Tonight’s theme is the all-encompassing 21st Century Songs. Awesome. So the contestants shall be butchering songs you may have heard on the radio recently!

If you want to chat about the show, leave a comment or jump over to our X Factor forum. Read on for reviews of each contestant…

Niki Evans

Niki opened the show tonight and we wondered what wonders would emerge from between her legs during this performance. Singing Because Of You, she started off quite poorly, then managed to reclaim the song during the climax. Dannii Minogue was the only honest judge, saying that she didn’t think the song was right for her. The other judges obviously still had their earplugs in from last week.

Same Difference

The cheesy siblings are ready to fight for the X Factor crown this year. At least that’s what Simon says. They pulled off a blinder with a fantastic cover of I Don’t Feel Like Dancing. Despite early criticism from Sharon and Louis, Dannii and Simon heaped praise on the two. And rightly so. They’re such a talented pair, and contrary to what Louis Walsh thinks, they are very entertaining.

Andy Williams

Andy should be singing for his little life this week, but managed to screw up the first few notes of Snow Patrol’s Chasing Cars. This guy is snoozetastic. And the audience went nuts for a bit of pyro while he sang the whole bloody song in a half-dead monotone. Andy cannot win this competition by wiggling his eyebrows on stage. He’s not passionate. He’s not exciting.

Simon compared his performance to eating caviar with salad cream. We’re four weeks in, and Andy is the contestant (along with Leon, who we’ve yet to see) who has shown least progression and least drive to win the competition.

Beverley Trotman

Beverley takes on Blunt tonight with her version of You’re  Beautiful. Possibly the most overplayed song in recent memory. The performance is nowhere near on a par with last week. Simon called it “a peanut performance”. I like Beverley, but perhaps that was the wrong song for her.

And Louis has just told all his acts so far this evening that they stand a chance of being at the final. Who’s he trying to convince – the acts or the voting public?

Hope

Oh my god! Someone from Hope comes from a broken home. Awww, let’s vote for them, maybe their parents will get back together… SOB BLOODY STORY. AGAIN.

X Factor’s premier girl group cover Winehouse’s Back To Black. Much as you want to hate it, they did a good job – they approached the song differently, made it a bit sexier, but they’re still shying away from the slutty image.

Louis thinks they’re as good as any other girl group in the charts. How many girl groups are in the charts these days? Louis is suspiciously positive about Hope. Is it because it was his idea ^(TM)? Or is there a backstage deal for Louis to manage them if they win? Oh, mindless speculation….

Leon Jackson

It’s sob story overdrive as Leon Jackson laments his sore throat. Dannii says that he could get up on stage, open his mouth and nothing would come out. We wish…

Leon covers Toploader’s Dancing In The Moonlight. It’s the performance of a runner-up.The voice wavers. The dancing is stilted and uncomfortable. There’s going to be bloodshed when the judges get their turn to comment on Leon! Hell, there’s going to be bloodshed when Toploader get their hands on him.

Louis calls it karaoke, Simon says it was awful but that he must have the likability factor. Either that, or a subversive Scottish organisation led by the McDonald Brothers is rigging the voting in his favour. Leon hasn’t got a chance in this competition.

Alisha Bennett

Alisha is covering Corrine Bailey Rae’s Put Your Records On, and it is without a doubt her best song in the competition so far. It’s a good fit for her voice. She’s not as delicate as Corrine, but she’s soulful and looks confident.

Cowell notices her confidence and says the song suited her toward the end. All positive comments again from the judges, but this week they were justified. Last week I think they were doing their best to save her. This week Alisha did a good job all on her own.

Rhydian Roberts

Well, they promised no gimmicks this week from Rhydian and boy did they deliver. Rhydian sang You Raise Me Up in his inimitable operatic style.

I’d written him off as a one-trick pony this year. Until tonight. Although I don’t like his voice much, I can appreciate the quality of his performance. Sharon Osbourne believes Rhydian is going to win. Simon likens his delivery to Leona Lewis last year and says that was one of the best versions of You Raise Me Up he’s ever heard.

Bonus points to Rhydian for being so damned humble after the judges comments. He politely dismissed claims that he was in the same league as Leona, which was a very gentlemanly touch. As I say at least once each week…fair play.

That’s your lot for this week’s episode! Stay tuned for Lisa’s X Factor chart giving our run-down of tonight’s best performances.