‘The X Factor’ USA rankings: Rachel Potter, Restless Road, Carlito Olivero fight for #1

For the first time on Wednesday night, the remaining contestants on “The X Factor” USA are going to square off against each other for the public vote. It’s no longer about your mentor, and instead all about whose support you can really muster at the end of the day to stick around in the competition.

So with this, we’re back for the first time all season ranking the entire group of singers together! What do we base this on? Think along the lines of performance quality, screen time, and fan support. It’s almost like the show handed us a cheat sheet on Tuesday, when they showed some of the statistics for the acts in polls along with the performances.

12.Lillie McCloud – No amount of editing can make us believe that she is a favorite. Despite being a very good singer who has been trying to make her career happen for decades America just doesn’t seem to have her back. It also hurts to be in the Overs category, which is traditionally the one that gets the smallest amount of support from the public.

11. Carlos Guevara – Tim is going to draw the support of the older viewers, and Carlito the younger. What Carlos is going to have to rely on here is trying to get the support of those people in the middle who are hoping to find someone to root for here from an inspirational point of view. His voice is good but not great, and thus exemplifies the problem with many of the men this season.

10. Khaya Cohen – A very good singer for her age, but one that could have been sent home had Danie Geimer not messed things up with her performance on the show Tuesday. She’s not up against strictly her category, but her competition there includes a country singer and pop star with a built-in fan following.

9. Jeff Gutt – Did you see what we wrote earlier about Lillie? Well, at least some of it applies here in that the Overs have a hard time getting a voting block going for them usually (with a few exceptions). Jeff at least has his fans, and sings rock music better than anyone else on the show. But just how many older viewers are still checking out a show that seems to be more geared towards finding a 16-year old that Simon can morph into whatever he wants?

8. Tim Olstad – There is little questioning that Tim is not the most exciting singer / personality, and he’s probably the last guy that Simon wants to see at the end of the show. He wouldn’t want to say anything bad about the winner, and he would have to smugly sit there and just emphasize how he is a “good person.” We want Tim to do well, but if he is to be taken seriously as a contender, he needs to open up and have fun.

7. Alex & Sierra – We like the two, their voices, and their chemistry. But, we get how they could come across a little cheesy to others since they are in this perpetual state of happiness. We at least admire them for pulling through and remaining a couple through this experience, which we imagine cannot be easy to do.

6. Rion Paige – Given her country music roots and her story, she’ll probably pull in some great support from the older, less social-media-savvy crowd that you cannot gauge from watching the show. But story aside, we have to say that her actual performance on Wednesday night wasn’t that great.

5. Ellona Santiago – She gave a slightly better performance than Rion on the show, and she also could have that sort of fan following that young female singers with past connections to the Philippines have. She is at least for now putting forth the effort to be a pop performer, which is what the focus of this show should be.

4. Sweet Suspense – Being a group these days mentored by Simon Cowell is a powerful thing. We were surprised at just how dominant they were on social media the night of the show, especially since we thought their performance of “I Love It” was only okay. But if they are managing now to get a following, so just imagine how they will be in a few weeks when they start to really mesh with one another.

3. Carlito Olivero – The best performer of the boys, and the one with a real chance of being a pop star after the show is over. We’re still stunned that Paulina Rubio sent home Josh Levi over Carlos Guevara or Tim Olstad, but she is rolling into the next round now with guys that she feels like she can win with.

2. Rachel Potter – We’re just going about this based on the polls for the last performance show, where Rachel completely killed everyone else in the Overs category. Not only that, but she has a great voice. Being a stage performer probably helped her to get some sort of following, and that is carrying over here.

1. Restless Road – They may not have shown much in the voting audience during the show this past week, but they are country artists. This is the sort of crowd that is impossible to gauge online, since so many voters don’t bother to use Twitter. This is why Tate Stevens won the show last season, but never had the same sort of social-media audience as Fifth Harmony or Carly Rose Sonenclar. These guys are better than Tate, and may be perfect for the country market. The only thing that could hurt them is how little Simon Cowell knows about country music.

Who is your favorite of the “X Factor” crop right now? Be sure to share your pick in the poll below, and click here if you want to read some more news related to the show.

Photo: Fox