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The highly anticipated sophomore season of the X Factor US has finally arrived. Simon Cowell and LA Reid are back with popstar Britney Spears and teen star Demi Lovato joining them as judges. Will it crash and burn or will it be able to find a star?

Recap after the JUMP ...

Hello everyone, I hope that you are just as excited as I am for the premiere of the X Factor US tonight. Now, lets be honest, last season was pretty dull all together. There were a few good contestants but I don't believe any of them had the true X Factor. Hopefully, that will change this year.

However, there are some changes that need to be discussed before we start. First, there are two new judges to welcome to the panel, pop princess Brittney Spears and young star Demi Lovato. I really hope Brittney can be a fun and interesting judge. From the previews, I've seen, she came off as pretty dull and kind of robotic. I've also heard that from some friends who went to the auditions taping in Greensboro, North Carolina. I've also read a lot of people are saying Demi is too young to judge but from what I've seen in the previews and heard from others, Demi could be a surprise and I hope that she lives up to those expectations!

The second change is regarding to the categories. There've been many rumors about the categories being changed for this season. Apparently there isn't going to be a Boys/Girls category this year. Instead, we'll have 12-16 and 17-24. I'm not so sure how I feel about this, but only time will tell.

Alright that's it for the introduction, lets get started with the show!

The show begins with a big montage about the X Factor all over the world, we see Denmark's ex host Lise Rønne and Germany's current host Jochen Schropp, plus we also get to see the judges introduction videos. Brittney Spears, of course, gets the biggest introduction. Haha





Paige Thomas - 21 - San Antonio, Texas - "I'm Going Down" by Mary J. Blige - She has the cutest little baby girl who looks just like her. Paige says that she is a huge Brittney fan. On stage, you can see her fantastic dressing style. She does a pretty good job though I had two issues. I thought that she used her vibrato a little too much and that she shouted the song. But, overall she is really good. She kind of reminds me of a good live singing version of Rihanna. I do think that the judges are overhyping her a little bit, but she does have some good potential. She obviously got 4 yeses from the judges.


Shawn Armetna - Pheonix, Arizona - "Candy Girls", orignal - He says that he put one year and six months into this audition. Despite that, it was really bad. His dancing was funny and his singing was atrocious. Simon says he is like a mouse trying to be an elephant. He gets angry when the judges give him a reality check so he lashes out telling Demi that she uses auto-tune and then tells LA Reid that he is a better writer than him. Brittney is highly offended by him and Shawn ends up storming off the stage. Four nos, no shocker there. LOL



Reed Deming - 13 - "It Will Rain" by Bruno Mars - His voice is a little weak and choppy. The judges stop him and make him change his song. He decides to do "Grenade" by Bruno Mars instead, and it honestly isn't any better. He has potential but he needs a few years to grow in my honest opinion. Simon said that he needs to get some better vocals, while LA Reid said that he reminded him of Beiber, which Reed didn't like very much. Brittney and Demi thought that he was super cute! Reed got four yeses.


Kaci Newton - 22 - Texas - "Firework" by Katy Perry - She brought her sister with her. The only thing that this girl does is talk badly about other people. She thinks that she is better than everyone else. Honestly, she's just a total bitch and I can't stand people like her. Before singing she said  she has been singing in church since she was 4 years old. It was awful, which made me really happy because she has such an awful attitude. Simon compares it to dying. Kaci then decided to randomly belt out "Mercy" to win the judges over. It did her absolutely no favors. Simon called her annoying and she got four nos from the judges, thank god. Goodbye Kaci!





Now the show shifts to San Francisco.

Quatrele Da'An Smith - "Born This Way" by Lady GaGa - He's dressed in a wedding dress. His day job is decorating cakes, which is kind of ironic. Haha. I thought it was pretty bad honestly. Brittney and Demi  for some crazy reason seem to love this guy. Simon says he looks like the love child of Madonna, James Brown, and Dracula. He surprising got three yeses. LA was the only one with enough sense to say no to this guy.


Vincent Thomas - 22 - "Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word" by Elton John - He's had the opportunity to perform in front of 60,000 people in London before. I've no idea how cause his voice is very weak and he is really pitchy throughout the song. He talked to Emblem 3 about what it was like to be in a boyband and giving them advice which was funny after hearing him perform. He was extremely dull and boring and I would have never guessed that he had been in a boyband. It was four nos for him.

Emblem 3 - Wes, Drew, and Keeton - 15-19 - "Sunset Boulevard", original - They don't want to be called a boyband, so i'll refer to them as a Threesome. Cheers to my roommate on that wise crack. Haha. The song was pretty good, and I'm not a big fan of rap at all. They have potential but only time will tell how far they can go in the competition. Four yeses for them!



Don Philip - 32 - "Halo" by Beyonce - He's a vocal coach. He had the opportunity to duet with Brittney Spears about 10 years ago. He has been trying to be successful in the music business since but he's had a hard time. Brittney recognizes him when he comes out on stage. His performance is not good at all. Now I can see how him and Brittney got to do a duet together. Haha. Anyways, Brittney had to be honest with him which was hard for her to do. But, she did and I admire her for it. Don took the news hard, and was terrified that he had hurt Brittney, which he didn't want to do



Jenell Garcia - 18 - Providence, Rhode Island - "Paris Oh La La" by Grace Potter - She really loves Pat Benatar. She is an old school rock girl and you could easily see that in her performance. She is the best vocalist thus far tonight. All of the judges really like her, and she gets four yeses!


Jillian Jensen - 19 - Rochester, Massachusetts - "Who You Are" by Jessie J - She has a huge group of people there to support her. She was bullied a lot in middle school and high school. She looks up to Demi and even has the same tattoo as her. Her cover was both haunting and absolutely heartbreaking. She has been through so many terrible things and every bit of that showed in her performance. Her voice isn't the strongest but this is one of those cases where it really didn't matter. Demi was moved to tears and ran up to the stage to comfort her. She got four easy yeses and has the potential to go far if she makes it to live shows.


Overall, tonight was pretty good. I was a little underwhelmed by the talent. However, there were a couple of good vocalists. But, I'm still waiting to be blown away. Hopefully that'll happen soon! Brittney was actually better tonight than I expected. I think Demi did a really good job too. After tonight, I do believe that the X Factor US is an improved show and will be more successful this year than the last one.

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