The X Factor Episode 6 Recap: Boot Camp 2 & Final 32

Welcome to tonight’s The X Factor second Boot episode! By the end of the night, we will know who the final 32 contestants are, as well as who will mentor the 8 contestants in each group of Boys, Girls, Over 30’s and Groups.

We continue with the ensembled groups remaining after last night’s show. The next ensemble are Brennan Hunt, group Equality, Marcus Canty, Matthew Johnson, Ma’at Bingham Shango, gone-clean Chris Rene and his sister Gina Rene (both solo). They’re thrilled to hear that they’ll be singing Marvin Gaye’s ’71 hit What’s Going On.

Twelve-year old Ma’at begins the song as the guys do a bit of choreographed soul-brother hand-shaking in a dance. The group do a pretty good job with the backup vocals. Gina is highlighted next, followed by Matthew, Brennan and finally Marcus, who has the judges smiling. The Equality group joins in and then they’re all singing in chorus up to the finish with applause from the judges. Simon says “that girl who I fought for just absolutely lost it.” He could only mean Ma’at or Gina and Ma’at sounded brilliant, especially for her age.

Next up are Mathew Slovacek, Tim Cifers, Hannah Bethel, Thomas Wells, Jeremy Easley and the Kingston duo. We’ve seen very little of anyone in this group before. They’re working closely with vocal coach Sevan Kotecha, who says, “Don’t wail just to wail… make me believe it.” This group does things differently, going on stage one by one instead of performing as a group. We get the impression that maybe the contestants in this group were singled out because of their vocal challenges. There’s no hiding behind someone else’s voice in singing this song, Rascal Flatt’s I Won’t Let Go.

Tim Cifers is first up, doing a long solo (nice work) and then Mathew appears on stage and takes the next few verses. The Kingston duo join in chorus with Hannah, then Thomas joins them. They each do a single line towards the end of the song and end with a chorus. The judges clap in approval. Privately, Simon privately compliments “that guy in the hat” Tim, saying he’s a contender.

The last ensemble for Day 2 of Boot Camp are the duo The Brewer Boys, Henri Bredouw, James Douglas, Emma Henry, Hannah Jackson, Ryan Simms, Kyle Corr and Christa Collins. They’re resorting to flipping coins to decide who sings which lines of Snow Patrol’s Chasing Cars. Henri kicks off the song, followed by Hannah and knock-kneed Emmy. It’s been a slow, sleepy song as the Brewer Boys join in, then Ryan kicks up the tempo with Christa following him with a much clearer, louder voice than we heard from the other gals. They all join in chorus at the end of the song, not quite on the same note with all of their different tones.

Now of the remaining 100 acts, one third will be sent home, leaving roughly 64 or so acts that will still have to be halved to reach the final 32. The judges deliberate over cards of the contestants spread out on the judging table, giving their various assessments of each contestant’s talent and potential. Simon reminds his fellow judges, “We’re going have to lose people, guys.” Looking over one contestant that Simon says “has energy”, L. A. responds, “She’s got energy but, boy, she can’t sing.”

Once again, contestants are separated into three groups. One of the groups will be going home. The first group up doesn’t include any of the budding stars that the judges have praised a lot. Sure enough, after a bit of a speech, Paula tells them they’re going home. Most of them take it alright, although in tears and hugging others who also didn’t make it with them. One guy, however, goes on an angry rant about how talented he is, but any industry mogul or agent who’s watching this surely isn’t going to give him a call after hearing that rant. The second group is brought onto the stage and told they made it, then the third group. They’re all ecstatic that they made it.

Simon delivers the other side of the coin. “The bad news is, after tomorrow’s challenge, half of you are gonna be out of the competition.” Chop, chop! The contestants will now be given about 35 songs and each one will have to choose one “that represents you as an artist.” Then Simon adds, “The good news, and I hope that you do find this good news, is that you’re not just going to be performing in front of us, tomorrow this theater’s going to be full of 3,000 people.” Whoa, bring in the crowd factor (the real X factor!). Showtime is just 15 hours away.

And it’s showtime! One of the early favorites, 14-year old Rachel Crow says before she walks on stage, “I know that I’m meant to be here.” Simon asks what song she has chosen and she replies, “It’s a surprise.” (Don’t go looking this up in your favorite lyrics site, it’s not there.) Simon says he likes surprises. Rachel surprises us with Beyonce’s If I Were a Boy, starting off quietly in the first few lines and then raises her volume and tone going into it, causing the audience to stand and cheer. Nicole has a tear rolling down her cheek. Steve Jones tells us that the judges won’t give their comments on the performances and will make their decision later. But it’s clear from the judges’ expressions that they loved Rachel’s performance.

We obviously don’t have time to see all of the 64 performances in the slightly more than an hour of air time remaining. With Rachel getting the premiere first-to-go spot, who else will get the spotlight?

Audrey Turner (Ike’s widow) is up next with Diana Ross’ Ain’t No Mountain High Enough. Going all diva, she’s down on her knees to conclude the song. Then it’s Paige Ogle with Keane’s Somewhere Only We Know in a soft voice which the crowd seems to like. Wedding singer Tiger’s next with Michael Jackson’s Billie Jean and wows the crowd with Simon smiling.

Wardrobe-challenged burrito maker Josh Krajcik goes on stage saying to the audience that he hopes that they will remember his performance forever, and Simon says he likes that. Josh sings Kelly Clarkson’s Up To The Mountain quite passionately with a hint of an emotional growl for part of it and a soft touch in other parts. The crowd loves it. Simon says, “That’s a great song.”

{Cue “Where’s the Beef?” commercial at the break.}

Next up is 22-year old Simone Battle, who says she’s here to show off. The camera operator gives a complete full-length close up from the shoes all the way on up. She sings Your Song by Elton John. She starts off not really singing but instead vocalizing the words to the beginning of the song (as the lines in the song talk about the song itself). While she has a nice voice, she really never shows off her singing vocals and ends the song with an “Oh.” Maybe uh-oh? She forgot the words. The judges look kind of tentative. The audience never got roused and give her polite applause. Will she make it? We’ll see. She realizes that she just may have ruined it for herself.

4Shore come on and one of their guys breaks off and goes up the aisles and in front of the judges, overdoing themselves. Simon thought it was too silly. Following their act is the Little Ladiez (who we haven’t seen yet) which is worse yet. Not-quiet-yet-bf/gf Makenna & Brock come on with mixed reviews from the judges, Simon saying, “I don’t want to hear it again.” Following them is Siameze Floyd. Good thing the judges’ Pepsis aren’t in glasses or Siameze’s final note would have shattered them. The audience has that “what?” look on their faces and it’s not looking good with the judges either.

Brennin is on next with Alicia Keys’ I Ain’t Got You. Simon is looking at him stone-faced as he sings. Then, right in the middle of Brennin singing, Simon calls L. A. over saying “I want to hear someone sing this song… with a piano.” Simon is totally unhappy with the arrangements being put together by the crew (he’s not really blaming Brennin). “Rubbish. Total, utter *bleep*”. In the midst of all this, somebody from Make-up is powdering Nicole’s nose. Simon calls for a break and a few boos can be heard from the restless crowd. One hour into this episode with an hour to go, we could use a break too.

Following the break, the Stereo Hogzz wake up the crowd and judges panel with Justin Timberlake’s Cry Me a River. These guys have their choreography down pat. Doing solos, duets, and chorus, they’re smooth. The crowd loves it with a standing ovation. Simon says they’re inconsistent and L. A. agrees, but they seem to like these guys anyway.

Then it’s rapper kid Brian Bradley, who’s almost sure to go through, with the hat guy Phillip Lomax following him. The crowd and the judges like both of them. Gone-clean second-hat-guy Chris Rene comes next and gets a standing ovation from the crowd, then it’s Nick Dean, who is likely to go through, too, even though Simon thought “he was a bit cocky and hadn’t rehearsed the song well enough.”

Stacy Francis is next. In her first audition, Simon said it was “one of the best auditions I’ve ever heard in my life.” Then she fell flat with a way-over-the-top attempt at the Guinness Book of World Records “Longest Sustained Note”. L. A. asks her (probably already knowing the news) if there’s anything she wants to share before she starts her performance. She reveals that during the first day of Boot Camp, her father passed away. Total silence. She nods and there’s still total silence. Wow. She sings George Gershwin’s classic Summertime — what an appropriate and highly emotional, even painful, song. Wow, she let it out. The crowd goes nuts. The judges are awed.

Host Steve Jones runs us through a few fast-motion clips as “the performances continue…”, leading up to another favorite, Tiah Tolliver, who is in good form, followed by Cari Fletcher, who elicits a lot of smiles and polite applause with her performance. The next lady up is Drew Ryniewicz, who looks and sounds a lot older than a 14-year old. Then it’s Caitlin Koch in a body-fitting short dress that catches Simon’s eye. Apparently, Caitlin’s song catches Simon’s ear, too, and Paula stands up with applause for her performance.

Then we switch over to the guys, starting with 59-year old Leroy Bell, a clear favorite. He sings Adele’s Make You Feel My Love with soft passion in a very nice performance that the crowd and judges take heart to. The judges comment that this is his last chance, “competing with 12-year olds.” Well, yeah, some of those kids could be his grandchildren after all, but so? This guy is good.

And so ends the live auditions in the theater. Now it’s up to the judges which half make the cut to join them in their homes and which don’t. We get some glimpses of competitors the next day, nervously awaiting the upcoming decision. Once again, the judges go through the contestant cards and give their opinions on each one. Simon says that he’s grown attached to some of them and might need to fight for them to keep them in. As yet, the judges don’t know which category they will mentor.

The contestants are arranged into the groups which will be mentored — Boys, Girls, Over 30’s and Groups. Sixteen from each group will go on stage and eight of their names who make it will be called out. Anyone whose name is not called is out.

It’s a tear fest with tears of joy, tears of anxiety and tears of sadness of not making it. And the results are…

Girls:
Caitlin Koch
Tora Woloshin
Simone Battle
Drew Ryniewicz
Rachel Crow
Jazzlyn Little
Melanie Amaro
Tiah Tolliver

Boys:
Brennin Hunt
Brian Bradley
Skyelor Anderson
Nick Voss
Tim Cifers
Phillip Lomax
Marcus Canty
Chris Rene

Groups:
Stereo Hogzz
2squar’d
4shore
The Brewer Boys
Illusion Confusion
The Anser

Over 30’s:
Elaine Gibbs
Tiger Budbill
Leroy Bell
James Kenney
Josh Krajcik
Krista Collins
Dexter Haygood
Stacy Francis

But the judges had only chosen six acts for the Groups instead of eight. So, surprise, surprise, they call up 14 of those who thought they were going home back onto the stage. They are split into a group of 10 and a group of 4 and will be the seventh and eighth acts within the Groups category. They’re overjoyed! Better in than out, solo or not.

Next we find out which judges mentor which categories (decided by the show’s producers).

Nicole gets the Over ’30’s. She wanted the Girls, and she looks a bit underwhelmed. They’re the easiest category, probably, and she should be thankful. L. A. Reid gets the Boys and he’s cool with that. He laughs like that voodoo guy on the old classic “Uncola” 7-Up commercials. He thinks he can win with any category, but all he wants to know now is who Simon got. Paula is called next. She gets the Groups and she’s excited and already a bit overwhelmed. Good luck with that, Paula! Which means… Simon gets the Girls. “You’ve just made eight girls very, very happy,” Simon remarks over the phone. Hah! In his house? End of story. While L. A. wonders who Simon got, Simon wonders who got the Groups. It seems nobody cares about Nicole or her Over ’30’s!

Next week, the contestants meet their judge-mentors in each of the judges’ rather palatial homes. But in spite of the luxurious surroundings, there’s a down side. The judges must decide who to trim from their own group in half from 8 to 4, so 32 will very soon become 16.

Stay tuned… and sing a tune until next time!