‘X Factor’ Recap: Melanie Amaro, Caitlin Koch + Dexter Haygood Impress

The second episode of 'X Factor' found the judges canvassing two major cities for talent, with Melanie Amaro, Caitlin Koch and Dexter Haygood impressing the judges and becoming the standouts.

The judges were starting to lose faith in Florida, as the Miami auditions produced more freaks than viable candidates. The scene moved to Dallas, for more homegrown talent, but plenty of freaks also surfaced there. This episode focused a little more on the weirdos. Perhaps the weirdest thing to happen? Judge Nicole Scherzinger adopting a southern accent while in Texas, saying "y'all" repeatedly. When in Texas, do as the Texans do.

Without further adieu, here is the PopCrush recap of 'X Factor.'

Ashley Sansone: This pop tart called herself a "starving artist," and she even has "unstoppable talent" as part of the words in her email address. She butchered 'Piece of My Heart' by Janis Joplin.

Caitlynne Curtis: This super cute high school junior offered a thin take on Katy Perry's 'Firework.' Simon Cowell suggested that she join a group, where she doesn’t need to rely on fantastic vocals. She broke down and it was devastating to watch.

Nick Voss: He got fired from his job at the airport for dancing. He is more of a performer than a singer, but he had the moves and the voice. He entertained with his Elvis-like swagger and is moving on.

Ashley Deckard:She is a cute, Hot Topic-styled "scene girl" with sideswept bangs. She sees ghosts, and her rendition of Jessie J's 'Price Tag' was less intriguing than her ghost tales.

Melanie Amaro: This college freshman made Scherzinger cry and vindicated L.A. Reid's choice to leave his gig to do the show. Her voice is gorgeous.

Dylan Lawson: He lives in the boonies with his brothers and sold his truck to get to the audition! What a waste, since he cussed his brains out, rapped and collapsed in a heap, to a chorus of boos. Eminem he's not.

Dexter Haygood:The 49-year-old soul man has been through plenty of ups and downs and had lots of charisma, but had to swap out the James Brown act in favor of something more original. He can sing and has soul.

Caitlin Koch: She is a rugby player who redid the Supremes 'Stop! In the Name of Love' in a slow, soft and sexy way. It was the most original thing we saw all night and across multiple reality shows.

Xander Alexander: He was breaking Simon Cowell's balls the whole time. He was entertaining, but he got booted because, as Simon noted, he got the audience to hate him with his diva-esque behavior.

Some others of note: 2Squard were four girls in a group, harmonizing with a message about the beauty from within; Jeremiah Pagan was a male soprano, which is very rare; Kendra Williams had a room-filling voice, too; hair-obsessed Jonny Rogers, who looked like Barbie's boyfriend Ken, didn't cut the Bieber mustard.