The X Factor creator and judge Simon Cowell selected the four singing groups who will compete in his "Groups" category when the third season's live shows begin later this month during Thursday night's Fox broadcast of the reality singing competition.

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Simon's selections ended The X Factor's new Four Chair Challenge Round and completed the selection of the sixteen artists who compete on the season's first live show on Tuesday, October 29 (The X Factor will be on hiatus the next two weeks due to Fox's coverage of the Major League Baseball playoffs).

Simon selected Alex & Sierra, Restless Road, RoXxy Montana, and Sweet Suspense as his final four "Groups" category artists.  They will now compete against the twelve artists remaining The X Factor judges Demi Lovato, Paulina Rubio and Kelly Rowland previously selected for their respective "Girls," "Boys," "Over 25s" (ages 25 and up) categories during the live shows. 

Alex & Sierra is a boyfriend/girlfriend duo featuring Alex Kinsey, a 22-year-old from New Smyrna Beach, FL, and Sierra Deaton, a 22-year-old from Orlando, FL.

Restless Road is a country trio the judges put together at the conclusion of the season's audition rounds when they selected three male country singers who had failed to make the cut as individuals.  It is comprised of Colton Pack, an 18-year-old from Danese, WV; Zach Beeken, an 18-year-old from Indiana, PA; and Andrew Scholz, a 19-year-old from Summerville, SC.

RoXxy Montana is comprised of three sisters from Detroit, MI -- Temperance Moton, 20, Tiara Moton, 21, and Tenija Moton, 22.

Sweet Suspense is a teenage girl trio the judges also formed with singers who had initially auditioned separately. It is comprised of Millie Thrasher, a 14-year-old from Birmingham, AL, Celine Polenghi, a 16-year-old from Miami, FL, and Summer Reign, a 17-year-old from Apple Valley, CA.

During the Four Chair Challenge -- which was dubbed "a cross between Musical Chairs and a Roman Coliseum" by Simon -- each category's artists performed one at a time on an "X"-shaped stage, and the category's judge had to choose whether to give each performer a temporary seat on the stage or immediately send him or her home.

As the Four Chair Challenge progressed, the judge had to decide whether to replace one of their already-seated acts with a subsequent new performer or eliminate that act entirely. Once all of a category's artists performed, the last four artists in the chairs ultimately survived the cut.

Thursday night's The X Factor broadcast picked up right where Wednesday's episode had left off, with Simon already having watched his first four groups  -- Girls United, Glamour, Restless Road, and Wild Thingz -- perform and placed them in his four seats.

Sweet Suspense then sang and Simon chose to give them Wild Thingz's seat -- sending Wild Thingz home. Wild Thingz featured Barnaby Kupper, a 22-year-old from Los Angeles, CA, and "Vice," a 31-year-old from Harbor City, CA.

Yellow House Canyon, a country duo comprised of Tatum Sheets, a 17-year-old from Lubbock, TX, and Bristi McHam, a 16-year-old from Lubbock, TX, performed next, however Simon opted not to advance them.

They were followed by Forever In Your Mind.  Formed by the judges at the end of the audition rounds, the boy band featured Emery Kelly, a 15-year-old from Holbrook, NY, Jon Klaasen, a 15-year-old from Greenwood, IN, and Ricky Garcia, a 16-year-old from San Antonio, TX.

Forever In Your Mind's performance was panned by Demi, Paulina and Kelly.  However Simon opted to give them the seat previously occupied by Glamour -- an all-girl trio comprised of Alexis Cambridge, a 12-year-old from Atlanta, GA, Moriah Gaither, a 13-year-old from Atlanta, GA, and Kaylan Montgomery, a 13-year-old from Atlanta, GA.

Good News, a country duo featuring Julia Lucius, a 15-year-old from Temecula, CA, and Hannah Sanders, a 14-year-old from Temecula, CA, performed next but Simon did not advance them, declaring their performance so poor that it was an easy decision.

Alex & Sierra was the next group to perform and was awarded a seat by Simon after receiving praise from all four judges  They displaced Girls United, an all-girl trio comprised of Alexandra Segal, a 23-year-old from Los Angeles, CA, Nichole Cordova, a 24-year-old from Houston, TX, and Candice Craig, a 24-year-old from Miami, FL.

RoXxy Montana was the final group to perform.  After their performance, Simon decided to give them Forever In Your Mind's seat -- completing the selection of his final four groups.


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