Melanie Masson closed this evening’s X Factor show and what a performance she gave.

We love seeing something a bit different on the ITV show and the 44 year old Scottish singer – who teaches music to under fives for a living – brought a whole different vibe to the series when she tried out in front of Gary Barlow, Tulisa Contostavlos, Louis Walsh and guest judge ‘Anastacia.’

The blonde hopeful – who is most commonly known as fairy flutterbye in her local area – seemed like a bit of a hippie and told Dermot O’Leary that she has been singing in bands since she was fifteen years old, but hasn’t managed to quite make it in the music industry to date.

The mum of two admitted that she thought it was ‘make or break’ time for her now and as a singer in her mid forties, she feels like this is her last chance. No pressure then!

Melanie then took to the stage and launched into a rendition of ‘Cry Baby’ by Janis Joplin and the judges watched in awe as she took the old song and gave it some new life.

It was passionate and full of fire and energy. We would never have expected such a wonderful rock voice to come from Mel and we were engrossed throughout her performance. The audience were too and as she came to an end, they erupted into huge cheers and gave Masson a enthusiastic standing ovation.

When the song finished, Take That star Gary raved about Mel’s ‘insane’ voice, her wonderful audition and her ‘amazing’ performance. It seems he’s a fan then!

Louis Walsh loved her too and gushed:

“Melanie where did that voice come from and where has it been?”

He added:

“You’re 44, this is what this show is all about, finding somebody as amazing as you and giving them a chance.”

Anastacia told Mel that she should never assume it’s too late to land a record deal and praised her for totally ‘killing’ her song, while N-Dubz star Tulisa loved her transition from ‘gentle’ mum to fiery ‘diva’ right in front of their eyes. The ‘Young’ hitmaker added that she found the whole thing ‘amazing’.

Unsurprisingly Mel won four yeses from the panel and a place in bootcamp. If she got through that stage and made it to judges houses, she will be mentored by Gary Barlow, who was a big fan at her first tryout so that bodes well for her we think.

Did you enjoy Mel’s performance tonight? Do you think she’s good enough for the live shows? Leave your comments below…