Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Well, that was pretty predictable, wasn’t it?

I mean, if I had to bet real money on who would go home tonight I would have picked Diamond White and Cece Frey.

And the X Factor delivered no surprises in that regard as Carly Rose Sonenclar, Tate Stevens, Emblem 3 and Fifth Harmony advanced to the final four.

Since I couldn’t blog live tonight, let’s take a different approach to the elimination blog, awarding a series of thumbs up and thumbs down.

Thumbs up: To the judges for picking Fifth Harmony over Diamond White after the save-me performances. I was beginning to doubt the judges’ ability to hear after the last two weeks (Cece Frey over Beatrice Miller and Diamond White over Vino Alan were dubious choices), but they got it right Thursday.

Fifth Harmony sounded very good again; Diamond White turned in the worst version of “I Hope You Dance” that I’ve ever heard, continuing a track record of vocal inconsistency on the show.

Thumbs down: To all the voters out there who are buying the crap Simon is feeding them about Emblem 3. Vocally, they were the worst of the remaining acts. Yep, even worse than Cece. And I guess since I’m not into boy bands at all, I can’t appreciate whatever “x factor” they bring to the competition. But I’m pretty sure it’s minimal. The good news is that they’re still only third in the voting, bringing us to …

Thumbs up: To Carly Rose Sonenclar breezing right into the semifinals after another night of solid vocal performances, despite the fact that the show keeps saddling her with songs she shouldn’t be able to relate to (i.e., “If I Were a Boy,” i.e. “My Heart Will Go On.”)

Thumbs down: To voters for placing Tate Stevens ahead of Carly Rose in this week’s voting. Nothing against Tate, but Carly Rose was outstanding this week. He was not. But could he win this thing? Oh, yeah. Remember how country music fans propelled Scotty McCreery to victory in Season 10 when the far more deserving and unique contestant was named Haley Reinhart?

Thumbs up: To Ke$ha’s new song, “C’mon.” Something tells me not to like Ke$ha’s music. But she keeps releasing one catchy song after another and it’s darn hard to get them out of your head. She’s also a wonderful reminder to Cece Frey that you don’t have to be the best singer to make it in the music business, if you have the right amount of X Factor. Or, for another example, she could look to the judges’ table, at the spot between L.A. and Demi.

Thumbs down: To Melanie Amaro’s new song, “Long Distance.” If wasn’t horrible, but it wasn’t nearly as catchy as Ke$ha’s. And that’s clearly what producers were shooting for since it’s a pop tune and not the type of big ballad that allows the Season 1 winner to show off her incredible voice. Sorry, Melanie, but that didn’t sound like a hit.

Thumbs up: To Diamond White’s wonderful response to being eliminated. Remember, she’s 13. And young teens have often not taken this news very well in the past. Remember the Astro and Rachel Crow meltdowns? Diamond reminded everyone that U.K.’s Cher Lloyd finished fifth and is doing just fine in the music business. Diamond even promised to return to X Factor and sing one of her hits one day. A very classy exit.

Thumbs down: To Simon Cowell, who has saddled us with another season of second-rate singing show TV, then decides to add insult to injury by subjecting us to an in-show commercial for Sony headphones. Really, Simon? Really? The guy has been beyond obnoxious lately. Like last night when he told Diamond she had the misfortune of being on a show with five very talented acts, an obvious insult of omission designed for Cece.

Oh, well, best of luck to Diamond and Cece on life after X Factor.

Best of luck to Carly Rose, Tate and Fifth Harmony on next week’s show.

Oops, did I leave someone out?

Believe me, it was purely intentional.