11:29 PM PST 11/7/2012 by Sophie A. Schillaci
So you rejoiced when Diamond White re-entered the fray on Wednesday night, you scratched your head while watching Lyric 145's colorful performance, and you rolled your eyes as Britney Spears kept her commentary to the bare minimum.
You watched The X Factor on Fox on Wednesday night.
PHOTOS: 'X Factor' Season 2: Meet the Contestants
But for those of you not in the studio audience, The Hollywood Reporter was your eyes and ears inside the CBS Studios stage. Read below to find out what the cameras missed during the broadcast.
1. Simon Cowell: Mr. Popularity? Think the sharp-tongued Brit earns all those screams on his own merit? Think again. During the show's warm-up session, in which an overly enthused host amps the audience up for the show, fans were specifically instructed to save their loudest cheers for Cowell and to cheer for him often. (To show him how America does it, he explained.)
2. Famous Faces in the Audience: Kris Jenner was on hand to support daughter Khloe Kardashian, while Carmen Electra and pint-sized Ben and Kate actress Maggie Elizabeth Jones were also in the crowd. Jones later made herself right at home in the press lounge, mixing and mingling with the contestants.
3. Stretching Their Legs: Not one of the four judges stayed seated through any commercial break, with Spears frequently leaving the stage with fiance Jason Trawick and others. At one point, Spears was forced to rush back, almost missing her cue to introduce a team member.
STORY: 'X Factor': 20 Things You Didn't See on Thursday's Broadcast
4. The Next American Superstar? While reminding the audience that X Factor had recently been picked up for a third season, the crowd warm-up guy encouraged everyone to head out to auditions next season. Especially, he said, the audience members that had previously engaged him by singing into the microphone before the show began.
5. Anti-Social Media: The audience was encouraged (multiple times) to tweet about their time at the show, and were reminded (multiple times) of the show's Twitter handle and official hash tag. The only catch? Everyone's phones were confiscated at the door.
6. No Birthday Love for Lamar: Kardashian was all smiles while waving and saying hello to fans between takes, but one fan, undoubtedly hoping to catch some individual attention, shouted "Happy Birthday Lamar!" but got the cold shoulder. Hey, the girl's got a job to do here. Plus, Kardashian's husband, Lamar Odom, actually celebrated his 33rd birthday on Tuesday.
7. Watch Out for That Camera! After Emblem3 zeroed in on Demi Lovato for their performance, they set their sights on the fans, forcing host Kardashian to forceful grab one member so as not to walk in front of a camera. The trio then was forced off stage right by a group of stage managers after they became turned around and unsure of where to exit.
8. Not So "Sweeter": Crowd warm-up guy made a crack about downloading Gavin DeGraw's "Sweeter" after hearing it performed on the show, since he was unfamiliar with the song. Apparently, he would have "much preferred" Jennel Garcia's version.
9. Karaoke Hero: The audience was prepped well in advance of Tate Stevens' "Dead or Alive" performance, practicing the echo of "Wanted" -- "Waaanteeeed" -- multiple times. Warm-up guy made a joke about feeling like he was at Dimples, but no one got it (except this reporter, who's sung a few karaoke tunes there in her day).
10. 14325H: These girls just can't stick to a name. The recently re-named Fifth Harmony (first called LYLAs and then renamed to 1432 due to legal conflicts before enlisting America's help to select a less "crappy" name), were still -- for some unknown reason -- flashing their weird 1-4-3-2 hand symbol while on stage. Girls, let it go.
Email: Sophie.Schillaci@thr.com; Twitter: @SophieSchillaci
