'The X Factor' Season 2, Episode 8 Recap - 'Boot Camp #2'

The little pre-credits preview teases lots of tears from the soon-to-be-eliminated contestants, most of whom I do not recognize. Either I'm very bad with faces, or they just haven't focus on these people at all.

The contestants will be paired up and will have to duet against each other. That doesn't necessarily mean one in each pari will go home, mind you, it just means they have to deal with each other. Depending on whom you get, that can be a horrible thing.

Poor Jennel Garcia has to go up against Tara Simon, Vino Alan goes up against David Correy for a tattoo battle of some kind, and of course Paige goes up against rival Cece, as both of them sang "I Will Always Love You" yesterday. Meanwhile, the neck of Simon's shirt is still uncomfortably low.

Jennel and Tara go first, and go with "Landslide," which we heard some group singing in the background earlier... so, expect to hear the same song a lot. Jennel takes a very simple approach, and it's lovely but subdued. Tara does a whole bunch of fancy crap. Simon thinks it was a terrible song choice, nails Tara for choosing it, and says that he "feels sorry" for Jennel.

Two of the 13-year-old girls, Beatrice and Carly, take on "Pumped Up Kicks." Beatrice is attempting to be a little too sultry for her age, but Carly is amazing as ever. Also, the only thing worse than people using this song without realizing it's about school shootings is having little girls sing it. It's creepy.

Vino and David have apparently been rooming together during this time, probably because they would make anyone else feel very uncomfortable. They do "What's Goin On" by Marvin Gaye, and David starts it off with some very clear and intricate stuff. Vino then follows up and does a nice job with it... but when he leaves the stage, he throws his cap down, thinking he screwed it up. The judges are baffled by that, as they thought he was great.

Diamond is teamed up with Dinah, and even though Dinah has a few years on Diamond, they're still pretty evenly matched. They do Kelly Clarkson's "Stronger," except it's slowed down and soft. Dinah starts with a lovely tone, but flubs the lyrics. Diamond kinda kicks the pants off her anyway.

Montage time! Sister C gets a big highlight, as Simon and L.A. love the harmony, but Britney thinks they're "annoying." Brandon Hassan sounds a little rough, but young Reed Deming impresses the judges. Julia Bullock, a rocker girl, goes up against Ally, who makes "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" more of a pop thing. And then Jeffrey Gutt gets a very positive reaction from the judges with his performance for the "fire in his eyes."

Even in a one-hour episode, they still find time to shill Pepsi. The new flavor has been decided: it's the "dragon" one from the auditions. Once again, no indication of what it tastes like. Nobody seems really that thrilled to be drinking it.

Willie Jones is of course teamed up with fellow country singer Tate Stevens. They sing "Nobody Knows It But Me," but Willie totally forgets the lyrics. He recovers partly, but it's still pretty rough. He's in tears backstage. Man, one of the only p

Arin Ray, who was placed in InTENsity last year, is teamed up with Normani Hamilton, who he thinks is "really cute." Of course he makes the duet into a real duet, singing it more to her than the judges. "No girlfriends," he says, though. "Maybe later something can happen." They then sing a slowed-down version of One Direction's "What Makes You Beautiful." Ugh. Normani is, unfortunately, not so good. Simon thought she was okay. Then, probably after they are informed of the chemistry, Simon and L.A. start considering putting Arin in a band... betcha anything they make Arin and Normani a duo.

Sophie Tweed-Simmons and Freddie Combs are still here. Are we actually going to hear them sing today?

Not yet, because Jillian and Latasha are heading out together. Latasha says she "doesn't work well in groups." Jillian is much nicer, saying how much she respects Latasha as a vocalist. Latasha seems confident about being able to take Jillian... and then she forgets her lyrics and starts crying on stage, stopping entirely and saying "I can't do it." That, my friends, is not how you handle a flub. On the plus side, Jillian is great. She even sings the words to Latasha to try to help, but Latasha is too busy sobbing to hear it. Then later, she gets all pissy that "that 19 year old girl outshined me." Good riddance, Latasha.

Freddie and Jessie are up, and both forget the words entirely. Jessie tries to improvise through it, but Freddie just freezing. Nick Youngerman, Jordan, and others also screw up, and there are tears... including those of Britney, who feels for the contestants. Aw, she's not a robot!

Cece and Paige time! Paige is already in a rough spot as she doesn't like the song choice, and feels like Cece has "an advantage." Quit whining and sing, Paige! Paige starts crying out on stage when she talks about how bad she wants this, and then Cece TRIES to cry. Lame. She's talented, but boy do I hate her.

They do One Republic's "Secrets," which... yeah, is clearly Cece's choice. Paige is a bit pitchy, falling flat on the jumps. Cece kinda shows her up with a big note at the end, but she wasn't phenomenal either.

We won't know who won until next week, when the results are revealed before the judges' homes.