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On last night’s performance episode of The X Factor USA, the three remaining contestants sang for their supper with three special guests. If you’ve missed the show, we live-blogged it here, along with the videos here.

Josh Krajcik kicked things off by singing Alanis Morrissette’s song, Uninvited. It was a very strong performance for Josh. Very well done.

Afterward, Chris Rene belted out a version of Complicated and was later joined by Avril Lavigne. We felt that the song lacked a lot and was definitely not his best performance.

Lastly for the first round, Melanie Amaro got stuck with R. Kelly and his song, I Believe I Can Fly. Even though the guest performer and the song choice weren’t my favorite, she still found a way to make it work. Good for her.

Round one rankings:
Melanie Amaro
Josh Krajcik
Chris Rene

For round two, Josh busted out some Krajcik Magic with Etta James’ song, At Last. I couldn’t forget how much Josh won us all over when he first sang that song on the show.

Afterward, Chris sang his own original song, Young Homie. This is the originality that we’ve grown to love from Chris. He’s got something special about his singing talent and the heart that he puts into songs.

Lastly, Melanie sang Beyonce’s song, Listen. She’s got the type of voice that can basically sing anything — even some 800 year-old song by R. Kelly. This girl has some pipes — along with a serious shot at winning the top prize.

Round two rankings:
Chris Rene
Melanie Amaro
Josh Krajcik

Yesterday, we also took a poll of our readers to see who you thought would win the competition. We’ve received over 10,000 responses! [Thanks everyone, keep the votes coming!] Forty-four percent of voters felt that Melanie will win the X Factor crown, with Josh right behind her and Chris cleaning up last place.

Stay tuned to Earsucker.com, where you will find out who wins the show first! [Read: We update constantly.]

It has all come down to this! It’s the season finale performance episode of The X Factor USA. There isn’t anymore waiting, America….tonight, we’ll get to see which contestant really brings it on the show. Are you excited? We are!

After last week’s not-so-shocking elimination of three-time bottom two champion, Marcus Canty, we’re left with Josh Krajcik, Melanie Amaro and Chris Rene. The final three competitors are all vying for the X Factor crown and its top prize: a recording contract worth five million dollars.

It’s really hard to say who’s going to walk away a champion tomorrow, but we’re down for some speculation. We’re really fans of all three of the finalists on the show, but Melanie stands out with her range. On that note, Josh does have the ability to really sing just about anything, as well.

We could have predicted that they would have made it this far. Chris, however, while talented, does not possess the same pizazz as Josh and Melanie. Having said that, he has taken some risks with his song choices and has come out on top.

So it’s anyone’s game at this point. Stay tuned right here to Earsucker.com, as we’ll be live-blogging the show with up-to-the-minute coverage at 8PM EST!

Update: We will be updating this post with all of the performance videos from tonight’s show. Stay tuned, it’s almost show time!

RECAP:

ROUND ONE

Josh Krajcik is up first, singing Alanis Morrissette’s hit song, Uninvited. OMG, she’s joining him on stage! I love this song! What a great duet!

Chris Rene is up next, doing Avril Lavigne’s song, Complicated. It’s not that great of a cover. Avril took the stage and joined him for the duet. It seems that she changed her key to suit his singing style. Were you feeling that duet?

Melanie Amaro is singing R. Kelly’s I Believe I Can Fly. She is genuinely talented! You go girl! She is joined on stage by R. Kelly for a fantastic duet.

ROUND TWO

Josh Krajcik is up first, singing the song that made him a household name in America…Etta James’ At Last. What a touching performance! Kudos to Josh!

Chris Rene is singing next, doing his own original song, Young Homie. Paula gushed about the song, saying that’s why she fell in love with him. Simon called that Chris’ five million dollar song. It was alright, not too shabby.

Melanie Amaro is last, singing Listen by Beyonce. She’s killing it. She really does have an amazing voice. Get that five million dollars, girl!

Who will win the X Factor — TAKE OUR POLL HERE!

We’ve already spoiled the performers for tomorrow night’s season finale of The X Factor USA yesterday. Now, we want to know who you think will win the grand prize of a five million dollar recording contract!

It all boils down to the final three competitors in the competition: Josh Krajcik, Melanie Amaro and Chris Rene.

Melanie was brought back from Boot Camp to join the top sixteen contestants, after Simon Cowell realized that he made a mistake in letting her go. This woman has some major talent!

Josh has been a frontrunner from the very beginning with his Michael Bolton-esque singing style and his ability to sing anything.

Chris is a strong contender because of his ability to create a song that expresses true emotions and win people over.

Alas, there can be only one winner. Who do you think it’s going to be?

Take our poll!

Also, stay tuned tonight at 8PM EST, as we recap the performance episode of the show — with up-to-the-minute coverage!

The first season of The X Factor USA is set to come to an end on Wednesday night when we learn who is crowned the champion and winner of the five million dollar record contract. It’s down to three competitors, Josh Krajcik, Melanie Amaro and Chris Rene (in no particular order).

On tomorrow night’s performance episode of the show, we will see the final three compete for the grand prize. In order (take that, Steve!), we will see performances by Josh, then Chris and finally Melanie. Also of note is that they will all be performing with a mystery guest each! I wonder who it could be!

According to a press conference, Justin Bieber will be performing, along with Ne-Yo, Leona and Pitbull.

Also, despite her elimination, Drew Ryniewicz will take the stage along with her idol, Justin Bieber.

Earlier today, we also heard reports that the show was considering axing its host, Steve Jones.

Who do you think is going to win The X Factor? Sound off with your thoughts — in the comments.

On last night’s Semi-Finals, four became three on The X Factor USA stage. It all came down to America’s votes, with no final showdown for the judges. Is that so because Nicole Scherzinger might’ve voted to save Marcus Canty again?!? We are curious.

Still, it wasn’t out of the realm of possibility that Marcus could have stayed in favor of Chris Rene. However, it came down to the fact that Marcus had already been in the bottom two three times before. When it came between him and front-runner Josh Krajcik, there really wasn’t any competition.

WATCH:

Our remaining X Factor finalists are Chris Rene, Melanie Amaro and Josh Krajcik. We’ve been watching the show since its inception and were just so sure that Astro or Rachel Crow would be in the competition at the very end.

Next week’s Finale should prove to be very interesting as the final three take to the stage one last time to sing for that five million dollar recording contract. Who do you think has the X factor? Who can take home the top prize? Sound off in the comments below and let us know your thoughts!

After last night’s performance episode of The X Factor USA, we were left wondering who would be eliminated on tonight’s show. The are four remaining acts in the Semi-Finals, but only three can go through to the Finals!

In case you’ve missed the show, you can read our recap here. You can also check out all of the videos in this one handy place here.

If we had to guess right now, we would say that Melanie Amaro is our first choice to go through. She would be followed by Josh Krajcik, who killed it in both performances last night.

As far as the bottom two are concerned, we would guess that it would be between Chris Rene and Marcus Canty. This is a familiar spot for Marcus, since he’s been there three times already. As his mentor, L.A. Reid kept mentioning, he’s the “Three song Save Me Champion”.

Yes, but can he pull it out of the air again? Will the judges grow a backbone and send the guy home already? Or will it be Chris Rene on the chopping block? Or — will we ALL be in for some craziness and watch as Josh Krajcik gets eliminated?

What do you think? Stay tuned, we’ll be live-blogging the show right here, when it starts — at 8PM EST!

It’s showtime! Who’s going to be in the Finals? We’re covering the show, as it airs! RECAP STARTS NOW!

Performing on tonight’s show are Florence & The Machine and judge Nicole Scherzinger! There is no final showdown tonight and all of the decisions are based on our votes.

Is L.A. Reid nervous because he knows one of his guys might just end up getting eliminated tonight???

RESULTS AS THEY HAPPEN

Going through to the finals:

Chris Rene
Melanie Amaro
Josh Krajcik

What do you think of the results? Was it Marcus Canty’s time to go??? Sound off in the comments!

On last night’s performance episode of The X Factor USA, the final four competitors sang for their lives. Each did two songs and killed it. But, alas, only three can go through to the Finals on the show. Here’s our take on what went down. In case you’ve missed the show, you can read our recap here, or check out all of the videos of each performance here.

People’s Choice Songs:

Marcus Canty did a nice version of Boyz II Men’s song, I’ll Make Love To You. It was on-key and the pitch was just right. This guy puts some real feeling into his songs.

Chris Rene performed Fly by Sugar Ray and it was so-so. He’s got talent, but this might not have been the best song for him. It sounded karaoke-ish to us.

Melanie Amaro killed her song choice, which was Mariah Carey’s Hero. Not a lot of people should and can cover Mariah. So this was a risk. A well-worth it risk, at that.

Josh Krajcik brought the house down with his cover of The Beatles’ song, Come Together. He’s got soul and he nailed this song perfectly.

Judge’s Choice Songs:

Marcus performed Careless Whisper by Wham and it was alright. Not that great for a song like this. We’ll see if he’s in the bottom two AGAIN.

Chris murdered Alicia Keys’ song, No One. Here’s another singer that not many can mimic. Chris proved that with this cover. Chris might just end up in the bottom two because of it.

Melanie nailed it again with her cover of Nina Simone’s Feelin’ Good. We love her voice and her range. This girl can sing anything. A definite winner.

Josh pulled a safe song out of his pocket and performed Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen. Still, he’s going to be the guy to beat.

Whose performance was your favorite? Who are you rooting for? Stay tuned, tonight, we’ll be providing our live blog of the show, as it airs!

On last week’s elimination episode of The X Factor USA, we saw the untimely exit of young singer Rachel Crow. After three of the judges voted, it was left up to Nicole Scherzinger as to who would remain in the competition. She chose to eliminate Rachel instead of Marcus Canty, throwing the results into a deadlock. The public’s votes were tallied, leaving Rachel out of the competition. If you’ve missed the shows last week, you can read our performance and elimination recaps here.

We are left with the final four remaining competitors, Josh Krajcik, Melanie Amaro, Marcus Canty and Chris Rene, all vying for the top prize of a five million dollar recording contract.

Since the competitors were unable to perform their Pepsi Challenge performances last week, we’ll be seeing those on tonight’s show. SEE THE PERFORMANCE VIDEOS HERE.

Earlier today, it was revealed that Marcus was really upset over Rachel’s elimination and even almost quit the show entirely! Are you glad he didn’t? (continue reading…)

On this week’s elimination episode of The X Factor USA, the final four will become three. On December 22nd, the remaining three contestants will enter the finals so that we can all find out who the winner of the $5 million recording contract.

Before the competition, the four remaining competitors spoke about what they thought would help them win the top prize.

Josh Krajcik said, “I think I’m very unique when it comes to this competition. Not only am I the oldest, but I have the most experience. I’ve been writing songs my whole life. I play guitar. I play piano. I’m a singer/songwriter. I play rock. I can do country. I think I’m just versatile.”

Melanie Amaro said, “The Melanie thing is that, out of all of the contestants, you can give me anything, like anything! ‘Happy Birthday’ or ‘Mary Had A Little Lamb’ and I would sing my heart out singing whatever you give to me. And I think that’s what I have over the competition. I think God has blessed me with this gift to be able to sing anything.”

Chris Rene said, “What I carry with me is diversity. What I carry with me is strength. What I carry with me is that I’m a champion, and I will succeed either way. And I just love being an original person, artist, and in all aspects of life I think that’s going to carry me far.”

Marcus Canty said, “I work really hard. I try so hard to give me all. I’m dancing. I’m moving. I’m singing. I’m trying to cover every aspect of the elements of me. I’m versatile, I sing Janis Joplin one week, and then come back and sing Bobby Brown, then come back and do Chaka Khan. I try so hard to show people different sides of me.”

Who are you rooting for in the competition? Who do you think will be left standing when we get to the Finals? Sound off in the comments and let us know!

The X Factor USA contestant Chris Rene seemed to be inspirational with his Young Homies song when he auditioned for the talent competition. Apparently, now that he is in the final five, he might have suffered a relapse. Oh no.

He touted the work of his mentor in rehab, during his inspirational song and came into the competition clean and sober. He was a true inspiration to fans who were dealing with drug abuse. On last night’s show, he killed it with a new original song, titled, Where Do We Go From Here.

He was so elated with the response for his new song that he sent out the above message to a friend, on Twitter (See the above photo).

Perhaps he didn’t mean for that message to go out to his 76,000 fans? Still, now that the damage is done, will he be the one on the elimination block on tonight’s show?

We’ll keep you posted on the results show, but as of now that tweet has been deleted. Stay strong, Chris! Should the show keep him on and make him go to rehab? What do you think? Sound off in the comments!

Last night’s performance episode of The X Factor USA was a good one! In case you’ve missed the episode, you can read our recap here or enjoy the performance videos here.

For the first round, each act performed a dance song, as DJ’ed by Nervo. Melanie Amaro shined with her cover of Adele’s Someone Like You. Rachel Crow’s cover of B.O.B.’s hit Nothing On You was happy and bright, but not exactly the best song choice for her. Josh Krajcik seemed out of place with his Rihanna cover of We Found Love. His voice can handle the song, but it’s obviously not his genre. Marcus Canty was decent with his Chaka Khan cover of Ain’t Nobody…that seemed like his best performance. Chris Rene’s cover of T.I.’s song, Livin’ Your Life was so-so.

Was it just me or did you think that Simon Cowell was trying to nudge Josh out of the competition?

At the last minute, the contestants were informed that they would be performing their Pepsi Challenge songs next week, so they were advised to sing their “save me” songs.

Melanie belted out Whitney Houston’s When You Believe and killed it! Not just anyone can cover Whitney, so she should be proud. Marcus’ Leon Russell song, A Song For You, was slow and somber. Rachel’s cover of Michael Jackson’s song, Music And Me, was cute and happy. I love Rachel, she’s so peppy and sweet. Disney will be calling her if she doesn’t win. Josh sang Something In The Way She Moves by The Beatles and we are just in love with this man’s voice. Seriously. After Chris’ first performance, we weren’t sure if he would end up in the bottom two, but he nailed the second song with his own original track, titled, Where Do We Go From Here. That song sounds like something that would do well on the radio.

Who earned your votes last night? Sound off in the comments and let us know! As always, stay tuned for our official recap tonight, as the show airs!

UPDATE: Elimination Recap Here

On last night’s performance episode of The X Factor USA, it was Michael Jackson night. All of the remaining contestants put their own spins on our favorite tunes from the King Of Pop. In attendance, were Michael’s brothers, his children, Paris, Prince and Blanket, along with his mother, Katherine, who is a big fan of the show. [Recap, performance videos]

Here’s who sang what on last night’s show, along with our brief commentary:

Josh Krajcik – Dirty Diana [Overshadowed by overproduction.]
Astro – Black Or White [Good rap, excellent stage presence.]
Drew – Billie Jean [Boring, but great voice. Yawn.]
Rachel Crow – Can You Feel It [Did not feel it.]
Marcus Canty – PYT (Pretty Young Thing) [His vocals were off]
Chris Rene – I’ll Be There [Going home.]
Melanie Amaro – Earth Song [Best performance of the night.]

So, who’s getting eliminated tonight? Our guess is Chris Rene and quite possibly Marcus Canty or Rachel Crow. Even though Josh Krajcik’s performance left a lot to be desired, the man can still sing. One bad night should not exclude him from going through to the top five.

Who are you rooting for tonight? Stay tuned, we’ll be providing our live up-to-minute coverage of the show when the show airs at 8PM EST.

It’s showtime! Over 16 million people voted for last night’s finalists! The top seven are kicking off the show with a tribute to Michael Jackson’s Man In The Mirror. I love it! Josh and Melanie really are stars! Astro is rapping, nice! Best group performance of the show yet.

Going through the competition:

Chris Rene
Melanie Amaro
Rachel Crow
Josh Krajcik
Marcus Canty

Tinie Tempah is performing his new song, Pass Out.

Between Astro, Marcus Canty and Drew, the act with the lowest amount of votes and will be leaving immediately is Astro! Wow! Now, Drew and Marcus will have to go head-to-head in the final showdown! Steve Jones still cracks me up with his “Off you go, Astro!” Drew is whiny, jeez. Perhaps tonight, she’s going to give us an upbeat performance?

Regarding Astro, he has talent, there is no doubt about that. I just think America fell out of love with him after he demonstrated his attitude. If he would’ve remained grateful, I think he would still be in the competition. I guess Vote For The Worst couldn’t save him this week.

Drew is up first, performing Listen To Your Heart by Roxette. I was hoping for that swift, upbeat ending, but we didn’t get it. Snooze.

Up next is Marcus, singing Neither One Of Us by Gladys Knight. It has feeling and soul, but will it be enough?

So who has been eliminated from tonight’s show???

L.A. Reid is sending Drew home.
Simon Cowell is sending Marcus home.
Nicole Scherzinger is sending Drew home.
Paula Abdul is sending Drew home.

Drew Ryniewicz has been eliminated! Shocking! What do you think of tonight’s elimination?!!!??

Singing in tenth place on tonight’s episode of The X Factor is Chris Rene, performing his own version of Gangsta’s Paradise by Coolio from the soundtrack to Dangerous Minds.

Chris sounded like he was really struggling with this song. I’m not sure that this was the best song choice for him tonight.

Nicole Scherzinger said that he channeled the song and the lyrics were good. Paula Abdul called him honest and amazing and said that the lyrics were real.

Simon Cowell said welcome back to the real Chris. He said that he is a potential real star.

L.A. Reid said he’s proud of him and that he did a really great job.

WATCH:

VOTE: 1-855-THE-XF-10

Was this your favorite performance of the night? Does Chris Rene have what it takes to win it all? Sound off in the comments below and let us know what you think!

X FACTOR ELIMINATION RECAP HERE

The competition is getting stiff on the first season of The X Factor USA! On last week’s episode of the show, we saw the elimination of Paula Abdul’s group, inTENsity. With a five million dollar recording contract on the line, what will the contestants do to take it to the next level?

Brian Bradley AKA Astro, commented that he wanted to “just have fun” and that’s what people love him for. Chris Rene said that if he could perform his own song, he feels that he could guarantee that he would not be in the bottom two. (continue reading…)

Chris Rene took on a performance of Superstar by The Carpenters on last night’s performance episode of The X Factor.

At the beginning of the song, it sounded as if he was about to start doing some Fugees, but then he vamped it up! He’s definitely got some talent and the crowd ate it up after he got the song going.

WATCH:

Was this your favorite performance of the evening? Does Chris have what it takes to win it all? Sound off in the comments below and let us know what you think!

Last night on The X Factor live performance show, Chris Rene seemed to step out of his comfort zone and cover Madonna’s song, Love Don’t Live Here Anymore.

To my surprise, it was a really good cover. I liked his performance a lot. You can really tell that he’s hungry for the main prize in the competition. He did a fine job. Check out his performance, below:

Was this your favorite performance of the night? Do you think Chris has what it takes to make it to the end to claim that five million dollar recording contract? Sound off in the comments below and let us know what you think!

Newly clean singer Chris Renee rocked an all original song called Young Homie for his X Factor audition. On tonight’s Judge’s Houses episode of the competition, he performed Everyday People by Sly & The Family Stone.

Chris is a true singing success story who has some amazing singing talent. We love his positivity about the process and the gracious attitude he has while performing. Check out the video of his performance, below:

Are you rooting for Chris? Do you think he’s got what it takes to make it through to the next round of the competition? Can he win it all? Sound off in the comments below and let us know what you think!