Excitement levels were off the scale this evening as Dermot donned his best suit and took to the stage to introduce the 12 lucky finalists to have been handpicked from over 200,000 hopefuls.
The panel of power once again assumed their positions behind the infamous desk and waited, along with the rest of the nation, to see their categories battle it out for the biggest prize in pop.
Finally, after weeks of singing for survival, the moment of truth was here and opening the show in a flurry of fireballs was a very brave Rachel Adedeji with Let Me Entertain You. And entertained we were as the sassy Londoner strutted her stuff. Surrounded by a bevy of dancers, Rachel navigated the stage in a pair of towering heels, whilst belting out the Robbie classic… multitasking at its finest!
“Rachel you rocked!” said Louis, summing up the feelings of his fellow judges. Yes, even birthday boy Simon was blown away by Rachel’s opening gambit: “That was a good performance. Congratulations.”
On a mission to prove they can sing were the glamorous girls of Kandy Rain. However it was the girls' raunchy outfit choice rather than their solid rendition of Addicted To Love that seemed to be the hot topic on the panel and had the girls and boys of the panel bickering.
“That’s the biggest smile Simon’s had on his face all day,” was Ms. Minogue’s first reaction, clearly not impressed with the pvc clad quartet, “Kandy Rain it in girls!” Perhaps unsurprisingly, Simon and Louis were all for the outfits, much to Cheryl and Dannii’s disgust!
Selecting another classic from Mr. Williams back catalogue was Olly Murs with She’s The One. After a nervous start the Essex lad quickly relaxed and his understated rendition had the whole panel won over and Simon comparing him to the big man himself; “You remind me of Robbie.” High praise indeed!
Next up was Rikki Loney who, looking dapper in a suit and bowtie, went back to basics with Amy Winehouse’s Back To Black. Accompanied simply by a piano the Scot gave a tear-free performance, which had Louis and the girls singing his praises but left Simon spouting a flood of negativity. “It was wet… It had no star quality.” Ouch.
Bringing the tempo down another notch was Stacey Solomon with The Scientist. There were goosebumps all round by the time the young mum had finished the beautiful ballad and it was obvious she’d done Dagenham proud when the judges unleashed a barrage of compliments. “You’ve got it all!” gushed Louis.
Injecting a bit of sass and edge into the evening’s proceedings was trio Miss Frank. The girls crooned their way through Who’s Loving You quashing any doubts for Dannii that they hadn’t meshed as a trio: “Together you’re a powerhouse!” “I have no qualms in saying you’re my favourite group,” admitted Cheryl.
The crowd pleasing , rock and roll loving Jamie Archer followed the delighted Miss Frank. True to form the afro sporting songster took to the stage like a natural. The 34-year-old had the audience in awe with his version of Get It On and Simon declaring, “It was a different league from everything else we’ve seen tonight.” “That’s the greatest moment of my life!” replied a flabbergasted Jamie
With seven acts down, five more were still waiting nervously backstage ready to deliver a performance of a lifetime…