In a conference call yesterday, eliminated X Factor contestants, Jennel Garcia and Lyric 145 shed more light on the disagreements and back stage chaos that was reportedly going on as the finalists prepared for Diva week.
Is it a coincidence that the two eliminated contestants this week performed songs foisted on them by their well-meaning (or not) mentors? Read on.
Lyric 145
On what the group originally had planned to perform, “Our original plan was to take a legendary diva song, which we did and actually write our own original lyrics. It was a mix between a diva and a hip hop track, and arguably was going to be our best performance yet. This is coming from the producers of the show. The night before the live shows we got a call saying that we weren’t able to do the song that we had prepared. Then the night of the show we got a new song. We only had a few hours to perform it. Very spur of the moment. I’m actually proud of executing the performance the way we did with so little time. I was a little disappointed to hear the judges say what they had to say because that was exactly our plans to do a hip hop song with original lyrics. You have to take the good with the good and the bad with the bad and make the best of the situation.”
Why couldn’t the group perform the first song they rehearsed? Lyric: “It was a few different issues. We did all original lyrics and we did have a really really amazing song that was going to be our best performance and it was the night before we were told that we couldn’t do the song. Then the next day we had to learn a brand new song within a couple of hours. It was down from technical issues, legal issues. We actually got the problems fixed and we was fighting really really hard to convince our mentor to let us do the song that we were comfortable with. But Simon had a gut feeling that the other song was stronger and unfortunately it wasn’t and we just had to roll with the punches. We went out there and executed it the best way we could. We’re really proud of ourselves…overcoming that at all. Still a lot of love and respect for Simon. He’s only human.”
On transitioning to becoming a manufactured group, “Surprisingly, it wasn’t that difficult for the simple fact that we had chemistry like off the cameras and before we were put into a group. When we were put into a group, actually made everything better. We felt like it was the vibe. I guess it was a transition for me and my brother to have another person in our group and also for Lyric to be in a group because she’s been a solo artist for her whole life. Everything worked well because we felt like we were brothers and sisters and family and the chemistry was so well that everything was put together and everything worked and the performance was great. We feel like it’s divine and we’re going to keep moving towards it and move forward with the group.”
What did Simon Cowell say to them off camera? “Simon actually did come up to me (Lyric). He was just like…he was very apologetic about the situation because he did kinda…we did change it from original lyrics and hip hop and a very very strong performance and we went along with his idea and it kinda backfired on us. He was really apologetic about it. He just gave us some advice that we will probably take with us for the rest of our life. He’s not really worried about us, though. He knows our potential and he knows our drive.”
Did they feel that Simon favored Emblem 3? “As far as our situation with him showing favoritism between us and Emblem3—I don’t really see him showing favoritism. I just think that he has a comfortablility (sic) with them. They are more his lane and what he’s used to and what he feels like he can do the most with, because that’s where his experience is. With us, it’s kinda like he was still learning. He quoted that out of his own mouth, like he wanted to learn something from us. Simon has never worked with a hip hop group before, so I just respect him for taking on a challenge and still believing in us and seeing so much potential in us. I cannot be mad at him for probably being able to do more with them at the moment because is was such a new, fresh experience for him.”
On not getting the chance to do a “song for survival” ” (Lyric) “I still don’t feel like we should tell the public about what we were going to do (laughs). Just know that if we woulda had to sing for survival, we woulda definitely survived. We…lose our total mind on stage. (one of the brothers) We had something planned…it was going to be outrageous for TV. It was going to be something no one would have expected. We can’t give you that secret. So sorry (chuckles).
Jennel Garcia
On Demi choosing Jennel over Paige in the sing off. Did that cause any awkwardness backstage? “Demi was really upset about the whole thing. The things she said to me were very personal and I’m going to keep confidential. I’m not going to let that ruin my friendship with Paige. It’s not worth is. There’s nothing you can do. She deserves to be there just as much as anybody else. She works really freaking hard. I’m happy for her. Because she wants this bad, just as bad as I do. You can’t help but be happy for the people who are still there.”
On what Demi told her on stage after she was eliminated, “What she told me was very confidential. I don’t really remember what I was saying, but I remember what she was saying and I’m going to take that in. I am really thankful to have her as a mentor. Everything she has said has helped me a lot.”
On Simon’s harsh criticisms and the direction Demi was taking her, “The problem was, that Demi understood me so well, and she changed me the way that I wanted to be. I loved my look so much the first two weeks, but it was just too soon. That was an issue. It was almost like we rushed into it too fast. The only thing I might have changed about my look was all the black clothes. I would have made some more funky outfits. It’s a little bit more me. The dark hair, and the music was me…that’s who I want to be as an artist. This week I went out there and I did something that they wanted me to do. Not even something that I wanted to do. Unfortunately, it was the week that I went home. You didn’t get to see everything that I could bring to the table. It’s really disappointing but, everything happens for a reason.”
Did Demi’s inexperience as a mentor hurt her chances in the competition? If she had Simon Cowell or LA Reid would things have turned out differently in the competition? “Yeah. It was her choice to do “Proud Mary” and I was fighting against it. I was completely against it. I had another song prepared and I was really fighting for that one. Unfortunately, she chose “Proud Mary.” She thought that could get me to the top of the voting chart. It went the complete opposite direction. I’m not mad at her for it. She’s human and she’s going to make mistakes. At the end of the day, she chose me, she chose me out of the bottom 2. That’s all I could ask of her. She didn’t know that that would have been a mistake. If she had known that, she would have let me do the song that I wanted to do. I think that a little bit of her choosing that song that I really, really didn’t like affected me in the performance and the results, but everything does happen for a reason. You just got to live with it.”
Is Jennel still close to Jillian Jensen? Which other contestants is she close to? “I haven’t really talked to Jillian much. She’s doing her own thing. But I did become really really close to Willie Jones and CeCe Frey these past couple weeks.”
