Somehow, X Factor managed to fill the first 15 minutes of the show with pure filler. The contestants told us what goes on behind the scenes during the week, in a really unnecessary video package. But right after, host Mario Lopez got down to business. The first contestant to be sent straight home was Ellona Santiago. As Mario said her name, a look of pure shock crept up Ellona’s face. Seems like all the praise from the judges had gotten to her head. “This is ridiculous,” said judge Demi Lovato. Although I am surprised Ellona was sent home, I am not upset to see her over the top performances go. Sorry.

Emblem 3 from last season of X Factor performed their single “Just For One Day.” These guys are from my hometown, so I’m going to throw some love their way and just say the song is super catchy. It’s also nice to see that they stayed with their original California surfer sound they began with last season. After their performance, the bottom two were revealed: Carlito Olivero and Rion Paige.

Before Carlito and Rion sang for their lives, Little Mix, from X Factor UK, performed “Move,” from their second album, “Salute.” The performance just proved further that X Factor is actually pretty good in every other country. But moving on, Rion Paige was up first with Miranda Lambert’s “The House That Built Me.” Her spirit was obviously shaken, and her downward spiral continued. While Rion went for emotion, Carlito played up the sex appeal with Usher’s “You Make Me Wanna.” He walked through the audience, even finding a girl to sing to from the crowd. While I haven’t been a fan of Carlito’s, he has been improving. The competition seemed to be getting to 13 year old Rion, with each week getting worse and worse. It’s no surprise that the judges voted to send Rion home, except for Rion’s mentor, Demi Lovato.

Two contestants were sent home last night in another double elimination on X Factor. Again, America failed to give the boot to the appropriate contestants, but at least got it half right this time around.

Khaya Cohen was sent home right at the start. The teen kept her composure after hearing the news, which made me like her even more. It’s a shame she never broke out of her shell, because she had one of the best voices in the competition, and didn’t deserve her fate. But hey, One Direction didn’t win on X Factor either, and speaking of…

DISCLAIMER: Before you keep reading, and hate me for my 1D review, I love One Direction, I SWEAR.

If you’ve kept up with my drinking game for the show, you were probably still drunk last night from Wednesday’s One Direction pimping, and were probably obliterated by the first five minutes of last night’s show when the band was mentioned about 435 times. Host Mario Lopez introduced the guys, and mentioned a new member to replace Liam, “Lie-am.” (Come on Mario, don’t pull a Paulina.) The boys sang their latest single “Story of My Life,” and it was mostly rough. Harry sounded sick, the harmonies were off, Louis was pitchy, but “Lie-am”, Zayn, and especially Niall sounded excellent. I’ll cut them some slack and say it was probably due to jet lag and perhaps a lack of rehearsal? Regardless, the guys looked great (especially compared to their X Factor audition tapes that were shown in the package before the performance. Hello, puberty), and still showed the contestants what could be (but lets be real, nobody can touch the success of One Direction.)

After the guys performed, the bottom two contestants were announced: Tim Olstad and Carlito Olivera. Although the two of them should have been sent home, it’s good to see that America voted slightly better this week. Tim performed Josh Groban’s “You Raise Me Up” (another ballad, shocking), which was boring, but showcased nice vocals. Paulina called him a “multi-facetic” singer. Oh. Carlito sang Labrinth’s “Beneath Your Beautiful.” Carlito brought out the charm that has been missing the past two weeks, and showed more consistent vocals throughout the song. The performance won over all the judges, with Kelly, Demi, and Paulina voting Tim off, leaving Simon the freedom not to make a decision (although we’re sure he would have also ousted Tim.)