Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Devoid of the goofballs known as Emblem 3, devoid of the vocally challenged like Cece Frey and the atrociously inconsistent like Paige Thomas and Diamond White, The X Factor delivered a pretty good night of singing on Wednesday.

Fifth Harmony sounded like they could be relevant on the pop charts today. Carly Rose Sonenclar sounded much more experienced than she could possibly be at 13. And Tate Stevens … well, just call him Steady Stevens because he’s always pretty darn good.

But in hindsight, that final night of performances could have been so much better given the level of talent remaining.

Fifth Harmony’s songs included two they had already performed this month. For solo ventures, the judges trotted out such tired singing-show staples as “Let It Be,” “Feeling Good” and “Hallelujah.”

Imaginative? Oh, no.

Risk-taking by the finalists? Apparently not allowed.

But the biggest disappointment of the night was the middle segment, where the remaining contestants were joined on-stage by another artist.

I mean, I’m still trying to figure out how that thought process went.

X Factor Idiot #1: “We’ve got three pretty evenly matched contestants in the finals.”

X Factor Idiot #2: “Yep, and $5 million on the line. Should be a great show.”

X Factor Idiot #1: “I know, let’s bring in guest artists to take the attention away from the contestant competing for the $5 million.”

X Factor Idiot #2: “Hey, great idea.”

I mean, if the show wanted to sabotage Carly Rose, making her sing a country song with LeAnn Rimes was a great idea. If sabotage wasn’t the idea, that duet was just plain stupid.

Tate Stevens might as well have taken a seat in the audience once Little Big Town joined him on-stage. After that, he was barely a part of the performance of “Pontoon.”

And a co-worker suggested that having judge Demi Lovato perform with Fifth Harmony made it seem like the show was endorsing Simon’s quintet. Come to think of it, that group performance did come off as the best. By a wide margin.

Regardless of motives, my main gripe is this. LeAnn, Demi and Little Big Town were not competing for The X Factor crown. They should not have been allowed to hog the spotlight. And if you don’t think they hogged the spotlight, I’d suggest watching the performances again.

Tonight, we get a lot more guest artists. And, in about two hours, we’ll find out who wins Season 2.

Carly Rose is probably most deserving based on her season’s worth of performances. Part of me wants to root for Fifth Harmony, because they’re the underdog, relegated to second-rate status for most of Season 2 while Simon was fixated on shoving indigestible Emblem 3 down our collective throats. But, hey, I won’t be too disappointed if Tate wins. I’m pretty sure his first post-Factor album will be a success on the country charts.

So, tonight’s show starts with one of the most gag-worthy, over-the-top openings I’ve ever seen.

Red carpet arrivals by the judges. Klouey … or whatever her name … admiring Simon’s chest hair. The booming voice announcing the show. The totally muffed intro of the final three. Then they arrive in limos, lip-synching as they stroll down the same red carpet.

Are you kidding me? Third-rate nonsense. Which might explain why X Factor’s ratings were in the toilet last night (down 18 percent from Season 1’s performance finale), while The Voice’s ratings soared for its finale.

I’m sorry folks, you’re going to be dealing with grumpy blogger tonight if this silliness continues. Now they’ve put family man Tate in the middle of four sexy snow bunnies. LOL.

Next up, a mean Simon segment. Yep, he’s mean until Emblem 3 stepped on stage. Then he flushed his credibility right down the toilet. Repeatedly.

More X Factor stupidity. Now we’ve decked Carly Rose up in red, seated her in front of a cozy fireplace and asked her to sing “All I Want for Christmas Is You.” Which I’m pretty sure is designed to express yearning for one’s lover.

And, after a blatant attempt to make all the finalists cry with messages from home (hmm, it didn’t work with only Carly Rose), we’re about to find out who finishes in third place …

Not winning The X Factor is: Fifth Harmony.

Hmm, now that quintet faces an interesting future. Will someone take a chance on them with a recording contract? Or will they wind up going their separate ways? They certainly showed some pop star potential in recent weeks.

So now that it’s down to just Carly Rose and Tate, Khloe decides it’s time to conduct some awkward backstage interviews with their families. Tate’s mom should have told Khloe to change outfits. That little black leather number is pretty darn unflattering.

Time for more One Direction pimping. With a pair of giant red lips serving as their backdrop. Meanwhile, where’s last year’s $5 million winner, Melanie Amaro?

OMG, this gets worse and worse. Now they have to torture us with “The Climb,” that terrible Miley Cyrus song. And neither of the finalists is at the top of their game on this dastardly ditty.

OK, it’s finally time … we find out who wins Season 2 of The X Factor. And, folks, as much as this show gets on my nerves, these are two solid contestants.

Britney looks petrified. Carly Rose looks nervous as heck. Tate looks hopeful.

And Tate Stevens takes The X Factor crown.

Gotta say, I’m a little surprised. On social media, Carly Rose has an enormous edge.

Tate is really a feel-good story. And I’m sure he’ll have a bright future in country music, at least in the short term. The key will be keeping The X Factor momentum going past one album.

Hmm, all this sorta makes me smile.

You know Simon isn’t a fan of country music.

And L.A. Reid wanted nothing to do with coaching the Over 25s.

Now The X Factor has a 37-year-old country singer for a Season 2 champ.

Congrats, Tate.