His Tuesday must-watch (10/18)

As I've mentioned before, I haven't been religious about watching The X Factor. At least not to the extent that I used to watch American Idol. However, tonight the mentoring at the judge's homes is completed and we officially narrow the field down to the Final 16.

For those of you that may or may not be Idol fans that haven't checked this out yet, consider the following:

- Simon Cowell is definitely back. Everything you loved about him on Idol is in play all over again, and who can really complain about that?

- LA Reid is basically a more respectable, less ridiculous version of Randy Jackson

- Paula is involved, which no matter what always gives us one classic moment a night

- The serious stuff starts at 16 instead of 24 (thank you)

Plus, if that new Pepsi commercial doesn't get you pumped about what's next for the winner I don't know what to tell you.

His Wednesday must-watch

I can't believe that my must-watch pick for the night is a show I swore I would never watch when I first heard it was coming state-side. After years of putting up with American Idol, I thought I was done with singing competitions, but there's something about Paula and Simon that just keeps me coming back for more.

That's right, my must-watch for tonight is The X Factor (8/7c Wed & Thurs on FOX). A show that has made millions around the globe is coming to the USA. It's basically Idol on steroids. Contestants auditioning not just for the judges, but for a live audience (yikes!), a "bootcamp" that promises to blow Idol's "Hollywood Week" out of the water, some quality time with the judges and finally the live show. Plus, we've added L.A. Reid and Nicole Scherzinger (Paula, circa 1991) to the mix.

If this goes over well, I could be signing myself up for 3 months of overly emotional, completely pointless yet totally riveting competition. If it tanks, there's always a chance Paula goes crazy when she realizes she's washed up sitting next to Nicole. I'm game.