‘The X Factor’ USA rankings: Why Restless Road of Simon Cowell’s groups are early favorites

It took a good eight years before a group finally won the British version of “The X Factor” in Little Mix, but we have a feeling that it is not going to take nearly as long on the American version of the show. If nothing else, the show will be canceled before it gets the chance (especially given the competition tomorrow night).

But seriously, we think that the groups (or at least one of them in particular) has a great chance of taking home the title this year, more so at least than in seasons 1 or 2, and that is even with all of the hype last year surrounding both Emblem3 and Fifth Harmony. Just as with our other rankings that we’ve done this week (which are by category since this is how they will be judged), we’re basing this on performance quality, edit, and even if this is an act the judges believe will get a ton of votes.

4. Sweet Suspense – for now, we just don’t really see it happening. Sometimes these made-for-the-show groups turn up and are amazing like Fifth Harmony, or sometimes (see Miss Dynamix on the UK series this year) they don’t work out. We didn’t feel this working very well, so we don’t have a ton of faith.

3. Alex & Sierra – We rather like the duo, but there are two issues that we see them running into: Winning Simon “Dollar Signs” Cowell over when he thinks that Sweet Suspense could have more potential there, or finding votes. You see, teenage voters like to crush on someone, and it’s harder to crush on someone like Alex or Sierra, who are clearly spoken for.

2. RoXxy Montana – In our estimation, they have been hyped a little more than they should be given that their original audition was only half-good. But they’re a lock to make the top 12, and while we don’t see them winning, they could get another week or two after that.

1. Restless Road – Seriously, we see these guys as the favorite to win the whole competition right now. They are young, good-looking, male country singers. That it itself would do well. But they were really good in their first performance as a group. You have one that sounds like Luke Bryan, and then one that sounds like Josh Turner. (We can’t place the third yet.) With country music being a little overexposed on talent shows these days, you need to really be so good that you can’t be ignored. These three are off to a great start.

Who is your favorite from the groups right now? Vote in our poll below! Meanwhile, be sure to also take a look at our current rankings for both the girls and the boys.

Photo: Fox