‘The X Factor’ USA rankings: Are Tate Stevens, Carly Rose Sonenclar on top?

It was a rare (but also incredibly brave) move for “The X Factor” USA on Thursday night to actually reveal the results of the voting, but is this something that we can rely on fully when it comes to the contestants moving forward? This is the subject of our latest contestant rankings, since there is this giant new factor to consider in making them that has never been available to us before.

However, it would also be smart to remember this: while this information is a valuable asset towards figuring out just where some of these contestants stand, voting may change as a result of it. Are the contestants at the top ones with locked-in fan followings, or are they fluid? In addition to that, some fans may have taken the week off from voting thinking that their act was enough of a favorite to be safe for a while.

12. CeCe Frey (last week: 5) – One thing that’s hard to question: CeCe’s in trouble. Her two performances live have not equaled the talent that she showed during the early stages of the competition, and we even wrote a full post about some of the things that she can do in order to change what she does moving forward. Therefore, we’re not going to say too much more about her here.

 11. Beatrice Miller (10) – Beatrice was ranked about Arin in the standings, but she has a harder journey moving forward in that she is in a category with two young vocalists in Diamond and Carly Rose who get so much more of the limelight. How do you overcome that? We liked finding out more of her backstory this past week, but thus far the vocals have been more “sweet” than they have bee mind-blowing.

10. Paige Thomas (last week: 8) – Paige is just not that interesting a performer just yet, even if she does have swings, giant hats, and plenty other theatrics. There has yet to be the same sort of flash to back up the bright lights and the madness on stage, and this will catch up with her eventually.

9. Arin Ray (6) – The issue Arin is going to run into eventually here is that vocally, his live performances have been overpraised, and we worry if he is not getting told the right things to improve. (He was also a part of our post with CeCe.) With that being said, he’s been saddled near the start of the show the last two weeks, and also given uptempo songs. Once he is put near the end of a show with a ballad, votes will probably come his way.

8. Lyric 145 (4) – Here is the worry here: these three have been on fire for two weeks, and they are still struggling to get votes. How does that bode for their future in the competition? Simon Cowell has a challenge in picking raps that give them street cred, but also things to get the audience, both young and old, voting for them.

7. Diamond White (not ranked) – The hype surrounding a last-second save should keep Diamond shining for at least another few weeks, but how does she handle what comes after that? Performing the same Whitney Houston song that every reality show ever has featured is not going to get you that many votes in the long-term.

6.Fifth Harmony (11) – Like with Diamond, their high viewer ranking may have been a partial product of hype. These girls had their name chosen by America and also had the opportunity to go last on the show. They need to do something a little more upbeat soon, just to convince us and the rest of the voting public that they do know how to have fun.

5. Vino Alan (9) – Vino making it as high as he did in the rankings was a surprise, largely in that he had never been marketed really as a favorite. With that, there are still reasons to be skeptical here about his long-term viability or chances that he can become a finalist … but when you have a voice that is as good as his is organically, it’s hard to find fault with America’s choice.

4. Emblem3 (2) – By the same token, Emblem3 was a group that seemed primed to win this show, but ended up coming in fifth in the voting. Simon probably made a mistake in giving the group One Direction as a backing track last week, mostly in that he assumed that the only people liking this group were fans of his super-group. These guys are a little edgier, and should be treated as such in order to win the whole series.

3. Jennel Garcia (1) – Jennel also was a disappointment in the voting, but if you go back and watch her first live show performance, it was phenomenal. Therefore, we’re chalking up the results here to just a bad week, and she should recover by scoring high on the leaderboard Wednesday.

2. Carly Rose Sonenclar (3) – The fact that she was still in the top two in the voting despite one awkward performance already shows just what sort of popularity and mainstream appeal this girl has. We still don’t love how long her name is for a pop star (it is important), but the talent is here perhaps more so than any other young person on the season.

1. Tate Stevens (1) – Finally … you have to go with America here. Considering that Tate did not even perform a country song this past week, it is even more impressive that he is in the top spot. One other factor we considered here is that we don’t know how wide the gap is between him and everyone else. Is it possible that he, in sole possession of the country vote, could face more competition as other fanbases clump together? Sure, but he’s sitting pretty for now, and could have a pretty substantial lead.

Who do you think is the current favorite to win “The X Factor” USA?