‘The X Factor’ UK review: Rylan Clark drama; Louis Walsh goes insane

There was quite a bit going on with Sunday night’s new episode of “The X Factor,” as we had two performances, some pre-taped segments, and Louis Walsh making fun of Simon Cowell getting older.

Without further ado, we turn to the results. Before the show, we had more or less predicted that Union J was going to be the first act out, and that Rylan Clark could join him in the bottom two. Did that happen? Well, we were at least partially right. Rylan was in the bottom two, but all of Louis Walsh’s groups got a reprieve for at least one more week. We were a bit surprised by Carolynne Poole being in the bottom, but there are two things you have to remember here: country music is not that popular in Britain, and her song choice of a re-worked “Starships” did not have any of the salt-of-the-earth country soul to it that many fans look for.

Here are how the two performed in their song-off.

Rylan – We have a feeling that much of Rylan’s charm is watching him actually singing live on the stage, and that does not translate well to be people at home. There were all sorts of vocal flaws in this “One Night Only,” and regardless of his entertainment factor being a good singer has to play in eventually.

Carolynne – With that in mind, Carolynne’s performance was far superior. She not only hit all of the notes, but there was emotion and range in what she chose to put out on the stage.

What happened next was strange. Louis Walsh decided to take forever to make his decision, and then acted at first like he was saving Carolynne, when he was instead saving Rylan. His vote took this to a tie, and then the public vote determined that Carolynne was goinghome. Gary Barlow, obviously furious still that his act had to go through with that, ended up storming off the stage with disgust. Can anyone predict that Louis and Gary are going to fight backstage? It was the worst decision by Louis ever, made even worse by the fact that Louis made it look like he was keeping her.

What did you think about the results of this show?