If this article in the Scotsman is aything to go by, those of us who didn’t manage to get tickets for the X Factor tour aren’t missing much.

The journalist claims that runner up Nicholas Dorsett and Philip Magee “floundered in the spotlight”, while “an audible groan greeted the arrival of the Conway Sisters”

Even the finale with all 8 of the X Factor finalists failed to impress him and was described as “an anaemic, anticlimactic rendition of You’ve Got A Friend”

Thankfully though not everyone was a let down. Andy Abraham was described as “a class act, despite having to compete with two fake candelabras and an unintentionally comical interpretative dance routine during his version of Stevie Wonder’s Lately.”

If anyone else out there has seen the show we’d love to know what you thought!

X-Factor rejects the Conway Sisters took a swipe at their mentor Simon Cowell today after his vote booted them off the show

Marie Conway, 22, told a news conference today that it was “plain to be seen” that Simon had not provided them with as much support as he could have.

“He didn’t really know what to do with us as a band.

“He was completely lost. It was a relief to him that we decided to choose our own songs.”

But she added: “Obviously, we’re a bit upset, but we felt it was our week to go.

“We’ve been in the bottom two for the past few weeks and we weren’t getting a huge amount of support from our mentor.”

If I were in the girls place I would be very careful. Simon Cowell is a bad enemy to make if you want to succeed in the music business!

Well, tonight was the night the inevitable happened. The Chipmunks Conway Sisters got axed from tonight’s X Factor.

This wasn’t totally unexpected. Fans have been baying for their blood since the Maria Lawson scandal a couple of weeks ago. The girls were never going to win the X Factor competition. They chose safe and unimpressive songs, didn’t display much by way of personality, and worst of all sounded like they were on helium some of the time.

I’m not knocking the girls. I’m not knocking Irish acts (although I gave Phillip McGee a bit of a beating, too). I actually felt a bit sad for them and their father as I watched the playback of their X Factor ‘best bits’.

But the fact remains, like Nicholas Dorsett last week, they weren’t improving. They weren’t raising their game to win. Look at how much Journey South have improved in the last few weeks. That’s the winning attitude. Those guys went from being middle-of-the-road to being in our Top 2 acts two weeks running.

Anyway, on a final note, I’m pleased that Simon Cowell – as always – was frank and honest with his act and didn’t put the Conways through at Chico’s expense. Will Chico win? I don’t know, stranger things have happened.

Tonights show was a real mixed bag. There are a few acts that blew my socks off and a few that in my opnion don’t deserve to be there. Lets go

1. Brenda Edwards: Excellent performance once again. I thought Sharon had made a huge mistake in giving Brenda this song as it will always be remembered as a Whitney Classic, but tonight while listening to Brenda sing “I Will Always Love You” I didn’t think of Whitney once. Simon thinks that it was Brendas best performance so far and also thinks that she will be one of the two acts in this years X Factor final. Lets hope so, she is consistent in her brilliance week after week, she deserves to win this!
2. Journey South:: The boys sang “Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” a U2 classic, yet they added a few twists and deviations and made it their own. By doing this they ensure that they aren’t just seen as a pub rock band but as a credible act who add their own personality to any track and sell it as their own.Sharon Louois and Simon all sang the boy’s praises, with no criticisms to be heard at all!
3. Andy Abraham: No one could help but feel sorry for Andy tonight as he messed up the start of his song. Andy sang “I Have Nothing” by Whitney Houston and has felt nervous about singing the track all week. The nerves obviously got the better of him tonight, but what i admired was the way he pulled it around. The first verse was a bit weak and he fluffed the lyrics a few times, but as the song went on he grew in confidence and by the end the old Andy magic was back. Simon thought it wasn’t his best performance, on the other side of the coin Louis was a bit gushing with his praise. Simon was right, it wasn’t Andy’s strongest hour, but talent like Andy’s will always shine through and it certainly did tonight.
4. Shayne Ward: Shayne took a gamble tonight by singing The Darkness track “I Believe In A Thing Called Love” but it definately suited his voice. Vocally Shayne was magnificent, he was note perfect and his vocal range was incredibly impressive. However, he seemed to lack the energy and passion that a song like this requires. There was very little life about his performance, very little movement on stage. If he was going to take on a song like this he should have been bouncing about playing air guitar instead of trying to woo girls in the front row. If we could have combined the Conways energy with Shaynes vocals it would have made for an almost perfect performance.
5. The Conway Sisters: Simon said their performance wasn’t good enough to get them through to next week. He said he believed they would be out-sung and I believe that happened tonight. The girl’s performance of “Nothings Gonna Stop Us Now” was good, a bit weak vocally at certain points and the tuning was slightly off at times. They had loads of energy and emotion though and certainly looked like they meant every word they sang. It wasn’t a bad performance, but it wasn’t a great one. I felt it was instantly forgettable.
6. Chico Slimani:His version of “Billie Jean” was entertaining but not impressive. He used a kid in his performance for the third week runnning, and I am beginning to think that people are voting for the kids and not him. The little boy was certainly talented and very very cute, but it wasn’t enough to make Chico’s performance good enough for him still to be in this show.

I think this week it is time to say goodbye to Chico or The Comway Sisters.

Journey South: Still Haven’t Found What I’m looking For by U2
Chico Slimani: Billie Jean by Michael Jackson
Shayne Ward: I Believe In A Thing Called Love by The Darkness
Brenda Edwards: I Will Always Love You by Whitney Houston
The Conway Sisters: Nothings Gonna Stop Us Now by Starship
Andy Abraham: I Have Nothing by Whitney Houston

All classic songs, all safe choices. With the exception of Andy. I think he is very brave to take on a Whitney song, especially as he has had to attend the doctor about problems with his voice this week.

It would seem that rather than being grateful and glad to still have a place in the X Factor competition, The Conway Sisters are bearing grudges against all three judges.

They are upset with Louis for changing his mind about keeping them in the competition. He said on GMTV yesterday “It was the most difficult decision, I think, probably of my life. Maybe I made the wrong decision, I don’t know. I now have to say maybe I did.”

He added: “It absolutely broke my heart afterwards with Maria if I’m really honest with you. I didn’t sleep much.”

They are also furious with Simon Cowell their mentor for telling The Mirror that he had made “the wrong decision”, and “They don’t have a chance of winning. Their father Kieran said”I’m surprised and shocked that he said that but Simon is Simon. It’s his opinion and it’s not him that’s voting for them to stay. But it doesn’t sound good for the girls’ chances next week.”

And lastly the girls and their family were angered by Sharons comments about the Irish Mafia. The girls father Kieran is demading an apology from Sharon and told The Sun “I was incensed when Sharon used the phrase Irish Mafia because that smacks of corruption. It was a slur on the show and a slur on the Irish and it was nasty. I would like to have an apology from her.”

The girls have had a hard week, and everyone seems out to get them. However I would have thought a better approach would be to remain dignified and concentrate on wowing the public this week instead of bitching and blaming to anyone who will listen!

Who’s sorry now, Messrs Cowell and Walsh?

It seems cold, harsh reality has hit X Factor public enemies #1 and #2. As Tabby reported earlier, Simon Cowell has had a change of heart about voting for the Conway Sisters.

Well, it seems Louis Walsh is back on his medication and is kicking himself for supporting the Conway Sisters, in no small part because they haven’t actually bothered to thank him for his intervention!

The Conways didn’t need the bad press that they got on last week’s show. In some ways, I’m expecting ‘Mariagate’ to speed up the departure of the girl group.

The Conway Sisters are not good enough to win this competition. Maria was in my top 4 contestants I would have tipped to win. So, do the maths folks – expect the Irish pop pixies to be exiting stage right this Saturday night. They’re going to be up against one helluva hostile audience…

When interviewed after leaving the X Factor competition Maria admitted “Everyone knows what happened. It was obvious. I have been the victim of what Sharon called the Irish Mafia. I guess that was quite shocking but the girls are still there because they’re Irish.”

But Irishman Louis hit back saying: “It’s not because I know them or they’re Irish.

“I could only judge on Saturday night’s performance.”

According to a Mirror Exclusive Simon Cowell admitted only 5 minutes after the end of the X factor show last week that he already regretted sending Maria home.

Simon Cowell confessed: “I made the wrong decision. If I’d have had five minutes more to think about it, I would have sent The Conway Sisters home.

“I acted out of loyalty, but this show is about talent. Maria should have stayed. The Conways don’t have a chance of winning this competition.”

Its a bit late now isn’t it Simon!

I found this picture of The Conway Sisters while browsing and almost fell off my chair laughing. I have a few of these embarrassing family pictures myself, but thankfully they will never again see the light of day.

The Conway Sisters have definately come a long way since that snapshot, their stylist must be worth her weight in gold!

The X Factor brought a mixed bag of performances tonight. Louis picked better songs for his acts and Simon didn’t pick any, with his 2 remaining acts preferring to choose their own tracks.

Once again here’s our chart for this week

1. Andy Abraham: Andys performance tonight was outstanding. He proved that he can move between decades and genres effortlessly and sing any song that he is given. Andy has the power to make me believe every word he sings. I really believed tonight when watching him on stage that Andy was going to take me to bed and make love to me like I wanted him to! If only!
2. Journey South: You will have noticed that until this point Journey South have always been placed in the middle of our weekly chart. I liked them but was not wholly excited by them. When i heard they were doing ‘Living on a prayer’ by Bon Jovi I almost yawned. I anticipated another pub band performance, but I hold my hands up and admit I was wrong. The only thing I didn’t like about their performance tonight was Carls white leather jacket. I thought they adapted the song well to suit their voices. Their performance was extremely tight, much more so than The Conway Sisters, and I thought the live guitar solo was a nice touch. I agree with Sharon when she says that Carl looks a bit like a “Deer caught in the headlights” but Andy more than makes up for it with his confident stage presence. Tonight I thought Journey South showed a bit of personality, that’s what I like to see.
3. Brenda Edwards: Brenda once again gave an amazingly polished and professional performance. Simon think she is “the most improved contestant” from the audition stage until now and I think most of us would agree. If Brenda keeps doing her Diva thing she has a real chance of making it to the final stage of the competition.
4. Maria Lawson: Maria is one of the few X Factor contestants who looks like she owns the stage when she is performing. When she performed the Rolling Stones hit Brown Sugar she was extremely nervous, not that anyone could tell. She gave it her all and performed brilliantly. It wasn’t my favourite performance of hers, and I don’t think that Rock Chick is her niche but she rose well to the challenge that Mark and Sharon set for her and did not deserve to leave.
5. Shayne Ward: Shayne’s version of ‘Cry Me A River’ was much better than his performance last week, but it didn’t excite me in any shape or form. I thought the backing track was much too loud and masked a lot of his vocals which seemed average and at times slightly flat. His image was much improved and he certainly looked the part. I’m sure he broke a few teenage hearts tonight! His dance routine was also commendable and added a bit of life to his performance. Simon and Sharon were impressed though and Simon thinks he could be the UKs best selling male solo artist in the next 2 years.
6. The Conway Sisters: Another mediocre performance. I love this song and they sang it quite well, though at times it was ever so slightly out of tune and time. The problem I had is that it all looked a bit forced. In a previous performance Maria was commended for making her performance appear effortless, these girls performances are the absolute opposite. They look like they are really trying to mean every word, but actually aren’t feeling it at all. It was nice to see the piano being played live, and they obviously really want to stay in the competition but they lack the polish and personality of fellow acts like Journey South and this shows in their low number of public votes.
7. Nicholas Dorsett: Again Louis picked a much better song for Nicholas this week, though it was still a bit predictable. He looked nervous and uncomfortable and very very scared. Simon hit the nail on the head when he said “your performance was was like having dinner with your mentor, pleasant but forgettable”. What more can I say?
8. Chico Slimani: We all know it, its time Chico faced up to it, vocals are not his forte! He can dance, he can perform, he definately brings a lot of personality to the stage, but he can’t sing very well. His performance was often out of tune and very often the backing singers were louder than him (which wasn’t a bad thing!). Chico is lucky the public like him because by rights he really should ha ve been out tonight.Next week I think he should try a Right Said Fred track. Thats much more up his street!

Over to you guys – what did you think of Saturday night’s show?

Aren’t we all? Last week they cried an complained when Simon gave them a very mild criticism, this week they made a huge deal over choosing their own song and arrangement and still fell into the bottom two.

Apparently after a number of disagreements and arguments Simon has disowned the sisters. A TV insider revealed: “Simon and his team think The Conways are a nightmare. Their performances have been a disappointment – but the girls blame everyone else but themselves.

“Publicly he’ll continue to give them his support. But privately, he has had enough.”

Maria Lawson – Brown Sugar or Satisfaction by The Rolling Stones
Andy Abraham- I’ll Make Love to You by Boyz II Men
Shayne Ward – Cry Me a River by Justin Timberlake
Brenda Edwards – Heartbreaker by Mariah Carey
Chico Slimani- Hero by Enrique Iglesias
Journey South – Living On a Prayer by Bon Jovi
Nicholas Dorsett- I Believe I Can Fly by R Kelly
The Conway Sisters : Hold On by Wilson Philips

I think the song choices are great this week, the only one I am really unsure about is Nicholas’ song. It’s a bit karaoke!

I can’t wait to see Maria doing a Rolling Stones number, they definately aren’t playing safe with her songs! Roll on Saturday!

Tonight’s show really sorted out the good from the great! As always Sharon’s group shined, but tonight Louis’ acts left me a little cold. I would have to agree with Simon and Sharon, Louis’ song choices are hideous and if he doesn’t change his ideas soon he will be left with no acts in the X Factor!

Here’s my X Factor chart for tonights show:

1. Brenda Edwards:

Brenda once again lit up the stage with her version of Someone Elses Guy by Jocelyn Brown . She looked like a seasoned Diva who was more used to performing in packed arenas than the X Factor stage. She showed her immense vocal talent by holding her final note of the song for 11 seconds with ease. As Louis Walsh said her performance was both “electric and energetic”


2. Andy Abraham:

Andy shone tonight while singing the Frankie Valli track ‘Can’t Take My Eyes Off You’. I concurred with Simon when he said “Thank God you are still in the competition.” Against all odds Andy has performed amazingly once more.


3. Maria Lawson:

Maria followed Simons advice and sang a more contemporary song this week in the form of James Blunt recent chart hit ‘Beautiful’. Simon thought she could record it as her own and praised her as “the best performance of the night so far”. I think Maria is one of the few acts that could transend from this show to a successful music career. She has it all: talent, looks, confidence and lots more talent!


4. Journey South:

The boys took a chance tonight with their song choice of First Time I Ever saw Your Face by Roberta Flack, and it paid off. They showed that they didn’t need backing tracks and choirs to support their, what could only be described as raw talent.


5. Chico Slimani:

Chico impressed the judges tonight with his version of ‘Kiss’ by Prince. Louis Walsh thought it was his best perfomance to date and Simon is shocked to admit that he is actually beginning to like Chico, he even thinks the competition would be boring without him. I think this was Chicos best performance vocally so far, the first week that he really sang properly. It was nice to hear!


6. The Conway Sisters:

The Conway sisters failed to wow the judges tonight with their performance of ‘One Voice’ by Billy Gilman. Sharon thought it sounded a bit Broadway and Louis thought it was an “bad song” from a “bad mentor”. I didn’t dislike it as much as the judges, but then I love Broadway and West End musicals. Simon was right to point out the tuning problems in the middle of the song, but I don’t think that was the main problem with this performance or this act. The problem for me is that they just don’t move or inspire me. They are good singers but I just don’t feel excited by them.


7. Shayne Ward:

Shayne sang ‘You Make Me Feel Brand New’ by Stylistics and I am in agreement with Simon and Sharon when they criticised the song choice. The song is too old for Shayne. he sang it well, very well actually, but the performance lacked excitement or feeling as he obviously doesn’t identify with this type of music.


8. Chenai Zinyuku:

Chenai’s song for this evening was You Were Always On My Mind by Elvis Presley. Again she didn’t sing it badly, though she definatley needs to work on her diction as it is hard to make out the words of any song she sings. But the song was all wrong for her. Sharon said she is longing to see personality shine through in Chenai’s performance in a way that we haven’t so far. I don’t think Chenai has found her niche yet and it shows from week to week.


9. Nicholas Dorsett:

Nicholas gave his worst performance to date while singing ‘I Want You Back’ by The Jackson Five. Sharon said “I don’t think you did yourself justice singing that song” and I think the majority of people would have to agree. The song was out of tune at parts and Nicholas looked uncomfortable when usually he is quite confident on stage. Simon believes that Louis Nicholas’ mentor is killing him in this competition. I would go as far to say that he is killing all his acts!

Well the songs for this week show have just been announced on Xtra Factor 24/7 and are as follows:

1. Nicholas Dorsett: I Want You Back by The Jackson Five
2. Shayne Ward: You Make Me Feel Brand New by Simply Red
3. Chenai Zinyuku: You Were Always On My Mind by Elvis Presley
4. Brenda Edwards: Someone Elses Guy by Jocelyn Brown
5. Maria Lawson: Beautiful by James Blunt
6. Chico Slimani: Kiss by Prince
7. Journey South: First Time I Ever saw Your Face by Roberta Flack
8. Conway Sisters: One Voice by Billy Gilman

We’d love to hear what you think of the song choices this week!