This Wednesday and Thursday night on The X Factor, the 120 contestants that made it through the first audition round are headed to Miami, FL for the Boot Camp round, where they will be put through two more intensive audition rounds in front of the judges. Only 24 acts will move onto the Judges’ Homes round, which airs next week.
Acclaimed music producer and X Factor judge L.A. Reid recently spoke to press about what boot camp is like for the contestants and if he thought his two new colleagues Britney Spears and Demi Lovato would have made the cut, his favorite moment working with Spears, and why he finds mentoring contestants harder that judging contestants.
Now that auditions are over, do you have any favorites? Do you have anyone that you think is a real frontrunner in the competition?
You know what’s interesting this year? I have many, many favorites; too many to name. Just watching the show, doing the auditions, we see so many that, honestly, it gets very confusing in my head. Watching the show and watching the contestants, watching the playbacks, so many of them are so good that I think the competition in Boot Camp is going to be so stiff. I can’t predict the outcome, because there’s so much good talent this year.
Do you think that Demi Lovato and Britney Spears would have been able to handle Boot Camp as aspiring artists?
Oh, yes. I think that both Britney and Demi would have been able to handle it. These girls are really talented and they were trained to work hard. They didn’t become a success because they were slackers. Both of them worked really, really hard coming up in the ranks.
Obviously, Demi is younger and still has a lot of work to do. Britney Spears is so accomplished, but in getting to that place, I think she toured the world so many times and went to so many rehearsals and put in the work. I think that the kids we have in Boot Camp, we’re putting them through drills that Britney Spears has gone through. I’m saying that knowing that Boot Camp is tough and we’re putting these guys through rigorous, rigorous tasks to really see if they’re qualified to go through to the next round.
What has been your favorite moment working with Britney Spears, so far?
My favorite Britney moment is really easy. The other night, a contestant performed “Ice Ice Baby,” and Britney got up and started popping off, and I’m telling you, that was the moment for me. Just watching her getting excited and watching her dance and become Britney right before my eyes. It was magical, and I loved it.
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