Alex & Sierra & The X Factor USA (2013) VBR

Alex & Sierra & The X Factor USA

Year 2013

Tracks
01 Toxic
02 You're The One That I Want
03 Blurred Lines
04 I Heard It Through the Grapevine
05 Let Her Go
06 Give Me Love
07 Addicted to Love
08 Best Song Ever
09 I Knew You Were Trouble
10 Say My Name
11 Say Something
12 Little Talks
13 Gravity
14 Bleeding Love with Leona Lewis
15 All I Want For Christmas Is You
16 Say Something (Winners)


Alex & Sierra auditioned in Orlando, Florida and wowed the judges with a sultry version of the
Britney Spears song "Toxic", resulting in them getting four yeses. They made the top 40 and got
Simon Cowell as their mentor. In this part of the competition, Alex & Sierra took on the
John Travolta/Olivia Newton-John classic "You're The One That I Want" from the 1978 musical film
Grease. The judges praised them for putting their own twist on the song. Demi Lovato told them
they were one of her favorite acts, but questioned the future and their relationship, which annoyed
their mentor Simon Cowell due to his support of Alex & Sierra as a couple. Despite this, they made
the live shows.
For the first live show, Alex and Sierra performed a stripped-down version of the Robin Thicke hit
"Blurred Lines". Kelly Rowland liked the performance but warned them not to let their performances
become too corny, something Simon Cowell disagreed with. He praised Alex & Sierra on their
performance, calling it "original" and "unique". It earned them a spot in the top 12.
For Motown Night, they took on "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" by Marvin Gaye, which earned
them praise. On the re-vote show, which happened due to a graphics error that nullified the votes,
Alex & Sierra sang "Give Me Love" by Ed Sheeran. For '80s Night, the couple took on the
Robert Palmer classic "Addicted to Love". The performance earned them mixed reviews with two
judges, Kelly Rowland and Demi Lovato, pointing out how uncomfortable the couple looked when
not near each other (the performance featured them separated by a wall), to their mentor
Simon Cowell expressing his own disappointment over how the performance went. Despite this,
they advanced to the next week. For British Invasion night, Alex & Sierra took on the
One Direction hit "Best Song Ever". Demi Lovato called it their best performance and even told them
that she planned to download the song on iTunes. However, Sierra's vocals were criticized for not
being as strong as Alex's. Their version charted on the top 40 of the US iTunes, the first act to do so
that season.
For Big Band night, Alex & Sierra performed Taylor Swift's hit "I Knew You Were Trouble".
The judges enjoyed the performance despite some very minor criticism from Kelly Rowland
. They then went up against the other 7 acts in a face-off.
For Divas/Unplugged night, the couple took on two songs. Their "Diva" song was "Say My Name"
by Destiny's Child, the song earned them praise. Their "Unplugged" song, "Say Something"
by A Great Big World and Christina Aguilera, the performance earned them well deserved praise
by the judges. Simon Cowell, their mentor, was very proud of them and called the performance
his favorite of the season. Their version of the song hit number one on the US iTunes charts,
which was the first time that a song from the US X Factor reached the top position.
For the semi finals, the public chose "Little Talks" by Of Monsters and Men, which earned
Alex & Sierra praise, but it was their performance of "Gravity" by Sara Bareilles that earned high
remarks, bringing judges Kelly Rowland and Demi Lovato to tears, and securing their place in the finals
. Like "Say Something" before it, the couple's version of "Gravity" hit number 1 on iTunes.[
For the finals, Alex & Sierra did three songs. They did their "save me" song from the re-vote show as
their "song to win", "Give Me Love" by Ed Sheeran. They also got to sing "Bleeding Love"
with Leona Lewis, and their "song of the season" was "Say Something". Despite the "Bleeding Love"
performance receivng a bit of a mixed response mainly from Demi Lovato who said that it wasn't their
best performance, but the other two songs received praise. Alex & Sierra were announced the winners
of the season on December 19, 2013. They are the first group to win the American version of the show.