11 acts will take the stage tonight, but could two of those acts already be in the process of packing their bags for the flight home?

Last Monday, I wrote a blog entry where I laid out why I thought Paula Abdul’s Groups category would be the first to lose all their acts. InTENsity going home last week was an easy pick for me as they were the weakest of all the acts on the show. What I didn’t expect, however, was for Stereo Hogzz to end up in the Bottom 2 as well, especially after their performance Wednesday. Was their Bottom 2 appearance simply a result of them going first last week or is it a sign that America isn’t ready for any group right now?

Join me after the jump as I live blog The X Factor Top 11 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.

Tonight’s theme is “movies.” Hopefully someone will sing the new Footloose theme, cause we all know just how much Queen Angie loves that. Especially since the Country Music Association Awards is opening with a giant Footloose number. Queen Angie could be in pure ecstasy tonight.

No red carpet for host Steven Jones as he walks out from behind the split stage door. It sounds like a James Bond theme is playing behind in. He then introduces the judges by saying, “Welcome the four superheroes/villains, ‘The X Factor’ judges.” The Star Wars theme plays behind them. I wonder which one has been cast as Darth Vader.

We then see a video recap of the contestants going to a Hollywood premiere of Adam Sandler’s new movie, Jack and Jill. My guess is that all 11 acts were then taken to the hospital to be detoxed off the crappy movie. The fact that they could all still show up for tonight’s live performances is nothing but amazing.

I’m not buying all their declarations that the movie was the funniest thing they’ve ever seen. Must have been the drugs talking.

First up tonight is a Nicole Scherzinger Over 30s, Stacy Francis. She is singing the theme from Whitney Houston’s The Bodyguard, “Queen of the Night.” In the pre-performance video, we get a repeat of her claims that at the age of 42, she hasn’t had a lot of good things happen to her. That’s not gonna help her with the fanbase. Stacy is wearing a red dress, which is helping her standout on a very busy stage. Stacy’s hair is parted weirdly, which makes her forehead look like the Arizona dessert. It’s a decent performance overall with a lot of energy, though the vocals were only so-so. And there was a lot of hair whipping. Somewhere, Willow Smith is jealous. Paula Abdul says that she has never liked the song. With Stacy going first, I think she could be in real danger tomorrow night.

Next up is one of L.A. Reid’s Boys, Marcus Canty. Marcus is singing “I’m Going Down” from the movie Car Wash. L.A. says that tonight we’ll see a different side of Marcus as he tones it down. He says it’s time to show Marcus as a singer. I still feel like Marcus is the least known of the Top 11, and going second on the night might be a problem for him. The smoke machine is working overtime on the stage, and the lights are reflecting harshly off Marcus’ silver jacket. The glare from that dang jacket is so bad, it is really hurting my eyes. Hard to listen to his music with searing pain coursing through my head. Marcus takes the jacket off about two-thirds of the way through the song, but it’s too little too late for me. Nicole says she has one word for Marcus: “Magic.” The audience clearly agrees with Nicole. But does America?

Simon Cowell’s Girls is up next, in the form of Drew. She is singing from the movie You, Me, and Dupree. Drew starts off her song sitting on a stool in the middle of the stage, wearing some kind of silver and black poofy dress with hair that looks like the 80s rejected it. Simon is sitting at the judges’ table looking smitten. Drew’s voice is way off, tonight. She is missing notes left and right. And her voice has no depth or personality tonight. Not good at all. L.A. says he sees no difference between Drew’s first, second, and third performance. He then takes Simon to task for picking a song from a movie that he’s never heard of. I agree that picking a song from this movie wasn’t a wise choice, even if Drew had been able to sing it.

Just got word that The Band Perry beat out Kelly Clarkson and Jason Aldean for “Song of the Year” at the CMAs.

Back to Nicole and the Over 30s as LeRoy Bell takes the stage to sing “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” from The Runaway Bride. Nicole says she has picked a song from LeRoy’s favorite band while Simon says he could be in trouble this week. And that’s before LeRoy has performed. LeRoy commands the stage once again by simply standing in the middle of it in front of a microphone. His voice is gorgeous. He commands every single note up there on stage. L.A. says he had been getting bored with LeRoy but thinks he got it right tonight. Paula basically agrees.

Wait, what???????? The Muppets have a new movie coming out this Thanksgiving? WHY AM I JUST NOW HEARING ABOUT THIS? *heads online to buy tickets*

Paula Abdul’s Groups is up for the first time tonight in the form of Lakoda Rayne. The song is from the movie How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days. I’ll give the judges credit for one thing: they know how to pick songs from movies no one else would have thought to sing a song from. The song is a horrible mess. So much so, the song overpowers the girls’ good looks. The harmonies are off. The individual singing is off. The tempo is off. The background music and vocals is off. There is nothing on about this performance at all. In fact, my TV just shut itself off. Talk about bad.

The guy I refuse to call Astro, Brian Bradley, is up next for L.A.’s Boys. My guess is that he will do a Vanilla Ice rap from the movie Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle. Ugh. I would have preferred TMNT. He is going to be singing a song from Eminem’s movie, 8 Mile. In the pre-performance video, we see Brian looking down his nose at everyone again. Brian says he is writing the lyrics from scratch. How the heck can he do a song from a movie if he is writing his own lyrics? I can’t understand most of what this kid is saying. Not a single freaking word. A line in the song says “I ain’t shed a tear yet.” Ummmmmmmm, kid…… do you remember whining and crying about the dance class during Boot Camp? The audience is clapping loudly, and I’m grateful for that. Nice to know the audience is willing to pity clap arrogant little brats.

Back over to Simon’s Girls as Melanie Amaro takes the stage. Rumor has it that Melanie has been struggling with laryngitis this week. She will try to sing a Michael Jackson’s “Man In The Mirror.” The pre-performance video does show that a doctor told her to rest her vocal chords this week. Melanie is wearing all black at the center of the stage, and she looks amazing. She sounds amazing as well. I truly believe Melanie could take on any superstar she wanted and do their song justice. In fact, twenty years from now I could see me saying that no one should ever try to sing a Melanie Amaro song, much like we say about Whitney Houston today. If she is still suffering from laryngitis, it doesn’t show. Her voice seems as strong as it ever has as she demonstrates why she is my favorite contestant of the season right now. L.A. takes a swing at Melanie in his effort to belittle Simon. Bad L.A.

Next up is the second of Paula’s two Groups, Stereo Hogzz. They are singing “Ain’t No Other Man” by Christina Aguilera. In the pre-performance video, it sounds like the Stereo Hogzz had the lowest number of votes last week. Wow. The performance is a mess. So much taking place on stage, it’s hard to focus on the guys. Their voices don’t sound together either this week. If they ended up with the lowest number of votes last week on such a good performance, I’m not sure tonight is gonna give them any hopes for another week. L.A. tries to act like he’s never heard the song before, and when told that it was a Christina song, he asks “from which decade?” Ugh.

The final Nicole Over 30s is up next, which means it’s time for Josh Krajcik to take the stage. He is singing “With a Little Help From My Friends” from Across The Universe. Josh has once again washed his hair, which I’m grateful for. But he is entering growling territory this week, and not in the good way. His voice is breathy and somewhat out of tune. Just didn’t work for me this week. He needed more than a little help from his friends for this song.

The next to last act to perform tonight is Chris Rene, one of L.A.’s Boys. He is singing a song from the movie Dangerous Minds. Simon says during Chris’ pre-performance video that Chris has to become the artist we saw at his audition. And I have to agree that Chris hasn’t lived up to that audition. But this may change, as he starts by rapping to “Gansta’s Paradise.” Took me a minute to figure out the name of the song because my first thought was Weird Al’s “Amish Paradish.” I am loving what Chris is doing with this song. Rapping and singing, he is doing it all and doing it well. Absolutely loved it. Welcome back, Chris.

The pimp spot belongs to Rachel Crow, the last of Simon’s Girls. She is singing a song from the movie Cadillac Records. This was a great movie with a LOT of great music, most of which I have to wonder if it will be over Rachel’s ability. Rachel is trying to look twenty years older than she is, and I don’t like that. But her voice is amazing this week. There are parts that are over Rachel’s head, but it doesn’t slow her down. In fact, she tames most of the song without even batting an eyelid. She is just that good this week. The best this week? No. But deserving of the praise the audience and judges are giving her.

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.