It’s Rock Week on The X Factor tonight, as a report after last week’s Results Show claimed that Simon Cowell decided that the Madonna and Lady GagGag week he had originally planned. According to The Examiner, Simon said:

I changed my mind.’ What I like about Wednesday’s show was the idea of someone, particularly Astro, using the whole stage without props. And I thought doing Lady Gaga and Madonna could get a bit too choreography-led and also too restrictive for someone like Astro. Rock music gives you a better chance to use the whole stage like we did on the auditions: just you and a huge platform behind you and make it like it’s your first concert.

Will tonight now turnout better with the change in theme?

Join me after the jump as I live blog The X Factor Top 10 Performances. And chat with other X Factor fans during the show in our Shoutbox.

NOTE: DJ Slim will be posting the audio performances from tonight’s The X Factor over at IdolBlogLive.com. If you missed a performance, or want to hear one again, go check out our sister site.

As the intro to tonight’s X Factor introduces each of the judges’ act, it points out that Lakoda Rayne is the last of the Groups. Not sure we needed that pointed out, or that pointing that out is going to hep Lakoda Rayne, but they did it anyway.

To introduce Rock Night, there are a bunch of girls on stage dancing to the song, “I Love Rock-n-Roll” as Steve Jones is introduced and comes out on stage. The girls leave before the judges are introduced. But the judges get a song of their own: “Livin’ On A Prayer.”

Nicole Scherzinger’s Over 30s is up first tonight in the form of LeRoy Bell. He is singing a Bob Seger song tonight. In the pre-performance video, LeRoy said he had always wanted to be a rock singer but he put that dream on hold when his son was born. He mentions a few odd jobs, but none of the singing business jobs he’s had. I wonder why the show keeps doing that. L.A. Reid says that LeRoy is boring. Then for emphasis, he spells out the letters, “B O R I N G.” We get it, L.A. And we often say the same about you. LeRoy is clearly a crooner, as this song shows. Not sure how that fits into his always wanting to be a rock singer, though. He does have a live band on stage with him tonight, so maybe that’s the rock singer angle for him. His voice is flawless once again. But L.A. doesn’t care. He says LeRoy is not a rock star and that he needs to deliver more. And I agree. But I blame Nicole for this, because I think she blew it with this song choice. It’s Rock Week. He needed to rock it out more than he needed to croon it out.

Simon Cowell’s Girls are up next, with Rachel Crow going first for the group. In the pre-performance video, Simon says he really likes working with Rachel. He says that at first, she would just giggle constantly but that now she is taking it seriously. He says he has picked one of the best all-time rock songs for her this week. As per usual with the idiots over at The X Factor, no one says what the name of the song is. For that matter, they don’t even say who the artist is either. But the song is easily identified: “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” by the Rolling Stones. This song is way above Rachel’s abilities and maturity level. The low parts of the song are too low for Rachel, and she misses quite a few notes. And the attempt at mimicking Mick Jagger’s attitude falls flat. The judges are clearly drinking something other than Pepsi to think that performance was any good.

Chris Rene is up first for L.A. Reid’s Boys category. Chris is taking on a Bob Marley song tonight. In the first part of his pre-performance video, Chris talks about his efforts to stay sober. Chris starts rapping, then singing, and Simon is looking around the auditorium in shock. Not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. But Chris is rocking out that stage. L.A. Reid is egging the crowd on, loving how they are reacting to Chris. Simon still has that stupid look on his face. No, not the normal stupid look on his face. The one that makes him look like he is in shock at what he is seeing. This is Chris’ best performance this season. Loved it. Nicole says that wasn’t her favorite performance of his. Say What? Paula says it doesn’t matter if Chris is the best vocalist. Ouch. Turns out the stupid look on Simon’s face was because he hated the song. He said that was a reggae song, not a rock song. L.A. says the song plays mostly on rock stations. He then challenges Simon to have a Hip-Hop week cause he wants to see what Simon would pick for Drew.

Stacy Francis, another of Nicole’s Over 30s, is up next. She is singing a song originally performed by Meat Loaf. In the pre-performance video, Simon says that last week he had a horrible nightmare of Stacy singing a Whitney Houston song and borrowing one of Nicole’s dresses. Diss. Stacy is wearing a sparkling silver dress and simply behind a microphone. She is wringing the song for everything it’s got, and then trying to wring more out of it. The song just doesn’t have that much to give, which means Stacy is oversinging and overacting again. It’s during these times when Stacy is her weakest. And her vocals reflect it as well. She misses several notes because she is focusing too much on getting something out of the song that isn’t there. Paula says that this was her least favorite song of Stacy’s. Simon starts by giving Stacy the good news: Her hair looks better this week. Stacy looks like she is about to break out in tears. I hope there is kleenix backstage.

Back to Simon’s Girls in the form of Melanie Amaro as she takes on a R.E.M. song. In the pre-performance video, Simon says he has a very special connection with Melanie because he has been inside her home and seen just how much her family wants this for her. Simon says he has picked one of his favorite songs of all-time, though admits that it’s not a rock song. Didn’t he just take L.A. to task for the same thing? It’s just Melanie and a piano player on stage tonight, as Simon wanted to strip out everything else. Melanie quickly establishes a connection to the song and to the audience. Melanie is one of only a handful of artists I know that can command the stage while just sitting/standing there. Her voice grabs you and never lets go. Nor do I want it to, cause I think I’m in love. L.A. takes Simon to task for the song choice, then tells Melanie that he loves her, but that was so not rock. Nicole says she sounded beautiful, but is confused because she didn’t cry during Melanie’s performance. Geez.

Josh Krajcik represents Nicole’s Over 30s next, taking on a Foo Fighters song. In the pre-performance video, it looks like Josh has returned to putting grease in his hair. And now we see video of him looking that way working in a fast food restaurant. I think there was more grease in his hair than in the fryer. Ugh. It looks like there will be a band with Josh out on stage and that they will be rocking things. The song starts off slow but quickly picks up pace as strobe lights start flashing everywhere. Unfortunately, the lights and music overpower Josh’s voice. Nicole is on her feet headbanging to the song. Might as well headbang since you can’t understand a word Josh is singing. This is not only Josh’s worst performance of the season, but it makes Brian Bradley look like a real artist. And we all know what I think of Brian.

Brian Bradley takes the stage next to represent L.A.’s Boys, and it’s time for me to check out what’s airing on the other networks. Ooooooooh, Criminal Minds. Ugh. I turned back just in time to see Brian being arrogant again in his pre-performance video. Brian says tonight’s song is a love song. Simon says he doesn’t think the words “Brian” and “Rock” belong in the same sentence. The song playing behind him is “Every Breath You Take,” not that Brian is actually singing any of it. Once again, he fails to make his lyrics heard above everything else going on up there on stage. It was so bad, some of the judges give him a pity standing ovation. I take back my previous comment about Josh making Brian look like a real artist. Brian just proved that he knows nothing about what being an artist is all about. This is his worst performance of the season.

Paula Abdul’s only remaining Group, Lakoda Rayne, takes the stage next. The pre-performance video is all about trying to get America to know each of the four girls in the group. The girls are standing on boxes on stage, with the screen behind them displaying the girl’s name on each box. The show is really trying to push America to get to know the girls individually. It’s not going to work, however, as the girls give yet another lackluster performance. With only one group left, you would think Paula would have put more effort into giving Lakoda Rayne something to work with. Then again, the group has shown that they don’t have much to work with in the first place. This is a horrible performance. It’s extremely sloppy as the girls are no in sync with each other or with the music. Several bad notes permeate the song. It’s just one big mess. L.A. Reid says it was better than last week. Nicole thinks they have found their lane: Country Rock. Really? Where the heck was the country? Geez. Welcome back to the Bottom 2, girls.

Simon’s final Girl, Drew, takes the stage next. She is singing a U2 song. In the pre-performance video, Drew whines tells us that she has to spend a lot of time on her schoolwork in addition to working on the show. L.A. says that Drew has done the same thing over and over, and says he’s heard she’s doing the same thing over and over again tonight. Drew tries to be subtle, soft, and sultry with her voice, but doesn’t have the chops to do that. It’s all just one level with her, which is three levels higher than where it needs to be for this song. She is singing “With Or Without You,” a slow song that doesn’t belong on Rock Week, at least, not the Rock Week Simon claims he wants to have. L.A. says Drew has what it takes to go the distance. Nicole says she was waiting for the tempo to pick up, something that never happened. It really was a horrible song choice. Just goes to show that Simon, as I’ve said before, has no clue what he is doing.

Thankfully we are finally at the final song of the night. It is Marcus Canty, one of L.A.’s Boys. He is singing a song from Janis Joplin. The pre-performance video focuses on how much the church means to Marcus, and L.A. calls him a “P.K.” – a preacher’s kid. The reason for this little run up? Because L.A. wants Marcus to get dirty this week for Rock Week. Simon says that Marcus and Rock Week do not go together. And Marcus does his darndest to prove Simon right. He is singing, “Piece of My Heart.” He starts off the song with the repeated line of “Come On,” which he delivers lousy. He misses so many notes during the song, I’m not even sure what key he thinks he’s suppose to be singing in. His voice just doesn’t have a rock sound to it. And that means Nicole loved it. Ugh.

So what did you think of tonight’s performances? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

And don’t forget to join me for the Idol Radio Show tonight at 11 PM ET / 10 PM CT as I talk about tonight’s X Factor performances, American Idol news, and anything else in the entertainment industry that needs to be discussed. Simply click the “Listen Live” banner in the right column when the show starts.