‘The X Factor’ USA / UK notes: Union J, Carly Rose Sonenclar, Emblem3

Since “X Factor” season is currently in a holding pattern (as the last season is done and the next season has yet to start filming auditions), we’re going to condense our stories for the American and British versions of the show down into one for the day … beginning with a rather bold comment from recent boy band sensation Union J.

In an interview with Top of the Pops magazine alongside members of fellow UK group District3, Union J member JJ announced that he “genuinely believes” that his group actually has “better songs” than the global superstars known as One Direction. This is a pretty bold claim to make, and in addition to that, it may be an insane claim to make. Do you really want to run the risk of infuriating all of the One Direction fans one there? Personally, we like the fact that he is holding his own music in high regard here, as he couldn’t just come out and say that his music was subpar.

An Emblem3 achievement – Speaking of “guy groups” (wince we know they hate to term “boy band”), congratulations to Emblem3 on cracking the 500,000 follower barrier on Twitter! This achievement may not equal much when it comes to commercial benefits, but it has to be a nice feeling that there are this many people out there willing to support you.

The Carly Rose Sonenclar campaign – Speaking of supporters, be sure to check out the video below (which Carly retweeted on her personal account) showing off the campaign to get her nominated for a Shorty Award. If you click on the video, then you can get some more specific instructions as to how to go about giving the teen phenom your support.

If you want to see a milestone for Fifth Harmony along with a new music video for “X Factor” season 1 alum Astro, you can do so over at the link here.

Photo: ITV