It's safe to say that the competition is as fierce as ever on this season of The Four: Battle For Stardom. Last week, all members of the Four successfully defended their seats (for the first time ever) from potential challengers who were eager to take them away. But, Jesse Kramer, James Graham, Whitney Reign and Sheraya J shut all competitors down.
This week, the show kicked off with Jesse, James, and Whitney performing Timbaland's "The Way I Are" WITH Timbaland himself. He took the place of Sheraya, who took the advice of her doctors to rest her voice.
Then, things got started with the first challenger of the night, 24-year-old Felix Thompson from Monroe, Georgia. Felix sang Tevin Campbell's "Can We Talk" after DJ Khaled informed him that it was the fourth episode ... so he better bring it. Afterwards, Khaled told him that he enjoyed the performance, but that it "wasn't him." Meghan Trainor agreed with Khaled, and Diddy said that he had a beautiful voice and that he did an excellent job. And with the green light from all three judges, and the advice from Khaled to step it up, Felix became the first official challenge of the night, and decided to go after Jesse's seat.
Jesse went first, singing Sam & Dave's classic "Hold On I'm Coming," followed by Felix with Bruno Mars's "That's What I Like." While Khaled thought that Jesse defended his seat against Felix, Diddy told him he wanted to see more versatility. But in the end, the audience voted, and Jesse did, in fact, defend his seat, sending Felix home.
The next challenger of the night was 21-year-old Alma Lake, originally from Medellin, Columbia, but now living in Los Angeles. Alma sang Elle King's "Ex's and Oh's," and Diddy and Khaled enjoyed the performance, while Meghan didn't think she could take on one of the Four. However, with two yes's and one no, Alma did not get the chance to take on any of the Four for their seat. Even though DJ Khaled was lobbying hard for her to change her mind.
Next up, was 29-year-old Ali Caldwell from Woodbridge, New Jersey, singing Chaka Khan's "Tell Me Something Good." You could call all three judges immediate fans because they wanted to see a challenge. And with three yes's, Ali became the next challenger of the night, and chose to go after Whitney's chair.
Whitney was up first, and sang a gorgeous rendition of Pattie LaBelle's "If You Don't Know Me By Now," followed by Ali with Adele's "Set Fire To The Rain." All of the judges were impressed by both performances and Diddy even said, "This is the first time I wish I had an override vote to keep both y'all." Khaled echoed, "I can't even." Ultimately, it was up to the audience, and they chose Ali. And so Ali took Whitney's seat.
Next up was Cuban opera singer Dian Rene, who has aspirations of becoming a pop star. Dian sang Enrique Iglesias's "Hero" and impressed the judges enough to take on one of the four. With only James and Sheraya's chair left, Dian chose to go after James's chair.
James was up first, and performed Michael Jackson's "Human Nature," followed by Dian who sang Marc Anthony's "Flor Pálida." Afterwards, all three judges seemed to love both performances, but it was up to the audience to decide the winner, and they chose James. So, James defended his chair for another week.
The next challenger to take the stage was Brennan Villines from Memphis, Tennessee, who performed a stripped down version of The Proclaimers' "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)," while playing a baby grand piano (and made Meghan shed a tear). Brennan wow'd the judges, who all had extremely positive feedback for him, and with three yes's, he became the final challenge of the night taking on the only Four contestant left, Sheraya J.
Up first was Sheraya, who was ordered by doctors to take it easy due to ruptured vocal chords. But that didn't stop her from trying to defend her chair, and she brought her A-Game. For her performance, Sheraya performed her own song "Go Raya." Then, Brennon performed a gorgeous rendition of James Bay's "Let It Go."
Afterwards, the panel told both Sheraya and Brennan that they were impressed with both performances, however, the audience voted, and chose Sheraya as the winner.
And with that, all four chairs were locked for the night, and all four chairs were defended (for the first time)! Here are your final Four of the who will take their talents to next week's episode: Jesse Kramer, James Graham, Ali Caldwell and Sheraya J.
We are officially two episodes closer to finding out who the next big superstar will be, and the stakes are higher than ever. Not only will the winner's career launch with the help of the judges, they will also become iHeartRadio's "On the Verge" artist; an artist development program supporting the winner with airplay across iHeartMedia radio stations nationwide. This program has helped launched the careers of artists like Sam Smith, Fifth Harmony and Nick Jonas, among others.
Who's the next super star?! Stay tuned to The Four: Battle for Stardom every Thursday at 8/7c on FOX.
Photos: 21st Century Fox