The X Factor - Video Recap - Live Blog - 09/12/2012

The X Factor is back for Day 1 of the Season 2 Premiere, covering the auditions in Austin, TX. Britney Spears and Demi Lovato are the newest judges on the panel, with LA Reid and series creator Simon Cowell returning. I'm pretty interested to see the dynamic here between the four (well, between the three - I'm pretty sure LA Reid will be brain-dead for half of the show).

-How much you want to bet that Simon's mission this season is to find/create a new One Direction?

-Britney-related buzz in the air at opening day of auditions. I'm 27, but I feel a whole hell of a lot older when people are referring to Britney Spears as a "legend". (This, from a guy who shamelessly enjoys her music and always has, for the most part)

-Even stranger: the amount of kids who don't look a day over twelve in the audition lines. To these kids, Kurt Cobain has always been dead.

Credit: FOX

We meet two contestants:

-Paige Thomas, 21, from San Antonio, TX. Absolutely gorgeous, and mother to a beautiful 3 year-old named Jade. Looks vaguely like last season's Tiah Tolliver. Hopefully, she can sing on key.

-Kaci Newton, 22, Bank Teller, who describes herself a cross between Carrie Underwood and Adele. As if she didn't come across as primadonna enough, she loses her cool over Paige's 3 year-old daughter, Jade, leaving a tiny smudge on her pants. I hate this Kaci girl already.

PAIGE THOMAS IS UP FIRST

-She gets pretty emotional, talking about her daughter. She absolutely slays Mary J. Blige's version of "I'm Going Down." Britney loved it, LA calls her a star ("You remind me of a girl I met five years ago in my office...her name was Rihanna"), Demi is blown away by her stage presence, and Simon loves her voice and is impressed by her sense of responsibility, calling her one of his all-time favorite auditions. Hell of a performance.

She gets a "Yes" from each judge. Paige Thomas advances to boot camp.

I'm looking forward to seeing more of her. She's immensely likable, and has a hell of a voice. She also has the look. Definitely the look.

CREDIT: FOX

SHAWN ARMENTA (50 YEARS OLD) IS UP NEXT

-We have our first trainwreck of the season, as Shawn sings his own terrible pop number, "Candy Girl." He gyrates and goes through the terrible motions of a bad pop act.

-He gets confrontational when told how horrible he is, claiming that he doesn't need autotune like Demi, and he's a better songwriter than LA Reid. Britney is just plain uncomfortable with Shawn even looking at her.

-Cue montage of other disastrous acts, set to Britney's "Toxic," and spiced with Britney's acidic judging style (which is really refreshing, since Simon has gone kind of soft in recent years).

-We come back from break with contestants abuzz in the holding room, freaking out about how "mean" Britney is allegedly being. From there, we meet...

REED DEMING, 13

-Reed gets a lot of Justin Bieber comparisons, mainly due to his hair. He claims to have grown up singing Frank Sinatra in the car with his dad. He's nervous as hell though, after watching Britney break some bad news to the 15 year-old before him.

-Reed sings "It Will Rain" by Bruno Mars, and it's rough starting out, but improves...until Simon cuts it off. He wants to hear something else, feeling he can't get a proper idea of what his voice is like with all the nerves. Reed's back-up song is a "dumbed down" piano version of Bruno Mars's "Grenade."

-This is a MUCH better vocal than the first. I wouldn't say he's quite ready yet, but the audience certainly seems to like him.

-Simon respects Reed's work ethic and how badly he wants it, but he wanted better vocals. Doesn't stop him from saying "Yes," though, and the other three judges follow suit. Reed Deming advances to boot camp.

CREDIT: FOX

-Coming back from commercial, Demi tells Simon that Niall Horan from One Direction says hi. Simon commands her to stay away from Niall: "He's pure!"

-Simon then grills her over whether she's kissed him already or not. Demi, embarrassed, insists she hasn't, and that she isn't trying to date anyone anyway. Can't fault a girl for being career-oriented.

KACI NEWTON, 22, IS UP NEXT

-Simon compares her to Britney at first glance, and Kaci claims to have been singing since she was four years old.

-She sings "Firework" by Katy Perry. It starts out okay, but quickly plummets off a cliff as she loses the key and can't get back on pitch.

-Simon says it sounded like she was dying. She asks if she can sing something else, and Simon says "No." She sings "Mercy" by Duffy anyway. She gets a "No" from each judge. Maybe she'll blame little Jade for smudging her pants.

-Or not. She shows a surprisingly cavalier attitude about getting cut. "Oh well." That's kind of great, actually.

-Back from break, we're moving on to the San Francisco auditions.

-Another "crazy trainwrecks" montage. There's some legendarily awful stuff here, but it flies by way too fast to set in. That said, I kind of enjoy that we're skipping over most of the silliness and keeping with the more serious auditions.

QUATRELE DA'AN SMITH IS UP NEXT

-He's decked out in a wedding dress top and short-shorts that might as well be tighty whities. He claims he's getting "married to The X Factor" today.

-He sings Lady Gaga's "Born This Way". After an absolutely ridiculous opening dance, he starts to sing and...isn't bad. At all. Britney says he's off-key but she enjoyed it, Demi absolutely loves him, and Simon actually quite liked him. LA says no, however. Doesn't stop the other three judges from saying "Yes," though. Quatro Deanne advances to boot camp.

CREDIT: FOX

-We come back from break with our first group of season two: Emblem3, a trio of skater-boy crooners. The guys meet Vincent Thomas, a young singer from a defunct boy band in Europe who gives them advice. Emblem3 appreciates the advice, but they're not trying to be a boy band.

VINCENT THOMAS IS UP NEXT

-He sings Elton John's "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word." Kind of rough. He has the look, but the voice just isn't there.

-Simon compares him to that one guy in every boy band who can't sing. After he's rejected, LA whispers to Simon that he found Vincent dull and boring. No argument from me.

EMBLEM3 IS UP NEXT

-They're going to sing an original song titled "Sunset Boulevard."

-"It's about California, in general." Sounds about right.

-Okay, these guys are awesome. They've got a singing/rapping dynamic going on. Though, for a group that's not trying to be a boy band, they're kind of coming across like one. A really hip one, but a boy band nonetheless.

-This song is pretty good. Sounds like a hit. They certainly have the crowd on their feet.

-LA Reid loves them. Britney thinks they're funky. Demi (for about the fifth time) thinks the contestants in front of her are cute. Simon loved everything about the audition. Yes x4. Emblem3 advances to boot camp.

WATCH HERE: Emblem3 performs "Sunset Boulevard"

CREDIT: FOX

-And so far, I'd argue they're the act to beat. Crazy talent + cute + they apparently play their own instruments, so we might be looking at a WGWG situation x3. That said, I thought the same thing last year about The Brewer Boys, so what do I know?

DON PHILLIP IS UP NEXT

-He did a duet with Brtiney Spears a long time ago. He's a mess just talking to the camera, believing that this is his last shot at stardom.

-To her credit, Britney recognizes Don immediately (unlike Christina Aguilera not recognizing Tony Lucca last season on The Voice). Don breaks down, saying he never thought he'd see Britney again, and that he didn't feel worthy back then. He's going to sing "Halo" by Beyonce.

-His voice is...weird. It's not that it's necessarily awful, it's just very strained. Like he's sucked down an entire tank of helium.

-Simon gives him the honest truth, saying that he doesn't have a good singing voice. Britney looks pained to have to say it, but she agrees with Simon, feeling that his voice isn't up to the standards of what they're looking for in The X Factor.

-Don is crushed. He breaks down backstage, feeling guilty for singing badly, fearing that he's hurt her with his audition. Britney is shaken, but not stirred to give him a second chance.

CREDIT: FOX

-Back from break, and we're in Providence, RI for the next round of auditions. Lots of young female singers.

JENEL GARCIA IS UP NEXT

-Adorable girl, both pretty and humble. Looks like she brought half her family with her, to boot. She says they're her motivation, particularly her parents.

-She's into older music such as the work of Pat Benatar.

-Jenel sings "Paris" by Grace Potter & The Nocturnals, which sounds very Benatar-esque. She's totally knocking it out of the park, to boot. She has the look, the personality, the voice and the stage presence to make some big moves. It's the easiest four "yes" approval so far. Jenel Garcia advances to boot camp.

JILLIAN JENSEN, 19, IS UP NEXT

-She comes close to sharing a birthday with Demi and, ironically, has a "stay strong" tattoo. She's a fan of Demi's music.

-She tells the judges that she's been bullied a lot. In her testimonial, she breaks down when recalling how kids made fun of her and her music when she was young, and how no one believed in her.

-Jillian sings a simple piano version of "Who You Are" by Jessie J, and does a tremendous job with it. Demi whispers to LA that you can hear the pain in her voice. Jillian breaks down when she sees the crowd stand up and applaud during her performance. First performance and she's already having a "big moment." Reminded me a lot of Bella Ferraro's big moment on The X Factor Australia.

-Demi gets up and goes onstage to give her a hug. LA calls everyone who ever bullied Jillian "idiots," and adds that he's never seen a contestant put pain into their performance like she just did. Britney says she shouldn't cry, since she did amazing, adding that her voice is sexy. Simon thought it was brilliant, and Demi can't believe how amazing that just was.

-Okay, so I guess THIS was the easiest Yes of the competition so far. Jillian Jensen advances to boot camp.

WATCH HERE: Jillian Jensen sings "Who You Are"

-Simon tells the other judges it was the only time in his life he's ever lost it during a performance, admitting to tearing up the tiniest little bit. Tears from Simon Cowell? We're through the looking glass, people.

-After the break, the episode concludes with a season tease, showing clips of what we're in store for during auditions for season 2 of The X Factor: more heartwarming moments, showstopping performances, nuts taking their clothes off, and Simon in a tiara for some reason. Also, blown opportunities and people getting arrested. Sounds like good times. That's tomorrow though, so I'll let future Nick worry about keeping names, ages, and song titles straight while live-blogging and putting up photos. Until then, thanks for joining me for my first live-blogging session. I had a hell of a time getting my blab on.

We'll be back tomorrow with more from the two-night premiere of The X Factor, and stick with Rickey.org all season for your X Factor fix. We'll have performance clips, mp3s, recaps and more.