STAGE TUBE: THE X FACTOR Finale Performances

On last night's THE X FACTOR on Fox, the pressure was on for the finalists as they each performed two songs one last time for the viewer's votes. As Simon aptly said in the beginning of the show, "It's going to be the closest final we've ever had." 

Josh Krajcik opened the show with "Uninvited" singing with superstar Alanis Morissette. Alanis called Josh "a really soulful man." L.A. Reid and Paula Abdul were impressed by the duet. "That was surreal," L.A. said. "It was such a natural pairing." Simon Cowell didn't agree. "Alanis, amazing," he said. "Josh, I thought you were a little intimidated at the beginning. It was an eight out of ten." Nicole Scherzinger said, "I think the sign of a great artist is when an artist can acknowledge another artist on stage." 

L.A. introduced Chris Rene and announced that yesterday marked Chris being eight months sober. Chris performed "Complicated" with Avril Lavigne.  About Chris' performance, Avril said he "kicked ass." Nicole said, "It was a little shaky in the take-off, but you came out on top." Paula didn't think the competition was about being perfect note-to-note, but about the energy to connect to the audience. Simon said, "What I felt was your total joy and confidence to be here and that could be a record. Well done." L.A. agreed. "You looked really at home with Avril. You guys look like you were cut from the same cloth," he said.

Melanie Amaro sang "I Believe I Can Fly" with R. Kelly, who after the performance, told Steve Jones it was the first time he sang that song in a duet.  L.A. told her, "I felt like you got a little overshadowed by R. Kelly by the song...I didn't get the full-on Melanie that I'm used to getting." Nicole disagreed and thought she "soared on it." Paula was on board the Melanie love train, "The conviction that you have, Melanie...has made us believe in you." Simon added, "I wouldn't listen too much to grumpy and dumpy over there. Because L.A., that's what's called showing respect to the person you're singing with." 

After a performance from Cirque du Soleil's Michael Jackson THE IMMORTAL World Tour, Josh performed again with just his acoustic guitar and sang his audition song "At Last".  L.A. was proud and told him he was a rockstar. PaUla Loved his authenticity and told him he owned the stage. Simon was also feelin' it when he said, "I've got to hand it to you. This is the $5 million song. What I liked about it is it was all about you." Nicole showered on the love. She said, "I'm honored to be part of this journey with you. Music loves you." 

Chris sang his original song "Young Homie," which has now become the Chris Rene anthem. Nicole beamed, "We all have a purpose in life and you are serving your purpose right now with that song." Paula literally jumped out of her seat and said, "You are magic! You make everyone fall in love with you!" Simon added on to the compliments. He said, "Chris, that was your $5 million song." He also gave Chris props for sticking to his deal of staying sober, being a "brilliant performer," and a "true gentleman." L.A. told his boy, "You pour all of yourself into that song. I love what you just did."

Melanie performed her audition song "Listen". L.A said, "That is the Melanie that I love. That wasn't a $5 million performance. That was a $50 million performance!" Nicole was in tears when she said to Melanie that she was the very first person that she felt connected with. Paula told her to take it all in after her "stellar performance." In true Simon fashion, he didn't hold back when he said that she should be the winner so that she could represent the U.S. all over the world.

Tune in tonight, at 8/7C on FOX for the big announcement of THE X FACTOR winner and also for guest performances by Justin Bieber, Leona Lewis, Pitbull, and Ne-Yo!

To view the finalist's duet performances, click below!