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!

Finally a contestant leaving the show who actually says what they think! When asked the inevitable question of who they think will win the show, all of the previous evictees have played it safe, saying anyone could win and wishing all the remaining acts luck.

Its like a breath of fresh air therefore to hear Nicholas offer an honest opinion! When he was interviewed upon leaving the show he said that he believed the winner would be either Andy Abraham or Journey South. He stated “It would be great to see either of them win. They are both supertalented. I think they have both got the best chance. I could not call it. I expect to see both acts in the final and I will certinly be going to visit them after the show has finished. I think we’ll stay good friends.”

He also admitted that he thinks the public have been wrong in their demonisation of The Conway Sisters.

He said: “I think it’s outrageous the way they’ve been treated. People have been so cruel. But they haven’t done anything wrong. They are really nice girls. I’ve seen them this week in the house. They have been crying and are really upset by all this. It’s not as if they’ve brought it on themselves. They are just victims of circumstance.”

He’s a nice boy that Nicholas!

Last night saw the last performance of Nicholas Dorsett on this series of the X Factor, and I think most of us will this week agree that it was his time to go.

There were no surprises when Kate Thronton announced that the two acts who had received the least votes were Nicholas and The Conway Sisters. The sisters were just lucky they weren’t up against any of the other contestants or it would be them saying their goodbyes today.

Unsurprisingly Louis voted to keep Nicholas and Simon voted to keep The Conways, so once again the deciding vote lay with Sharon. She could have been vindictive and let the Conway Sisters go home, undoubtedly had Louis Walsh been in her shoes thats what he would have done, but she went with what she believed was right and opted to let Nicholas go.

At the start of the X Factor live finals I thought that Nicholas had a lot of potential. He had a good voice, performed well and certainly had teen appeal and so on that alone would sell lots of records. But week by week his performance has slipped. Sharon commented that he has been out of tune for three weeks now and she was right. He hit so many bum notes last night that it was hard to believe that he was picked as one of the best performers out of 75,000 people.

Nicholas may be able to salvage a career after the X Factor, but he does need a lot of training. Maybe the experience of performing on the X Factor Live Tour will help him build his confidence and give him the experience that he lacks.

Nicholas Dorsett seems like a nice lad, and it was sad to see him go, but he definately had no chance of winning and each week the competition gets tougher and tougher. I only wonder how much longer Chico can survive?

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?

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!

At 18 years old Nicholas Dorsett from London is the youngest contestant to take part in the live X Factor finals.

Nicholas has been singing for as long as he can remember and used to sing along to records with his big sister Louise when he was 3. In fact music is such a huge part of his life that he got a tattoo that reads: It’s all about the music.

Phillip had just reached the grand final of a British unsigned acts competition when he had to pull out because of his remarkable progress in The X Factor. Two years ago he also won a singing competition on Choice FM.

UPDATE
Nicholas Dorsett was the sixth contestant to get voted off the X factor show after underperforming for three weeks running.