http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UM-WVvIQJfc&feature=channel_video_title
(One of the acts I would have sent home if I was a judge. Fortunately for them, I’m not.)

Tonight was the first results show of this season of “The X Factor”. Eleven acts will move on to the next round and one goes home disappointed.

The elimination works like this: the 10 acts moving on to the next round are announced, and then the bottom two acts perform. The judges then decide who goes home. In the event of a tie, the act with the actual least votes from viewers goes home.

The show was an hour long, and host Steve Jones did a lovely job of stretching the time out with recaps and interview clips and a 5 minute long Pepsi ad where the contestants gushed about what an honor it would be if, gee whiz, they could actually be in a Pepsi ad, as if hawking a soft drink was the pinnacle of their artistic career.

And then, just to make sure you knew what a super hip drink Pepsi is, a singer named Outa Sight sang the “world premiere” of the song “Tonight Is The Night”, which is basically the latest Pepsi commercial. It’s actually a super catchy song, although there’s not much more to it than “Whoo hooo, tonight is the night.”

The results were squished in at the end, when of course we’re now pressed for time. The bottom two acts: The Stereo Hogzz and Intensity. Here are their performances from last night:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T824wg1IvSA&feature=channel_video_title

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2eSMmmopVg&feature=channel_video_title

 Bummer for Paula; two of her groups were the bottom acts. Last night I had predicted Leroy Bell and Lakoda Rayne might be the lowest scorers – not because I dislike Leroy. I love him. But I was hoping that Lakoda Rayne went home. But I digress.

Both acts performed. One question: much of the time the backing tracks seem to actually be handling the majority of the vocals. I mean, there are words being sung but no one had a mic to their mouth. Hmm. If the Hogzz has performed last night like they did tonight – just sang a song without all of the overproduction – I doubt they would have been in the bottom. And the Intensity kids are so darned cute.

The judges gave their decisions: Simon sent home The Stereo Hogzz; Paula and Nicole picked Intensity, leaving LA with the deciding vote. If he picked the Hogzz, the act with the legitimately lowest amount of votes would go home. He sent home Intensity. We’ll never know if they were they lowest scorers. What we do know is that the groups are struggling against such fantasatic talent like Stacy Francis, Josh Krajcik, Melanie Amaro, Drew, and the rest.

Check in next week when the final eleven contestants perform!