
- Share this article on Facebook
- Share this article on Twitter
- Share this article on Flipboard
- Share this article on Email
- Show additional share options
- Share this article on Linkedin
- Share this article on Pinit
- Share this article on Reddit
- Share this article on Tumblr
- Share this article on Whatsapp
- Share this article on Print
- Share this article on Comment
Wednesday night’s episode of The X Factor has been benched until Tuesday due to a two-hour rain delay of Major League Baseball’s National League Championship Series between the St. Louis Cardinals and San Francisco Giants.
As a result, only part of the “Judge’s Home Round” episode — which reveals the final 16 singers left in the competition selected by judges Britney Spears, L.A. Reid, Demi Lovato and Simon Cowell — was aired.
PHOTOS: An ‘American Idol’ to ‘X Factor’ Timeline
Fans tuning in to the beginning of the show’s 8 p.m. start time instead saw a rerun of Ben and Kate. Although the program did resume around 8:40 p.m., Fox cut out again, airing part of The Mindy Project before rejoining the ball game.
According to Fox, the network received word that the delay was expected to last well beyond primetime, so a decision was made to begin airing the show in East Coast markets. An hour into the broadcast, the rain subsided, and when the game was set to resume, the X Factor feed was pulled with the expectation that a switch would be made back to baseball. When that didn’t immediately happen, a partial episode of The Mindy Project was tossed on the air as a stopgap.
Further complicating matters was a technical issue on the West Coast in which the East Coast feed of the show was broadcast prior to the show’s 8 p.m. start time, allowing some viewers to see the results earlier than normal. To remedy this, an encore presentation of The X Factor was aired at 8 p.m.
PHOTOS: Behind the Scenes of THR’s ‘X Factor’ Cover Shoot
East Coast audiences learned the fate of Spears’ teen team and Reid’s over-25s category but were cut off from Lovato’s young-adults reveals midway through her eliminations. Cowell’s groups category never aired.
On the bright side, X Factor season one finalist Josh Krajcik will benefit, in a weird way, when the show re-airs in full at 8 p.m. Oct. 23. His song “Let Me Hold You” was featured as a clip on the show and will get double exposure with the repeat.
Cowell, on the other hand, sees no rainbow after the storm, at least for the moment. He made his displeasure known immediately on Twitter shortly after the debacle.
It what’s known as a total f up.
— Simon Cowell (@SimonCowell) October 18, 2012
Related Stories
Related Stories
THR Newsletters
Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every day