I can’t believe how devastated I am that Ben was kicked off last night. Admittedly, I don’t feel it was his best performances – but he was still 3000 times better than the gurning Scouser. (Is Ray lining up toothpaste sponsorship? Or perhaps tissue sponsorship after his murdering of You’ll Never Walk Alone.. I’m not surprised he cried, I was too.. nothing to do with any ‘emotion’ he showed in the song, more that a travesty was being perpetrated in front of my eyes)

I’ve linked to a couple of my favourite Ben tracks here: See Ben Singing One More Time

Perhaps its time for the hordes of tone deaf teenage voters to be removed from the equation? Or at least for their faddish effects to be toned down. Its time that the ‘judges’ were just that – impartial judges, with no tie to the mentoring process (from what I’ve seen, I doubt they actually do that much mentoring to begin with). Their comments SHOULD count for something – perhaps something similar to Strictly Come Dancing, where the judges votes count for half of the final vote – hopefully that would have prevented the ridiculous situation of the MacDonald Brothers being in so long – or for Ray being through to the final two.

Leona sang her heart out last night – probably the best I’ve ever seen her sing, and Simon Cowell must be rubbing his hands in glee at the thought of her being his million pound contract winner. Sharon must be bewildered and amazed that her star talent has gone out (although hopefully this could be a good thing, especially if the rumoured interest from EMI pays out, and Ben doesn’t now have to suffer a year’s ‘management’ from Simon, whose track record with X Factor winners isn’t really that great). I’ve still got my fingers crossed from two weeks ago, when Louis promised he’d get the Eton Road boys a record contract.. and I still maintain that the finallists (if Simon hadn’t done a shock two act eviction) should have been Ben, Leona and Eton Road.. At least I got one of the finallists right (makes a change)

I can’t begin to imagine just how smug Mr Cowell will be feeling this morning – guaranteed a winner, with both of his ‘rival mentors’ left high and dry – lets hope that something with integrity can be dragged out of this whole sorry affair, and that Leona emerges as a true winner.

The recently evicted MacDonald Brothers are backing their pal Ben Mills to win the X Factor 2006.

Craig Mac Donald said To The Daily Record:

“He’s had a bit of a hard time the last few weeks and he’s been in the bottom two.

“We want Ben to make it to the final and would ask all our Scottish fans to support him.

“He’s a great guy and one of our best mates and he has the most incredible voice.

“We know how hard it is to struggle in the competition and be criticised, so we are doing all we can to back him.

“I think it’s hard on Ben being a favourite because there’s a lot of pressure to keep impressing.

“And he’s found it hard when the public didn’t vote for him and when his comments from the judges weren’t as good as they could be.

“We need to all back Ben and get him back on track to win the show. It would mean the world to him.”

They haven’t even left The X Factor house and already we have brought you an interview with The X Factor’s most recent evictees, The MacDonald Brothers.

We spoke to Craig (the blonde brother) and true to form he was friendly and personable, a man I wouldn’t mind having a pint with it has to be said.

As the interview was cut short we will be speaking to the boys again on Wednesday of this week. If you have any questions you would like us to put to Brian or Craig, leave a comment here or drop us a line.

Brad: How Does It Feel To Be Out Of The X Factor?

Craig: It’s mixed feelings. I mean obviously on the night we did go out I was absolutely gutted and it just feels like the end of everything, but now that we’re doing all the press stuff, it seems as though it’s just the beginning of something so it’s a good feeling. It’s a really good feeling and we hope that its the start of something good.

Brad: As the weeks went on you seemed to build confidence and the two of you were getting much more stage presence toward the end. How does it feel to go out after coming so far?

Craig: I would totally agree with that. I think we were unsure of ourselves at the start of this and the criticism, because we were getting it from Simon, did get us really really down. But I think we learned how to deal with it and just tried to deflect it and take it in a positive way, which made us work harder and it made us more determined. I think for some people if they got that sort of criticism they would give up, whereas, it made us more determined. We just thought ‘I’m gonna prove him wrong.

We feel we improved towards the later stages of the show

Brad: You really did

Craig: It would have been nice to have peaked in the final but again thats another matter.

Brad: The performance you did when you sang the show out on Saturday night was fantastic.

Craig: We just enjoyed it. Thanks very much for saying that man. I felt like we totally enjoyed that one and it was like we’d nothing to lose. It was the last performance and all the nerves were gone, the pressure was off, we just really enjoyed ourselves. It went a bit over the top with the shouting and all that I thought but it just shows a bit of personality and thats what we were criticised for the most in the show. So I hope we finally got that across just before it was too late.

Brad: The show you did the previous week was very good as well

Craig: The Proclaimers one? We had a good laugh doing that. I think that was what we were trying to achieve towards the end, to have a good laugh and show people that we can entertain as well as just sing well.

Brad: Who chose The Proclaimers track?

Craig: It was actually Louis and a few people. Theres a funny story with that. Everybody was expecting us to do it. Louis, our manager and Brian McFadden they all came up with it separately. But we originally refused the song. We thought we did not want to go down that road and we were actually going to do the song ‘Pretty Woman’. A day later I thought, ‘look, we’re at the stage now where if we play it safe we’re not going to get anywhere, we need to start enjoying ourselves’ and that was it. So we just went along that line and it kinda worked.

Brad: What about the big Scottish vote. How important do you think it was in keeping you in The X Factor?

Craig: Everybody kept going on about the Scottish vote and it did help to keep us in, it was an amazing thing to have. The only thing is, I felt like sometimes it could have been played on a bit too much. People forget that we are Scottish but we do have a lot of English fans and a lot of Welsh and Irish fans.

Brad: What I would have countered with was that it didn’t keep Kerry or Nikitta in.

Craig: Exactly, that was our argument as well.

When we get fan mail, it’s been from places all over England and from lots of different places. We have a big Irish fan club and my dad got a lot of Irish fan mail back home. Obviously Ireland is quite close to Scotland….

Brad: Well we’re over here in Northern Ireland ourselves….

Craig Oh good good man. I mean all the Irish and Scottish stick together and it was good to have Louis as a mentor.

Brad: Did you see the playback of your performance on Saturday Night?

Craig: I’ve seen bits of it.

Brad: There was a part with you guys on the walkway and between the two of you, we could see Sharon Osbourne checking both of you out.

Craig: Is that right? You’re joking man.

Brad: She had a real leer on her face!

Craig: I never noticed that. I might watch it back a bit closer now and see if that is the case.

Brad: I think she had a wee thing for you boys.

Craig: I don’t know man…thats always a positive as well, it doesn’t do you any harm to have a bit of that does it?

Brad: Now that we’re talking about Sharon, when she asked people to vote for you, just to annoy Simon, how did you feel about that?

Craig: That wasn’t the reason that we wanted to have people voting for us. What people forget about this show is that they are doing it for ratings. When they are fighting amongst themselves it makes a good show. I just feel that all the contestants opinions kinda get lost in the show, because it becomes a battle between the judges. When she said that I thought ‘that’s a bad comment, we don’t want to be remembered as the people that were annoying Simon.’ ‘We wanted people to vote for us because they liked us, not to annoy Simon.’

Brad: Were you surprised to go on Saturday?

Craig: If I’m honest, we were surprised to go. We hadn’t been in the bottom two whatsoever, there was just ourselves and Leona that hadn’t been in the bottom two. You start getting used to the whole idea of going through and you just think that the vote is always there. But for whatever reason we just didn’t pull in enough votes. I think we lost by just one percent to the next person up. It was a bit gutting to hear that. But it shows that we did have the support there, there was just a lot more voting this week.

Brad: When did you guys start performing together?

Craig We started learning music when we were 5 and 6, my dad started taking us round all these old folks homes with our accordion and violin. Just to get us used to playing in public and we were never nervous doing that sort of stuff. That then came as second nature and we were never nervous about going up and playing an instrument in front of anybody. The singing is kind of new to us, the singing has only came in the last couple of years.

We haven’t always been singers and I think thats what the interesting thing is. We have got a lot to develop yet. You haven’t seen the best of us yet.

Brad: Well there’s no better experience that a live national show on a Saturday night.

Craig: You’re flung in at the deep end and you either deal with or you run away!

Brad: Did you always play as a two piece or did you play with other band members?

Craig: No, we used backing tracks and played the guitars and sang over the top of them. My wee brother is quite talented where music is concerned. He can make up the tracks, put in drums and bass and all that kinda stuff. It was good to have that behind us without having to pay other band members.

Brad: I saw some pictures of you guys performing in earlier days. It seemed to be a very traditional thing you had going on.

Craig: It was. We were brought up playing accordion and violins. We done the traditional stuff and we were getting a lot of work doing that. One night my dad got me up to sing and I was pure nervous and embarrassed, and he forced me into it just to see how I would feel. That got my confidence up….

Brad: It would have been quite a departure then when you went on X Factor and had to sing more mainstream stuff.

Craig: Exactly exactly…..

The boys then ran out of time and their car arrived to whisk them away……We will continue the interview on Wednesday, so pop over on Thursday and see what the MacDonald Brothers have planned for the future.

In the meantime drop us a line, if you have any questions you would like us to ask…….

They may not be in the X Factor competition any longer but the MacDonald Brothers don’t intend on giving up on music any time soon.

The boys are having a meeting with their X Factor mentor Louis Walsh to discuss what their future may hold.

Last night, Brian said: “Louis is going to speak to us in the week, then we will have a better idea of what the future holds.

“We still don’t know if we will be offered a management deal with him but we know, if not, he’ll still point us in the right direction.

“He’s become a great friend and we hope we can continue to work with him.

“We hope the public has time for us and that we can have a career.

“This is just the beginning. I don’t have a clue what the future holds but we will work hard and try our best to live up to people’s expectations.

“For a first single, we would need something famous, that represented us as people.

“We don’t know if we have that option yet but Louis will hopefully have some good news.”

Many people will think that it should have happened weeks ago, but tonight, The MacDonald Brothers were voted off the X factor show.

I had actually grown to like the boys – who wouldn’t! They seem like two really nice, down to earth fellas, but they just couldn’t match Ben and Leona’s talent. In saying that, neither can Ray!

I watched as the brothers performed Shang-A-Lang for the final time and knew that if they had performed like that the first time round they probably wouldn’t have been going home tonight.

It was a great final performance and I hope the boys do well in the future.

These charts are getting easier (and shorter) as each week passes.

They are also becoming more and more predictable. Leona and Ben have topped my personal chart every week and this week is no different to any other:

1) Leona Lewis: I loved Leona’s performance of ‘Could It Be Magic’. It was upbeat and fun. Leona is growing in confidence each week and her version of ‘Without You’ was breathtaking.

2) Ben Mills: Bens first song, ‘I made it through the rain’ was a bit predictable. It started quietly then built to a huge crescendo ending. I liked it but it wasn’t his strongest performance yet. His second song however was a different story. Ben chose to sing ‘Somebody To Love’, accapella style with only a choir for backup. Not only was this brave but it was a wise choice. It was a little different and Ben put his heart and soul into the whole thing.

3) Ray Quinn: I liked the side of Ray we were allowed to see tonight. No cheesiness, no spins, just Ray, singing and meaning it. I still think Ray would be better suited to the West End than Wembley Arena but he was good tonight.

4) The MacDonald Brothers: The boys were clad in tartan tonight…in case any of us forgot where they were from! Their first song ‘Can’t Smile’ was a bit boring and uninspiring but thier version of ‘Shang A Lang’ was at least some fun. It wasn’t overly strong on the vocal front, but the boys enjoyed it and it was nice to see them have some confidence in themselves.

For more information on each individual performance and also for the judges comments, click through on each artists name above.

The MacDonald brothers revealed earlier this week that their family and friends were finding it difficult to afford the weekly flights to and from London to watch the boys perform on The X Factor each Saturday.

Asda bosses have decided to step in and pay for Craig and Brian’s parents to fly to the capital each week and will also be putting them up on a central hotel. They will continue to do this for as long as the boys remain in the show.

Margaret MacDonlad (the boys mother) works for Asda and stated:

“It’s really good of them to help. It does cost a lot to get to London and that’s eight times we’ve been down.

“We would have managed – when it’s your boys you always find a way – but it does make life a lot easier.

“As long as we’re there to support our boys. We wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

Ayr Asda manager John Murphy said: “Margaret has worked for us for more than 18 years, so the whole store and our customers are backing the boys.

“With all the attention she’s been getting, Margaret is even becoming a bit of a celebrity herself.”

The MacDonald Brothers have revealed that they think there is a real chance they can win this years X Factor competition.

Speaking to the Daily Record Craig said:

“I’m clearly still on a high. The favourites are there but it’s anyone’s game.

“Of course we do think there’s a chance of winning. But the more you think about that, the more the pressure builds.We are taking it week by week.”

On tonight’s X Factor show I believe that there were three clear winners.

Both Ben Mills and Leona Lewis performed brilliantly and I loved the contrast between their two songs.

The MacDonald Brothers started off on shaky ground with a rather boring performance of ‘When You Say Nothing At All’ but their second song was excellent. The boys attempt to sing ‘I’m Gonna Be (500Miles)’ should have been awful but it was actually rather fantastic. The looked confident for the first time and even won over Simon Cowell….maybe they can win! I certainly don’t think they will be leaving tonight.

Eton Road were disappointing tonight and I thought their song choices were poor. I liked their first song, the harmonies were strong and it was really fun, but their performance of ‘Can You Feel The Love Tonight’ was a bit boring to be honest. These boys are quirky and individual, Louis should really put more effort into their song choices. i also didn’t think they were just as polished as some of the other acts.

Ray Quinn gave his best vocal performance of the series during his first son ‘The Way You Look Tonight’ and then ruined it by singing Jailhouse Rock. It was predictable and was the kind of thing that ray had done a million times before. i think Ray should stick to showcasin his vocal talent instaed of spinning around the stage.

So here we go, my official X FACTOR CHART! Follow the links on each name for more info on their individual performances and judges comments

1: Leona Lewis

2: Ben Mills

3: The MacDonald Brothers

4: Eton Road

5: Ray Quinn

This weeks X Factor will be following the theme of songs from movies. Each act will be singing two songs.

Tonight on ITV2’s Xtra Factor: The Aftermath some of this weeks songs were revealed:
Eton Road -
Everybody needs somebody to love
Can You Feel The Love Tonight

Leona Lewis -
I will always love you
Lady Marmalade

Ben Mills-
Your Song
Live and Let Die

Ray Quinn-
Jailhouse Rock
The Way You look tonight

The MacDonald Brothers
I’m Gonna Be (500Miles)
When You Say Nothing At All

I have to say Leona’s song choice was PREDICTABLE as was The MacDonald Brothers……if they are kicked out after this week they never will be!

Simon Cowell’s mum has spoken this week and given her views on The MacDonald Brothers saying:

“The MacDonald Brothers are very nice.

“They have a certain appeal and I could understand lots of people voting for them.

“They are sweet but I don’t think I would go and buy their record and that’s what the whole thing is about.

“What Simon was saying, which is absolutely true, is that he didn’t think the boys were the type that were going to win the thing and sell records because they have not got that X Factor.”

When questioned about Simon’s claims that he is half Scottish she said:

“My father was Scottish and his surname was Dalglish.

“I think they were born in Edinburgh but I don’t really know. It was so many years ago.

“Simon was saying he was a quarter Scottish, then he said he was half Scottish but he’s a quarter Scottish.”

In Tabby and Brad’s absence (happy birthday ) y’all have the joys of my X Factor Chat.. so here we go!

1. Ben Mills: Well, it couldn’t really be anyone else. Ben did an amazing job tonight, despite having struggled with laryngitis this week. Brilliant performance, spot on song choice, and he didn’t need to get by With A Little Help From His Friends.

2. Robert Allen: Robert sang You Are Not Alone, the Michael Jackson hit, but with his talent he’ll never be alone. He has such a totally soulful voice, which just shines now he’s curbed his Tiggerlike enthusiasm.

3. Leona Lewis: Her Bridge Over Troubled Water was far from her best performance, and, despite Sharon’s affirmation that it was flawless, there were problems – again with her lower register, and her tendency to screech at the top notes. But when she gets it right, boy does she blow your socks off.

4. The MacDonald Brothers: Yes, I can hardly believe I’ve typed their names in 4th place, and I shall do proper penance. Hopefully, this will be the kiss of death, and they’ll go out. With Love is All Around, they actually sounded tuneful, if a little Cheesy. I fear they will survive to next week.

5. Eton Road: I love the Eton Road boys, and on paper, I Don’t Feel Like Dancing should have suited them down to the ground. But there sounded to be something decidely weird with the sound production during their song, so I have no idea if they were harmonising or not. In all consciousness, and based on Simon’s opinions on the individual vocals, I have to assume they weren’t.

6. Raymond Quinn: Ray was absolutely dire. Livin’ La Vida Loca is about as close to swing as you can get without being swing, but he oh so struggled with the verses. He didn’t even command the stage in the way he does normally, and I feel that he’s just used up his final life.

Once again bookies have named The MacDonald Brothers as the most likely act to leave The X Factor show tonight. However Ray Quinn is named as the second act most liely to get the boot.

Bookmakers Coral said: “Punters have realised that the MacDonald Brothers have nine lives and with their record for survival, it doesn’t look good for Ray.”

Judge Louis Walsh told brothers Craig and Brian to follow Westlife’s example. He said: “They’ve never been cool but they’ve had 14 No1s.”

Rival Simon Cowell hit back: “The MacDonalds are not winning me over.

“It’s getting beyond a joke right now. The more I criticise them the more people vote for them.”

Once again I got my weekly fix of the Xtra Factor tonight and here’s what songs the contestants were rehearsing for Saturdays show.

Eton Road: Scissor Sisstors – I Don’t Feel Like Dancing

MacDonald Brother: Wet Wet Wet – Love Is All Around

Robert Allen: Michael Jackson – You Are Not Alone

Leona Lewis: Bridge Over Troubled Water

Ray Quinn: Ricky Martin: Livin La Vida Loca

Ben Mills: ‘I get by with a litlle help from my friends’

Louis Walsh has slipped up again this week and revealed that he believes that his act The MacDonald Brothers have no chance of winning the X Factor.

Louis spoke about the boys on Graham Norton’s Bigger Picture.

“Do you not like them?” Walsh asked the audience when he was greeted with booing after mentioning their name.

“They’re really good singers,” he continued. “Some people like them.”

“Yes, they’re called Scottish!” joked Norton.

Following further teasing from the host, Walsh then announced: “Oh I know they’re not going to win”.