X Factor USA Prepares For Live Launch
Little over a year ago, the relatively unknown Welsh TV presenter Steve Jones was working on BBC1′s hit-and-miss series 101 Ways To Leave A Gameshow. Next Tuesday, though, he will be settling into his weekly duty of presenting the live shows of X Factor USA, after this week’s installment saw the line-up of acts finalised in a controversial manner.
Unlike its UK counterpart, the number of acts is currently at 17 as opposed to 16, following a late decision from Simon Cowell to bring back Melanie Amaro into his ‘Girls’ category. Cowell, who was alone at his judge’s house at an undisclosed location in France after planned partner Mariah Carey could not make it there, decided to add Melanie to his selection of Drew Ryniewicz, Rachel Crow, Simone Battle, and Tiah Tolliver. That total of five is one more than he is supposed to have chosen, but he is the boss of the show…
Mentoring the ‘Boys’ category is LA Reid, and alongside guest judge Rhianna in The Hamptons (USA), he chose ‘Astro’, Chris Rene, Marcus Canty, and Phillip Lomax as his four acts.
Meanwhile in Malibu (USA), Nicole Scherzinger was with Enrique Iglesias mentoring the ‘Over-30′s’, selected Dexter Haygood, Josh Krajcik, Leroy Bell, and Stacy Francis.
Working with Paula Abdul in Santa Barbara (USA) was Pharrell Williams, and together they put through The Brewer Boys, inTENsity, Lakoda Rayne, and The Stereo Hoggz as the ‘Groups’ category.
The live shows will now hand the decision-making over to the public, as they vote out the least popular acts each week, and eventually voting for an overall winner on 22 December, with the champion claiming a prize of a $5m recording contract with Epic Records. The past couple of years in the UK version has seen a first-week ‘twist’ on the live shows, featuring extra acts being either invited back or eliminated. With Simon’s unfair advantage, will there be a surprise involved to level the playing field? Will the show itself recover from its baseball-related scheduling issues?
For a full run-down of the 17 acts involved in the live shows of X Factor USA (and the faces that Fox viewers will not be able to get away from for the next two months), see the video below:
Latest TV searches:
x factor usa live stream, fox x factor live stream, x factor usa streaming live, fox xfactor live streamRelated News:
- X Factor USA Prepares Big Announcement
- Paula Abdul Completes X Factor Line-Up
- X Factor Brings Wildcard Twist
- Mariah Makes X Factor U-Turn
- X Factor Hacker Warning For Contestants
[...] to 22-year-old Phillip Lomax, who was given the boot by ‘Boys’ mentor LA Reid in the first week of live shows (where five acts from the final 17 were cut by their mentors). However, the show’s live [...]