No weepy ballads or country crooning allowed on The X Factor this week. After last week's Movie Songs knocked out The Stereo Hogzz and established this season's Top 10, those lucky ten acts will each take on a rock song for this Wednesday's live performance episode. And for some of the performers -- especially rappers Astro and Chris Rene -- it will take a little, or a lot, of creativity to stay in genre, but still stay themselves.

Watch the "Pepsi Precap" to find out what the performers predict will happen when it's their turn to rock the stage this week:


I was most worried for Stacy Francis, whose gotten her best feedback when she sticks to R&B and gospel, so I'm happy to hear that she's happy with her song choice. Marcus Canty's "If Tina Turner can do it, I can do it!" attitude is adorable, but we'll have to wait and see if that's enough to get the soul singer into the rock spirit. And I'm not sure if Lakoda Rayne's Carrie was trying to sound sarcastic when she said they wanted to be "the greatest group to ever exist," but she did. Playfully, at least. I sincerely hope the LR girls pull out a good performance, if only because it would break my heart to see Paula lose all her groups first.

Speaking of Paula: Check out what she wears to rehearsal. #superstar is right.

Rock Week was Originally Madonna/Lady Gaga Week: So why did The X Factor scrap their first idea and go more general? Allow Simon to explain, as he did to The Hollywood Reporter: "I changed my mind," he said. "What I like about Wednesday's show was the idea of someone, particularly Astro, using the whole stage without props. And I thought doing Lady Gaga and Madonna could get a bit too choreography-led and also too restrictive for someone like Astro. Rock music gives you a better chance to use the whole stage like we did on the auditions: just you and a huge platform behind you and make it like it's your first concert."

10 Burning X Factor Questions Answered: Did you know Chris Rene is writing a book? And that Drew may NEVER wear shoes on stage? THR lets you know some things about the Top 10 that you didn't know you needed to know until you knew them.

Drew Talks About Her Puffy, Punky "Fix You" Dress: "It's a little bit of edginess with girlyness. The paint splatters are total teenager. I wanted this performance to say, I'm still a teenager, I'm not trying to be any older than I am," Ryniewicz told TV Guide. I guess I'm warming to it a little, if only because she loved it so much, and I love HER so much.

"We Found Love": Rihanna, who joined L.A. Reid at his home for the Boys' semi-finals, will return to the presence of the man who made her to spice up this week's results show with her new #1 single, "We Found Love," which is just far too pretty to be so depressing.  The results episode airs Thursday at 8pm on FOX.

Tune in Wednesday from 8 to 10pm on FOX to watch the X Factor top 10 perform their rock songs.



(Image courtesy of FOX)