The X Factor - Auditions #6 - Recap - Live Blog - 09/27/2012

Nick Roman here, and I'm thrilled to be back, live-blogging The X Factor. Of course, with the final audition round comes my final week hosting the Thursday live blog, as I'll be recapping ABC's Last Resort for the remainder of the season (or until it gets canceled, which would be a massive shame because it's a truly excellent show, my favorite new show of the season so far). So let's make it a good one. Who knows? Maybe the winner is in this lot. Or at least some fodder from which a decent group can be made. And please, no more of this "ten people in one group" nonsense.

OH MY GOD NO ONE WAS TALKING TO YOU, inTENsity! GO AWAY!

(Well, I guess Arin Ray can stay)

AND WE'RE ON!

-We pick up with last night's Trevor Moran cliffhanger, and right off the bat, let me say how uncomfortable I am with this. The kid's personality was like Casper the Friendly Ghost and now he has the complexion to match, and it's just really unsettling to watch.

-And Trevor is okay, for the most part. He's ambulatory and wondering when he can go on, but Trevor's mom is concerned about his well-being. However, there's no talking him out of it. He's going onstage. Hope he can actually sing, after all this trouble.

TREVOR MORAN, 13, IS UP NEXT

-"You get one chance on this, Trevor, so you've got to nail it."

No pressure, Simon.

-Um....what is this...I don't even...

-No, seriously, what in the red, rugged is this?!

-For those not watching, he's performing "Sexy and I Know It" by the now-defunct LMFAO and it's...well....Maybe someone in the comments can do a better job describing it than I could. It's entertaining, and he shows he can sing in certain parts, but he's more rapping than singing, and he's got these weird, random dance moves.

-But whatever, the judges adore him for his energetic attitude and his complete control of the stage. All four judges say "Yes." Trevor Moran advances to boot camp.

Credit: FOX

-We meet 16 year-old Owen Stuart, who wants nothing more than to win the $5 million to move to New York and marry his girlfriend, Victoria (or Tori, for short). This entire audition is all about her. That said, Owen has the boy band look, and some of the other girl contestants already think he's hot (and so does the rest of NC).

OWEN STUART, 16, IS UP NEXT

-He tells Simon his first album would be titled "The Fallout," and that he's doing this to be reunited with Tori, since he hasn't seen her much since moving from Buffalo to North Carolina, drawing "awwwwws" from the crowd.

-He sings "Airplanes" by B.O.B. and Hayley Williams, adding his own rap. He has a pretty good, if unspectacular voice, and he owns the stage. And, hey, he has the look. It's funny because he's doing this to get back to his girlfriend, but if he wins, he'll be too busy to ever see her.

-All the judges but Britney are wowed by the performance. Britney says "no" because she was underwhelmed, but the other three judges all say "Yes." Owen Stuart advances to boot camp. Odds on his being put in a group?

-And, of course, he immediately calls Tori to tell him he made it through, and he's going to do this for her.

-Coming back from the break, we meet Freddie Combs, who weighed 920 lbs. just two years ago. Through diet, exercise, and the love and support of his wife of sixteen years, Kay, Freddie is down to 540 lbs. He's still in a wheelchair, but he's pretty inspiring nonetheless.

-Freddie prepares Kay for the possibility that he might not get through. He says he hopes the judges "give a fat boy a chance."

FREDDIE COMBS, 41, IS UP NEXT

-He dedicates his performance of "Wind Beneath My Wings" to his wife.

-Man ALIVE, this is actually pretty damn good. We're in Susan Boyle territory here.

-The entire arena gives him a standing O. Well, except for the judges. That said, they still love it, with LA calling Freddie's voice "heavenly," and Britney saying it was surprisingly lovely. Simon, in a touching bit, says he could imagine Freddie standing up, healthy, as he was singing that song, and that he doesn't deserve to be in that chair. However, his kind words come with the Chris Rene caveat of "if we're going to do this, we have to make a deal with each other," so I'm guessing they're going to work on getting him healthier. All four judges say "yes," and we suddenly have a pretty interesting narrative going forward, and the third narrative of the episode (after Trevor "Overcomes Adversity" Moran and Owen "Doin' It For Tori" Stuart). Freddie Combs advances to boot camp.

-And we're back with The Hot Mess Collective, each act worse than the one before it.

LAUREN PEREGGI, 16, IS UP NEXT

-Lauren is here with her uber-supportive family, particularly her father, who claims to be on the verge of a heart attack.

-She sings "If I Ain't Got You" by Alicia Keys, and she's got a very smooth, velvety tone. That said, do we really need two Carly Rose Sonenclars in one competition?

-LA calls it a perfect audition, Britney loved it, Demi can't believe she's only 16, and Simon is surprised by the maturity of her voice and her tone, calling her one of his favorite auditions. An easy yes from each four judges. Lauren Pereggi advances to boot camp. This entire sequence is cued to "A Thousand Miles" by Vanessa Carlton, a song I haven't heard in a hot minute. Seriously, what ever happened to her? I forgot how much I liked that song.

JORDYN FOLEY IS NEXT, AND I HATE HER ALREADY

-I'm almost certainly going to hell for hating on a twelve year-old, but she comes across like Rachel Crowe, with all the sparkly precociousness without any of the little quirks that made Rachel Crowe bearable.

-Simon compares her to Britney when she did "Hit Me Baby One More Time." He asks her what her album title will be. She says "Pink Glitter." (UGH)

-Simon asks what she's singing, prefacing it by saying "I hope it's not Annie."

Except it totally is Annie. Worse, it's Simon's least favorite Annie song: "Tomorrow."

-She actually has a pretty good theater voice, and she has a very energetic stage persona.

-During a lull in the music, she stops to tell the crowd to remember that tomorrow is only a day away. I just...I can't, with this girl. Yes, she can sing, and her personality is actually quite sweet with all her positivity, which is rare in our increasingly cynical society and blah blah blah, but Simon is right to say "no." I have no idea why the show show lowered the age limit to 12. If this girl makes it to live shows and gets voted out, she'll wind up boosting cars by the time she's sixteen.

-But I'm not a judge on this show, and though Simon says "no" (even though he admits he likes her), the other three judges all say "yes." Jordyn Foley advances to boot camp, and I quit planet Earth.

-We end the show with the judges talking about how excited they are about the talent this year. We also get a montage of some of the contestants who have made it through, from Jennell Garcia to CeCe Frey, Jeffrey Adam Gutt to Carly Rose Sonenclar. We see some of the trainwrecks too, such as Krysten Colon. If they're trying to convince people that the talent this year can hold a candle to The Voice, they're not doing a terribly good job of it with this montage, but I still have hope that boot camp will weed out a lot of the weak links. The preview shows that the judges aren't really going to tolerate anything less than these contestants' best.

And apparently CeCe will still have that weird leopard-print thing on her face. Should be aces.

-And that's a wrap for me! Thanks for hanging around with me the past few weeks. Hopefully I'll get the chance to check in as the season rolls on.