The X Factor - Week Seven

With Louis allegedly quitting the show earlier in the week, he decided to come back, but said Simon slagging him off had really got to him, but came back for his one remaining act, Shayne. So that was all a flash in the pan, and apparently not a publicity stunt. Honest.

Back to the acts (as opposed to the judges egos,which do have a tendency to get in the way) and it Was Chico up first this week He performed Billie Jean and, as usual, his vocals were a bit dodgy but his dancing and performing (with another child) made it a good show and possibly was enough to carry him through. Simon didn't like it, and called it a bad impersonation of Michael Jackson, but generally everyone else liked it.

Next was The Conway Sisters, who have to know that they were strong contenders for the bottom two before they even started. By performing their most upbeat song yet, Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now and being out of tune at the beginning was not a good way to prove the critics wrong. Louis was diplomatic and wished them luck without alluding to the bad notes and it was only Simon who broke the news to them that their performance was probably not good enough to get them through. The third act was Andy who unfortunately missed his cue which possibly put him off a bit at the beginning. I was not particularly inspired by the song, I Have Nothing, which was a Whitney Huston number but he managed to pull it back and belted it out come the end. Simon claimed he was struggling, and he had a point when he said it was not Andy's best performance. Pschophantic Louis sucked up as ever and offered nothing constructive.

Next up was Shayne attempting a rockier number for a change, with The Darkness' I Believe in a Thing Called Love, which I am guessing was chosen as he can show off his range and reach lots of high notes. It was crap. To his credit he did try and make it his own and put his mark on it, but it was definitely his worst effort by far. It was not out of tune but it was just wrong, although the judges liked it. He was followed by Brenda singing another Whitney song (or Dolly Parton song if you prefer), I Will Always Love You, which I feared at times could be too big for her, but in the end she did it brilliantly and I preferred her version to Whitney's and all the judges loved it too.

Journey South ended the show with a fabulous version of U2's I Still Haven't Found What I Am Looking For, which was appreciated by judges, studio audience and me alike.

The bottom two were the Conways and Chico, which was no surprise and no one can predict how Louis (the only judge with no act in the bottom two) would cast the deciding vote. This was not necessary in the end, as Simon chose to send his own act home, as he felt Chico, although not good, was more entertaining than the Conway Sisters.