The Final: The Winner.

Well, Baby Shark was not what I would have predicted to start tonight's show! Simon seemed to suggest that he couldn't mention the performers. That was weird. Are they a SYCO thing? Getting a lot of plays and rumoured to be in the running for the Christmas No. 1 but surely it's way too early.

Whatever, someone has to follow that and it's

Anthony

I Predict A Riot with the Kaiser Chiefs.
Now that was really good! Probably due to Ricky Wilson doing a great vocal and the band being great too but Anthony held his own. Pretty amazing and he had genuinely the sheer enjoyment factor.

Ellie Goulding does her guest spot next. A safe act and nothing like Cheryl! She backs Dalton.

Scarlett

One More Sleep with Leona Lewis
Another excellent choice. It's the modern classic Christmas song. Nice but i prefer Leona on her own doing this. I guess Leona must be speaking to Simon Cowell nowadays. Good crowd reaction. Scarlett didn't do herself any harm at all with that.

Nile Rogers gets the next guest spot and I'm delighted to see him also featuring Misunderstood and Acacia & aliyah in his set. Nice touch and they're two good groups I suspect he will ensure we'll see more of.

Dalton

The Power Of Love with James Arthur
The Frankie Goes To Hollywood one not the other one. Beautifully sung. Dalton was sufficiently different to James so that James didn't take it over. An interesting duet but i wonder whether the public will have preferred Ricky Wilson or Leona Lewis tonight?

It really ought to be Dalton who wins this thing. But who knows?

Take That come on as the last guest act and do Shine and some more with Robbie Williams joining them.

The results:

3rd place: Anthony
2nd Scarlett

1st Dalton.

All good.

The Final: Pt 1

The evening starts off with a sing-a-long. We've managed to avoid these so far. With Robbie Williams leading the way, though, especially with Let Me Entertain You, it was not at all bad. Gio was in his element and probably performed better than anyone else.

As stated last week, Simon Cowell has 'changed the rules' so that all three stay in until the second instalment rather than one being kicked out tonight as, possibly, originally planned.

Anthony

Let It Be
Good local lad stuff. OK, suits him well but nothing exceptional. You do tend to think that he's coming 3rd.

Dalton

A quality number. I don't know what it is but could be A Song For You. I deal for his range and style and he produces a pretty powerful performance emotionally. It seems to have bits of Elton John's Your Song but maybe I am mistaken.

He gets the usual amazing crowd reaction and the judges are doing their best not to say that he really has to win the whole thing.

Scarlett

Your Song
Now that's odd. Scarlett actually does do this song. Quite a coincidence. A nice version and she also seems to have great audience support. Robbie Williams actually asks her to do a Hyde Park concert with him! That was totally unrehearsed and off the cuff as we can see from the later exchange with Simon. A nice touch. Simon refers to Fleur East indirectly by saying that he doesn't want to see Scarlett on I'm A Celebrity drinking worm juice in a couple of years' time!

Anne-Marie and James Arthur do their single from the Greatest Show On Earth collection. James looks a bit uncomfortable as a straight act.

Anthony

He performs with Tom Walker with Leave A Light On. 
It's another very good choice as it suits him well. Tom may have stolen quite a bit of the lime light, however, and Anthony was just a bit of accompaniment. For all that there is a lot of love for this guy.

Dalton

He is with Emile Sande with Beneath You're Beautiful.
I am not sure this was a great song for him and the duet. They are well-matched, though, although she seems to hold him back quite a bit. It's nice stuff but could have been even more impressive perhaps. I don't see that bringing home a great deal more votes but my guess is that he ought to have enough already.

We get George Ezra next and Shotgun.

Scarlett

Closing the show with Robbie Williams and Angels ! Her start is a bit uncertain but you can see she is absolutely delighted and so naturally playful that it's like she doesn't really care what happens now. This is all quite endearing. Obviously the duet with Robbie is a great break and she now has a gig with him too but this says to me that she's happy to come second. Interestingly, Simon's smart move with this pairing and her relaxed performance could even switch things!

This will appeal to a lot of voters.

It still seems to be Dalton's to win.

More soon

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