Idol Chatter & Voice Views

I’ve never been a fan of lowered age limits and really young contestants on shows like The X Factor.

I mean, look what happened last year.

Placed under the pressure-cooker that results from performing live in front of millions of viewers, 13-year-old Rachel Crow collapsed in tears on stage after being eliminated and the jerk known as Astro acted like the world’s most spoiled 14-year-old.

But a young lady named Carly Rose Sonenclar might just change my mind.

Showing no sign of being flustered by the one-or-done nature of a performance at the judges’ mansion, the 13-year-old belted out a brilliant version of “Brokenhearted” in front of Britney Spears and Will.i.am in Thursday’s pre-taped episode.

Was it the best performance among the six teens remaining? Oh, yeah.

Was it the best performance during Thursday’s episode? Oh, yeah.

Was it the best performance from the judge’s mansion so far? Oh, yeah.

“She’s possessed,” said Will.i.am.

“She’s definitely possessed,” replied Britney.

And X Factor could save us all lots of time by skipping straight to the finals and proclaiming Carly Rose the champ.

Because Thursday’s performance was merely a reminder of her superlative rendition of “Feeling Good” that closed X Factor’s second audition episode. She was the best that night, too.

But, alas, that won’t happen. There are weeks and weeks of overblown X Factor drama to endure.

So I suppose I’d best help sort out who should stay and who should go.

The Teens:

Second best of the night: Beatrice Miller, another 13-year-old, isn’t as pitch perfect as Carly Rose, but has a unique, raspy tone for someone so young. And she comes across as really believable. I really liked her version of “Titanium.”

Worst of the night: Did anyone else have trouble recognizing the song (“Hey, There Delilah”) that Reed Deming (13 again) performed? He’s a cute kid, but that was not a finals-worthy performance.

Who else should advance: Besides Carly Rose and Beatrice, Britney should keep 13-year-old Diamond White after her passionate performance of “I’m With You” and 17-year-old Arin Ray after his unique take on “Starships.” Sorry, James Tanner, but the “Party Like a Rock Star” rap did nothing for me.

The Overs (as in over 25)

Best of the Night: I thoroughly enjoyed Vino Alan’s rendition of Pink’s “Sober.” The 40-year-old from an abusive background poured a ton of passion into that performance. It was definitely finals worthy.

Worst of the Night: If 27-year-old Tara Simon really wants to be America’s darling, she might want to give us a reason to do a happy dance with a performance better than that tortured rendition of “And the Reason is You.” She opened in a whisper, closed with screaming and there wasn’t much noteworthy in between.

Who else should advance: Keep Tate Stevens for his country flavor after an adequate version of “Back at One.” Keep David Correy, 26, after his interesting version of “Domino.” I might have an opinion on Daryl Black, 37, if we’ve heard a little more of his version of “She’s Gone.” I did not particularly enjoy Jason Brock’s take on “Big Girls Don’t Cry” and can’t see him walking away with the $5 million prize.