 2". I find it very creative considering Ray J released a song not too long ago called 143. However, when they came out on stage, it was a total train-wreck. I like this song, but these girls were all over the place, one girl sang high while another sang low, the harmonies didn't match up, I just felt sorry for these girls.

Singoff: Sister C (L) vs. 1432 (W).
Sister C chose "When I Look at You" from Miley Cyrus while 1432 sang "Skyscraper" from X Factor's own Demi Lovato. First off, nice to see someone go after a Miley song especially during a sing-off. With that said, I liked their performance....if one of the singers didn't kind of ruin it for me. The one who was in the middle snaps me back to reality every time I wanted to get lost in it and I just couldn't really get into it. As for 1432, these girls took this song and owned it. They put each member in the right spot, they actually harmonized and sounded like an army. To me, this just showed me that these girls can do this if they keep it up. Simon, well done....don't drop the ball.

My Top 12 after Eliminations
1. Carly Rose Sonenclar
2. Vino Alan
3. Emblem3
4. Lyric 145
5. Tate Stevens
6. CeCe Frey
7. 1432
8. Arin Ray
9. Jason Brock
10. Jannel Garcia
11. Beatrice Miller
12. Paige Thomas
If you have any opinions or comments, please let me know at Slackercub@yahoo.com.