THE X FACTOR: The Final 5 Perform Live!

Are you ready to dance? Tonight, the contestants will be performing dance songs. We now are down to the top 5 finalists and are just a couple weeks away from crowning the winner of The X Factor! The remaining contestants will be performing tonight for a spot in the Semi-finals. They must bring their A game because they are singing 2 songs each. They are once again competing for your votes and one more contestant will be leaving the competition tomorrow! Only 4 will be moving on to next week's Semi-Finals!

We learned later in the episode that there was an error with the Pepsi Challenge songs that America chose for the contestants, so those will be performed next week. They instead had to choose their second song, but only had 24 hours to prepare. This is definitely going to up the stakes!

Melanie Amaro opened the show with a bang! She sang an upbeat version of "Someone Like You." Her performance was very strong. Her vocals were powerful and she put her heart into the song. The judges enjoyed her performance. Nicole said, "You looked and sounded like the rock star diva that you are." Simon said, "You would have a hit record with that version." For her second song she sang "When You Believe." Her performance was amazing. She sounded beautiful and this was definitely one of my favorite performances of the night. The judges loved her performance. L.A. said "You really thought of that last night and it was that good today?" (It is incredible that she prepared that in one day!). Nicole said, "I'm in awe of you right now."

Marcus Canty sang "Ain't Nobody" and made a great comeback after being in the bottom two last week. His performance was full of energy and so much fun. His vocals were great and he owned the stage. The judges liked his performance. Nicole said, "You took us to church and the dance club at the same time! You have earned your spot to be here" (He definitely has!). His second song was very good, but the first performance seemEd Stronger. The judges had mixed opinions. Paula said, "That was one of your best performances," and Simon said, "I thought you were much more comfortable on the first song" (I agree, he shined in his first performance).

Next to perform was Rachel Crow. She sang "Beautiful Girls." She is back in the competition! Her performance was very entertaining and her vocals were strong. The judges loved her performance. L.A. said, "You're such a little star!" Paula said, "I think this is your best performance in the whole competition." She sang "Music and Me" as her second song. Her vocals were beautiful and her performance was great. The judges praised her. L.A. said, "I love that you picked that song for yourself. Your vision of you is so inspiring."