Gary Barlow is showing his great work ethic already and once again, he’s been one of the first X Factor judges to get stuck into work with his finalists.

The Take That star tweeted two weeks ago that he was already routining with his final three and now that he’s just five days away from the first live show, it seems the dad of three is really knuckling down.

Last night Gaz was seen choosing Carolynne Poole, Kye Sones and Melanie Masson as his finalists, also naming Christopher Maloney as his contender for the wildcard place.

He’s been working them hard all day today and told his millions of Twitter followers:

“Spent all morning with my Overs Category ! @Kyesones1, @CarolynnePoole @MelanieMasson1 Sounding great guys x”

It looks like Barlow might be the only judge working on the ITV show as Tulisa Contostavlos and Nicole Scherzinger aren’t even in the same country as their contestants.

Tulisa headed out to Ibiza at the weekend and she revealed a new brunette hairdo in some Twitter pictures, adding:

“I’m raving in Ibiza but I still have X factor on the mind”

She may not be working with her singers but the former N Dubz star wants people to vote for her wildcard contender anyway and backed Amy Mottram, tweeting:

“Lemme just say it again VOTE AMY!!!!”

Tulisa was seen last night choosing Jade Ellis, Ella Henderson and Lucy Spraggan as her final three and she’s hoping to repeat last year’s success with one of the trio, after she won the 2011 series with girl group Little Mix.

Contostavlos isn’t the only absent judge, as Nicole Scherzinger hasn’t been spending time with her finalists this week either. She revealed that she’s been hard at work in the studio with will.i.am in LA and tweeted:

‘Studio making muzik with @tobygad @iamwill @anthonypreston’

Last night she was seen picking James Arthur, Rylan Clark and Jahmene Douglas as her final three.

We can only hope that Louis Walsh has been spending more time with his acts – GMD3, MK1 and Union J – but because the Irish star isn’t on Twitter, it’s hard to tell what he’s been up to.

If you were an X Factor finalist which judge would you like to work with? Who do you think is the best mentor? Leave your comments below….