‘The X Factor’ USA rankings: Lyric 145, Emblem3 lead Simon Cowell’s groups

Now that we have covered the teens, the young adults, and the over-25s in our “x Factor” rankings for the week (which will be combined next week once everyone is really competing against each other), we now turn to the final category that should be interesting to watch this time around: the groups. If you remember back to last year, then you already know that America really does not care too much about groups … at all. However, Simon Cowell was so desperate to try and make things work with them this year that he took on the responsibility of mentoring them, and there are some solid groups in here that could contend so long as people bother to vote for them.

As always, we are considering a number of factors when it comes to how we rank these acts, including performance quality, edit on the show, and perceived fan support based on what we have seen online coupled with some past tendencies.

4. Sister C – This is really still one of the biggest enigmas of the show. What we have seen from them thus far is a reasonably good-natured country group with some fine vocalists, and while they are not revolutionary by any means, they are at least still strong. However, for whatever reason Simon has chosen to mention on camera multiple times that this group comes across as standoffish, and given the category’s voting history he’s probably not going to take a chance on someone who he has already put at a disadvantage.

3. Lylas – There is some serious talent with every member of this girl group, but there also still is a major mystery here in that none of these young ladies have been in a group before, and they’re really going to have to find a way to campaign heavily against a group of guys who are going to get many of the young female voters.

2. Emblem3 – We are a bit of two minds about this trio. Their original audition was fantastic, and they clearly have the style, the audience, and the skills to go far in this competition. With them, it’s really just all about how they each choose to apply them, and so far, it’s been a mixed bag. They come across at times as cocky or too cool for school, and the mistake made during the judges’ houses round shows that they do not often focus as much as they need to.

1. Lyric 145 – There has never been a hip-hop act to win a major American talent competition, and we are probably going out on a limb here and declaring Lyric 145 the strongest group based solely just on one performance. However, there was just something so special about this “Party in the USA,” and these three have the likability to go along with the rap swagger (which is something that Astro could not find for himself last year). We’re not sure still if they will win, but the superstars are finale material for sure.

Who is your favorite out of these groups?