Welcome to another X Factor liveblog, nervous readers! What’s the scariest thing that can happen on this Halloween weekend, I hear you ask? Well, John and Edward surviving another week on the show.

But hey-ho, it’s rock week and my inner metaller is cringing at the prospect of some of the weaker contestants tackling songs that require passion and energy. Hi Lloyd! And on the other end of the scale, will Jamie “Token Rocker” Afro actually be able to rock? And how will Danyl “Not the nation’s favourite” Johnson emerge from the genre of sweaty, hairy dudes? Something tells me I’ll be sorry I asked

OK, ready to go? The big voiced voiceover man has spoken, we’ve ignored the usual dramatic predictions and threats from the judges, and O’Leary’s on the stage. Let’s get this thing started – and leave your comments as we go along, folks!

First comment has to be Cheryl’s dress – wow! Not sure about her choice of breast adornments, but the legs look hot! And Cheryl’s act is up first…

Joe McElderry

Joe’s worried about sounding like a rocker. And rightly so, he’s not right for rock tunes. He’s also still smarting from Simon’s comments about his Latin flair last week. Can he make this work? What’s he singing? I’m told Don’t Stop Believin’ by Journey.

Oh, this is why we like Joe – his voice miht not be ‘rock powerhouse’, but he commands the song and he’s lively enough on stage to carry it. Not sure about the dancers onstage with him, they’re a bit limp, but he did a good job on what might be his weakest week. If you know what I mean. It was liked somebody had wandered off the Strictly Come Dancing set.

Dannii: I just have to say, your voice is exceptional and you are an absolute star. I loved to see you moving among the audience. Louis: I didn’t think this was going to work, because it’s a rock anthem. Simon: Whatever’s thrown at you, you do your best. It was a little bit limp and stage school in parts. The singing was excellent.

Lucie Jones

We get a lot of contradictory nonsense from the judges – Dannii says Lucie can handle this, Lucie says she can’t. Then Lucie comes out singing the bloody Sheryl Crow version of Sweet Child O Mine not the Guns N Roses version. She ramps it up a bit for the chorus, thankfully and a bit like Joe, hasn’t really got a voice suited to this stuff. She looks hot, like Avril LAvigne’s brunette alter-ego.

Louis: This week you became a rock chick, and that’s not an easy thing to do. You’re one of the most versatile, consistent and professional performers in this competition. Simon, you owe her an apology for last week. Cheryl: Tonight, I started to think Lucie could be a little Avril Lavigne. You did a great job with a tough song. Simon: The reason I didn’t like you last week was because you were boring. You’re a good singer and this is what’s frustrating me about you – you’re singing songs that are too old for you. Tonight, I take that back. You’re starting to find a direction for yourself as a relevant, teenage rock artist.

Danyl Johnson

Simon throws Danyl out first tonight rather than being his last act. Is that to give the public more time to vote for him or something? Danyl’s lost confidence, someone says he’s the most hated contestant on X Factor EVER. And there’s a violin playing in the background. Do you get the impression you’re being played, folks?

DISASTER! He starts singing Aerosmith’s Don’t Want To Miss A Thing, but completely out of tune. Ouch. He looks really uncomfortable, and his performance is rather dead-eyed. This isn’t what I was expecting. Lisa’s sitting beside me with “Awwwww”s of sympathy – has it worked? Do we see vulnerability in Danyl now? I found that whole performance really strange.

Dannii: We know how you’re feeling. It was sad to see you like you’ve lost your mojo. You hit your stride at the end of the song, but it was out of tune at the beginning. Louis: I wanna be absolutely honest with you. There’s no way you should have been in the bottom two last week. I want people at home to give you a second chance. Cheryl: I’m finding this a bit uncomfortable Danyl. You’ve had a massive dent to your confidence. You needed to come out and fight for it tonight. You just don’t do it for me. Simon: Here’s the problem – we’ve got contradictory things going on here. When he comes out confident, he’s cocky. When he tones it down, he needs to be cocky. It’s got nothing to do with being in the bottom two. You are still undoubtedly the best singer still in this competition. I genuinely hope the public vote for you this week.

Lloyd Daniels

We get a timely reminder of Louis’s comments from last week – Lloyd would be brilliant as a boyband member, but he can’t cut it on his own. Louis goes further and says he’s “coasting by on his looks” which I completely agree with.

And he’s singing Katy Perry’s I Kissed A Girl, but it sounds like he’s come straight from the Danyl Johnson school of tunelessness. It’s a vocal performance like you’d expect from Jedward. Ugh. OK, he’s trying a bit harder on stage, but “car crash” is the right way to describe it.

Dannii: You are the heart throb here. It was a great performance, but your voice was drowned out by the track. Louis: Lloyd, when I said I’d put you in a boyband, that was a compliment. The theme this week was rock and you sang a pop song. You cheated a little there. Simon: What was good about tonight – it was a quirky song, it made you relevant. The vocals at the start of the track were actually pretty bad. Cheryl: You took a great risk and – shut up you two – every teenage girl is gonna be wishing you were singing that about them.

Stacey Solomon

Stacey’s coasting through nicely at the moment, but we get some criticism footage of Simon calling Stacey robotic. She’s singing a Keane song, Somewhere Only We Know, but we won’t hold that against her, she’ll probably sound better than Keane!

She looks rather gorgeous as always, but she reminds me so much of  Leona Lewis, but with not quite as good vocals. Her performance suffers a little at the start too, a common problem tonight.

Louis: You’re definitely the most popular girl in this competition. I wasn’t crazy about the song choice, but I love you. Cheryl: Actually, I loved that song choice for you. The thing we love about you is your personality. Simon: It was like an X Factor miracle tonight, you walked! As I said, you haven’t moved in three weeks. I thought it was terrific, one of your best performances. Dannii: I loved your performance of that and I want to see you here next week.

Jamie Archer

Afro did a decent job last week, but he’s not happy with the quality of his performance. Louis takes his chance to lay the boot into him, reminding us that Jamie is only a pub performer. He’s recycling the old Primal Scream tune, Get Your Rocks Off, which is a great tune. Lisa comments that he’s very low in the mix, but a bit like other acts, Jamie’s just not using the stage very well. Sure, the pretty dancing girls are pleasantly distracting, but where’s the rock, Afro? Where IS THE ROCK???

In fairness, I can’t fault the performance from a vocals point of view, and he does end it on a stronger note, finally moving away from the center stage to walk around the audience. But I think Louis might be right about the pub singer thing.

Dannii: You’re in your element when you do that kind of song. I heard you were going to do a different track that would make you contemporary rather than doing an old rock song. Louis: Like I said on the VT, there’s nothing original about you, you’re like a Lenny Kravitz impersonator, and it’s not real rock. Simon: You came from that background – you wanna be a rock singer and you chose a rock song.

Rachel Adedeji

Here’s the controversial choice, Rachel Adedeji. Can she repeat last week’s victory and brilliant judge’s comments? She tells us it’s just her and a microphone. Rachel’s doing a version of U2’s One tonight. The dress is a tad garish, but she’s stuck with the softer, hair-down look. I like the performance though, she builds the song up to a great climax, and her voice holds strong the whole way through. Well done!

Louis: Incredible song choice. It was very emotional, soulful, the most emotional performance of the entire night. Cheryl: That was a very clever song choice. You got to show the soul in your voice. I think your voice is my favourite of all the girls and you deliver every week. Simon: Rachel, I liked the last third of the song, where I had a slight issue is that Dannii tried to turn you into her with the hair and the dress. I just felt that your whole look made the song a bit cabaret. Dannii: Rachel that was an amazing performance. You just allowed yourself to be vulnerable. It’s just about your voice.

John and Edward

There’s no avoiding this bit. There’s no denying these two are a walking disaster. But we’re beyond trying to get people to see sense. They’re no going to take any risks, there’s not going to be any ‘real’ rock. They’re singing 5ive’s version of Queen’s We Will Rock You, not a song that requires much singing. If Louis can keep them to football-chant quality songs, they’ll persevere. And it’s obvious that they haven’t a clue about the lyrics to the song. However, all the shiny stage props and backing dancers will make people forget how bad they are!

Dannii: Boys! It is Halloween and that was quite scary. I do look forward to seeing you every week, but I’m not sure I’d look forward to hearing you on the radio. Cheryl: You definitely dressed for the occassion. Yeah, I felt like I was rockin to that song. Simon: It was night of the living dead singing Queen out of tune, possibly destroying Queen’s career forever. You cannot defend that singing tonight Louis. Louis: The audience love them, they’re energetic, they’re entertaining and they’re exciting.

Olly Murs

Not sure if Olly can pull off a rock song, to be honest. This has been a difficult week for everybody, and kinda shows that rock acts have to work harder to satisfy an audience. Louis and Dannii both think that Olly is going to topple on this song. I’m biting my nails…

Ah, but it’s alright, it’s a pussy of a song, Come Together by The Beatles. Great song, but hardly requiring major singing chops. I’m loving the trippy background visuals though. It ain’t rock, but like Joe McElderry before him, it’s just a good performance – the vocals are fine…argh too much nipple. Put it away Murs!!!

Dannii: I have to say I absolutely adore you. The moves get better every week, the vocals are consistent. Louis: You keep getting better every time we see you. I think you’re in the final three. Cheryl: You’re definitely the most progressed contestant each week. You come into yourself more and more each week. In this atmosphere, the shirt opening kinda worked. Simon: You are progressing better than just about anybody right now. You’ve got confidence, you’re learning how to perform. I’m very very proud of you Olly.

Phew – that was a good night for some contestants and a bad week for others. Stand by, as always, for our X Factor chart for who we thought were the winners and losers tonight.