'X Factor' Auditions: Why Britney Walked Off Set, and the First Official Photo of the Judges

The first day of auditions for season two of "The X Factor" began in Texas yesterday, and with both Britney Spears and Demi Lovato on board as new judges, naturally there was much curiosity surrounding the event. When Spears walked off set later that day, the curiosity only grew.

So why did Britney walk off the set? As TMZ reported it, Spears witnessed a contestant butchering one of her songs ("X Factor" is known to film the bad contestants along with the good) and stormed off shortly after. That's pretty clearly a sensationalized version of the event (sensationalism from TMZ? Never!): "X Factor" has a habit of inserting pre-planned scandals into its shows, so even if Spears had left in disgust, it would have likely been part of a staged bit.

As it turns out, it wasn't even a bit; it was just a break. Spears' cushy contract allows her to take breaks at points throughout the show, so she has license to leave the set pretty much whenever she feels like it. She exercised that option yesterday, sitting out four contestants in a row, leaving them to get critiques from only three judges. Spears even explained herself via Twitter later:

#Britneywalksoff??? LOL was just taking a little break people. I am having the BEST time!!!

— Britney Spears (@britneyspears) May 25, 2012

Reports coming out of "The X Factor" camp indicate that Lovato and Spears and settling nicely into their new jobs. Spears is taking the nice-girl approach, having voted no for only a couple of contestants yesterday. Lovato, for her part, has reportedly brought a bit of spark to the table, at one point calling Simon Cowell "grandpa."

Lovato and Spears had a couple of moments of tension together as well, especially over the first contestant of the day, who was a 14-year-old boy. Lovato told the singer that she didn't think he could stand out from other singers his age at this point, while Spears said he could be "bigger than the next Justin Bieber."

"The X Factor" also released the first official photo of the four judges at the table, which you can see below: