MMTV: Mediocre Music TV
Edition #12: The X Factor Live Week 4 (Giving Thanks)

Written by: Wences Acosta

So, here we are at Thanksgiving. A Time when we come around the table, give thanks to the ones we love, and by X Factor standards exclude 2 acts from the table. So, let's get to giving people more reasons to be depressed around the holidays and get started shall we?

Tate Stevens "I'm Already There"
So, Tate chose himself a perfect song. I have heard many renditions of this song especially on shows like this, and this has to be up there with one of the better renditions of it. I have to give Tate credit where it is due, this is a good way to start the show.

Diamond White "Because You Loved Me"
I am not going to sugarcoat this, I honestly believe Diamond might have won with this performance. I talk before like Diamond was Whitney's lost love child, but this nails the point home. There is a point right before the choir comes out when she hits just the right note, and everything comes together, and everytime I watch this moment, I legit get chills. This moment will stick with me until the end of this season, and I thank Diamond for that.

Emblem3 "Secrets"
First off, I will say I love this choice in song. I have a very special meaning behind this song, and I love that someone has the guts to take this song on, especially this group. With that said, as much as I love these guys, this didn't go well with them. Do not get it twisted, I absolutely LOVE this version with them. The vocals actually worked for the group, the background music came together well, and as a big plus in my books one of the members did the flow that is in the second verse flawlessly, while I myself still trip up on it, so major credit there. However, to follow up behind Diamond and Tate, that was brutal on their part. I will say this much though, L.A. said something along of the lines of there was no emotion in this performance because this is a night where you are supposed to be emotional.....I have to disagree. For a night like this, you don't need to be emotional, just have to have a right meaning behind your performance, and they did that job well tonight. Well done guys.

Arin Ray "Hero"
So, who thought this was a good idea? First off, Brit, if you hear him say he is dedicating this to his brother, you do NOT give him a song that is calling his brother his "Baby", especially with him being his age and his brother being....well his brother. As for the actual performance, it wasn't AS bad as I thought it would be but it was still bad. When Arin keeps a low tone for the verses, he does that very well. However, during the actual chorus, I get lost in a bad way. Especially when the choir singers start, he gets overshadowed. I didn't like the way this was handled, but odds are he's gonna get the votes and barely get by again.

CeCe Frey "Wind Beneath My Wings"
Let me get this out of the way right now: I get why she chose the song, especially after seeing the prevideo and learning more about her that we as an audience needed to know. However, she chose Bette Midler, and to do a song like this, she needed to be perfect. Well....She was good, I will give her that much. She wasn't anything memorable, but she wasn't as bad as Arin. All in all, a decent performance. I will give her props as she could not finish the song after approaching near breakdown, and for that I can not fault her.

Fifth Harmony "I'll Stand By You"
Damn, This Choir must be getting their money's worth tonight. I have to add this in with CeCe in the sense that it wasn't bad....just wasn't as good. It wasn't memorable, the choir was really unnecessary, and it just felt dull. Also please do not get me started on the little "breakdown" they had at the end where one of them thanks everyone who has been supporting them in the style of Melanie Amaro from Season 1. Overall, I will give it a pass, but will not be surprised if they end up in the bottom

Beatrice Miller "Chasing Cars"
Just like Secrets, this song means more to me then most music. To have Beatrice singing it might be debatable, but I will give a pass on song choice. With that said, once again this is a MEH performance, however with one key comment. In my opinion, right there with Time After Time, this is one of Beatrice's better performances. It's nothing memorable sure, but it was a nice touch.

Vino Alan "God Bless The USA"
I never, and I mean NEVER, thought I would utter these words: I am getting sick of Vino. This performance left a really sour taste in my mouth that I can not get rid of. I understand completely why he chose the song, so I am not faulting him at all for that. I just wish he didn't go for the obvious cheap pop, and even though on the verse he was good, by the time he hit the first chorus I wanted to hit the mute button. He is probably going through, but damn if I didn't want to just gag during this.

Paige Thomas "Everytime"
For the third time tonight, they choose a song that means so much to me. I love this song for so many reasons, and I will say this is up there with best performance of the night. She brought the vocals, she brought the emotion, and as much as people are going to disagree, this goes head on with Brit's original version. I actually tear up watching this performance, and honestly I might have to have her up there like Diamond.

Carly Rose Sonenclar "Over The Rainbow"
To end the show, of course you are going to have the little girl with the best voice try to go Dorothy on us for the finale. With that little bit of Bitterness out of the way, that was the perfect way to end the show. She hit this song and truly made it a Carly Rose song. I love it. Although I will say Demi's rants about aliens was Paula style, but honestly this knocked everything out of the park.

Automatic Elimination: Arin Ray
I can't really say much about this except I knew it. This is the second week in a row where bad song choices have come back and bit them in the ass. We are getting to the point where the show is cutting off the rest of the fat to get to real game, and Arin's luck just had to run out at some point.

Final Showdown: CeCe Frey (W) vs. Beatrice Miller (L)
CeCe sang "Because of You" from Kelly Clarkson, while Beatrice Miller sang "White Flag" from Dido. This is CeCe's Third Time in The Final Showdown, and Beatrice's First Time. Let me touch on CeCe first because if you watch her performance, this bitch goes dark and gives the performance of a lifetime. There is a moment in the song when everything kicks in and you hear the sound in her voice go intense. Everything goes epic, and I can honestly say this performance was WAY better then her performance last night. For Beatrice, I feel bad for this child, because you can tell she wasn't ready for this. She was crying though the whole performance, and your heart just breaks, especially knowing the lyrics of the song goes "I Will Go Down With This Ship". I really liked this performance, but compared to CeCe it just wasn't enough. At the end, you can tell that she knows it wasn't enough, and CeCe ran out and hugged her. Even Khloe, as much as I despise her family, tried to calm her down. I have to give major credit to this show for showing some humanity in this elimination. Simon said it best, at this point everything just got too much for Beatrice. Also, I will warn you all, for those who hated watching Rachel Crow eliminated in season 1, this was worse. Get the tissues ready because you are going to tear up.

So, now we are down to the Top 8, 2 acts a coach after Britney lost 2 in one night. This is where everything kicks in to full gear. Next week, I can not wait and see what happens.

My Top 8 (Minus Arin Ray and Beatrice Miller)
1. Carly Rose Sonenclair (Britney)
2. Vino Alan (L.A.)
3. Emblem3 (Simon)
4. Tate Stevens (L.A.)
5. Diamond White (Britney)
6. CeCe Frey (Demi)
7. Fifth Harmony (Simon)
8. Paige Thomas (Demi)

If you have any opinions or comments, please let me know at Slackercub@yahoo.com