The X Factor

After what seemed like eight months, we finally reached the live stages of The X Factor last night. Things got off to a seemingly dodgy start when Dermot O'Leary seemingly gave the audience a Nazi salute, but improved exponentially when Cheryl Cole appeared sporting the sexiest, shiniest, black PVC jeans ever seen on network television.

On to the acts!

Girlband - as generic as their name suggests I can't seem them getting very far and, indeed, they ended up in the bottom two last night. They have one decent singer, but the trouble is that she shows just how poor the others are. The harmonies aren't too bad though - 3/5

Austin Drage - bland singer, instantly forgettable, but the judges seemed to like him - 2/5

Daniel Evans - got to the finals because of his sob story. Simon was right to say he's just a pub singer but he's likeable enough. Won't win anything though - 3/5

Alexandra Burke - now we're talking (well, singing). This girl can actually sing and does so very well. A great performance and she already looks, acts and sings like a pro - 5/5



JLS - another generic band, this time a four-guy R&B combo. I have little time for R&B and while they seemd fine technically, I'm never going to have much interest in them - 4/5

Scott Bruton - the most woeful performance of the evening and, perhaps, in the history of the live shows. Simon Cowell picked the wrong song with disastrous results and much embarassment all round, even from Simon himself. The public took pity on him though and sent him through to next week. I would have ditched him, personally - 1/5

Rachel Hylton - her makeover's made her look like a butch Rihanna and Dannii Minogue's song choice was almost as dire as Simon Cowell's above, but the girl does have potential as evidenced by her first audition and a great stage presence. Let's hope next week is better - 2/5

Diana Vickers - I adore this girl and absolutely want her to win. She has a very unusual voice for The X Factor, but both it and the girl it comes from are beautiful - 5/5



Bad Lashes - poor girl band, worse than Girlband and no surprise they ended up in the bottom two, subsequently going home. They looked good, but had no vocal talent at all. Might possibly have survived had they not wheeled out that dreadful Wonderwall cover from the previous week at the end - 2/5

Eoghan Quigg - again, nothing to interest me here. He's a competent young singer, but his voice is a bit weak. Not much power behind it. I don't really like solo male singers anyway - 3/5

Ruth Lorenzo - good performance, but I hope she doesn't start every song, every week in Spanish. That was a good twist the first time, but it's becoming a bit tiresome now - 3/5

Laura White - over at the Guardian blogs last week, I predicted that Laura would win this, and on the strentgh of her truly phenomenal performance last night, she must surely be the favourite. Staggeringly good. I want Diana to win, but if this girl wins instead I will be more than happy - 5/5



Heh, I'm sittting here watching that clip and getting all teary. Sap!

Overall, it's quite clear that The X Factor is Cheryl's to lose. She has far and away the best singers in Alexandra, Diana and Laura and it will be a major shock if all of them aren't there on final night in December.