UPDATE- Finalist Melanie Amaro was the contestant to beat on Wednesday night’s X Factor . Her ‘I Believe I Can Fly’ duet with R. Kelly was stellar. Other duets for the night included, Josh Krajcik with Alanis Morrissette and Chris Rene with Avril Lavigne, both of which were lauded as “random” by critics.
Amara has remained the frontrunner throughout the talent competition wowing with hits like Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey’s ‘When You Believe’.
To be fair ‘Fly’ was our favorite more because of R Kelly returning to the stage for the first time since his throat surgery than Amaro who killed her individual performance of Beyonce‘s ‘Listen’. L.A Reid said of Amaro’s duet performance,
“I felt like you got a little bit overshadowed by R. Kelly. I expect more from you.”
Kelly was sold however telling host Steve Jones, “There’s no doubt in my mind this girl is on her way to the moon.”
Reid did come back around on Melanie’s ‘Listen’ telling the blossoming star, “That was a 50-million-dollar performance.” The X Factor contract is $5 million – so that definitely says something!
Simon Cowell who mentors Amaro said it bluntly, “You, to me, should be the winner of X Factor.”
After the show Melanie revealed to Hollywood Reporter how and why she chose ‘Listen’, “If you listen to the words, you can see why the song means so much. It’s like I had this dream in my heart that needs to be heard. And every time I sing that song, I think it’s heard.”
Amaro revealed how she and Simon chose ‘Listen’, “So Simon was, like, ‘We should really blow them away,’ and he never told me what he was talking about. And then he said to me, it’s ‘Listen,’ and I cried, I was so happy.”
What was your favorite moment/performance of the night?
Melanie Amaro and R. Kelly ‘I Believe I Can Fly’
http://youtu.be/o7oDz4omME4
Melanie Amaro ‘Listen’
