The X Factor is coming to an end and the 90-minute performance finale of Wednesday (December 21) made the audiences anxious to see the gloves come off. “They are all big on talent and charisma,” said judge L.A. Reid before the show. “Each one has a distinct competitive advantage.” So, who will be the X Factor and win the $5 million recording contract: Josh Krajcik, Chris Rene or Melanie Amaro? With such a stake, the pressure between the three finalists is indescribable and no one seem to know the answer but judge Simon Cowell, who made it clear who had his vote to win.

By the end of the penultimate show, Cowell predicted, “I think this is going to be the closest final we’ve ever had” and let it slip that the singer he mentored in the race, Melanie Amaro may be the show’s winner. He lacked the objectivity a judge should have, regardless of his ups-and-downs mentorship of Amaro, whom he cut from the competition before reconsidering and allowing her back in after making a personal visit to her home. The show creator said that the reason for which he brought this show to US is the fact that he believes America gave the world some of its best singers ever. And it seems he considers the 19-year-old Amaro from Sunrise, Florida, one of those singers. “I think you, based on that performance tonight, to me, should be the winner of ‘The X Factor,’ because you’re going to represent this country all over the world.”

It seems that Amero’s performance convinced Cowell of her talent. She performed a duet of “I Believe I Can Fly” with R. Kelly, which marked Kelly’s first performance since undergoing throat surgery earlier this year, then she had a rendition of Beyoncé’s “Dreamgirls” ballad “Listen.” Kelly, who had his first-ever duet of his 1996 smash, said that Amaro was “unbelievable” and that “There’s no doubt in my mind this girl is on her way to the moon.” Amaro, who is a piano teacher and college freshman, is also confident about her talent and already makes plans for the future: “I have a big voice, there will be ballads [when I record an album], and songs that will make you want to dance I’d love to do a collaboration with Mariah Carey. I love her and she is inspiring and has a big diva voice like mine.”
However, while her mentor described the performance “close to godly,” L.A. Reid criticized Amaro for not performing well in the song’s key. But, as Simon Cowell said, “One of these artists is going to be the legacy of this year” and Amaro is not alone in the competition. Chris Rene, a 28-year-old from Santa Cruz, California and Josh Krajcik, a 30-year-old self-described “burrito slinger” from Columbus, Ohio are also in the race for the big pot and the other judges seem to be quite found of them both. Rene, who shared the stage early on with Avril Lavigne, as the two performed Lavigne’s hit “Complicated” together and then sang “Young Homie,” a song he penned which he mixed it with the Beatles’ “Let It Be” has equal chances of winning. Paula Abdul dubbed his performance “magic,” while calling him the “consummate singer-songwriter-performer. You make everyone fall in love with you!”
Josh Krajcik is the one who took the stage first, accompanied by Alanis Morissette, as the two took on her 1998 hit “Uninvited.” Then, accompanied only by his guitar, Josh performed “At Last”, making the judges tremble with emotion. “You have delivered in every single performance,” his mentor, Nicole Scherzinger, said about his consistency throughout the competition.

Regardless of who is crowned the first winner of the U.S. version of The X Factor, all three hope to push forward in the music industry.

This entry was posted on Friday, December 23rd, 2011 at 5:44 pm and is filed under News.