Ray Mickshaw/ FOXThanks to an unexpected twist—hello again, Diamond White!—and some X-tra lively critiques, The X Factor contestants didn't hold back in their backstage interviews after Wednesday's performance show.
Here, five revealing moments that went down in the press tent where, for a time, Maroon 5's "Moves Like Jagger" featuring Christina Aguilera blasted from the speakers on what seemed like a continual loop. Kinda funny, considering Simon Cowell's singing competition went head-to-head with The Voice tonight.
1. Thirteen-year-old Diamond White, who'd been sent packing by mentor Britney Spears last week, was clearly overjoyed to be back in the competition. "I found out two days ago," revealed White, who killed her rendition of Whitney Houston's "I Have Nothing." "Production told me that [the] legal [department] was gonna be calling about contracts and stuff so I was like, OK. I was in tears because I was thinking about being eliminated and when [Spears] called, I was like, Oh my gosh, I can't believe Britney is inviting me back to the show. It was crazy! I'm so thankful and blessed that I got the chance to come back and perform again. Any opportunity I get to be onstage with, like, hair and makeup, I'm gonna take!"
2. While small-town girl Jennel Garcia was a crowd favorite in the studio with her take on Joan Jett's "I Love Rock & Roll," she still had to endure some tough feedback from both LA Reid and Cowell, who, for the second week in a row, expressed dislike of her Demi-initiated makeover from small-town girl to full-on rocker. How did Garcia feel about his comments? "Well, I'm not a fan of his white T-shirts and jeans," she said with a laugh, displaying some of the same sass as her mentor, Demi Lovato. "I'd love to see Simon in a leather jacket, but you know it's never gonna happen, and I'm OK with that. Everyone's entitled to their own opinion. I still think he's awesome."
Besides, Garcia admitted it took awhile for her to get used to her new look, too: "I hated it at first but it's growing on me. And I feel like it sets me apart from the other contestants. Now I'm feeling good and confident."
3. Lyric 145 took the prize for most unexpected song choice of the night with a hip-hop version of "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious." What inspired them to go with that song? "We gotta give credit to Simon," MC Lyric Da Queen said of the trio's mentor. "He was like, ‘Put yourself in the mindframe of what Jay-Z did with Annie and ‘Hard- Knock Life,' and we all looked at each other like whoa."
Da Queen also gave us the (surprisingly serious) scoop on her trademark eye patches. "I totally lost my vision for two years, and I ended up getting a cornea transplant," she said. "After that happened, I ended up going to emergency surgery literally three days before my first audition in Greensboro. I was supposed to be in the hospital for two weeks but I discharged myself and I actually auditioned with plastic and tape over my eye and IV marks in my arms. It was serious. One eye's brown and one eye's black because I don't have an iris so now I just wear [the eye patches] with pride. Like I just bejewel them all and make the best out of a bad situation."
4. Tate Stevens country-fied Bon Jovi's "Dead or Alive," which he revealed he chose over Phil Collins' "Against All Odds." Why go with theJersey rockers? "I'm a Bon Jovi fan," Stevens said. "My very first rock concert I ever went to [was] in sixth grade, and it was Bon Jovi. I swear to you. It was the Slippery When Wet tour, and it was awesome. We had great seats--right on the side of the stage."
5. Leopard-print lover CeCe Frey received perhaps the harshest critiques of the night for her pitchy take on "Eye of the Tiger." What did she think of Simon declaring he hardly recognized her anymore? "I've been receiving harsh criticism since the very beginning of this competition and it is what it is. It's hard not to take it personally but at the same time, I'm in a business now [where] there's always gonna be somebody that hates everything that I do. You can be the ripest, juiciest peach on the tree and there's always gonna be someone that doesn't like peaches. It's just making my skin thicker.
One act will get the ax on Thursday. Thoughts on who it's gonna be?