YOUR FAVORITE LOGO TV SHOWS ARE ON PARAMOUNT+

'X Factor' Recap: Britney Breaks Down

[caption id="attachment_73507" align="aligncenter" width="607"]Spears chokes up for a fallen contestant Poor Britney![/caption]

Night two of the X Factor's "boot camp" cranked up the drama, pitting the contestants against each other, each singing a different verse of the same song. Here are a few rainbow highlights from the over-the-top evening of competitive duets.

Britney Spears cried along with a lot of other people. Heavens to Betsy, it seemed like a lot of people ended up in tears last night. Yeah, yeah, yeah, we get that it's a lot of pressure and the contestants don't get any sleep and they have to learn a song in, like, 35 seconds and all that. But after a while, we just wanted to slap some folks across the face all Days of Our Lives style and scream, "PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER!" Early on, light-hearted Louisiana country crooner, Willie Jones (the 17-year-old that Demi Levato called a Fresh Prince of Bel Air lookalike) forgot his lyrics causing him to tearfully admit, "I do feel like I blew my chance." Then there was 19-year-old Austin, Texas native, LaTasha Robinson who, bit it at the top of her song and burst into tears. Running from the camera backstage, they finally got her to confess through deep sobs, "I'm feeling very upset and disappointed in myself. I humiliated myself in front of them judges. I worked my ass off and I didn't even remember the damn words. I sat out there and made myself look stupid and that little 19-year-old just stood there and outshined me." Wow, lady, we were totally with you until you threw another contestant (who was amazing, btw) under the bus. But what really broke our hearts was when Brit Brit, who after several contestants choked, broke down herself in pure, unadulterated empathy for a weepy contestant. As crocodile tears welled up in Britney's big eyes, she sadly whispered, "I don't want to cry." Oh, Britney. We don't want you to cry either. Now PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER!

There was a little bit of a love connection between two contestants. We know what you're thinking. How is there anything inherently gay about two young kids flirting and falling in love? Well, go with us here. 16-year-old sweethearts Arin Ray and Normani Hamilton could not have been cuter as they prepped for a slowed down acoustic version of One Direction's "What Makes You Beautiful." You could almost feel Ray blush as he admitted, "I mean, there are some girls here - Normani is super cute - we just talk, it's not like, 'really into it' because she doesn't pay attention…She's focused, I'm focused." Hamilton was no different, shyly confessing, "It was a fun experience just bonding and we had a chemistry so it was pretty cool." Oh, and our hearts completely melted when, after knocking there audition out of the park, they shared a sweet embrace backstage. But don't forget, children, that this is a competition. The producers are setting us up for major heartbreak. Hello, it's just like Romeo and Juliet! Except that instead of suicide at the end, one will win 5 million dollars and the other will be sent home, never to be heard from again. Yep, that's how the X Factor rolls. Just like a famous Shakespearean tragedy. And well, that's the gayest thing ever.

The featured sing off from last night was continued. Remember how we told you about sweet Paige Thomas and Leopard Face (we are calling her that, because even though that weird animal print tattoo on her face is, in fact, temporary, she is apparently committing to it for the entirety of her run) CeCe Frey, going head to head last night in an impromptu sing-off featuring "I Will Always Love You?" Well, guess who was paired together for round two and slated to perform at the end of the night? NO, not Emblem 3 and Citizen! It was Paige and old Kitty Cat Face. Girrrls, this duo was the pinnacle of drama starting with Paige crying back stage to their vocal coach about how she didn't really want to sing One Republic's "Secrets." When questioned as to why she went forward with a song she didn't choose, she revealed, "I just feel like I got played a little bit. I feel like one person has a better advantage over the other because they know the song." The drama continued on stage where Simon asked each why they thought they should win. CeCe broke down, too (yeah, we weren't kidding when we said A LOT of people cried last night), saying, "I want to succeed as bad as I want to breathe. I want this like the very oxygen that is in my lungs. I don't know if you believe in me, but I will make a believer out of you." After all that, they both sounded forced and a little shaky, leaving Simon to note, "They look exhausted. I've never seen someone look so tired." So true, Mr Cowell. And after all the emotion of the night, they're not the only ones looking tired. Here's hoping next week won't be so damn sad!

Previous: ‘X Factor’ Recap: Boy Bands & A Whitney Houston Sing-Off

Latest News