'The X Factor' Season 1, Episode 19 Recap - 'Top 7: Michael Jackson Night'

It looks like there's another double elimination coming up tomorrow based on tonight's performances, which will all be Michael Jackson songs. Hey, at least nobody will be able to stretch that definition like they did with the rock songs and movie songs.

Steve Jones comes out to "Bad," and could not possibly look more white and British. The judges come out and do their thing, and it looks like Nicole has decided she's going to be even more obnoxious than usual. Was that a hang ten sign? Is she aiming for a role in the "Point Break" reboot?

The Jackson family are actually here as well. Boy, I hope nobody insults Michael's memory with their performances tonight. Good thing Lakoda Rayne is gone, eh?

Looks like Josh will be the first one up, so we'll be jumping right into one of the least Jackson-ish performers. The clip package seems to indicate that Josh is tremendously unprepared. His dad also talks about the "look of pure joy" when Josh got his first guitar, but the pictures say otherwise. LIAR.

Josh does an extra grungy version of "Dirty Diana," and sure enough brings out that guitar for a solo at the end that lasts about 15 seconds. Glad he kept that on his back through the whole thing.

The judges seem to like it, but Simon says it was "overproduced." Agreed... it was actually a bit hard to hear Josh, even. The crowd is catching on to Simon, bringing in the boos as soon as the word "however" leaves his lips.

Wow. Did you catch that? They even managed to mention Pepsi while talking about MJ. He's "the pioneer" of the Pepsi commercial. Yeah, he's the pioneer of a lot of stuff, least of which is Pepsi commercials, ya dinks.

Astro is up next, and is being accompanied by dancers wearing a piece of clothing from just about every country in the world, which makes them look like some kind of terrifying Mortal Kombat character. The theme is supposed to be unity, which matches the song, sampling "Black or White"... definitely a loftier theme than we're used to from Astro. It's another great performance, and they keep cutting to MJ's kids expecting some kind of reaction I suppose, which they're not really getting.

The judges, on the other hand, all love it. Nicole starts to say how it wasn't her favorite performance from him, but then changes her tune as she clearly can't stand to be booed, even for a minute. LOVE ME. LOVE ME PLEASE.

Oh god. They really have to stop interviewing the Jacksons. It's getting really uncomfortable.

Drew's up next, and her performance is apparently going to be very basic, with Drew sitting down. "Michael Jackson would never sit down!" she protests to Simon. You're right. He stood up every moment of his life. Little known fact.

The song is "Billie Jean," and of course it's Drew-ified, meaning it's just her and a piano, and the song is significantly slowed down. It doesn't work quite as well as other songs that have been Drew-ified, but it's kinda nice.

LA liked it. Nicole must be drunk. First she spaced out and then asks "am I on?" when Steve goes to her. Then she makes a fish face right before they cut away. Then she says she wanted Drew to "get out of the dang chair." Paula wanted more visuals. She also points at Drew and asks if she wants to do something up-tempo. Drew nods in fear.

Rachel takes the stage next, and she has a kind of "Captain EO" theme going on for her performance of "Can You Feel It." Of course they gave her a Jackson Five song. Sadly, it's a little bit boring.

LA and Nicole are critical, saying that they didn't feel much of a connection between Rachel and the song. Paula says about the same, but puts it in a nicer way. Rachel looks worried at the comments, but she probably doesn't have to. Everyone loves her anyway, and it's about the votes, people.

Time for Marcus Canty, who was in the bottom two last week. If anyone in the competition is equipped to give a proper MJ performance, it's probably Marcus... at least he can dance a little. Sure enough, he takes on "PYT" and shakes it a bit. Of course, his dancing doesn't compare to Michaels, but he does throw a pretty impressive backflip in there.

Good thing too, because the vocal performance just isn't there. As always, he's entertaining and charismatic, but he's not as good a singer as the rest of the group. Nicole loved it, and asks the audience to vote for Marcus. Both she and Paula call him "the complete package." Simon comments on the vocals, and Nicole and Paula immediately get on his case for it. "You couldn't do half of what he does up there" they protest. Of course he can't. He's a music producer, not a singer.

Chris Rene is up next in a varsity jacket with metal shrapnel stuck in it. He's taking on "I'll Be There" with a bit of rap added in of course. It's pretty weak. But Nicole loved it, and says the word "spirit" about ten times. Paula says he looks the best he's ever looked. Does she see the jacket? She also says he "manifests in the heart department," which Simon calls her out on for making absolutely no sense.

Of course, they saved Melanie Amaro for last, as she's already shown her MJ side. I'm thrilled to see that she is, in fact, still talking in her Caribbean accent. That's amazing. She's really going all-out on this crazy thing. Was she planning to reveal this accent from the beginning? Will it work?

Whatever, she gets points for committing.

She also gets points for her performance of "What About Us," which is one of her stronger performances to date. Maybe even her best. It's emotionally charged and the range is very impressive. The judges all loved it. "Ah'm so hoppy wit dem comments," says Melanie. Okay, now she's just showing off.

Who's going home tomorrow? I've pretty much stopped guessing at this point, but I don't think Marcus did anything earn any more votes. Chris was particularly weak... will this be the week that his lack of vocal ability finally catches up to him?