We're Down to Five on The X Factor

So, which two acts went home after last week's Michael Jackson tribute? I must admit I was rather surprised, but at the end of last week's results show, Astro and Drew were sent packing. What happened? Who knows.

What I loved about the performance night is that several members of the Jackson Family were in attendance. It is always difficult to sing Michael Jackson songs, and it was surprising that some of his more known hits did not make their way into the show. No one sang Human Nature, You Are Not Alone, or Beat It. In fact, some of the song selections were rather obscure.

Josh Krajcik, one of the most talented voices in this competition sang Dirty Diana. He has a great voice, but this was the wrong song for him, I didn't like the arrangement, and Josh seemed uncomfortable. Luckily, the past weeks have redeemed him this week.

Astro took on Michael's Black and White, and while I certainly appreciate Astro's creativity it would have been great had he sang Michael's lyrics, I think it would have been more powerful. Even though Astro was voted off, I predict he will have a presence on the rap scene, but will he compete with Jay Z, Kanye, Drake, or Wayne remains unproven to me.

Drew sang Billie Jean and while her vocals were on point, the other judges questioned whether or not Drew should have sang another slowed down song. She was also sitting in a chair, some argued that this made the performance more powerful because she would have to harness her emotions more, while some said it took away from what the performance could have been which was rousing. It turned out to be the wrong move for Drew as she was sent home after her save me performance against Marcus Canty.

Simon picked the song Can You Feel It for Rachel Crow which confused me a bit. Why was she singing this? It's not like there weren't any better Michael Jackson songs to choose from. I can see not wanting to choose something like ABC, but this was kind of a disaster, I am a bit surprised Rachel wasn't eliminated.

Marcus performed an over the top version of PYT. I didn't like the way they rearranged the background music for the song. It took a lot of the natural soul out of the song, there was the beat to Usher's D.J.'s Got Us Falling in Love in the background. I understand that maybe L.A. was trying to modernize this version, but this didn't work. Marcus has a classic R&B voice and therefore that's how the song should have been sung. The way he sang his save me song is the way he should always sing. He shouldn't leave any doubt of his passion for music, anything he does have should be left on the stage.



Chris Rene sang I'll Be There; this was not good. In short, I want to say that I love Chris, I admire what he has overcome, but I think he should have gone home.

Melanie Amaro blew me away with her rendition of Earth Song. There was lots of power behind it, and Melanie remains my favorite to win this competition. Nicole even went as far as saying that it was her favorite performance of the entire competition so far.