Cabello & Hernandez’s FifthHarmony Advances to “The X Factor” Semifinals

Camila Cabello and Ally Brooke Hernandez have been Carey’ed into the semifinals on The X Factor…

Following Wednesday night’s inspired performance of Demi Lovato’s “Give Your Heart a Break” and less-impressive rendition of Adele’s “Set Fire to the Rain,” the Latina singers – both members of the Simon Cowell-created all-girl group FifthHarmony – found themselves singing for their lives on Fox’s reality singing competition.

FifthHarmony

Following the instant elimination of CeCe Frey, it was revealed that FifthHarmony and Diamond White would have to perform for the judges’ save.

Cabello, Hernandez and the ladies performed Mariah Carey’s “Anytime You Need a Friend,” making it a point to give each member of the group an individual moment to shine. Then White sang LeeAnn Womack’s “I Hope You Dance.”

Cowell and Britney Spears (White’s mentor) each voted to keep their act in the competition, but L.A. Reid and Lovato both picked FifthHarmony to move forward to the semifinals.

Here’s a look at the final rankings for this week:

4. FifthHarmony
3. Emblem5
2. Carly Rose Sonenclar
1. Tate Stevens

Hernandez & Cabello Fight For a Spot in “The X Factor” Top Four

They’re the last Latinas standing on The X Factor… And Ally Brooke Hernandez and Camila Cabello are fighting for their place in the Top Four.

During Wednesday’s live performances on Fox’s reality singing competition, Hernandez and Cabello’s all-girl group FifthHarmony performed two songs in their quest to garner enough of America’s votes to stay in the competition.

FifthHarmony

In the first round, the ladies performed Adele’s “Set Fire to the Rain,” as selected by their mentor Simon Cowell. The performance didn’t seem to impress the judges.

“I still didn’t hear any harmony. You should be named Fifth Unison,” said L.A. Reid, referring to his claim that the group doesn’t harmonize. Britney Spears agreed, saying she’s still “trying to figure out what separates you from the other girl groups.”

Meanwhile, Demi Lovato, hating on Cowell all season-long, said, “I feel like there’s a couple of you that should just be solo artists.”

For their second performance, in what was dubbed the Pepsi Challenge, the contestants were instructed by their Twitter fans on everything from staging, to hair, to wardrobe and song choice.

So what did America pick for Hernandez, Cabello and the girls to sing? Lovato’s hit single “Give Your Heart a Break,” her first No. 1 single on the Billboard charts.

The selection, which included the perfect pair of nerd glasses for Hernandez, allowed FifthHarmony to finish their night with a bullet. Not only did they demonstrate their ability to harmonize, they also showcased their awesome voices.

Reid seemed to be in shock with their performance, as he finally heard harmonies, while Spears declared “That was your very, very best performance,” said Spears “A friend of mine sings this song good, and so do you.”

Lovato thoroughly enjoyed hearing her own song, and said, “I think this song should have been your song. You sing it better than the original. It was energetic, fun. Simon did a good job this week.”

Garcia Channels Joan Jett on “The X Factor”

The X Factor finalist Jennel Garcia loves rocknroll… And, she’s not afraid to sing about it…

The 18-year-old half-Puerto Rican singer, who named Pat Benatar as one of her idols during her impressive initial audition for Fox’s reality singing competition, performed another female rock superstar’s music during Wednesday’s episode.

Jennel Garcia

Singing live for America’s votes for the very first time this season, Garcia – dressed in an all-black outfit, including glittered pants and a leather jacket, and yellow Dr. Martens – performed Joan Jett & The Blackheart’s “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll” as part of the show’s “songs from the movies” theme.

Garcia’s performance received a mixed response from the judges. L.A. Reid said it was “good,” but said it lacked originality, while Simon Cowell said it was a “parody.”

“I think you’ve got to challenge yourself on these songs, because it was a pretty much a straight cover,” said Cowell. “And you’re better than this.”

But Garcia’s mentor, Demi Lovato, had a rebuttal ready.

“Look around in this audience, all of the girls are going crazy,” said Lovato. “And I guarantee that they would buy a ticket to her concert.”

Meanwhile, the other two Latinas in the competition, Camila Cabello and Ally Brooke, showed great improvement over last week’s performance.

Now called FifthHarmony, Cabello and Ally’s all-girl group performed Christina Perri’s “A Thousand Years” to rave reviews from the judges.

“I have to tell you that I was impressed with your singing,” declared Reid. “I think you guys nailed it; I think you figured out exactly how to start the song and who should finish the song.”

Britney Spears concurred.

“This week from last week it’s night and day,” said Spears. “You guys just shined the whole way, you really did. I was really impressed.”

FifthHarmony’s mentor Cowell, too, was impressed.

“The transformation week on week has been enormous; I think there’ something incredibly exciting about your potential,” said Cowell. “I really genuinely can feel something special. I thought the vocals were stunning, the performance was fantastic. I could not be more proud of you.”