A round-up of X Factor recaps, Judges Houses Part 1 edition! You can read my live blog and watch the videos HERE.
‘The X Factor’ recap: C’est Bon La Vie – Oh, wow, finally! The X Factor just got good. Thursday’s episode (originally scheduled to air Wednesday) brought us to the judges’ various swimming pools brimming with liquid wealth — at Nicole Scherzinger’s Malibu mansion, L.A. Reid’s house in the Hamptons, Paula Abdul’s Santa Barbara spa and petting zoo, and Simon Cowell’s exclusive yacht club (membership: Simon) somewhere in France. The entire episode was so visually stunning that I kind of just want them to do the entire season like this, outdoors. I suppose that is not the point of The X Factor. So…can someone change the point of The X Factor? – EW
The X Factor Recap: Home Is Where the Start Is – Things we learned from the latest two-hour installment of The X Factor: Nicole Shirthanger realizes she’s not L.A. Reid or Simon Cowell — she’s sorry about that! — but she’s a really hard worker. Paula Abdul “represents everything a woman wants to be” (at least according to a spelling-challenged member of all-female vocal act 2SQUAR’D who has never heard of Marie Curie, Madeline Albright, Mother Teresa, or countless other powerful ladies who’ve graced our humble planet with their presence). And there’s nothing ominous — nothing ominous at all! — about a middle-aged man in a shirt unbuttoned down to South America reclining in the backyard of his French countryside mansion while lithe young women sing and dance for his pleasure. – TV Line
‘X Factor’ Judges’ House Recap, Pt. 1: Rain On Simon’s Parade – But there was no rain when the show returned Thursday, as the top 32 contestants headed to the Judges’ Houses in various sun-soaked locales (with multi-tasking host Steve Jones somehow managing to magically be in all four houses at once!). L.A. Reid and his boys decamped in the Hamptons, Paula Abdul and her groups convened in Santa Barbara, Nicole Scherzinger and her over-30’s went to Malibu, and Simon and his gang of girls were stationed in…France. Hmmm. Doesn’t sound quite fair, huh? But hey, it’s his show, I guess he can film his segments wherever he wants. – Yahoo Music
‘The X Factor’ Redux: 5 Awkward Moments From the Judges’ Homes (Video) – Some people shined and others just sunk. Simone Battle impressed me by showing a more toned down side of herself. Of course, Stacie Francis and Elaine Gibbs came to work. And Drew Ryniewicz continued to represent for Bieber fans with a slow, deep take on Roxette’s “It Must Have Been Love.” – Hollywood Reporter
Enrique Iglesias and Rihanna drop in to guest judge on ‘X Factor’ – Instead, we had to wait until Thursday night to find out that the four judges each have ridiculously large estates that could hold all of the Wall Street protestors and then some. They got to play host to eight acts apiece, watch them perform again and then prepare to make a decision on which four acts make it to the live shows and which go home with only whatever stray towels and Grammys they can stuff into their carry-on. Sixteen of the acts were shown singing on this episode, with the rest set to perform this weekend. – MSNBC
‘X Factor’ makes house calls, meets Rihanna – Here’s the setup: the “X Factor” judges have scattered to the four corners of the world – LA Reid to East Hampton, NY; Simon Cowell to Undisclosed Location, France; Paula Abdul to Santa Barbara, CA; and Nicole Scherzinger to Malibu, CA (OK, that’s three corners, anyway) where, we’re told they all maintain fabulous residences we’ve seen in teaser shots for weeks. – Washington Post
‘X-Factor, ’ Season 1, Episode 7: TV Recap – At Cowell’s Parisian villa, he greeted The Girls and informed them that he would be judging them alone, since Mariah Carey was waylaid by Hurricane Irene. Meanwhile, Scherzinger brought in Enrique Iglesias, Abdul enlisted Pharrell from The Neptunes, and Reid recruited Rihanna to judge the performances with him. In her perfectly adorable Barbadian accent, Rihanna explained her focus: “I’m looking for individuality and star potential.” – Wall Street Journal
The Judges Homes #1 – Bad news: Emily is otherwise engaged tonight, so I’m filling in for her. As anyone who’s read her reviews knows, Emily has this show down cold, and can provide a vivid sketch of any of the contestants and judges in a few sharp, pithy words. This is the first time I’ve seen the show. I can’t say I was ever a big fan of American Idol, either. In fact, my greatest sustained previous exposure to Simon Cowell was when he was the guest on the “Star in a Reasonably Priced Car” segment of Top Gear and spent most of his interview chastising Jeremy Clarkson (who, insanely enough, is actually a few months younger than Cowell) for his reluctance to submit to plastic surgery. So the contrast between what you regular visitors are used to getting here and what’s about to follow… well, it should be interesting. A good, useful, vague word, “interesting.” – AV Club
