Adam

Wow, didn't expect that, congrats to Shayne, being ahead of Kylie is no mean feat! He has surpassed everyone's expectations - especially when he first came back with ITOWY!

This is really annoying me! Brenda wasn't in last years competition, and didn't win because the competition was much stronger in her year!

I don't agree with this, though. There's something fishy, ie it wouldn't surprise me if Simon had had words with Sharon but there's no way they would be as blatant as that, people would lose ALL faith in the show and it would become a joke.

I said quite clearly that Rhydian is nothing like Ray vocally, but in terms of the way I expect him to be promoted, he could be any one of Ray, Andy Abraham, Journey South, they won't market him right so for me he will be a pointless winner. As for the others you mention, they have made it off their own backs and won't have the reality tv tag to sting them a year down the line. If Rhydian wins and can come back with something special and different like Leona has done, I will take it back because I agree he is a spectacular vocalist. As for the result, it's completely ridiculous. Second time around, Beverley was sensational, second time around, Hope may as well have played the tape of the first time. Fair play if Beverley was the least votes, based on the first performance I'm not too surprised but why does Sharon play the 'deadlock is fair card now?'. It would have been used much better when the two acts in the bottom two were of a closer standard - for example Hope vs FutureProof who both showed potential at the time.

No because if anyone is going to be 'Ray Quinn mark two' it's Rhydian, not vocally, but they will release an album of covers straight away, release NO singles from it (unless he wins) and then a year down the line expect to do the same with yet ANOTHER album of covers and for it to sell well, which it won't, because he's from a reality show and, like G4, sales will decline despite being critically acclaimed. He is a quality vocalist BUT the relevance of an operatic singer doing covers from a reality tv show is zero zero zero a year down the line. I thought it was a QUALITY week. Beverley Undid all the good work last week, it was boring throughout and only the end saved it. Whoever compared her to Brenda is wrong in my book, Brenda never had a dull performance and I can't remember her hitting a bum note.. she'd make the final if she was in it this year, ahead of Beverley. It was good by normal standards but by tonight's, not good enough. Same Difference Wow, these kids are really rocking it! I didn't want them in the finals, now if they won I'd be ecstatic! SO glad they got the chance to show they are singers, because people see them bopping about each week and forget they are singing close to note perfect interpretations. Very strong big notes from both S&S Niki Beautiful acapella, a few notes were off and she still hasn't recreated the magic of 'Nothing Compared 2 U' but she did a solid job. Rhydian EASILY his strongest performance, it was truly sensational. Still don't like him, whoever said he was better than Leona is (again) wrong for me, she has so much more that's interesting to her voice, he's a powerhouse vocalist and not too much else. It was actually nice to have the Il Divo and Leona version of this to compare to (theirs I thought was far superior - but then that's also one of the best live vocals I have ever heard) Not 12/10 like everyone has been raving, but a solid 8 pr 9 Hope Wrong song choice, it was hardly a hit for Aguilera and though Pheobe tried her hardest, like Alisha it showed when she didn't attempt the big notes. They haven't got close to Back To Black again and I think they may go. Leon Woooooow. At the start I thought it was going to be terrible as I was not familar with the song and didn't think it particularly spectacular but it just grew and grew - and that vocal - amazing. A far more exciting vocal than Rhydian's in my opinion, if not as clean. Tonight 01. Same Difference 02. Leon 03. Rhydian 04. Niki 05. Beverley 06. Hope Overall 01. Leon 02. Niki 03. Same Difference 04. Beverley 05. Hope 06. Rhydian.

I love Estelle so much. I got The 18th Day on the day it was released, saw her to sign it and got a shout out from her at the concert that very day (it was pretty much dedicated to her!), and also saw her Electric Proms gig of the new material which was amazing!

Dude, no.9 is amazing, no? Barely any TV/Radio play from an X Factor winner of two years ago, he's surpassing expectations!

Agreed, you can't fake funny. And that she is. Not seen much of Biggins, but love Katie, Janice and Gemma best of all, most of the men are naff.

Mikey, I watch these forums more than I partake and you are a sound guy what with all the work you do but it bugs me sooooooo much that you seem NEVER to give Leon his due, it's always 'average, rubbish, dire' when the kid is doing some great performances - Fly Me To The Moon and Home showing great vocals and tonight's song showcasing a real performer. I know we all have our least favourites, mine being Rhydian, but I give him his due, 'Phantom of the Opera' was fantastically sung and well staged. I really hope one week you will appreciate Leon has a cracking voice! He's not even my favourite I just notice it week on week! ANYWAY! Leon - Relight My Fire What a change from the nervy Leon of the first two weeks. Confident, well sung and above all, performed, I really hope he gets through a few more weeks and does an absolute belter next week! Niki - Hot Stuff Choreography was a bit standard and boring but she looked very MILF and sounded much, much better than she did last week! I think it was a great song for her. Rhydian - Go West Last week was well sung, I found no pleasure in the vocal this week other than that it was all in tune and was strong. There was nothing spectacular about what he did, whatsoever. I think it was a vast downhill slide from Phantom. Almost laughable for me. Hope - Gimme Gimme Gimme I think Phoebe is getting a few too many harsh words. She wasn't incredible, certainly not as good as last week but she carried the vocal well. However I'm glad others noticed that the backing track contained 99% of the harmonies, I'd have loved someone to ask them do that acapella because I am starting to think they are all just singing the same basic tune. They didn't move brilliantly (bar Raquelle), choreography was all over the place and whenever they hug or hold hands no-one seems to hug Leah. I think there's tension and I think there's lack of talent and it makes me think it's all a bit fake. Considering Back To Black was the outstanding vocal of last week, too.. Beverley - I'm Every Woman I thought Bev had signed her own death sentence with this... but...back in the race! Alisha - Young Hearts Run Free I would not have picked this for her. Performers around her were weird and it seemed a bit dull.. first time around. For some reason, I thought the second time around was spectacular. Same Difference - Far from their best - what was Simon thinking?! But it showed their talent that they learned that overnight, what with easily the most and most difficult choreography of anyone. Tonight: 01. Beverley 02. Leon 03. Niki 04. Alisha (combined) 05. Same Difference 06. Hope 07. Rhydian Overall: 01. Niki 02. Leon 03. Beverley 04. Same Difference 05. Hope 06. Rhydian I thought the bottom two performances, Alisha absolutely shat on Hope, I really did. I thought Louis might at least have taken it to deadlock, Alisha is to me one of the nicest, most real performers and like someone said, the one I could have seen making records. I hope she comes back with something. Good luck to her.

Well I'd expect at least Pigeon Detectives and Hard-Fi to be doing pretty well if they are out now, so it is surprising.. As for this week, well done Leona on all counts, bit sad for Craig's album but at least he is outselling John Barrowman.

Unintentional (I assume) but quite funny! Slick, those aren't the actual choices though I think that song would be perfect for Niki! I hope Andy does Chasing Cars actually!

All this talk of a fix really annoys me - if he had the ability to do so we would not have seen a Shayne vs Andy final in the second series. Also, any shows with public votes are under such tight surveillance now, any sort of voting scam would potentially spell the end of the show and lord knows ITV don't need anymore bad voting publicity. Anyway if I was Simon I would want to win on merit and also not have a show winner that then goes on to sell pittance because, actually, no-one was voting for them after all. Also, if there was any of that going on, surely Louis or Kate would have spoken out about it when they got the axe?! It just couldn't happen, surely.. ANYWAY onto the show. Mikey you seem to have a real bias against Leon whatever he does! Up first tonight I thought he was incredible! Look at the change in one week, he took the advice about nerves and he absolutely smashed it. Futureproof, I'm glad someone brought up the choreography, I didn't like Simon claiming his acts had any less time this week. There wasn't too much special in the way of harmonising, it was good, not amazing. I thought Niki coped exceptionally well in a place outside her comfort zone and showed real character. I was with Sharon, left speechless at Rhydian. I don't like the Bassey version, this was worse and tacky. However the guy has exceptional vocal ability. Same Difference - enjoyable, but not as good as usual for me, I was surprised to see people saying they were improving, for me that was just carrying on where they left off, be good to see them try something different Alisha - definitely her best yet and a good choice of song but anyone is going to pale in comparison to the Amy vocal. I agree with JBM I think it was, though I really like her and her attitude, I don't know if she has the ability to hit the big notes and take the songs to climax. Hope - pretty good, weird song choice but good to hear them all singing. Leah particularly did a great vocal. Andy - the guy has a great voice and towards the end of the song he was exceptional but the song itself just didn't work for him. I hope next week he can do what Beverley and Alisha did this week and find the song for him, cause I think he's so much more than 'a pretty face' Beverley - performance of the series? 01. Beverley 02. Leon 03. Niki 04. Hope 05. Andy 06. Same Difference 07. Alisha 08. Futureproof 09. Rhydian. And overall: 01. Niki 02. Leon 03. Andy 04. Beverley 05. Same Difference 06. Alisha 07. Hope 08. Rhydian Right result from the final two I thought, Futureproof could have been exceptional with a Justin Timberlake song or something really contemporary somewhere along the line but they disappointed. They had two really excellent vocalists too. I hope Hope go soon though, they are not half as talented as some of those remaining.

Is there a winner on this or do they all just raise money? Fascinating viewing either way..

The Same Side 1- Something About You 52 Already Gone 12+

I know you won't do this if you don't like her but seeing Kate Nash live was one of my highlights of the year, she has SUCH talent, I've seen both Kate and Lily and though I enjoyed both, Nash far outshone Allen.

Bit nervy seeing United and Chelsea knocking in all those goals but if we can get seven in a Champions League game I believe we are good enough to beat Liverpool and carry on the good lead we have at the moment. Surprised City didn't put up more of a fight.. considering they are above Chelsea anyway.... (are? were?...are.)

I think this song is absolutely quality, his vocal reminds me a bit of the lead singer of Passenger, while the song reminds me of the Feeling. Great stuff as both the others I mentioned are fantastic too!

There was a single for it, it had a little crocodile on the front drawn as usual by dear Dockers :D I am a MASSIVE KN fan, but I didn't know Pumpkin Soup was the next single. I am gutted. Merry Happy/Mariella :( :(

The Same Side 7- Something About You 47 Already Gone 11+

I thought this was a terrible choice til I saw the video.. love it now but would have preferred 'By The Monument' or 'A Fortnight's Time'

I listened to the album and thought it was okay, not overly impressed, however the fact I can't remember this song from it and now really like it gives me hope that maybe I wasn't paying enough attention. Really liking this and Take Her Back!

Cheers mate! I hope I'll have fun here! I must say though my prediction for final three before the lives started appears to be well off. I said Daniel, Emily and Andy. Beginning to doubt if any of them will make it that far. Would not be surprised if it was as Mikey says, Hope, Rhydian and Niki. And as for Dermot, last week I was not impressed at all but I thought he was great this evening!

I think Beverley is great, don't get me wrong. I would give her seven out of ten but that was not as good as she did in the other stages for me. I think I would have appreciated it more if it had been the first non-Whitney performance I had heard of it. However, ultimately I agreed with Simon, having heard Leona and a million other reality show stars sing it, it was far from the best perfomance of that song I have heard. And I don't think Rhydian should change and be a popstar, and of course there is nothing wrong with Broadway BUT I just think if he won this show it would be the same old Il Divo/Ray Quinn story. He would get an album out there, no singles, then a year later he would be back with another album of the same stuff and Cowell will expect it to sell just as well. Andy Abraham and Journey South have proved this is not the case so unless Simon is going to make a star out of him with Broadway shows coinciding with single releases then for me it seems pointless voting him in as the winner. I think he will be better off not winning and going the Brenda route straight into the West End. All that plus I still can't stand him despite his obvious talent.

I really have to disagree with this, Andy is one of the people who has really gone out to change week on week. He went from 'stand with microphone and make the audience believe it' last week to 'work the whole stage, incorporating dance' this week. I think his vocals are some of the best on the show, he has an immense warmth to his voice which, to be fair, was showcased better last week but I think to put the voters down to his looks is disrespectful. I am not naive enough to suggest that no-one is voting for him for that reason, of course the young girls are, but Daniel's 'PS. We Love You' on Xtra Factor was made up of people saying how good looking he was - and it didn't help him, now did it? I actually joined up to argue with that :unsure: Geek! Anyway, now I'm here, my opinion from best to worst: 01. Niki 02. Same Difference (though it pains me to say it) 03. Andy 04. Leon (I can't see the fault, he sang my favourite song of all time and did a good job, far better than Westlife) 05. Futureproof 06. Hope 07. Beverley 08. Rhydian (excellent but as a theatrical performance not as a pop star) 09. Alisha 10. Emily 11. Daniel