It’s been rough going for Paula Abdul on The X Factor the last two weeks. Her Groups category has dominated the Bottom 2 two weeks in a row, leaving her with just one act left in the competition. And that’s despite a lot of praise the judges have given Paula for the way she has worked with the Groups.
Week 1 saw mega-group InTENsity fly home. This was one of the two groups that were formed after Boot Camp from individual singers that didn’t make the cut. It was a doomed group from the beginning, as America simply has no room on their iPods for a ten member singing group.
Week 2 saw boy band potential group Stereo Hogzz depart after being in the Bottom 2 two weeks in a row. The group had potential in my mind, and, in fact, I had predicted this group would be the last of Paula’s acts to remain standing.
Will Week 3 see the final Group act, Lakoda Rayne, suffer the same fate this week? Or will the judges deliberately vote for the other Bottom 2 group to save Paula from being eliminated from the competition?
With nothing but Group acts dominating the Bottom 2 so far, my initial thoughts of America not taking to the groups are proving to be true. Since the 80s, we simply haven’t had much of an appetite for musical groups, at least for singing-only groups. Sure, an occasional Backstreet Boys or NSync comes around. But most groups that make it big in this country are actual bands, groups that play instruments along with singing.
While Simon Cowell reportedly visioned Lakoda Rayne as being a Pop-Country group, most people don’t see them fitting that category. There has been a distinct lack of country sound to the songs the girls have sung so far. Not that it would matter, since Country Music listeners tend to prefer bands more than singing-only groups.
So with that, I fully expect to see Lakoda Rayne in the Bottom 2 this week. And that raises the question I asked last Thursday on the Idol Radio Show: Would The X Factor judges deliberately vote for the other Bottom 2 act simply to keep Paula Abdul from losing all her acts so early in the season?
Personally, I think they would. I could see Nicole Scherzinger flatly tell the other Bottom 2 act that she was voting to send them home because she didn’t want to see Paula lose all her acts so early. Simon would attempt to be more subtle, telling the other Bottom 2 act that he feels Lakoda Rayne has been maturing as a group and that he wants to see what they will bring next week. He might also try to take America to task for not giving the groups in the competition a chance. I’m not quite sure what L.A. Reid would say, though he would likely try to be more subtle like Simon.
Of course, no judge is going to vote against their own act, so whatever judge has an act in the Bottom 2 with Lakoda Rayne will vote for Lakoda to go home. But I would expect the other two judges to vote for the other Bottom 2 act.
All bets are off, however, if Lakoda Rayne ends up in the Bottom 2 a third time. At that point, unless the group has legitimately improved and/or performs stunningly better than its Bottom 2 competition, they will be gone.
We’ll have to wait until Thursday night to see what will happen, but tell us what you think. Will Lakoda Rayne be in the Bottom 2 again this week? And will the judges deliberately vote for the other Bottom 2 act simply to keep Paula’s acts from being eliminated so early in the season?
Leave your thoughts in the comments below. And join me at 8 PM ET / 7 PM CT for live blogging of tonight’s X Factor performances and then again at 11 PM ET / 10 CT / 9 MT / 8 PT for tonight’s live Idol Radio Show.
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