‘The X Factor’ USA notes: Fifth Harmony covers Frank Ocean; Klhoe Kardashian talk

The big news coming from “The X Factor” USA world on Wednesday is something pretty simple: an awesome cover of one of our favorites songs courtesy of Fifth Harmony.

The group is currently spending a ton of time in the studio prepping their debut album, and during the recording process they did a very kind (and very smart, from a promotional standpoint) thing in releasing a take on Frank Ocean’s “Thinking About You” online. It’s an intimate version of the song sung with only a piano background, and it even got the attention of former show judge L.A. Reid (who is not helping to oversee their album at Epic), who posted the following cheeky message on his Twitter:

“Are those actual harmonies I’m hearing? I think so!”

There’s no doubt that Reid was hard on the girls at times during the season, but it seems like after hearing this performance and some of the others late in the season, he was only pushing them to be the best that they can be … and they’re clearly getting better with every passing day.

More hosting talk – Even though the auditions for season 3 (at least the cattle call ones without the judges) are getting ready to take place around the country, there is still no confirmation as to whether or not Mario Lopez and Khloe Kardashian will be back as hosts. There was originally a report out there saying that the Kardashian clan member was already fired from the show, but that turned out to not be true.

In a conference call with reporters this week, executive producers Rob Wade and Andrew Llinares claimed (via Wetpaint) that they are focusing more on the auditions right now, and they are still in the process of reviewing just what they want to do:

“We’re sort of at the beginning of the whole process at the moment. We’re looking at everything in the show, whether it’s the hosts, the judges, the contestants, the whole show really.  It’s a little bit early for us to say [whether Khloe will return], really. We’re still kind of open to all options on that, we’re working through it. “

Do you want to hear some more details about another “X Factor” act in Emblem3’s upcoming tour? If so, be sure to check out the story over here.

Photo: Fox