‘The X Factor’ UK: Carrie Underwood, Rita Ora, and Sigma perform

This weekend’s “X Factor” results show proved itself to be very much about variety when it came to guest performances.

First, let’s start with Carrie Underwood. It’s particularly significant for a country artist to get a spot on this show. Other than someone more pop-country like Taylor Swift, there aren’t many people in this genre who really break out in the UK. Carrie’s one of the few who have made a successful effort over the past few years. She also has a personal connection to Simon Cowell, as he was a judge on her season of “American Idol.” Smartly, he also said during the season that she would sell more records than anyone who had ever been on the show. (As of this writing, she’s got a nice margin of sales over Kelly Clarkson.)

On the show tonight, Carrie performed her new single “Heartbeat” off of her new album “Storyteller.”

The second performance tonight was from show Rita Ora, who has a new song with Sigma entitled “Coming Home.” It was a pretty electric performance, and a nice showcase for the group and for Rita. We assumed that she would get a showcase at some point this season, and what really liked about both performances tonight in general is that they seemed equally catered to the fact that first and foremost, this is a singing competition. They each performed live and really poured their hearts into this. Also, who didn’t love the random dancing mob for the Sigma performance?

If you want to get some other news when it comes to “The X Factor” and the results this season, head over to the link here right now! Also, be sure to sign up over here to get some other TV updates on all we cover, including some exclusive teasers, via our CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: ITV.)