Carly Rose Sonenclar

When we saw today’s headlines, here at Contactmusic, we were astounded to learn that Leann Rimes had cruelly thrown a young girl under the wheels of a bus. It was with some relief, then, that we learned that both the wheels and the bus were simply metaphorical. What TMZ were in fact referring to, is that the 30 year old country star has royally p***ed off Carly Rose Sonenclar’s family by dissing her performance during their X Factor duet of 'How Do I Live?' on Tuesday night (December 18, 2012).

In a bid to deflect the criticism that was levelled at LeAnn herself, which ranged from ‘she’s drunk’ to simply ‘well, that was embarrassingly bad,’ LeAnn decided that the honorable thing to do would be to make sure that everyone realised that it wasn’t her fault. So she blamed Carly Rose. The 13 year-old girl. Nice one LeAnn! Rimes insisted that if the duet sounded awkward, it was simply because “I was trying to help this 13-year-old girl who was having some trouble with the song.” Though it should probably be noted that Carly Rose didn’t appear to be having trouble with the song until YOU piped up, LeAnn!

Rimes is now trying to backtrack, saying she never gave the quote but TMZ say otherwise. The quote got the OK from her press agent (maybe they were drunk too?) so there’s no going back on it now. You just threw a teenage girl under a metaphorical bus and asked the metaphorical driver to put his metaphorical foot on the gas. Tut. 

Continue reading: Carly Rose Sonenclar’s Mom Angry At LeAnn Rimes For Dissing Her Daughter

Leann Rimes wobbly performance on The X Factor stage left fans scratching their heads last night, with the country star seeming a little unstable.

TMZ.com described the duet with Carly Rose Sonenclar as "a weird performance that has a lot of people wondering if she hit the bottle before taking the mic." 

The website interpreted one instance when Rimes clutched Carly Rose as her attempting to "maintain her balance," adding that she "seemed to meander as the song went along." Rolling Stone described Carly Rose's performance as "one hot mess," though added, "In her defense, it wasn't her fault. The blame falls squarely on her duet partner LeAnn Rimes." Really going for the jugular, the magazine added, "Rimes' greasy-haired, skin and bones dumpster-diver look was a total distraction. We couldn't take our eyes off her. She's only 30 - what in the hell happened to her? However, even if we had covered our eyes, the song was still a disaster." As a previous frontrunner for the competition, it seems Carly's chances of winning The X Factor may have been severely dented by the duet with Rimes. 

Continue reading: LeAnn Rimes X Factor Performance: What The Hell Happened To Her?!

X Factor judges Simon Cowell and Britney Spears arrive for the US final party

In the aftermath of the US X Factor quarter-finals, the star judges and final four were looking their best as finalists and past alumni gathered with them to celebrate the move towards the climax of the show's second season in the US. Big changes were made this year to the judging panel, with Britney Spears and Demi Lovato entering the fray, and though Spears has received some negative criticism, she's in truth managed to hold her own on her first run of the show. Certainly the pair, alongside original judges La Reid and show creator Simon Cowell, looked content to be at the event at Mixology in Los Angeles last night (December 6).

Continue reading: Pictures: Judges And Semi Finalists Attend X Factor USA Viewing Party

The X-Factor judges had mixed feelings when the categories were announced on Wednesday night’s show (October, 10). After more than half the singers were told they wouldn't be advancing, the singers then learned they'd be competing in groups of Teens, Young Adults, Over 25s and Groups, reports MTV.

CeCe Frey, Willie Jones, Janelle Garcia, Nick Youngerman, Paige Thomas and Jillian Jensen all had been picked to compete in the Young Adults group, which will be under Demi Lovato’s control. "I have the winning team," she promised. Jason Brock, Daryl Black, David Correy, Tara Simon, Tate Stevens and Vino Alan grabbed places in the Over 25s group, which will be over seen by La Reid, who didn’t seem too happy with the decision. "The what?" he angrily said, before slamming the phone down storming off. "Are you serious? Oh my god! That is amazing," said Britney Spears on learning that she’d been handed Beatrice Miller, James Tanner, Carly Rose Sonenclar, Diamond White, Reed Deming and Arin Ray in the teenagers group. Simon Cowell takes the reins with the groups, Sister C, Dope Crisis and Emblem3, and said: "I'll make the most of it. I'm happy for them.”

Ironically, it was the youngest mentor, Justin Bieber, who had some words of advice for the oldest competitors, the Over 25s. "They told me I was too young and you're never too old or too young," he assured. "You definitely are in good hands."