Welcome back, X Factor fans! Tonight is the fifth live show, and the theme is Mariah Carey. This could be a good night for pop music if they stay away from the diva-style stuff.

Dannii declares that this could be the most shocking night yet. Simon says that someone will definitely slip up tonight. I’m watching the show live tonight, and commenting on it in (almost) real time. Join me here and on our X Factor forum to chat about the show.

And the show starts – unusually – with a performance from Mariah Carey. I guess if they’re going to feature mega-singers on the show, they’ll have to let them run up-front instead of relegating them to the results show. She looks really classy, doesn’t she? Nice to see her covered up for a change, and a decent song too.

Eoghan Quigg

Lil’ Eoghan kicks off the show proper with a version of Anytime You Need A Friend. I have to say, knowing how BIG this song is, we were just waiting for the performance to crash and burn, but Eoghan – fair play to you, wee man – you raised the bar with your strongest vocal yet.

Louis: My only critique tonight Eoghan is the hair, it’s turning into a bird’s nest. Dannii: You voice was magic on that, your best performance. Cheryl: That song shouldn’t have worked with your voice, but it absolutely did. Simon: I think you could have a hit record with that song. Taking all that into account, supposedly one of the top pop managers in the country talks about your hair. [Nice comeback Simon]

Ruth Lorenzo

Ruth is singing My All tonight, and apparently giving Simon what he’s been craving since the start of the show. Yikes. My personal opinion is that she’s technically very good on this, but something isn’t coming across in the mix.

Louis: There’s something missing – I don’t think you’re connecting with the people. It was more Mariah Scary than Mariah Carey. Cheryl: I love the production, but it wasn’t one of my favourite songs for you. Simon: There were two things I loved about that performance…and the singing was good as well. Dannii: Beautiful performance, it totally came from the heart.

Laura White

Laura takes to the piano for Endless Love. Brilliant – how nice to see a contestant playing an instrument! She wavers a bit on the vocals in places, but the performance is wonderful, and she ramps it up a notch when she stands up towards the end. Amazing.

Louis: I think your image is getting better, and you’re a great singer. Dannii: I’m loving seeing your confidence grow. Simon: Your performance tonight was one of your weakest, a kind of hotel bar performance. It wasn’t the person I saw at audition. Cheryl: [Gives Simon a serious tongue lashing for daring to criticise Laura’s performance and praises her for playing the piano live.]

Rachel Hylton

Amid so many rumours of a rift between Dannii and Rachel, her performance tonight will be critical. We see some VT of her launching a blistering attack on Dannii “telling me what to do”. The vibe from Minogue is that Rachel’s made her choices, and there’s an underlying suggestion that if she screws up, she’ll get no sympathy.

And listening to this, the nation are likely rushing to gouge out their eardrums.

Louis: You’re getting a really hard time in this competition. Cheryl: I could feel real emotion from you tonight. But I think you’ve had a big confidence knock, it’s not nice to see. Simon:I’ve got to know you, I like you as a person, and I hope the public give you a second chance. Dannii: That was a great performance.

Comment: We find it weird that the judges spent more time talking about Rachel’s confidence and keeping her in the competition. They barely touched on how she sang, something we found to be quite weak. What’s going on?

Diana Vickers

Diana has a bad case of laryngitis tonight and is unable to perform. Due to the circumstances, the producers have allowed her to sit out the show tonight and return next week.

JLS

JLS do a wicked impersonation of Louis Walsh, don’t they? Their song tonight is One Sweet Day. After their success last week, JLS are ten times more confident and their performance is really tight.

Dannii: You’ve improved again. Loved your style and image this week. Cheryl: I keep hearing this vocal harmony group thing – please don’t let Louis turn you guys into Westlife. You smashed the song. Simon: I thought that was an impossibly hard song to sing – you guys have really connected – the image is fantastic, the performance was fantastic. Louis: I’m not trying to turn you into Westlife. In the words of Barack Obama – can you win the competition? Yes we can. [I thought that was Bob The Builder’s line myself.]

Daniel Evans

The underdog of the competition is ready to take the stage. I really want to root for Daniel, how will he handle Open Arms?

There’s a marked improvement in Daniel’s performance. What do you guys think?

Louis: It was so much better than last week. The song choice suited your rather limited vocal range. Cheryl: Someone’s got their mojo back! I think that was my best performance of yours. Simon: Daniel…that wasn’t bad. For you, that wasn’t bad. You were certainly better than last week. Dannii: What I like about you is that you have been so versatile and stuck to your strengths.

Alexandra Burke

Now, if there’s one contestant who can do a Mariah song, it’s Alexandra. She seems to click really well with Mariah in rehearsal. However, Alex says she’s terrified.

Her Mariah song is Without You, classic Carey track. A brilliant performance, despite a few wobbles in the vocal. The climax of the song really had my spine tingling. Definitely the strongest performance of the night.

Louis: That was the best performance of the night. Dannii: You looked beautiful. I loved to see the funny side of you after meeting Mariah you were so excited. Simon: I love your attitude, your enthusiasm, you’re loving it. You’re 19 years old, Mariah’s ten feet away and that was outstandingly good. Cheryl: Like Mariah said, you’re one of the very few people who can use those nerves in a positive way.

Final Thoughts…

A fantastic X Factor tonight, some classic songs. Who was your favourite? Who was worst? Did you miss Diana? Tell us.

And stay tuned for our chart of who we rated top tonight and who we thought deserved to go.