While many contestants from the "X Factor" franchise--like America's Chris Rene, Marcus Canty, and Rachel Crow, and the U.K.'s Cher Lloyd, Rebecca Ferguson, and Little Mix--continue to make inroads with their music, the darkly beautiful new tunes from "The X Factor U.K.'s" Aiden Grimshaw may comprise my favorite "X Factor" output yet. Aiden was a Dannii Minogue-mentored contestant on the seventh season of "The X Factor U.K." (the same season that spawned Cher, Rebecca, and of course, One Direction), and while he disappointingly only placed ninth, he thankfully secured a record deal with RCA/Syco anyway--and now his debut album, Misty Eye, is about to get some serious rotation in my iPod.

Mia Michaels returnsAfter going on hiatus for two frustrating weeks (rather than go toe-to-pointe-toe with NBC's prime-time Olympics coverage), "So You Think You Can Dance" finally returned to Fox this Wednesday. And the remaining 14 dancers faced a truly Olympian challenge: recreating (and, ideally, even topping) the iconic routines of "SYTYCD's" most beloved genius choreographer, Madame Mia Michaels, as originally danced by some of the series' most beloved contestants (like Katee Shean, Twitch Boss, even Travis Wall). So the pressure was on. Anything less than total murderation would basically be unacceptable.

photo: Todd Oren / WireImageCongratulations, Spencer Pratt. You are officially no longer The Worst Reality TV Singer Of All Time. That (dis)honor now goes to MTV D-lister Farrah Abraham, of "Teen Mom" semi-fame, whose inappropriately titled debut single, "Finally Getting Up From Rock Bottom," puts her atop this list for 2012--and possibly in the recording hall of shame for life. Congratulations also go out to "Jersey Shore's" the Situation, because with the deserved addition of Farrah to this countdown, Sitch (who squeezed in at number 10 last year with his eponymous rap abomination, "The Situation") has been fist-pumped right off the list.