Ho ho ho The X FACTOR!!!

I don’t know about you, but I’m already hopelessly addicted to the X Factor already. I initially wasn’t – the first few rounds of auditions get really boring after a while (there’s only so many chronic crooners you can handle in a night) – but by the Judge’s Houses round I was there in my living room, lights down and a cuppa practically glued at my TV in suspense!!

And so it has Really Begun. With the first live show – and subsequent double eviction – already under this season’s belt, the much-famed reality TV singing (well, sometimes!) competition has well and truly got the nation’s tongues a-wagging.

I was really disappointed that Italian Stallion and Full-time Diva Nicolo Festa got the boot. He really didn’t deserve to go. Yeah his performance of Lady Gaga’s Just Dance was predictable and didn’t show off his style or vocals, but what a character we’ve been robbed of, and it’s only the first week! Sadly I can’t say the same about boyband FYD. They were bland and uninteresting for me ... sorry guys, but the public also thought so as well.

I was wondering what Katie Waissel was doing in the bottom 3, apart from being the unfortunate victim of a hate-campaign against her. I also think it’s unfair that Gamu didn’t get through, and yes Katie messed up her audition, but so did Cher and Mary, both of whom are now receiving mostly positive exposure.

Here’s a lowdown of what I though of Saturday’s performances, of the first live shows:

FYD – Good performance, but nothing I wouldn’t find at Butlins.

John – Boring and dated performance, forgettable.

Belle Amie – Work well as a group, but lacking that Zing. Might go the same way as Kandy Rain – I thought they’d go.

Matt Cardle – What fantastic vocals, very emotional performance. He just needs to stop closing his eyes and hunching over when he sings.

Mary Byrne- THE best performance of the night for me. As people have remarked, she looked like a true pro and as though she’d been doing it for years. Emotion and powerful vocals – stunning. Let’s just hope she hasn’t peaked too early ... she might have a tough time topping her own performance this week.

Treyc – Great vocals, and quite a nice performance, but I don’t see any character there. Did she get through just because she was last performing and fresh in viewers’ minds

Diva Fever – camp, sparkly and utterly outrageous, darlings!! Everything I would’ve expected from the glittery duo, although not sure if it’s so much recording material as gay pride performance!

Rebecca – she looked stunning and sang the song quite well, but was really let down by the song choice (not really her) and wandered a bit aimlessly and awkwardly around the stage. Come on Cheyl, give her a slow song where she sings sveltely on the spot and gazes into the camera with those lovely big brown eyes!!

Aiden – At first I thought he looked like a crazed convict with his very, very emotional performance on the funny white chair on a podium, but on the whole this was on a par with a professional recording artist. He just needs to show us more character now to go with it ... and of course, like the other good performer of the night, Mary, needs to beat himself this week.

Storm – A+ for effort, but I have to admit Simon Cowell was right – he did look like a failed rock star. Or put better, he looked like he was a former rock star who was doing a Greatest Hits concert. Looked good but not sure if it’ll translate into actual pounds rolling in

Cher – up in the top three with Aiden and Mary. So confident, so flawless, she had real Presence, a bit like a cross between Cheryl Cole and Madonna. I have a feeling this is just the start for this lady as well, not to mention the enormous amount of press coverage she’s receiving about her weight!

One Direction – I think these guys have the potential to be really popular. They’re good-looking, young (and I mean proper boy-band young, i.e. 16, 17, 18, not early to late twenties), and there’s a gap in the market for someone like them, although The already established Wanted are dangerously close to it. We haven’t had a massive boyband round here since the days of Take That and Westlife. The only other danger is of course that they were thrown together a few weeks ago and have so far racked up a massive ... two performances. I’ve heard they don’t get on, which is half evident from their body language sometimes. But if they can get their differences behind them, they’ll have Coutts bank accounts before they hit 20.

Paije – Vocally really something, but performance-wise, he wandered round the stage like a lost soul on a dark night. The 80s jacket and hairstyle didn’t help either. Needs to seriously re-invent if he wants to go all the way.

Wagner – the token Joke Act. Seems a very nice man, but I can’t see him selling records anytime soon!

Katie – she looked nervous but gave a good performance, if a little whacky and trying too hard with the outrageous costume. Lady Gaga is already out there doing that, so maybe she needs to rethink ...

Nicolo – Oh how I wish he’d stayed! But the British Public decided otherwise, and to be fair with good reason. A generic, predictable song and style, although I think it was the sunglasses that really did it. I think rap-artists are the only people who can get away with sunglasses (because they never usually take them off elsewhere). We needed to see eye contact, Nicolo, and what a shame for you and us that we didn’t get it!

So there you have it – 2 down, 13 to go. Roll on Saturday, I’m already getting the popcorn in!