'X Factor' Judges Explain 'Tough' Eliminations
In last night's first live elimination show of the season, The X Factor judges cut four singers and ET was backstage to get reactions from the judges as well as some of the contestants sent home.
One of the eliminated contestants was the talented 13-year-old Diamond White, who performed a moving rendition of Elton John's hit Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word. Spears -- who voted instead to save fellow teen contestant Arin Ray -- said it was "a really tough decision" to cut Diamond because "she sings like an angel."
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Also getting the boot from judge Demi Lovato was country/R&B contestant Willie Jones, whose performance of You Don't Know Me was not enough to save him. Willie told ET backstage after the show that the most disappointing thing about getting eliminated was that he won't get to keep associating with his fellow contestants.
Simon Cowell also said it was a difficult night for decision making, but in the end he voted to save the girl group 1432 and eliminated the sibling trio Sister C. "I liked the girls, you know, but you have to do the right thing, and you have to think forward the next few weeks, and my gut feeling was that the other three were the ones I should be working with," he said.
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After sending through country singer Tate Stevens and soul rocker Vino Alan, judge L.A. Reid chose a sing-off between David Correy and Jason Brock. David's rendition of Kelly Clarkson's Since U Been Gone was not enough to keep him in the competition, although L.A. told us he personally likes David a lot and thinks his talent will take him far.
Watch the video for more backstage interviews, including Khloe Kardashian's thoughts on being a new host on The X Factor, which airs Wednesdays and Thursdays at 8/7c on FOX.