"The X Factor" 2011 - Top 5: Did America and the Judges get it right?

• Not even close! (71%, 27 Votes)
• Almost, but not quite! (16%, 6 Votes)
• Yes, absolutely! (13%, 5 Votes)
• Who cares? It's just a dumb show! (0%, 0 Votes)

Total Voters: 38

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Five turns into four tonight as either the judges or America will be sending another act home. Who will it be? The Idol Radio Show Personalities have made their picks. Click here to see them.

Join me after the jump as I live blog The X Factor Top 9 Results. And chat with other X Factor fans during the show in our Shoutbox.

Here we go. Time for The X Factor Results Show. But you’ll have to wait for the results, as Lenny Kravitz takes the stage to promote his new album, Black and White America. He starts with “Rock Star City Life” and is giving us a rocking performance. Obviously, last night’s theme of most of the contestants having their best night’s ever is continuing. In other words, I haven’t head Lenny sound this good in, like, ever. Had he rocked things out like this way back when he first started, I might have been willing to give him a chance. Good job, Lenny.

There it is: the video recap of last night’s show. I’m going to take a nap while this is airing. See you all back here in a few minutes.

It’s now 15 minutes after the top of the hour, but still no results. Instead, we get another video. This time, it’s showing just how crazy things were backstage last night as the Top 5 sang two songs each and the pressure that was on them to deliver two perfect songs. This was actually an interesting video.

Looks like it’s finally time for some results as Steve Jones welcomes the Top 5 out on stage. As they come out, it dawns on me that we had no ensemble song tonight. That was probably due to the fact that tonight’s song was part of the Pepsi Challenge that didn’t take place last night because of a producer’s snafu. And you know what? I’m perfectly fine with that.

In no particular order, the first act America voted into the semi-final is……. Josh Krajcik. Crap. There goes one of my Bottom 2.

The second act that is safe tonight is…….. Chris Rene. Like there was ever any doubt about him.

Looks like that is all the results for now. Melanie Amaro, Rachel Crow, and Marcus Canty are left. Leaving Melanie Amaro up there right now is The X Factor‘s way of trying to get us to believe that we may be in for a massive shock in a bit.

And pigs fly.

Steve is out on stage as the three remaining acts are backstage as we come back from commercial. But that doesn’t stop Steve from talking to the three contestants. Has The X Factor never heard of face-to-face talking?

Mary J. Blige takes the stage to sing “Need Someone” from her latest album, My Life II… The Journey Continues (Act 1). It’s a very subdued song, which means two of the four judges would criticize the song if they were allowed since they weren’t the ones to pick the song to perform. But Mary has a beautiful voice and looks absolutely stunning in her all white dress, though a different wig would have helped her look even better.

We are at the 33-minute mark of the hour, so more results should be coming soon. But first, Steve, while on-stage, has to converse with Chris and Josh, who are backstage. Come on, people. How about a little personal interaction? All this cross-stage stuff is leaving us feeling cold and impersonal.

Steve says back to business and walks to the middle of the stage where the three remaining acts, and their mentors, are standing. Before we hear who the remaining safe act is, however, Steve recaps last night judges’ comments for each of the acts.

The final act guaranteed to be in the semi-finals next week is…. Melanie Amaro.

That leaves Marcus Canty and Rachel Crow in the Bottom 2.

First to sing for their life tonight is Marcus Canty. Marcus really found his voice and soul during last week’s safety song, which is what kept him in the competition. And he had an amazing night last night. I really thought Marcus wouldn’t be in the Bottom 2 for a third week in a row, which leads me to believe he is not gaining new fans as other acts go home. Marcus is giving it his all once again, so much so he has just brought himself to tears during the song. But will that be enough for the judges to agree to keep him around yet again?

Rachel Crow makes her way to the stage now. She is looking almost every bit as grownup as she looked last night, and I think that’s a slight mistake. The girl has made talent, but there is no reason to make it seem like she is 17 or something when she’s not. Rachel’s voice is very good tonight, but she is overacting the song. From the very first night, she tried to make it seem like she has this tremendous connection to the song. But true connections come naturally to a song. They can’t be forced, nor should a singer even try to force it. Paula is buying into it, though. And Rachel almost manages to bring herself to tears.

Here is what I see happening. L.A. will vote to send Rachel home while Simon does the same to Marcus. That leaves the girls to decide who to vote for. I would hope that one or both of them would note the fact that Marcus has been in the Bottom 2 for three weeks in a row. As good as he is, at some point you have to say, “You are not resonating with America” and vote to send him home. But I just don’t see either Nicole or Paula being willing to give the final vote to send either of them home. That will Deadlock the vote, send it back to America, where I suspect Marcus will go home.

Time to find out who the judges are voting for.

L.A. Reid votes to send home: Rachel Crow
Simon Cowell votes to send home: Marcus Canty
Paula Abdul votes to send home: Marcus Canty
Nicole Scherzinger votes to send home: Rachel Crow

DEADLOCK!

The vote goes back to America now. And the act leaving the competition tonight is……….. Rachel Crow.

Are you serious????????????

It has been three minutes now since Steve announced that Rachel was going home, and my mouth is still dragging the ground. I did NOT see that coming. Poor girl nearly collapsed on stage when her name was called out. Both her mom and Simon rushed out on stage to comfort her while Paula comforted Nicole at the judges’ table, since her vote to send Rachel home was the nail in her coffin.

Wow. Just…… wow.

Steve asks Nicole if there is anything she wants to say, but the audience boos her into silence.

So what did you think of tonight’s show? Did the correct act go home? Vote in our poll at the top of the page and 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 results, 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.