Chenai was born and raised in her current home town of Bradford on the 1st of June 1986, making her 19 years of age.

Chenai’s dad is from Zimbabwe and her mother is English, Chenai lives with her mother and three half brothers.

Chenai’s love of music and singing started at a very young age and she lists her biggest influences as Betty Wright, Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey and Funky House.

Chenai entered The X Factor last year and made it as far as Sharons bootcamp before getting sent home in tears. This year however all three judges were in agreement that Chenai had improved massively in the last 12 months and she breezed through the early stages of the competition before being chosen by Louis Walsh to be one of his four acts to compete in the live finals.

Chenai’s songs so far have been:

Week 3 : Hero by Mariah carey
Week 2: Young Hearts Run Free by Candi Staton
Week 1: Closest Thing To Crazy by Katie Melua

Jessica, Ralph and Michael return to the dorms, where they find a chilled bottle of champagne waiting for a celebration of making the final three. Jessica’s confidence is growing, having avoiding the last two eliminations. At 3:22am, the contestants finally drag themselves to bed. Less than thirty minutes later, Michael gets a call from Chef Ramsay. He says there’s an emergency and he needs the chefs in their gear and in the kitchen straight away. Michael tries to rouse Ralph and Jessica, with no luck. Sous Chef Scott finally comes in and barks at them to get ready.
Once in the kitchen, Chef Ramsay has two pieces of news for them. One, they’ll be open for dinner that night, the first time they’ll have two service nights in a row. Two, their baker can’t come through for the service, so they’ll have to bake their own bread. At 5:12am, Ralph and Michael are kneading dough, but Jessica lays down for a quick nap. Seeing that she’s still tipsy, Michael and Ralph send her back to bed. By 8am the bread is done and the chefs are in bed. But two hours of sleep is all they’re going to get. Sous Chef Maryann calls the chefs to the kitchen.

Chef Ramsay is waiting for them with big news. They each have to create a new dish that reflects their cooking and their personalities. The customers will decide which dish they prefer, determining the chefs’ fates. Then it’s time for a new challenge. Soufflés. After Chef Ramsay gives a quick primer on making soufflés, he shows the chefs a tray of ingredients. Fruits. Jams. Chocolates. They now have ten minutes to make the perfect soufflé. Time runs up and Jessica hands over a mint and raspberry number. Ralph used chocolate, hazelnut and mint. And Michael used raspberry and chocolate. Chef Ramsay puts the three soufflés into the oven for fifteen minutes.

Jessica’s comes out looking spongy and, after a taste, Chef Ramsay laughs and pronounces it the worst he’s ever tasted. Chef Ramsay likes the flavor of Ralph’s, but tells him it needed more egg whites to lift the soufflé. And Michael’s needs more sugar. Chef Ramsay declares Ralph the winner, his first challenge win in over a month. For his reward, tonight Ralph will be allowed to choose between beef, chicken or tuna to make his personal dish. Those are the three ingredients for tonight’s service and Ralph gets first choice. Ralph chooses beef, Michael goes with tuna and Jessica is left with chicken.

The chefs get to work on taking stock of the kitchen’s ingredients to plan their dish for the night. Michael and Ralph are pretty certain about what they’re going to make, but Jessica has no idea what to do with her chicken. She decides to pound it out, stuff it with goat cheese and roll it with prosciutto.

After a hard day of work, it’s now 6pm. Chef Ramsay brings the team together to tell them that the diners’ reviews of the main courses and each chef performance in the kitchen tonight will determine who goes home tonight. At 7pm, the first customers begin filing in. Orders start coming in for Ralph’s filet mignon, Michael’s sesame-crusted tuna and Jessica’s stuffed chicken. But the chefs also have to prepare the starters and desserts. What’s more, they have no idea that Chef Ramsay secretly invited each contestant’s family to the restaurant tonight.

Thirty minutes into service, it’s time for the first main courses to go out. The first ticket gets held up when Jessica needs an extra minute to finish her chicken. Actually, she needs two minutes. Ralph puts his main course in a holding pattern. The family tickets come in and Chef Ramsay tell the chef they have VIP orders. One hour into service, the main courses are going out. One table gives the filet and chicken a rave review, but the tuna falls flat. Back in the kitchen, communication is much improved. Each chef is calling out wait times for their dishes. But with dessert orders coming in, Jessica is struggling to do both desserts and chickens.

Meanwhile, the VIP courses are going out. Each table is having one of each entrée, without knowing who prepared what. Jessica is still struggling to finish off desserts, while Michael and Ralph are firing out main courses. Jessica begins falling to pieces as she plates a soufflé. She tells Michael and Ralph that they won’t complete tonight’s service if she doesn’t get some help. Jessica sends two soufflés up to the hot plate, but they look so shabby, Chef Ramsay refuses to send them. Desperate, Jessica begs Michael to take over desserts, and when he can’t, she asks Chef Ramsay for help. Jean Philippe intervenes to calm Jessica down. But she still can’t get it together.

It’s almost 10pm and Chef Ramsay announces that they have three tickets left. Michael and Ralph bang the last entrees out. With all tables served, Ralph’s filet received 42 orders, Jessica’s chicken landed 34, and Michael’s tuna only received 26. With only three tables’ worth of desserts left for the night, Michael and Ralph pitch in on Jessica’s dessert section. Finally, the last soufflé goes out and the evening’s service is completed for the first time. Chef Ramsay pulls the team together and let him know how incredibly proud he is of the work they did tonight, particularly on such little sleep.

After a break, the chefs return to the kitchen to face Chef Ramsay. And he has a surprise for them. Their families. Chef Ramsay then tells the chefs that the families will be determining who had the best dish tonight. Ralph’s family goes first, and all three vote for Michael’s tuna. Jessica’s family is next, and they give one vote to each dish. Lastly is Michael’s family, and they have two votes for filet, one for tuna. The final tally is 5 votes for tuna, 3 for filet and 1 for chicken. And with that, Chef Ramsay tells Jessica that her time in Hell’s Kitchen has come to an end. With encouraging words and a big hug, he sends her on her way.

And then there were two.

SOURCE

I read an article in The Sunday Times today called ‘The Cowell and the pussycat‘

I would recommend it as a great read for any Simon Cowell fan as itgives a great insight into the workings of Simons mind and an overview of his daily life.

There have been a few articles in the press this week claiming that Simon Cowell and Louis Walsh are bullies and often pick on fellow judge Sharon Osbourne, almost causing her to leave the show.

During Saturday nights X factor show Sharon took the opportunity to set the record straight and tell all 8 milion viewers that Simon and Louis were not bullies at all but were in fact absolute pussycats.

Mr Nasty aka Simon Cowell mustn’t be used to people defending him or saying nice things about him as he was overjoyed by Sharon’s comments and proceeded to throw her backwards and plant his lips on hers. It was quite a smooch and surprisingly Sharon looked thrilled with the kiss though I’m not sure Ozzy will be!

ZOE BALL and IAN WAITE Jived to the trackPart Time Lover. “I think you were going to become a one-week wonder… but to me you’ve come back to form,” said Len. “I liked the cheekiness of it very much,” agreed Bruno. “It lacked a lot of attack,” disagreed Craig.

Votes: Craig: 7, Arlene: 6, Len: 8, Bruno: 8 = 29

BILL TURNBALL AND KAREN HARDY performed the first Tango to Perhaps. Perhaps, Perhaps. Craig commented: “It was all very camp and passive… I would say ‘perhaps not.’” “That was the least like a tango than I’ve ever seen,” agreed Arlene.

Votes: Craig: 4, Arlene: 5, Len: 6, Bruno: 5 = 20

DENNIS TAYLOR and IZABELA HANNAH jived to the Jailhouse Rock “It was the rooster and the ladybird this week, and what a confident rooster!” said Bruno, but he added that it was more Rock ‘n’ Roll than Jive.

Votes: Craig: 4, Arlene: 6, Len: 6, Bruno: 6 = 20

PATSY PALMER and ANTON DU BEKE impressed all three judges with their Tango to Una Musica Brutal. Bruno loved it: “A drama queen and one of the best ones… You acted the dance.” “It was a true Tango,” gushed Arlene. “Real passion; I thought they’d actually fallen for each other!”

Votes: Craig: 8, Arlene: 9, Len: 9, Bruno: 9 = 35

WILL THORP and HANNA HAARALA, jived to Man! I Feel Like A Woman. “Will, you were just behind the beat,” said Arlene, “This beautiful torso you’re showing off, you’re not using it!”

Votes: Craig: 6, Arlene: 5, Len: 7, Bruno: 7 = 25

COLIN JACKS0N and ERIN BOAG, Tango’d to Ride It. “You’re not actors - there was no passion or aggression… you walked across the floor,” said Len. Craig disagreed: “I thought it was alright to be honest.” “It was Robocop,” argued Bruno.

Votes: Craig: 7, Arlene: 5, Len: 8, Bruno: 7 = 26

GLORIA HUNNIFORD and DARREN BENNETT performed their Jive to Build Me Up Buttercup. Bruno said: “The lady and the toy boy!” he said. “You’re one of the couples that when we watch you it makes us happy,” said Len

Votes: Craig: 3, Arlene: 4, Len: 6, Bruno: 6 = 19

JAMES MARTIN and CAMILLA DALLERUP Tango’d to Mein Herr. “Sometimes you looked like a murderer… you didn’t pitch it as good as in previous weeks,” said Bruno. “It was a really brave routine, and I encourage freedom of expression,” Craig disagreed.

Votes: Craig: 6, Arlene: 7, Len: 8, Bruno: 7 = 28

FIONA PHILLIPS and BRENDAN COLE once again failed to impress the judges as they jived to Hit The Road Jack “You lack confidence. You need Paul McKenna,” said Arlene. Bruno was more supportive saing: “Never stop believing - there was a glimmer of talent exploding tonight… build on that.”

Votes: Craig: 2, Arlene: 4, Len: 5, Bruno: 5 = 16

DARREN GOUGH and LILIA KOPYLOVA performed their Tango to From Russia With Love. “He’s the Yorkshire Valentino tonight,” said Bruno. “You seem in total control of the dance,” agreed Len. “Masculine, powerful and very strong,” said Craig.

Votes: Craig: 8, Arlene: 9, Len: 8, Bruno: 8 = 33

The competition is hotting up as each week another couple are asked to leave the show, the remainder just get better and better!

This week it looked like Fiona Phillips and partner Brendan Cole may not make it through as they faced harsh criticism from the judges, but surprisingly they squezzed through leaving Gloria Hunniford and Darren Bennett in the bottom two acts with Will Thorp and Hanna Haarala.

Even a good luck message from her pal Cliff Richard wasn’t enough to win Gloria enough votes and in the end it was announced that Gloria and Darren would be leaving the competition.

“It’s been life changing. I’ve had a ball and I’ve lost a bit of weight,” said Gloria.

Darren had nothing but praise for his partner: “Gloria has been very competitive with herself… She’s done fantastic!” he said.

Not only did the X Factor walk away with a National Television Award for best entertainment show this week but Strictly Come Dancing also lost out to the X Factor in the ratings battle once more this Saturday night.

X Factor averaged 8.2 million viewers throughout its show and peaked at 9.2 million, while Strictly Come Dancing averaged at 7.6 million and the figure actually dropped to 6.9 million for its result show which saw Gloria Hunniford being voted out.

Well it wasn’t unexpected but it’s sad all the same. Tonight we have just said goodbye to Phillip Magee from X Factor 2005.

Phillip is a fellow Irish man (well I’m not a man but you know what I mean!)and I would have loved to see him get further in the contest, but it was obvious from the start that it wasn’t to be. He is talented, but not entirely comfortable on stage. He also has no idea of what the record buying public want to hear…I’ll give you a hint…it’s not ‘Johnny Be Good’

Whoever wins this years X Factor has to be marketable and be able to sing and perform songs that are popular with the public now, not 30 years ago.

Hopefully this isn’t the end for Phillip, he may be able to maintain a successful career locally, but I just don’t see him ever hitting the global stage.

Tonights show was amazing, with most of the contestants performing brilliantly. I found it really hard to compile tonights chart. I really loved some of the acts that have ended up in the middle and nearer the end of the list, but the top three were just phenomenal tonight and in a league of their own!

1. Maria Lawson: When I heard Maria was tackling this song (Take Another Little Piece of My Heart) I wondered if she could pull it off, but tonight Maria was phenomenal! I thought she performed with spirit and soul and really made me believe that she meant every word she sang. She started the performance with such gusto and just got better and better.
2. Andy Abraham: As Simon said Andy’s performance was smooth and authentic. His vocals were like velvet and a joy to listen too. He looked like he belonged on the stage and was 100% comfortable with his song choice this week.
3. Brenda Edwards: The mother of two shone once more tonight. Singing the Gladys Knight classic ‘Midnight Train to Georgia’ as if it was written for her, Brenda wowed the judges tonight and is winning Simon over more and more as each week passes. She also looked a million dollars in her pinstriped waistcoat and trousers, she has completely transformed from when we saw her in her first audition.
4. Journey South: Each week the boys from Journey South move further and further away from the pubs and clubs act that we saw at the beginning of the competition. They sang U2’s Angel of Harlem brilliantly, and are looking more and more at ease on stage each week.
5. Nicholas Dorsett: I thought Nicholas’ performance this week was excellent for such a young singer. He has a fantastic voice and shows no sign of nervousness on stage. I think however he lacks the wow factor of some of the older performers though I expect that would come with more performing experience.
6. The Conway Sisters: I thought the power ballad ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’ would be too much for them and a bit too cheesy. I was wrong about the cheesiness. They performed this song well and it wasn’t as karaoke like as I’d expected. However as Simon said, the vocals were weak at parts in the middle of the song and though it was a good performance they will have to up their efforts if they want to survive against the likes of Brenda and Maria.
7. Chico Slimani: Sharon said it was as if this song was written for Chico and she was right. His vocals were weak and the song was at risk of being a bit cliched but Chico pulled the whole thing off. He has plenty of stage presence and is certainly entertaining. He isn’t the best singer, but he certainly livens things up!
8. Chenai Zinyuku: I felt like Chenai meant every word of Mariah Carey’s ‘Hero’ tonight and her performance had plenty of passion and soul. But Simon was right to point out that there were some bum notes and the performance for me wasn’t spectacular.
9. Shayne Ward: I love Shayne and think he has a great chance of winning the X Factor but from the minute I heard he was doing this song (Summer of 69) I knew he was in trouble! It’s just too rocky for him and his voice isn’t gruff or gravelly enough. Louios should have let him do the Darkness song that he preferred. It wasn’t a bad performance, he was in tune, but it seeemd a bit empty and cold. He needs to work hard next week to find a song that really showcases his talent.
10. Phillip Magee: I actually really like Phillip, he has such a nice nature and seems to be a genuinely nice fella with a cheeky smile. Phillip was 100 times better this week than last. His performance of ‘Johnny Be Good’ was much more confident than any of his previous songs. But I still just don’t think he can compare with the other 9 acts. I will be surprised if he makes it through the next 2 weeks.

So do you agree with our choices, let us know by leaving a comment on this post or check out the X Factor Chart thread on our forum. We’d love to hear from you avid fans!

I just heard Shayne on the Xtra Factor behind the scenes show doing a sound check for the Bryan Adams track ‘Summer of 69′ which he will be performing tomorrow night and I’m not overly impressed! As Mark Hudson said to Ben Shephard he just doesn’t have a gruff enough voice for this track.

Personally I think it sounds a bit like a choir boy trying to rock. Louis should have allowed Shayne to go with his instincts and sing The Darkness “I believe in a thing called love”. Its a bit different, not such a safe choice and would have suited his voice much more. After last weeks disasterous song choice for Phillip Magee I am beginning to wonder if Louis is in touch with what the public want at all!!

I read an article with this title yesterday and got very excited about the who, where and why of the whole story. I wanted to know what men were involved in the orgy and, as long as it wasn’t Chico, how I could become involved.

However its not as exciting as it sounds, apparently a few crew members became concerned when they saw two of the men leaving the girls room half naked and called the producers who have imposed an X Factor sex ban. It emerged the next day that the boys had merely swapped rooms with the girls and nothing untoward was going on.

Ah well better luck next time!

Louis Walsh has revealed that he would not be above voting one of his own acts out of the competition if he didn’t think they were performing well enough.

Louis wasn’t impressed by Phillip Magees performance this week and told The Sun that If he doesn’t improve on Saturday I’m going to vote him out myself.

“He’s not listening – and if they don’t listen they go the old Ronan Keating route.

“I’m going to let Phillip do rock ‘n’ roll on Saturday, like he wants, so we’ll see how he does.”

Louis added: “I think any of my acts can win and Shane is going to be a really big star win or lose.

“I also love Maria and Andy in Sharon’s group and Simon’s Journey South.�

Simon Cowell is still very confident that one of his acts will win this years X Factor, despite the fact that 2 of his acts have already been voted out.

He has also surprised fans by claiming that he was not a victim of tactical voting by Sharon Osbourne and Louis Walsh.

He said: “If anyone was going to be complaining it should be me but I’m not complaining. I was disappointed at 4Tune because they didn’t deserve to go but everyone forgets it’s the public who put the acts in the bottom two.”

According to RTE Simon Cowell is set to change ‘The X Factor’ rules in an attempt to stop his acts being booted out.

In the last two weeks Simon’s protégé’s have been the ones to leave the competition so to even things up a bit this week we willl see a change in the rules.

The change itself is being kept top secret until Saturday night but Cowell says it will make the eviction process appear a lot fairer.

Last nights Xtra Factor 24/7 saw Phillip facing up to the fact that if he doesn’t raise his game on this weeks live show he could well be following 4Tune and Addictiv Ladies out of the competition.

Lets hope that Louis’ song choice of ‘Johnny Be Good’ allows him to showcase his talent more than last weeks crooning version of ‘Wind Beneath My Wings’.