"The X Factor": A surprise elimination

THE X FACTOR: Carly Rose Sonenclar waits to see if she will advance to the finals on on "The X Factor," Dec. 13, 2012.

Thursday's episode of "The X Factor" coincided with mentor L.A. Reid's announcement that he won't be returning to the show next season.

With only one week left to go, "The X Factor" continued with a live results round. It took a while for viewers to find out the three finalists, as the episode was packed with performances.

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"The X Factor" Season 2

The final four performed a version of "Coming Home" by Diddy-Dirty Money. Singer Bridgit Mendler sang her single,"Ready or Not," and Bruno Mars performed "Knocked Out of Heaven." But soon the finalists learned the results.

(Spoiler alert)

The big surprise? Fifth Harmony advanced to the finals, and Emblem 3 got the boot. The members of Emblem 3 were considered the front-runners of the competition, so the elimination likely came as a shock to some.

"I'm just so honored to have gone through this experience. We're so grateful," Emblem 3's Wes Stromberg said, adding, "I know you voted your butts off. We love you. And we're going to continue to make music."

Groups mentor Simon Cowell added, "This is the way it goes on a competition. I thought they had a fantastic night last night." Cowell said he was "disappointed," noting, "But you're going to have a huge career."

Cowell's Fifth Harmony, though, will advance. Even Cowell was surprised that Fifth Harmony is headed to the next round. "I believe in miracles, and these girls, I thought they were sensational last night," he said. "I could not be happier."

Fifth Harmony will join Tate Stevens and Carly Rose Sonenclar in next week's finale. Sonenclar had some positive words for Emblem 3, noting she knows the group will go far. Stevens, meanwhile, said he's there for all the country music fans.

The winning act will walk away with a $5 million recording contract with Syco/Sony Music.

"The X Factor" returns Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET on Fox.

Watch the elimination here.

[KentGoldings]

I really thought Emblem3 was going to make it into the final three, but anything can happen on this show I guess. One of my coworkers at DISH is actually a really big Fifth Harmony fan though, so she is really excited they made it through. With the crazy voting this season I'm interested to see what happens in the finals next week. I won't be able to watch the episodes live though, so I'm planning on catching up using PrimeTime Anytime on my DISH Hopper. My DVR automatically records all the prime time shows on the four major networks so I never have to worry about missing an episode.