The same problem the show has had from auditions through to bootcamp through to judges houses, persists at the live shows!

I really don't get why they're doing this. Maybe Simon is afraid of people getting bored and switching off. But it's seriously making for a crap show. L.A. Reid's decisions: "Man, this is really tough..." instantly reels off the three names he's taking through without the bat of an eyelid.

There literally is no tension, no breathing room. It's like, one person performs on stage for 2 minutes, then they're sent home and everyone has to sound really sad for 20 seconds before they are shunted off stage ready for the next set.

I seriously DON'T GET IT. Why are they deliberately putting the entire show on fast forward?

It's because of the Baseball playoffs. Fox is contractually obligated to air the games, and it ruins their fall schedule every year.

They had 17 acts plus the judges cuts to get through in 2.5 hours.

The UK show had 1 less act and no judges cuts.

The local Fox stations do NOT like Overruns, because they make a great deal of their income off of advertising for their local newscasts and syndicated shows that air at 10pm and 11pm, respectively. They take a hit every time the national shows air, because they don't get as big a slice of the revenue. Baseball eliminated the ability of the show to do a results show this week, due to possible games on Wednesday and Thursday, so they did 1 massive show instead. The expectation, though, was that X-Factor would be doing American Idol-level ratings, which it hasn't been doing, so I wouldn't expect one of these super shows again next season.