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Live at X Factor: Drew and Rachel Disagree With Simon Cowell! Plus, Who's Battling a Chest Infection?

Drew was upset that Cowell forced her to sit during her performance, while Rachel says "It wasn't the right song for me"

By Tierney Bricker Dec 01, 2011 4:30 AMTags
X Factor, L.A. Reid, Nicole Scherzinger, Paula Abdul, Simon CowellRay Mickshaw / FOX

Uh-oh, it looks like Simon Cowell might have a teenage rebellion on his hands!

Cowell's two youngest contestants on The X Factor, Rachel Crow and Drew, recently praised the British mentor for always having their backs, but that didn't stop them from agreeing with his fellow judges' criticisms of their performances (and Cowell's coaching) on tonight's Michael Jackson-themed show.

So what did Rachel and Drew have to say about Cowell's choices? Plus, which of L.A. Reid's contestants is sick? 

14-year-old Drew, who performed a stripped-down and hauntingly beautiful rendition of Jackson's classic hit "Billie Jean," received negative comments from Paula Abdul and Nicole Scherzinger for sitting in a chair throughout the entire performance, which Drew says Cowell pretty much made her do. 

"I did agree with the judges. As you might have seen in my package, Simon was telling me you gotta sit down, I was saying no and it was kind of a battle," she tells us. "I trusted him on this one. He wanted it to be focused on my vocals. He didn't want anything to take away from my vocals because he knew it was going to be the best vocal song. It was. I really felt very, very confident about the way I was singing. I'm glad about that, I wish I could have stood up at least, but you know, gotta love the chair!"

Drew then went into further detail on their chair "battle," saying, "Me and Simon, as close as we are, I was like, 'Simon, I'm so mad at you! How could you make me do this? Michael Jackson would never sit down.' He was just like, 'That's kind of the point. You're not Michael Jackson, so if you try to do something Michael Jackson would do, it would almost be disrespect. You're going to sit down as an honor to Michael Jackson.'" 

She does admit that "Simon doesn't force me to do things, but he was really set on it this week."

For the first time in the competition, 13-year-old Rachel received less-than-stellar comments from the judges, excluding her mentor. While they all stressed how much they love her, Reid, Abdul and Scherzinger all agreed that Rachel didn't seem to be having as much fun as she usually does. "I was a little bit upset, but then afterwards I realized I agreed with them completely," Rachel admits. "I just didn't feel it as much as I could've, but in that moment, I felt it as much as I could've."

She continues, "It wasn't the right song for me if I'm being honest with you, but I did the best I could with the song." Rachel tells us there was another Jackson jam she wanted to sing, but says "it was unfortunately taken."

One person who agreed with Cowell tonight? Josh Krajcik, who says he felt a little uncomfortable performing in a cage tonight, a choice his mentor Scherzinger made and Cowell didn't like it one bit. "I didn't particularly like being in the cage, but I thought I'll go along with it this week because it's Michael week and we need to have a spectacle," Josh tells us. "I don't necessarily disagree with him, but at the same time you don't want to be predictable. It is what it is." 

While Drew and Rachel were battling with Cowell's choices, Chris Rene, who tackled "I'll Be There," tells us he's been battling an infection this week.

"I'm very sick right now. I'm on antibiotics," he says. "Yesterday, it was a sinus infection, now it's a chest infection. I went out there and did it 'cause I have to. It doesn't matter if I'm sick." Thankfully, the judges loved his performance, except for Cowell, who said Chris might find himself in the bottom two tomorrow night. Regardless, Chris says, "I feel good. I had a great time."

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Someone else who's feeling good? Marcus Canty, who pulled out a back flip during his performance of "P.Y.T." Marcus tells us he took gymnastics for a short amount of time when he was 10, so he was a little nervous about doing one on stage tonight. 

"I did a flip one time before I dared to do a flip in the performance, but I was like, 'Hey, The X Factor. I was in the bottom three last week. I got to bring it, so I decided to bring it back out again!"

Finally, 15-year-old rapper Astro spilled to us what members of the Jackson family said to him after his performance. "Michael Jackson's mom was like, 'Hey sweetie, hey sweetie!' One of his brothers said, 'Good job, man!' His daughter waved at me, she's pretty cool," he says.

What did you think of tonight's show? Do you think Cowell made the right choices when it came to Drew and Rachel's performances? Sound off in the comments!

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