X Factor USA Show Highlights & Videos from 10/16

Last week the top 32 contestants were introduced to their judges, and taken to their respective locations to be mentored and judged. They also had the pleasure of having a guest judge in each group. Enrique Iglesias with Nicole Sherzinger for the over 30’s, Pharrel with Paula for the groups, Rihanna with LA Reid for the boys. The girls unfortunately lucked out, with their guest judge and mentor Mariah Carey unable to attend due to a hurricane.

Half performed last time around, leaving the remainder to perform on todays show. Out of this group of 32, 16 will make the cut and go through to the live rounds. The live rounds are what everyone lives for, giving America the chance to vote on who makes it through.

Lets go though some of the performances:

Jazzlyn Little is first of the day to perform. She sings Donna Summer’s ‘I Will Survive’. She sounds fantastic. But she does look the most nervous anyone has ever been in the competition. Simons vocal coaches are not conviced that she is at the level needed for the show. They even compared her performance to that of a high school musical.

Next up: Brennin Hunt. He sings Corinne Bailey Rae’s ‘Like A Star’. Not the greatest performance. Very overdone. Rihanna thinks that Brennin is good looking and that he has a good tone when he gets into the raspier bits of the song. Both LA and her are just not sure if he is star material.

The Stereo Hoggz are next up, and the first group for the day. They sing ‘Heard It Through the Grapevine’ . It was a good performance. They should definitely be going through to the live rounds.

Down in Malibu, Nicole and her guest, Enrique Iglesias watch Josh Krajcik sing Roberta Flack’s ‘The First Time I Saw Your Face’. Absolutely stunning performance. Nicole closes her eyes and listens. Its that good.

Girl group 2Squar’d sand techno version of Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’. It wasn’t a particularly good performance and it would be quite a surprise to see them go through.

Tim Cifers was next up and sings a country version of Luther Vandross’s ‘Dance With My Father’. It was good. Rihanna was impressed but LA Reid was not sure, he wanted more from him but just couldn’t put his finger on what was missing.

Another noteworthy performance was from Tiah Tolliver. She sings a jazzy version Blackstreet’s ‘No Diggity’. Great performance. Simon thinks she’s a perfect fit for the show, although still a little rough around the edges.

One my early faves, Chris Rene sang Arrested Development’s ‘Everyday People’. Great performance. Although he seemed more nervous than usual. LA jokingly blames it on Rihanna’s intimidating personality.

Finally we see the judges deliberating on who will stay and who will go. The final 16 will be announced at a special show on Tuesday. Simon did leave us with a parting teaser – It seems one of the girls everyone thought would go through has been cut!