‘The X Factor’ USA: Tate Stevens, Emblem3 talk pressure with ‘favorite’ status

When you are on a show that is a national singing competition, it is almost a given from the get-go that you are going to be feeling a great deal of pressure; but when you find out that you are the most-popular contestant at present when it comes to the public vote, it only increases that pressure tenfold.

With this in mind, we have the latest story coming in about Tate Stevens, who is going into Wednesday night’s show as the top-ranked contestant not just on L.A. Reid’s team of Over-25s, but also the competition as a whole. So how is he dealing with that? For the time being, it appears that his primary mission is just to stay humble, and take the competition one week at a time.

In a post on the official “X Factor” site, the country singer added the following:

“It was amazing to be voted No. 1 last week and that’s a testament to the country music fans out there. But this week, everyone’s back to zero. Divas week is tough for me. It’s a challenge. I think I picked a great song, though. I like it because it’s a very emotional song. I set the bar high for myself last week and now I have to get back there. But I do feel the pressure for being No. 1 last week. This week, No. 12 can be No. 1 and No. 1 can be No. 12. You just have to bring it each week.”

So how is another group in Emblem3 feeling? These guys went into the top 13 as a favorite to win the entire competition, but have since learned that they were not even a part of the top 5 in the viewer vote. With that in mind, band member Wes Stromberg admitted that the group actually took a whopping seven hours this week to try and find the right song for them to perform:

“At first, it was hard to find a song. We spent like seven hours going through tons and tons and tons of songs to figure it out. It was the hardest week yet in picking one. But we found a song that is respectful and we’re excited.”

Who do you think is probably feeling the most pressure leading up to this week of performances: Tate, Emblem3, or someone else entirely?