Things were twice as difficult for the five remaining contestants on Fox’s The X Factor Wednesday night when they took on two songs.  The two categories were dance songs and a song of the contestants’ choice.  Since none of the semi-finalists are really upbeat pop singers, the first round got pretty interesting.  See who jived and who didn’t:

Round One:

First up was Melanie Amaro, who was by far the best contestant last week.  She sang Adele’s “Someone Like You,” which doesn’t strike me as a dance song.  Melanie added some beats to the track, so I suppose it worked.  But the performance was slightly boring, and Melanie didn’t come close to matching the vocals of Adele.  Next, please.

Melanie Amaro

Marcus Canty performed Rufus and Chaka Khan’s “Aint Nobody,” which I thought was a fun song for him to sing.  Marcus has the stage presence of Usher, and his smooth R&B flavor could make him a successful pop crossover artist.  My only worry for Marcus is that he could get lost in the industry like The Voice winner Javier Colon.  What’s he up to these days, anyway?

Rachel Crow sang B.o.B. and Bruno Mars’ “Nothin on You” and gave a pretty good rendition of it.  But is this really a dance song?  Not really….

Josh Krajcik chose a risky song, the current number 1 hit on the pop charts, Rihanna’s “We Found Love.”  This could have gone either way for Josh.  The judges didn’t like the performance, but it was one of my favorites of the night.  Instead of doing a rock song and calling it a dance song, he actually stuck to the category.  While the song wouldn’t be a number 1 for Josh, I thought he gave a good effort.

Josh Krajcik

Chris Rene sang T.I.’s “Live Your Life,” which was the standout performance of the night.  Again, this is more of a hip-hop song than a pop song, but Chris worked it out.  I think he’s a top contender to win the five million prize. 

Round Two:

Melanie chose Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston’s “When You Believe,” which was a dangerous selection.  Of all the songs that have ever been written, why would you choose one by these two divas?   She actually did a great job, and Simon Cowell stood up for her when L.A. Reid called her performance safe.  It’s looking like Melanie will be a finalist.

Marcus was up next with Donny Hathaway’s “A Song For You.”  Again, I thought Marcus did his best, but he could get lost in the shuffle.  There’s just nothing that different about him.

Rachel sang Michael Jackson’s “Music and Me,” which I thought was a strange song selection since The X Factor already had a MJ week.  But she gave a cute rendition, and I think she’ll be back next week.

Rachel Crow

Josh went with The Beatles’ “Something,” and while it was vocally decent, it wasn’t his best.  When the contestants have the chance to sing one song of their choice, I want to hear more than mediocrity.  Josh might be in trouble.

Chris Rene decided to sing his own song called "Where Do We Go from Here.”  See, this is what I would like to have seen from Josh.  It was different, risky and original.  In my opinion, Chris wins both rounds and will be a finalist.

Chris Rene

After Wednesday’s episode, I think Josh will be cut.  Find out if I’m right tonight at 8 p.m. 

Images: Ray Mickshaw

Katherine Epstein (@RTNowRadio) for RightNowRadio © 2011