Wednesday night’s “fun” week is over for two singers on FOX’s The X Factor. On Thursday’s show, the competition continued its runs of double eliminations.

Strategy was key at this point of the competition. Carly Rose Sonenclar, Tate Stevens and Emblem3 apparently took some risks that paid off on Wednesday. CeCe Frey and Vino Alan also took risks, which didn’t seem to work as well.

The night included a surprisingly sophisticated (minus, maybe, the fist pumping) performance by Alicia Keys of “Girl On Fire” from her newly released album of the same name. Watch it above. It also saw the return of last season’s much beloved runner-up Josh Krajcik who sang “One Thing She’ll Never Know.”

Note: Spoilers ahead if you haven’t watched Thursday’s Top 8 elimination episode.

The first instant elimination was a big shocker for the studio audience. Paige Thomas, who the judges felt made a good choice with Wednesday’s stripped-down performance, may have skewed too far from the over-the-top shimmer and spectacle she had presented thus far. Maybe, viewers wondered which version of Paige they were really voting for? That leaves judge Demi Lovato with just one person left in the competition.

Hosts Khloe Kardashian Odom and Mario Lopez announced the first five to move on in this order: Fifth Harmony, CeCe Frey (um, uh-mazing), Emblem3, Carly Rose Sonenclar and Tate Stevens.

That means Diamond White and Vino are left to sing for their survival. America must have really disliked his performance last night (after a last minute song change by mentor L.A. Reid that I think threw the singer off).

Diamond starts the sing-off and sings a heart-wrenching performance of Beyonce’s “I Was Here.” At times, it felt too big for her but she served the intensity. Vino gets the underdog intro from L.A., pulls off his jacket and goes into “Trouble,” a song that he left a mark with during the auditions.

L.A. supports his guy and votes to send Diamond home. Britney Spears, of course, chooses to send home Vino. Demi, looking very conflicted, decides to send home Vino — someone she had only recently warmed up to. Simon is in the hot seat. If he chooses to make it a deadlock, chances are he’s sending home Diamond. Vino has been solidly No. 3 for weeks and the teen probably has less votes than him. So, he decides not to send the vote to America and chooses to land the final blow to Vino.

Clearly, we’re at the point in the game when one mistake can send you home regardless of how strong you’ve done the entire competition. Harsh, America.

Time to learn where everyone stands. Only one percent separates the Top 3. Here are the current rankings:

1. Carly Rose Sonenclar
2. Tate Stevens
3. Emblem3
4. Fifth Harmony
5. CeCe Frey
6. Diamond White

CeCe is a big mover, digging herself out from the No. 8 spot. And Emblem3 now moves into third place without Vino blocking them from the slot. Tate was unable to regain the top spot, which makes Carly seemingly unstoppable – she rarely makes a wrong move.

How do you feel about this week’s surprising eliminations? Sound off below.

Part of The X Factor’s distinct Season 2 style doesn’t just lie in new judges, Britney Spears and Demi Lovato. It’s also about the documentary-style in which they’re shooting the contestants as they prepare for their auditions.

And the guinea pig for the new storytelling method of sorts was Paige Thomas. The 21-year-old from San Antonio arrived to the show’s Austin auditions to finally get her music career on track. But, she was surprised to see what was going on behind her back. The cameras captured another contestant, Kaci Newton, and her friend were hating on the singer.

“I really didn’t notice it at the time,” Thomas tells Celebuzz after having watched what went down. “That really caught me off guard. I had no idea. I was so nervous myself that I was almost oblivious to everything going on around me.”

What else did Thomas say about the experience?

As if Newton — who ended up bombing her audition — and her friend didn’t already have their noses in the air, Thomas’ daughter accidentally – being a toddler and all — left a mark on Newton’s pants.

“I did realize that I guess my daughter I guess got something on her pants supposedly,” Thomas says. “It was just weird. That caught me off guard for sure to watch all of that. I didn’t know any of that had happened.”

In fact, Thomas sounds as if the entire experience was a blur. A fan of Spears, she had attended a couple of the pop star’s appearances yet really wasn’t able to recall much of the new judge during auditions. But, it was something that judge L.A. Reid said that really resonated with the singer.

“I remember specifically when L.A. Reid said, ‘Come on, I’m ready. You know, bring it.’ That to me was the best thing he said to me,” the singer who sang a rendition of Mary J. Blige’s version of “I’m Going Down” remembers. “I go back and forth, thinking, ‘Am I good? Are they going to like me?’ ”

“It just kind of reaffirmed what I thought they might like,” she continues. “It made everything 10 times better. They’re all really excited about me and I never thought that that would really happen.”

You’ll be seeing more of Thomas when the show moves on to the next round.

What are your thoughts on Paige? Sound off in the comments section below.

The X Factor airs Wednesday and Thursday at 8 PM on FOX.

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