X Factor USA: Baseball Rain Delay Cuts Show In Half; Top 16 Episode to Air Tuesday to Rival 'The Voice'

Mother Nature has thrown Simon Cowell and "The X Factor USA" fans a major curve ball.

On Wednesday, Oct. 17, Fox abruptly yanked "The X Factor's" Top 16 mid-episode and switched to game three of the National League Championship Series because a rain delay caused the game to run longer than scheduled.

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The extended game time cut into the two hours scheduled for "The X Factor." This caused the network to cut the show earlier than planned on the East Coast. On the West Coast, Fox aired a repeat of last Thursday's episode instead of repeating the mistake they made on the East - airing only half of this week's episode. The move even shocked the show's creator, Simon Cowell.

"Have no idea what is happening to the schedule tonight," Cowell tweeted. "Have heard the whole episode will be shown next Tuesday. Sorry. It what's known as a total f up," Cowell added.

Fox issued a statement on the scheduling fiasco:

"Due to tonight's rain delay of Game #3 of the National League Championship Series, the highly anticipated conclusion of the "Judges' Homes" round of 'The X Factor' will air in its entirety on Tuesday, Oct. 23 (8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. The competition kicks into high gear on Tuesday, when the judges reveal which four acts in each of the four categories - Teens, Young Adults, Groups and Over 25s - continue and which two acts are eliminated."

The reason for Cowell's online rant: "The X Factor" Top 16 episode will air at the same as the show's biggest rival, "The Voice." 

The Top 16 episode that aired and was cut on Wednesday showed judges' picks in their homes, the final four picks out of six contestants each.

But only 10 contestants out of the final 16 made it to the screen before Fox pulled "The X Factor" to resume the NLCS Game 3 between the San Francisco Giants and the St. Louis Cardinals. 

Here's the partial list of who made the cut by team:

Team Britney Spears, the Teens
Diamond White
Carly Rose Sonenclar
Arin Ray
Beatrice Miller

Team LA Reid, the Over 25s
David Correy
Jason Brock
Tate Stevens
Vino Alan

Team Demi Lovato, the Young Adults
Jennel Garcia
Willie Jones

The episode will air in its entirety on Fox on Tuesday, October 23 at 8pm.