Pulling the Plug

S02E22

Demi gives a long intro for CeCe, who's doing "Part of Me" by Katy Perry, looking ridiculous in bedazzled Daisy Dukes and Ke$ha hair over the return of the leopard spots and sounding, frankly, like crap. Demi sits at the judges' table watching the effective end of her participation in this competition. CeCe's performance elicits a verbal wince from L.A., especially after the positive feedback he gave earlier, as he says it was like karaoke. L.A. Reid is going to entirely the wrong karaoke bars. Britney phones in that it was very entertaining, and Simon appreciated CeCe's defiance during the performance, and still likes how hard she tries. Notice what he's leaving unspoken, which is that she can't actually sing. Demi cuts in about how people vote for CeCe because they love her (and apparently people are getting a lot more access to phones while in prison), although Demi has to turn her mic back on after Simon turns it off on her. After that, CeCe makes sure everyone knows that other people picked her look tonight. Doesn't help.

Backstage, Khloe talks to Fifth Harmony (actually just Ally) and Diamond to kill some time before Simon gets to introduce Emblem3 singing "Forever Young." Not the Bob Dylan or Rod Stewart version, either. Simon has apparently taken Demi's criticism of their unimaginative choreography to heart, because he has them switch places a few times so the one singing lead is usually in the middle. And they also jump off the upper level of the stage to the lower level at one point. Kinetic! L.A. tells them he thought they were great when they first showed up, but "tonight you nailed it." Britney calls it a "superstar performance." Glad they enjoyed it. Demi maintains that she's a fan, but wants them to command the stage more. Simon dismisses that as silly and insists they were really good tonight. "Emblem3 have landed." Well, what goes up must come down, and not always gracefully. Then there's some banter about which one of the boys Demi has a crush on (not that she's saying) which makes me wish the commercials had started a lot sooner. And probably Demi, too.

Britney stumbles through her second intro of Carly. She's singing "If I Were a Boy," sounding a lot like it's still acoustic week, although the fans have apparently decreed the construction of a series of stone arch bridges for her projected background. And they clearly insisted on having her put in as many big, long, loud notes as she could comfortably throw in, and then an additional one right at the end. L.A. says he's nervous about her as a mentor, but loves her as a fan. Demi agrees that Carly's awesome, but wants to hear something up-tempo from her. Because it went so well the last time she tried that. Simon advises Carly not to listen to a word Demi says, although he says it was an odd lyric from her (prompting Demi to interrupt him again, unrepentantly), and Mario tells Carly about a sign he saw earlier saying "Carly is Gnarly." Which she seems to take as a compliment. Khloe reminds the judges that the Pepsi Challenge song was chosen by the fans, because we haven't heard enough passive-aggressive defensiveness from everyone on that score already.

Simon lords it over everyone how he still has two acts, and he starts to introduce Emblem3, but Demi interrupts him with how predictable it's going to be. In their intro reel, they shop for skateboards (of course) and talk about how the acoustic number will give them a chance to show their true selves. So I assume shirts will come off as well, then? During rehearsals, Simon tells someone they need a lot of vocal work. Nice of him to notice it at this late date. Tonight, they're on stools doing Bruno Mars's "Just the Way You Are," with the blond one...not playing an acoustic guitar, exactly, most of the time, but at least holding it. Fortunately someone else is playing another one somewhere. And Simon's right again: they do need some vocal work. The chicks dig it, though, of course.

L.A. declares it "pretty good," but has to wait for the screams to subside before he concludes, "At least one of Simon's groups can sing harmony." Most of the people in the room have to take a minute to register the burn he just delivered. Britney says it was their best in a few weeks. Demi says it was great, not their best, but as much as she used to love them, now they're like "a downgraded version of the Jonas Brothers five years ago." And she would know. Simon tells Demi that's "incredibly dumb," which is ballsy in this room that he knows will have his back. Guess what? They do.

X Factor app pitch from Mario from the control room. I think he does this before the show, so maybe he works more than three hours a week after all. Down on the stage, Khloe introduces Carly Rose Sonenclar, who had another big night last week, beating Tate by just a tenth of a percent. Britney tells Carly that she's picked "As Long As You Love Me" by Justin Bieber, which Carly, unlike Britney, is smart enough to know isn't exactly an acoustic hit. But they're going with it anyway. Carly sings it looking a little uncomfortable, backed by only a guitarist and drummer who seems to be thumping his seat rather than any actual drums all the way through to the second verse. I wonder how many years he was at Julliard? Carly, of course, sounds great as always.

L.A. compliments her on her restraint, and says it was one of his favorites from her. Demi says she sang it better than Justin Bieber and compares her to JoJo. "This is why I love working in this country," Simon says, adding that he's seeing a star emerge and making the audience freak out. He also appreciates that she's cool rather than annoying, unlike a lot of other singers her age (remember Beatrice Miller?). Britney compliments her on making every song her own. Which is generous of her, because it's not like Britney has much of a hand in what's going on after the song is chosen.

Khloe has some awkward conversation with some awkward audience members, and Simon introduces Fifth Harmony. They talk about how they're feeling the pressure, not least because one of them, Ally, is off in Texas this week for her grandfather's funeral. So are they Fourth Harmony this week? It's not like they've never changed names before. Normani in particular is feeling the stress on her lead part in rehearsal; even Simon pulls her aside to tell her to get her confidence back. Which I'm sure will totally work. Ally returns in time for tonight's show anyway. They're singing a toned-down but churchy version of Adele's "Set Fire to the Rain," and although it's pretty underwhelming, I have to give credit where it's due; Ally doesn't exactly sound like she missed a week of rehearsal. They must have practiced over Skype.

L.A. complains about how there wasn't any harmony despite the nine singers on the stage, and maybe they should be called Fifth Unison. Britney asks what sets them apart from other girl groups, and L.A. says it's because other girl groups sing harmony. Didn't he say earlier that this one does? Demi says a couple of them should just be solo artists. Simon dismissively says it must be "Pick on Fifth Harmony week" again, and argues about how nice they are and how hard they work. L.A. correctly points out that that isn't exactly the point of the competition. Yeah, since when did Simon put a premium on niceness?

Diamond's up , and of course last week sucked for her, being in the bottom two and all. L.A. interviews that Britney needs to help Diamond out a little more (Carly, of course, doesn't need Britney's help, and would probably be doing worse if she had it). Diamond's intro reel is all about how she's all but doomed, and then she's out onstage in front of a piano, drum set, and large string section to sing "This Is a Man's World" by James Brown. Okay, I don't see any amplifiers, but there are a lot of lights and instruments out there with her anyway, so the "acoustic" aspect of it is merely technical. She does well, though, putting it all out there as much as she did during her save-me song last week, and then she knocks over the mic stand at the end.

L.A. says this was really different for her, with attitude and showbiz. Demi says she pulled off the risk of singing something she'd sung before, but the mic stand bit is what put it over the top. I thought that was a smart move. Simon says it was a bit screechy, and wishes she'd done something else, but other than that it was great. Britney says she destroyed it, which I assume she means as a compliment.

One singer to go for the acoustic round, and it's Tate. He's feeling pretty vulnerable after Vino's exit last week. L.A. takes Tate out for a beer to ask what happens if his job isn't there when he gets back. Tate confesses that it might not be, and L.A. explains that all Tate has to do is decide that music is his destiny, just like L.A. Reid did. Makes it sound easy, doesn't he? Tate's singing "Livin' on a Prayer," because it's always either country or Bon Jovi with him. He's performing with a small band sitting on equipment crates, and just like the last time he covered Bon Jovi, he's got the most vital part nailed, which is a good backing vocalist or two to sing the Richie Sambora parts.

After he's done, Britney says she thinks he'll be a huge country star, which is not exactly praise for this performance. Demi says he blew off the high note, and Simon tells him that picking this song for unplugged week is like "taking a goldfish for a walk...you can't." He warns Tate to choose his own material while the audience starts chanting Tate's name. L.A. disagrees, and talks about how much he supports Tate after all his hard work. Doesn't mean that was a good song, though.

After the hosts flog tomorrow night's show (which will feature performances from Ke$ha and last year's forgotten winner Melanie Amaro), we get an explanation of the second round of tonight's episode: It's the Pepsi Challenge, which not only that means everything about the performances got voted on by people online, but the acts apparently spent all week Tweeting pictures of different looks for the approval of the masses. And yet the acts are all totally motivated to do exactly what the fans wanted and do it well rather than let them down, because they're still at their mercy for votes. Dance, monkeys!

When we come back, both hosts are in the audience before Simon announces that for Fifth Harmony, the fans have "annoyingly" picked a song by Demi Lovato, "Give Your Heart a Break." Looks like the fans wanted Ally's nerd-glasses back this week, too. Most of the judges appear impressed with this performance, which seems to include some actual harmonies. L.A. emotes mock-surprise at that, and adds that it was their best. "A friend of mine does this song very good and so did you guys," Britney [sic]s. Demi gushes in agreement (probably kvelling internally that Britney may possibly have just referred to her as a friend), and admits that Simon "actually did a good job this week," but remembering to point out that the fans picked it. Simon takes credit for shortlisting the song in the first place and says everyone needs to vote for Fifth Harmony because the show wouldn't be the same without them. Well, if he says so.

Diamond is singing "Diamonds," because the internet is nothing if not on-the-nose. What's more, they've called for the positioning of Diamond in a suspended cage shaped like a diamond! All we need now is a baseball field and a special appearance from Neil Diamond while the James Bond movie Diamonds Are Forever plays on the projection screen at stage left and a muted video of Carol Channing singing "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" on the projection screen at stage right. Okay, and we also need a better song and performance, because neither of them is doing a whole lot for me. L.A. says he likes both Diamond and the song, but not this rendition so much. Demi thought she looked like a star. Which, coincidentally, has the same number of points as a diamond! Simon says that the second half of the song was better than the first, and he liked the staging, but Diamond has the rotten luck to be in a very competitive top six. "Well, top five, actually," he corrects, leaving CeCe's name unspoken. Britney tells her it was like the song was made for her. Insightful as always. Khloe invites Diamond to grub for votes, which she does with all the artlessness of a thirteen-year-old who isn't Carly Rose Sonenclar.

Coming back, Simon says they should do this more often, and even threatens to have the public pick more songs week. "Well, America can't be wrong," Mario agrees, as though he's never seen an election. Tate's up once more to sing "Tomorrow Never Comes," a song Garth Brooks wrote about the wife he eventually divorced. I'm sure that doesn't stop Tate from singing it to his wife, though. It goes way better than the earlier Bon Jovi tune, I think. Britney agrees with me that that's more like it. Demi says he's got a bright future, but she got a little sleepy. "But I'm also really tired, so that's probably me." Thanks for sharing, then. Simon welcomes him back to the competition, like he's ever been below number two, and adds that he's happy to see him come this far, even though Tate is old, old, old. L.A. agrees that "thanks to America, you are back. And that was great." Khloe gives Tate the mic, and he acts humble before concluding, "Tate Nation, let's do this." Yeah, the whole "Tate Nation" thing kind of undercuts the humility.

We get to rewatch clips of everyone's performances again, collated so that we see bits of all of round one before all of round two. Which I think is a mistake, because I would have liked CeCe to have been completely over with faster. Mario opens the phone lines and flogs for votes, and Khloe lets L.A. close out the show by telling everyone to vote. Double elimination again tomorrow night, semifinals week. The end is in sight!

M. Giant is a Minneapolis-based writer with a wife, a son, and a number of cats that seems to have settled at around two. Learn waaaay too much about him at Velcrometer, follow him on Twitter, or just e-mail him at m.giant[at]gmail.com.