There were some controversial choices made during the judges' houses round of 'The X Factor,' but our mentors had the chance to right many wrongs with this week's live elimination show, as each category had to narrow their finalists down to three in order to proceed to America's vote next week.

Up until tonight, the groups seemed like the weakest category by a mile, but smart song choices and confident choreography helped Paula up the ante and raise her category to the standard of the soloists -- though I doubt even the smooth moves of the Stereo Hogzz can compete with the likes of Drew, Josh or Stacy.

Join us after the jump to find out who made it into the top 12 to compete for your votes next week.

Simon Cowell's Girls
Last week, Simon's questionable judging choices became a worldwide Twitter trending topic after he put through attractive duds like Simone Battle and Tiah Tolliver over Caitlyn Koch and Melanie Amaro. He rectified one of those mistakes by giving Melanie a second chance in an unsurprising "surprise" twist, and Simon had a lot to prove going into tonight's elimination.

After slamming Nicole's (admittedly fairly dubious) song choices all night, the grumpy Brit made a few missteps of his own, choosing a noisy, overproduced version of "Just Be Good To Me" for Simone -- though at least he'd progressed to pronouncing her name the way a normal person would -- and giving Tiah a creepy, Halloween-flavored rendition of 'Sweet Dreams' that chilled me to my very core. Despite his vehement protestations that Nicole and Paula were just biased against their innate natural "talent" (for wearing skimpy clothes and wailing, I guess), those song choices made me believe he'd written the two off before they even opened their mouths, and sure enough, they were the two that were kicked to the curb, only a week too late.

Rachel Crow still can't compete against the vocal abilities of singers like Drew or Josh, but apparently Simon pays attention to what the audience wants, and allegedly, we're rooting for Rachel, so she was saved. The two no-brainers: Melanie Amaro (the contestant that Simon is cunningly trying to pass off as an underdog in winner's clothing) who gave a beautiful -- if slightly wobbly -- version of Whitney Houston's 'I Have Nothing' that had the judges gushing:



And Drew -- whom, Simon has decreed, apparently no longer needs a last name -- who performed a hauntingly beautiful rendition of 'What a Feeling.' My favorite thing about Drew is that she can bring tears of empathy to your eyes without the need for any overblown sob-story background; she's just an exceptionally talented kid, and in the end, that should be enough in a contest like this, though seldom ever is.


L.A. Reid's Boys
Similar to Simon's calculated song choices with Tiah and Simone, I think L.A. had already figured out who the weak link in his chain was; he saddled the already-cheesy Phillip Lomax with the outdated 'I'm a Believer' and a strange assortment of equally campy dancers, and the result was a ticket back home. We won't miss him.

The overexposed (but undeniably talented) Chris Rene floundered tonight, with a weak and nervous attempt at 'Love Don't Live Here Anymore.' Still, doubtless because of audience goodwill and perhaps a little residual pity, the judges all wore kid-gloves with him, and even Simon praised his authenticity for lack of anything to really say about his performance. I hope he comes into his own next week, because I do love an underdog.

Brian "Astro" Bradley was as obnoxious and arrogant as ever, but it seemed like everything except the Kriss Kross chorus of 'Jump' was his own concoction, and the performance was energetic and somewhat dazzling. I'll be interested to see whether America can embrace him alongside his singing contemporaries. Marcus Canty will probably be the next to go from L.A.'s category, and the bizarre arrangement of his 'Do You Really Want to Hurt Me' did kind of hurt me. Still, the audience seemed to like him.


Paula Abdul's Groups
It was clear that Paula put in a lot of hours with her groups, who had all improved immeasurably since the previous rounds. I didn't even completely hate Lakoda Rayne this time! The girl group sang a somewhat underwhelming version of 'Come on Eileen,' which seemed far too dated when all the judges were banging on about the need to be current and sell records in today's market. They still made it through to next week.

The Brewer Boys weren't so lucky, which is good, because I can't stand them, and have never understood what people find so impressive about their harmonies. Kudos to them for actually knowing how to play instruments and utilizing them live, though. They harmonized their way through a serviceable mash-up of 'Rich Girl' and 'Faith' with a pleasant country lilt, but Simon reminded everyone that there was a $5 million contract on the line (has he heard Simone and Tiah?) and since they certainly weren't worthy of that, Paula reluctantly eliminated them.

The Stereo Hogzz are still the strongest act Paula has, and they worked the stage like they were already well-versed in putting on a concert for thousands. Their updated 'Try a Little Tenderness' had a lot of interesting flavors, from hip-hop to soul, and I found it thoroughly engaging throughout.

I was certainly dubious about the capabilities of InTENsity, the judges' monstrous ten-strong attempt to capitalize on the 'Glee' craze (which already seems to be over), but I didn't hate their mash-up, even if it's all a little too Disney Channel for my tastes. I'm just not sure if audiences will actually be able to connect with them enough to want to vote for them, since even Simon hasn't bothered to learn their names -- he liked the one in the red jacket.


Nicole Scherzinger's Over 30s
I feel like Nicole's acts will succeed in spite of her, not because of her, since her song choices are bizarre and her staging leaves a lot to be desired. It was fairly obvious that formerly homeless Dexter Haygood was going home tonight, because charity only extends so far, and Nicole chose a terrifying mash-up of Britney's 'Womanizer' and Katy Perry's 'I Kissed a Girl' for him, apparently forgetting his gender on both counts. It was just ... awful, but it's sad that he probably would've lasted another eight weeks on the UK version of 'X Factor' (YouTube 'X Factor Wagner' sometime, I dare you). He declared that he was confused after he was eliminated, but Steve Jones was so eager to move things along that he cut Nicole off before she could explain anything to him.

Nicole certainly lucked into the phenomenal Josh Krajcik, whose burrito selling days are long behind him after tonight's performance. His understated take on 'Forever Young' was flawless (except for the screaming audience, but that's not his fault), and there isn't a negative word anyone can say about it. I'm fairly sure that his success was more his doing than Nicole's, though, and if she has any sense, she'll just move out of his way and let him do his thing.

LeRoy Bell, still the hottest 60-year-old in the history of the world, sounded like "velvet" according to Paula, but the song was bland enough that I don't even remember what it was. He's got enough innate talent that, as L.A. observed, it's impossible to figure out why he isn't already a huge star. He's the whole package, I just don't know if Nicole is smart enough to know what to do with him.

Stacy Francis is, like Chris Rene, a singer who can do no wrong in the eyes of America at this point. Unlike Chris, her performance was solid tonight, if lacking the wow-factor of her first audition and last week's song. Paula praised her for telling a story with the song ('One More Try'), and starting with tenderness, although Simon wholly disapproved of the song choice and what she was wearing. Again, has he met Tiah or Simone? Still, she was a no-brainer to progress to next week's shows.

Overall, the judges all made the right choices in narrowing down their acts -- I think all of America breathed a sigh of relief when Tiah, Simone, Phillip and Dexter were eliminated, and I'm not losing sleep over The Brewer Boys, though I think InTENsity were equally disposable. Steve Jones is still a poor man's Ryan Seacrest, and his attempts to move the show along seemed awkward and forced. He needs to loosen up and have more fun with the gig, because right now, he's no fun to watch and had a serious case of the crazy eyes all night. But how will America vote once they have the power next week?

Starting next week, 'The X Factor' airs Wednesdays and Thursdays at 8PM ET on Fox.

Who was your favorite performance of the night? Were you wowed by Stacy or Chris Rene, or has a new favorite emerged? What do you think of Steve Jones as host so far? Share your thoughts below!

Follow Laura on Twitter: @LauinLA