‘The X Factor’ USA finale rankings: Will Tate Stevens, Carly Rose Sonenclar win?

Tate StevensAfter weeks of performances, we’ve made it to the end of “The X Factor” USA … and who thought this was going to be the final three at the start of the season? We remember the days when we were hyping up the likes of Lyric 145 and David Correy, and we thought that CeCe Frey was going to bring the same take-no-prisoners attitude to the live shows that she did in the audition rounds.

The truth is that all three of the remaining acts (even Fifth Harmony) could win this season, and it depends on just a few things: vocal quality, song choice, momentum, and possessing that extra dose of personality that makes America want to vote for you. We’re considering all of this in our final rankings for the season, along with of course the voting history thus far.

3. Fifth Harmony (last week: 4)- The girls have had an incredible run, and just for making it this far they have to be commended. They pulled a huge upset in beating out Emblem3 to make it to the finale, and now they have to ask themselves one simple question: what can we do to win? What the remaining three contestants should be doing right now is pandering to the Emblem3 fan base, as we know that they were not that far behind the two leaders here in the voting. With this in mind, their audience could determine the winner of this show depending on where they choose to land.

The secret to Fifth Harmony’s success here is therefore simple: have fun, don’t stick to just ballads, and keep showing off some style and personality. All three acts bring something different to the stage, and they need to play off of that to the best of their ability. We’ve made no secret of our opinion that the ladies won last week’s show by a mile, and they do have the momentum now moving forward.

2. Carly Rose Sonenclar (2) – If we are to be honest, this past week was not a great one for Carly, and there was a part of us that thought that she was going to be sent home over Emblem3. Is she the best singer left this season? By a mile, the answer is yes. But this show is not just about having the best set of pipes.

We don’t know what she needs to do in order to make this happen, but Carly has to speed things up for at least one song this coming week. Her voters are going to be drawn into a lull if she keeps doing ballads, and her high notes are less impressive if you hear them every week. Plus, doing something fast is key to being relevant on the radio after this show is over.

1. Tate Stevens (1) – The voting history over the course of the season suggests that Tate has the best shot at this, and it also helps that he has a great voice and a story that many people in America (especially voters out there who are married or are parents) can relate to: someone who struggled and worked hard to make his dreams come true. This helps him out immensely, since there could be a feeling that he needs the prize money more than the other two acts do.

While the country star has a block behind him, this is in no way a slam dunk for him. It would benefit him to find a way to bring in some additional fans this week, and try to at least show off a different side of country music (perhaps something more bluegrass?) than we have seen thus far. The reason Fifth Harmony did so well last week was because they brought something new to the table (literally) with their performance of “Anything Could Happen.” Playing it safe could get Tate the win, but taking a risk and having it work would make him more of a lock.

Who do you want to see win this season? Be sure to vote in our poll as always below, and you can take a look at the performances from last week over here.

Photo: Fox

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