by Todd Betzold

The gloves are on and the Top 3 are coming out swinging on tonight's episode of The X Factor.

We have two songs from each singer tonight and up first is Josh Krajcik. So, he starts out rough and just started to pick up speed when he brings out Alanis Morissette to sing with him. So, this is a terrible idea. I can see them bringing out the stars for the finale before they announce the winner, but not to perform with them on the performance show. It takes away from his performance. Good thing they have two songs to perform tonight.

Time for Chris Rene and of course, he starts horrendous...I don't know how he is still here, but like I said last week, he will be the winner. The guy just has no vocal ability compared to the other two, but then out comes Avril Lavigne to sing with him and it got worse. They do not make a good duo and I just can't see his album doing well, but the judges loved him and talking about that song could be a #1 song...I must be crazy.

Melanie takes the stage and she also starts out rough (maybe it's the nerves of knowing they have to sing with the big dogs), but then out comes R Kelly (what???) and it was a decent performance, but I have seen her sing better. I wasn't a fan of these duos and couldn't enjoy any of them.

To fill up time, we get to see a performance from Michael Jackson The Immortal World Tour by Cirque du Soleil. This was even more horrendous. Melanie, Chris and Josh come out and sing at the end and attempt to do a stomp dance move and it looked pathetic and their singing made my ears bleed. The second half better be amazing, or I am completely disappointed...bring back Rachel!

Back to Josh and he brings back "At Last" and I did not like this arrangement. I felt he did better in his initially audition then he did with this song. He had moments where he shined during the song, but overall I am disappointed in him.

Chris is next with his last song and I still feel the same way about him. I just can't get into his singing or his songs. The judges, again, seem to love him and are voting him as the winner. We got to see a little bit of the old, crazy Paula that I've been missing. His story is nice, but his singing is not.

Last of the night is my girl Melanie...can she be the first to knock one out of the park tonight or will the whole night be a bust? And she did it...she gave me goosebumps! Unlike any of the other performances tonight, you could feel the emotion coming from her voice as she sang. I loved it and can only hope she wins.

Find out who has The X Factor when the winner is announced tomorrow at 8/7c on Fox.

(Image courtesy of Fox)

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