So now we know just who will be battling it out for the last 12 spots, and to be honest, some of the decisions made by the judges have left me confused.

If you had to decide between 3 cute and bouncy girls who had major problems with their vocals, their choreography and looked like every other girl group.. or between a pair of identical twins, who had the most amazing demonic faces and couldn’t sing too well..but ENTERTAINED.. who would you pick?

If you had a middle aged woman whose vocals were ropey and had no charisma… or a bloke who reminded you of Shirley Bassey and could ENTERTAIN.. who would you pick?

Well, we know who Sharon and Louis would pick, but I doubt that either the Dolly Rockers or Lyn will make it through to the final 12 – both Identical and Christopher would have given us a bit of the Chico Factor, which is sadly missing this year. I can’t quite believe that I wanted Identical to go through, I can only assume its time for my medication.. but Dolly Rockers were appalling.

For me, only Simon had it pretty much spot on. Especially as he a) sent Rudi and Hari home (not sure how either of them made it to the second day) and b) he changed his mind about Ray. I was also surprised that he put Gemma, the female half of the boyfriend/girlfriend pair through to the second day, but didn’t put Joe through. She was never going to make it to the final 8 – whereas he had something about him which would have appealed to the girlies. (And the mummies) Ashley was always going to go through, despite his poor performance at bootcamp, but Shaun’s inclusion did surprise me.

In Sharon’s group, I was pleased to see Dionne and Robert go through – but Ben is still my absolute favourite. I’m just not sure how well his style of singing will go down with the public, but I’d definitely buy a record. I also hope that Eton Road in the groups section pull their socks up – they’re just that bit different to make them stand out.

Talking of the Groups – I guess that one of the Brothers is regretting choosing a holiday and sleep over rehearsing. Although they all had great voices, dedication is the name of the game, and CJ’s arrogant and sneering attitude did him no favours with Louis. Perhaps next year, guys. Just practise. Lots.

Through to the last 24:
16-24s: Ray, Gemma, Shaun, Leonna, Nikitta, Ashley, Carlo, Stacey
25s+: Kerry, Jonathan, Ben, Dionne, Tigwa, Robert, Katie, Lyn
Groups: Dolly Rockers, Avenue, Eton Road, MacDonald Brothers, The Unconventionals, 4Sure, Pure Libery, The Brothers 1.

I can’t wait for next week

This article was written by Lynne Goulden, our newest contributor at Unreality TV. Welcome aboard Lynne! Check out Lynne’s own X Factor journal here.