Cheryl, Queen of Mime

Okay okay, I got it half right. Belle Amie stayed against all odds to compete next week, but poor old TrayC and John were in the sing-off. I've had a suspicion for a while John would go - he had a great voice but then so do most people on the show, so it doesn't really count for anything. The public are hungry for that sparkle in your eye, that charisma, the glittering star quality ... having a good voice is nothing more than a given pre-requisite, really.

Which brings me nicely onto Ms. Cole, who performed her new single Promise This on last night's show. I should've thought it pretty obvious that she almost entirely mimed the whole song, save for one line somewhere in the middle, heavily supported by a backing track.

I suppose there are plus and minus points to miming. A lot of artists have done it in the past - just look at the Spice Girls, they hardly ever performed live (I think their act would've been dead in the water if they had). But that was the Nineties, before the age of singing competitions like the X Factor, and the public have become every more demanding. Not only do we want a flawless performance, we want it live. We want singing, belting high notes, pumped up dance routines, stunning costumes, fireworks, the lot. And to be honest, we've had it from a lot of the wannabes that are competing this year.

Which makes Cheryl, to put it bluntly, a hypocrite. She is sitting pretty and earning big bucks for sitting on her very pert behind and voicing her opinion on others' singing. You might say she's been there and done that (I've seen the videos and they're atrocious). But she's still out there doing it, promoting herself as a serious recording artist. For her to sit there and pull up other people on not hitting that high note, the wobbly starts or the off-key moments and then get up there and not be prepared to do it herself is a very smug pot calling a lot of talented kettles black. The excuse is that she has a "lot of dance routines" to keep up with and thus can't do the vocal at the same time. Now, do you think that we'd accept that from the X Factor contestants?

If you're a recording artist, Cheryl, put your money where your mouth is. Or actually, just put your voice where your mouth is.