Ray Mickshaw/ FOXThings just got real.
The X Factor has taken the 120 contestants who flourished during their auditions to Miami for their first challenge: boot camp. "This will be the most intense week of their lives," Simon Cowell said.
Each singer performed in front of their competition in hopes of moving forward, but at the end of the day, close to half were sent home.
Cowell said it best, "Oh this is going to be a fight. We're looking for killers."
Diamond White, 13, set things off for us tonight by being the first to show off her skills in front of the crowd. She sang Whitney Houston's "I Have Nothing," and killed it (that's a good thing, you guys). In fact, Demi Lovato said she was "amazing, but she's just the first one." Regardless, White definitely got the other competitors shaken up.
The soulful David Correy reminded the judges how entertaining and energetic he is with his rendition of "Mercy," while 18-year-old Jennel Garcia exuded "crazy sex appeal," according to Demi and was, what Simon says is, "very spicy." Unfortunately, Jessica Espinoza seemed to underwhelm Lovato who said she was disappointed with her boot camp performance, but Espinoza definitely wasn't the last.
Johnny Maxwell, Jordyn Foley, Trevor Moran and Jake Garza all seemed to let their nerves get the best of them and did not give the best performance they could. Garza even completely forgot the lyrics and wasn't able to continue. Yep, the tears started flowing.
Tara Simon gave her usual you-better-not-forget-me performance in her leopard dress, but we're not sure if the judges will remember her from her singing voice or by showing off more than she had hoped for when she got down on her knees—oops! Willie Jones' voice was on point, but Britney Spears didn't seem to be a fan.
Then it was a sing-off! Both Paige Thomas and CeCe Frey (who are also both extremely beautiful young ladies) chose to sing Houston's "I Will Always Love You." And whaddya know? CeCe was called up right after Paige. Funny how that happens. They each gave a stellar performance, but Simon said one of them "killed it." Which one was it?
The first group to find out their fate included Thomas, White, Correy and Gene Simmons' daughter Sophie: They all made it through to the next round! So that means Paige rocked Houston's hit better than CeCe right? Wrong.
Because the third group, which included Frey, along with Maxwell (who forgot his lyrics), Vino Alan and Freddie Combs also made it through! Guess we'll have to wait to find out who Cowell was referring to.
Unfortunately for Foley, Moran and Espinoza, they were part of the group that got sent home.