'The X Factor' coach Kelly Rowland determines her final four "Over 25s" artists during Four Chair Challenge

The X Factor coach Kelly Rowland selected her final four artists to represent the "Over 25s" category in the live shows during Wednesday night's broadcast of the third season's new Four Chair Challenge Round.


Rowland advanced Jeff Gutt, a 37-year-old from Detroit, MI; Rachel Potter, a 29-year-old from Nashville, TN; James Kenney, a 36-year-old from Portland, OR; and Lillie McCloud, a 54-year-old from Orlando, FL, to The X Factor's live shows.

In the Four Chair Challenge, dubbed "a cross between Musical Chairs and a Roman Coliseum" by The X Factor creator and mentor Simon Cowell, a category's artists perform one at a time on an "X"-shaped stage, and the category's mentor must choose whether to give each singer a temporary seat on the stage or immediately send him or her home.

As the Four Chair Challenge Round progresses, the mentors must decide whether to replace one of their already-seated acts with a subsequent new act -- or eliminate that act entirely. Once all of a category's artists perform, the last four people sitting in the chairs ultimately survived the cut.

Victoria, Kristine, Jeff G., and Rachel all took the stage first and immediately earned a seat on the stage. Kelly admitted the round was going to be a lot harder than she ever imagined.


Lorie Moore, a 34-year-old from Los Angeles, CA, then sang and Kelly chose to give her Kristine's seat -- therefore sending Kristine home.

Allison Davis, a 26-year-old from Granada Hills, CA, was up next. Kelly chose to immediately send her home.

Afterward, Jeff Brinkman, a 36-year-old from Longmont, CO, took the stage. Kelly told him to take a seat and replace Victoria.

Denny Smith, a 69-year-old from Carson, CA, then performed, but Kelly eliminated him right away.

James sang for the judges and live audience next. Kelly gave him Jeff B.'s seat.


Lastly, Lillie performed. Kelly wanted her in the "Over 25s" final four, so she sent Lorie home and gave her a seat on the stage.

In addition, last night's episode also featured the first four of mentor Demi Lovato's acts performing in the hopes of representing the "Girls" category in the live shows. Just like Kelly did, Demi chose to give all four artists a seat immediately.

The artists she advanced so far are: Bree Randall, a 20-year-old from Corona, CA; Khaya Cohen, a 16-year-old from New York, NY; Jamie Pineda, a 24-year-old from Fall River Mills, CA; and Ashly Williams, a 24-year-old from Los Angeles, CA.

The Four Chair Challenge Round will continue on through Wednesday, October 9 and conclude on Thursday, October 10. At that point, only 16 acts will remain.

The X Factor's first third-season live show will then air on Tuesday, October 29 and feature the Top 16 acts -- four in each category -- performing.






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski