Rion Paige

	Rion Paige
Information
Names	Rion Paige Thompson
Age(s)	15
Hometown	Jacksonville, Florida
Category	Girls
Mentor	Demi Lovato
Elimination Information
Place	5th Place

Rion Paige Thompson (born May 3, 2000) is an American country singer from Jacksonville, Florida who finished in 5th place on season 3 of the X Factor USA. She was a part of the Girls catagory, mentored by Demi Lovato.

Background

Rion, who has a rare condition called arthrogryposis multiplex congenita which has caused permanent damage to her arms, resulting in her hands being in a fixed bent position, is an adorable 13-year-old eighth grader who loves eating olives from the can and is a huge fan of The Hunger Games. She also loves country music and cites Carrie Underwood and Taylor Swift as a couple of her musical influences.

The X Factor

Rion auditioned for the show in Charleston, South Carolina, impressing the judges with her cheerful and spunky attitude. She then wowed them with her rendition of the Carrie Underwood hit "Blown Away". She got four yeses and made the top 40 with Demi Lovato as her mentor.

Four Chair Challenge

In this phase of the competition, Rion took on the Rascal Flatts song, "I Won't Let Go". Very impressed by her, Demi chose her to be a part of the live shows.

Live shows

In the first live show, Rion decided to switch things up, choosing to sing "Skyscraper" by her mentor, Demi

Lovato. Rion's performance wowed both the judges and the crowd. Simon Cowell even expressed hope that she would stay in the competition. His wish came true when Demi chose Rion to be a part of the top 12.

For Motown Night, Rion sang "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, putting a bit of a country twist to it. While Kelly Rowland wasn't crazy about it, Simon Cowell liked the fact that Rion went back to her country roots by adding that country aspect to the song. However,due to a graphics error that nullified the votes, she had to sing another song for the re-vote show. That song was a country version of the Lady Gaga hit "Born This Way", which had previously been covered by the country-pop group Lakoda Rayne in season 1.

On '80s Night, Rion sang the Pat Benatar hit "We Belong". The performance earned her praise from the judges, but Simon Cowell did criticize Demi Lovato for not connecting Rion with the right song for her, resulting in Demi trying to take his microphone away from him.

For British Invasion night, Rion sang "Your Song" by Elton John, dedicating it to her younger brother Colton. The judges loved the vulnerability she brought to the song. Simon Cowell even called the performance "beautiful".

For Big Band night, Rion dedicated her rendition of the 1983 John Anderson song "Swingin'", which has been covered by both Lee Ann Rimes and Chris Young, to her mom. Performance-wise, Rion mixed it up, moving around as opposed to standing in front of a microphone like she normally does. The judges loved it with Simon Cowell even calling it the perfect song for her and calling her "cute as a cupcake". She then went up against the other 7 acts in a face-off. However, Rion ended up in the bottom 2 with Josh Levi. Due to the judges sending the vote into deadlock, Rion received the most votes by the public and moved on to the next week.

For Divas/Unplugged night, Rion took on the Carrie Underwood hit "See You Again" for her "diva" song. Despite Simon Cowell telling her that he didn't think that was the right song for her, the judges gave her praise. For her "unplugged" song, she sang "Glass" by Thompson Square, which also earned her praise as well as brought her mentor Demi Lovato to tears. However, Rion ended up in the bottom 2 for the second week in a row, this time going up against Carlito Olivero. Despite pouring her heart out on her "save me" song, "The House That Built Me" by Miranda Lambert, Rion was eliminated on December 5, 2013, finishing in 5th place.