‘X Factor’ a stressful experience for both contestants and mentors

ELLONA Santiago, Fil-Am in “X Factor”

“The X Factor USA” hit a home run last week with its all-important telecast that required the new singing tilt’s four mentor-jurors to cut the fat and the chitchat and select the competition’s finalists.

Thousands upon thousands had sung their hearts and lungs out, and now the top survivors would have to come up with the greatest performers of their lives to convince the judges that they deserved the rare chance to become singing stars—and get a crack at the competition’s unprecedented prize of (gasp) $5 million!

Stylish round

Simon Cowell, L.A. Reid, Nicole and Paula Abdul divided up the semifinalists among themselves, with Cowell vetting the female soloists, Reid putting the boys through their pace, Scherzinger in charge of the “senior” bets and Abdul deciding which group should get into the finals.

As expected, the competition among the female singers was especially fierce, since American musical “logic” has it that women have an edge in the big-time and big-bucks stellar hit parade (move over, Beyoncé). To make the tense square-off more memorable for the girls, they were all flown to Cowell’s villa in France (tout de suite) to sing for him, stylishly al fresco.

The other mentors’ arrangements were less posh, but the bets assigned to them were similarly thrilled to still be in the running for the top plum—especially the “seniors,” most of whom had given up hope that singing stardom was still a shining possibility for them, despite their being decidedly on the wrong side of 40 (the top survivor was 59 years old!)

As each mentor made his final choices, it became increasingly clear that spectacular voices were an important consideration for potential stardom, but were by no means the only ones.

In a number of instances, even the best singers failed to survive the cut because they didn’t have the looks, charisma and “entire” package that the commercial music and recording industry believes to be the key selling points for new artists.

To be sure, other singing tilts have made stars out of “senior” and “nonlooker” winners like Paul Potts and Susan Boyle, but some industry insiders regard them as the exceptions that prove the rule. So, on “The X Factor,” many of last week’s survivors were young and yummy-looking, aside from being competent performers.

Wrenching cuts

The talents who failed to make the grade were crushed, but the tough weeding-out process was an emotionally wrenching experience for the judges, as well.

In fact, Cowell got so torn up by the decision process that, after he had turned in his list of finalists, he woke up in the middle of the night, realized he had made “a big mistake” by junking a potential star, and humbled himself by going straight to her house and retroactively offering a slot in the finals!

That’s extremely uncharacteristic of the hugely self-assured TV personality, but that’s how tight the competition on “X Factor” has turned out to be.

All told, however, the most stressed-out juror was Paula Abdul, who was no longer her usual ditzy and flaky self, but poured her heart and soul into the decisions she had to make! By the time she had chosen her final best bet, she was a bundle of nerves and contradictory emotions. Who’d have thought that she had it in her to get so involved?

Let’s end this piece on a “personal” note: All this time, we’ve been keeping “crossed-fingers” tabs on the only Fil-Am talent to survive the “X” selection process, Ellona Santiago. She didn’t make it as a soloist, but was deemed good enough to be put in a group, named Intensity.

Did the group make the final cut? Yes. So, “our” bet is still in the running for the “X” plum, even if just barely. That’s OK with us—one toe in the door is better than no toe at all!