‘X Factor’ Emblem3: Demi Lovato Has a Crush On Us

X Factor finalists Emblem3 seem to be getting a lot of hate directed at them from Demi Lovato, but singer Drew Chadwick has his own theories about that.

“You know what it is, she’s got an old-school school-girl crush where the only way she knows how to flirt is by being mean,” he told THR after Wednesday’s show. “But she just wants the attention. She has a shrine of our faces in her closet.”

Emblem3 singer Keaton Stromberg said he envisions that Lovato’s imaginary shrine is made out of “bubblegum.”

The California trio said they aren’t even paying attention to judges’ comments anymore. According to Chadwick, “they’re going at it and it’s not even about us.”

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Stromberg said that in the grand scheme of things, the group is in it for the opportunity to perform music, and that’s all that matters.

“When they’re going at it, we feel like we’ve developed a pretty big fan base and we can do a lot after the show so whatever happens happens,” he said.  “We’re not going to get attached to anything because attachment is the source of all suffering.”

And what of doing a Sublime song, per the request of host Mario Lopez? Could we be hearing Emblem3 croon a song like “Doin’ Time” next week? It’s totally plausible that Chadwick would be back in his “happy place” strumming a guitar, crooning the lyrics, “Me and my girl, we got this relationship” to an audience of screaming girls, right?

Not so fast, warns Stromberg.

“Everything’s different with TV,” he said. “You could play Sublime and the whole West Coast would be on fire but Middle America and the East Coast would be like, what? I’ve never heard that song. I heard it once in a bar in Canada.”

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However, they aren’t opposed to audience input. Chadwick said the Pepsi Challenge brought an “interesting flavor” to the competition.

“It really gives the fans an opportunity to influence and connect with what we do,” he said.

However, they said they still trust their mentor, Simon Cowell, and the, er, one direction they seem to be headed.

“He’s been doing it a while. He’s smart. He’s not going to give us a song we hate. And if we did, we would feel it out, try it out for a half hour but after that if we didn’t dig it, we would let them know we can’t do that song,” he said.

Is that true, East Coasters? Have you never heard of Sublime? Let us know in the comments below what you would like to see Emblem3 do next week (Sugar Ray? Linkin Park?) if they survive Thursday’s eliminations. 

With reporting by Jonathan Bernstein.

Twitter: MicheleAmabile