'The X Factor' Season 2, Episode 7 Recap - 'Boot Camp'

With "The X Factor" still lacking a host, Willie Jones' dad gives Willie a bit of an interview in anticipation of Boot Camp. Just in case you were wondering why the hell we're starting off this episode in Shreveport. We also visit Rochester for Jennel, Manhattan for Vino, and Huntington Beach for Emblem3.

Oh hey, and there's Tara Simon! Remember her, the terribly bitchy and competitive vocal coach who was talking smack about Gene Simmons' daughter? We also visit Jillian Jensen, the girl who was bullied and idolizes Demi Lovato. She's crying again. I have a feeling she's going to get old soon. Her cry face kinda makes you WANT to bully her, doesn't it?

The contestants are put up in the Mondrian Hotel in Miami, but are bused to the sound stage. Guess cars were too much of a budget concern. Of course, they could have taken a few grand off of Britney's salary for that.

Diamond White is the first one up. Apparently everyone has to sing in front of the entire group of 120 as they sit behind them on stage. That's horrifying. Was it like this last year? I honestly don't remember. I guess I blocked it all out. Diamond starts pretty soft, but still kills her Whitney Houston rendition. Everyone is nervous about having to follow that act.

Unfortunately we don't get to see the immediately following act. What we do see is Britney's unimpressed face. Austin Kearns, the kid with the bleached fauxhawk who the judged said would have to sing better, sings only slightly better with "Make You Feel My Love."

We also finally see a rapper with some talent: a girl by the name of Lyric Da Queen (probably not her birth name), who wears a sequined eyepatch. How'd we miss her in auditions? Carly, the 13-year-old with the amazing voice, impresses once again.

Jessica Espinoza is nervous about her performance, intimidated both vocally and physically by the other girls performing. But she gets encouraging words from the judges: Demi says she's the only contestant for whom she remembered both her first and last name. Unfortunately, Demi feels like she wasn't as good as she remembered after hearing this performance.

Poor Jennel Garcia bonds with Jillian over being just 18 and being away from her parents for the first time. But she lights up the stage both with her vocal performance and her sex appeal, as she does a lot of hair tossing and hip shaking: shocking coming from the rather innocent-looking Jennel.

Vino gets his chance to impress Simon, who wasn't there for his audition day. He growls his way through "Bad Company," which may not have been the best song choice, but Simon says he has a "really good voice." He's followed by Johnny Maxwell, who goes with the Puff Daddy cover of "Every Breath You Take" but forgets his lyrics.

Hey, remember that little girl who sang Annie and was terrible? Well guess what: she was terrible again. So was Trevor Morgan, who has nothing going for him but high energy. Another 13-year-old, Jake, totally flubs "Total Eclipse of the Heart" and can't recover. And thus, "X Factor" gets more of its bread and butter: inconsolably crying children. He actually says "I want my mom."

The groups are now highlighted, which include a bunch of boy-band-ish names that include randomly capitalized letters and the occasional number. Then Emblem3 goes up (after bad-mouthing the other groups of course) and does an interesting cover of that Goo Goo Dolls song that everyone's heard a million times.

Tara Simon time. To combat her note of too much theatricality in her audition, she chooses a Queen song. That's either a bad move or a brilliant one... hey, you can't blame her for being theatrical with a Queen song. It's still impressive vocally, but it's way all over the place once again.

Willie Jones! Our flat-topped country singer does "She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy" and the cameras make sure to cut to the other country singers (and black people) in the crowd. Britney is "not a fan." WHY NOT, BRIT-BRIT? She doesn't think he's strong in the lower register. Lies, Brit-Brit. Lies.

Oh, this is fun: Paige Thomas and Cece Frey have both prepared "I Will Always Love You" by Whitney Houston. Both of them impressed during their initial auditions. Paige gets the first shot at it, and does a nice job with it. Cece, diva extraordinaire, goes next, or at least is made to look like she goes next. Her tone is maybe not as nice as Paige's, but she has even more power on the big notes and her runs are a bit more complicated. Simon ups the drama by saying "one of you actually nailed it."

Elimination time! Half of this crowd will go, leaving 60. Notable: neither Jillian nor Gene Simmons' daughter were featured in these performances. Does that mean a no? Or were they just not that interesting?

Cut to Simon's backstage interview, and the dude has unbuttoned his shirt down to his navel, I swear. SIMON, BUTTON YOUR SHIRT.

First group is called out on stage, and it includes Jennel, Diamond, Paige, the Simmons girl, Carly, and hordes of others that we never even saw perform. After a bit of misdirection, they all get to go through.

After that, the next group is sent packing, which includes Jessica Espinoza, Rizzloe Jones (remember him? The awful white rapper?).

And now, the final group, which includes Willie Jones, Cece Frey, that one really fat preacher, Jillian Jensen, and yes, even Tara Simon. Looks like the theatricality paid off. Oh, and it looks like Emblem3 made it, too.

Well, a lot of work ahead of them as they go through their battles tomorrow. Come back and find out who makes it through, and who goes home!