'X Factor' Recap: Simon Cowell Tells CeCe Frey To 'Pack A Suitcase'

Courtesy of Fox (2)

The performances on the Nov. 28 episode of ‘X Factor’ were borderline awful. Find out who stood out and who actually argued with their mentor!

After the great performances last week, it was only fitting that the Nov. 28 episode of The X Factor was a complete let-down, right? There were a few standouts (not really), but I was kept somewhat entertained with Simon Cowell and Demi Lovato‘s bickering — and, of course, Britney Spears‘ out-of-control coif.

The Good:

Carly Rose Sonenclar really is an alien. The girl doesn’t miss a single note. So even though I wasn’t crazy about the arrangement of the song, she killed Adele‘s “Rolling in the Deep” as expected. “Even your second best is better than everyone else’s best,” L.A. Reid told her. Sounds about right to me.

Diamond White had a lot to live up to after last week’s heart-stopping performance, and her rendition of “I Wanna Dance with Somebody” this week was good enough. I wouldn’t call it “great,” but it was still a hell of a lot better than some of her competitors. She’s fierce for 13 years old.

Honestly, it’s hard to judge Tate Stevens because he’s so solid and consistent. His rendition of Keith Urban‘s “Somebody Like You” was no exception and I enjoyed it. The poor guy looked a little sad when Simon told him not to dance though. (I agree.)

The Bad:

The judges loved that Paige Thomas took a “big risk” with Rick Astley‘s “Never Gonna Give You Up,” but I thought it was way too sleepy. For some reason, she was praised for her rather unimpressive dance moves. She’s just not memorable! But hey, she dressed like a normal person for once, so there’s that.

One of the girls of Fifth Harmony lost her grandfather, so they sang “Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)” by Kelly Clarkson, which seemed fitting. Still, I don’t think it was their best vocal and I actually agree with L.A.: there were zero harmonies. And why didn’t that Camila girl get a verse?! (She’s my fave.)

The boys of Emblem3 got their first taste of fame after being chased by screaming girls at The Grove in LA. Between that and the blond dude’s affinity for taking his shirt off and running his mouth at inappropriate times, none of it really helped their inherent douche factor. I think the two brothers are really talented, but they were definite victims of a horrible song choice with Smash Mouth‘s annoying version of “I’m a Believer.” What WAS that? Let them play instruments, please!

The Ugly:

I tried, you guys. I really tried to give Vino Alan a chance, I swear. But his version of “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’” bored me to tears. Having a great voice is only half the battle. You can’t be creepy and combative and expect to win this competition. His little arguments with L.A. really rubbed me the wrong way. He’s a creeper to the max, ya’ll.

As with Vino, I love when we get to see the backstage bratty-ness of the contestants because it was at an all-time high for CeCe Frey. She whined like a dying cat throughout her “Lady Marmalade” performance. Even a drunken Christina Aguilera with the flu could pull it off. “My advice tonight is pack a suitcase,” Simon told her.

That’s the Top 8! Pretty underwhelming if you ask me. Oh, and we were also subjected to the world premiere of will.i.am‘s new song “Scream and Shout,” featuring Britney. I would try to describe it for you, but I really have no words.

What did you think, HollywoodLifers? Who deserves to go home in the double elimination tomorrow night? Drop us a comment!

— Sharon Tharp

Follow @SharonTharp

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I love you simon but that was harsh

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i think that simon should just take carly off of the show and sign her anyways because it’s really not fair everyone knows who’s going to win and that just doesn’t seem right.

thank you

Just shows how ridiculous it is that Beatrice Miller got sent home to keep some of these talentless people.

please send that CeCe at home she spoils that show

Cece is only on because of her tears towards her sister. She was always arrogant and self center and Demi told her she was not likeable. She is now putting on a act to make people like her. Can change a tiger’s spots. She hits a couple good notes but that’s it. She laughs at people, makes crude remarks than comes on stage like she’s an angel. GET her off. X- factor is already rigged by removing Vino. Are all the judges threatened by him? Cece knows how to play people. And she is playing the judges. I thought Simon was smarter. Guess i was wrong

I hope Cece goes the hell home already. She’s such a cocky you know what. Ugh and she sucks at singing too. If she doesn’t go home tonight I swear to gosh I’m going to stop watching the show. -__-

Cece Frey needs to go home!!!!! Britney summed it up best… Cece is good but her competition is BETTER! X-factor is losing viewers to The Voice because of these stupid little made up story lines. She’s had well over her five minutes if fame and now it’s time to do what the boss, Simon said….START PACKING!

I love Emblem3 but i dont like CeCe AT ALL. but im not going to hate one her. I also dont like Demi but im kind of thinking Uncle Si went a little too far. as to what he said to CeCe to pack a suitcase “THANK YOU UNCLY SI!!”

I never liked CeCe. We stopped watching after she made it to the live rounds.Good to see she probably won’t win!

right! i dont like CeCe!!

That was messed up when Simon implied that Demi would have trouble finding a husband who loves her (as much as Tate loves his wife). Criticizing someone’s personal dreams of love and happiness is taking the banter a little too far. I think Demi might have really been hurt by that comment, because she didn’t have one of her usual quick comebacks. Whether you like her or not, I think she deserves love.

she deserves love i dont like her but thats way too far. every body deserves to be loved and live your dream it hurts thinking maybe she cried when she was alone

I disagree. Perception is your reality and most people only see what they want to see. You form your own biases and then shape your opinion based upon those biases. If you think that someone will be good or bad before they ever perform, they at the end of the day, they will end up exactly where you expected them to be all along. Diamond White way oversang what should have been a far more subtle vocal performance and came out sounding fairly ridiculous. Forgiveable for being 13 and all, but Britney should not have given her such an underwhelming song to begin with. Carly-Rose is a blatent Adele clone, so it was only a matter of time before she went there, but she cannot match Adele’s vocals, just like she could match Whitney Houston’s vocals, and that makes her look bad. But she is planted on the show by X Factor producers, hand selected to win by Simon himself, so none of the judges would dare criticize her. I don’t believe Carly-Rose is commercially viable, but her X Factor victory has already been preordained. I predict CeCe and Diamond White will exit the show, but I honestly believe that CeCe is better then Paige. CeCe is way, WAY better then Paige. CeCe has a perception problem, not a lack of talent issue. CeCe does not sing poorly. You want her to sing poorly, so when you listen to hear sing you only hear what you want to hear. If you wanted her to sing better, she would. It has nothing to do with her and everything to do with you.

No… Just no.

First off. I wanted to like Cece.. and I did, at first, when everyone else was bad because it was the tryouts. And I ended up feeling bad for her. But she just isn’t good. Can’t sing in tune for the life of her. Can’t hit crucial notes. Can NOT do runs.. at all. Can’t hit high notes or low ones. She just…. shouts. She’s just very loud. Like a drunk chick at karaoke.The only perception problems was seeing a 5 surrounded by a bunch of 1s and 2s and thinking she was an 8 or something. Look back on her performances- the ones we thought were initially good. They weren’t either. Same thing has happened with Paige. She isn’t as good as initially perceived either. But daym. At least she can hit notes and usually sing in key. Haven’t heard it from Cece once. She’s just pretty.. that’s all she has.

As for Diamond White performing an “underwhelming song”, again, no. Her rendition was underwhelming..(and slow, even in the uptempo part.) It wasn’t a number one for no reason- Whitney Houston doesn’t need all the flair and runs that other artists do because of her fantastic tone and flawless vibrato. That is why people fail at her songs. You have no frills to hide behind.

As for Carly, sorry but I far prefer her to Adele. And by the way, just what is wrong with her winning the show? She is the only one worth $5,000,000. She is the only reason I am still watching. She has beautiful tone, does flawless runs (which is rare..people always eff them up, especially live.) and makes songs her own (again, rare.) She also never messes up. I think I’ve heard 1 or 2 off notes ever. Cece can’t go 10 seconds without a botched note. I almost never use this for singing contestants, but she is amazing. It’s a joke that any other contestant could actually beat her. She’s in a whole different league.