Two acts join Adele, One Direction and Coldplay in the Final

The three finalists come in from the aisles through the audience. Some dancers follow them, carrying letters - just in case we've forgotten their names. Ché gets three, Reggie & Bollie get three (RNB) but Louisa gets six. There's a sign to start with. Luckily, they stay in the right order and nothing embarrassing gets spelled to the several thousand present and few million watching.

Ché seems a bit breathless and whoever dressed him ought to be fired. Louisa is very fired already and, once she hits the stage, she is putting on the sort of show I would have expected her to reserve for the last song. Impressive. Reggie & Bollie do what Reggie & Bollie do and all's well with the world. A nice final tomorrow would be Louisa and Reggie & Bollie. Ché has a good voice but I just don't see him as a big name at concerts and on future TV shows. The other two could well be there, as will be lots of acts from old X Factor series over this weekend.

Ché is first to perform. We see him on the bus and visiting Essex. Now there he may have an advantage, Essex people being good supporters generally, happy to plug away with the tablets and phones and, as a young chap there will be a decent girlie vote for him. He seems to have got rid of a silly three quarter length shirt which he had on when he first appeared. That'll help. Valerie is a good track for him, cheerful and bright and comparatively stress free to perform so that has to have given him a good start. Neither Simon nor I understood the hamburgers on the stage. He makes the point that he looked nervous and does start off the least favoured to win. Having said that, how often have the bookies been proven wrong!!

I haven't placed a bet this year, mainly because the odds on Louisa have been so short since day one. I should have put something on Reggie & Bollie getting this far if I could have found a bookie offering odds for that.

Reggie & Bollie spend time in Newcastle and they have got a pretty widespread support across the nation. Cheryl is also a popular mentor and she'll gather a few extra votes for them. I can see them winning, just because they exude so much fun and they really do entertain every time. they may not have a few schools to bank votess from but I still see them doing well.

I suppose one day they might run out of tracks they can mash together effectively but they should manage to last a couple more. They have a bit of a random thing going this time. No idea what the track(s) are called - it's all a bit mad and the dancers seem to have absolutely nothing to do with anything but they're all having fun so who cares? You have to hand it to these guys - so professional and the crowd really do love them. Compared to the reception for Ché this is impressive.

Simon says it was a weird mash up - like a strawberry and liver mix! That reaction could be a sign that they could win. Rita says they were a bit 'cruise ship' and I can see that too. It was one of those performances that you may well see again and again but after a few years not necessarily remember who did it.

A lot hangs on what Louisa does to start with. she needs to get people voting and not just assuming that, as the shortest odds-ever favourite, she is just going to win whatever happens. She will need those votes and with Reggie & Bollie pulling theirs in big time she is not at all guaranteed to beat them, or Ché for that matter. We can all remember Ella not even making the Top 5 and One Direction lost out to Matt Cardle and Rebecca Ferguson.

Now it is Louisa's turn. I had forgotten that she is also from Essex so will amost certainly pinch a large number of Ché's votes from that part of the world. I Believe I Can Fly is a pretty tedious number. Not the best of starts, in my view, but Louisa throws so much at it, treating it like a final song again, that you have to sit up and take notice. Sometimes I wish she would be a bit gentler and maybe rise more gradually towards the loud bits but she gets very good reviews. The audience didn't quite match the R & B set but it certainly made an impression. She has an ability to put a huge amount of emotion into everything she does. That is quite special and, controlled, she could become quite a successful British #1 act.

Talking of #1 acts, Leona Lewis is next, with last year's winner Ben Haenow. Ben hasn't had the best of years with little activity since winning. His duet with Leona is a bit laboured. She finishes that and then decides that the audience deserve something better and starts her classic Run. Fabulous and Ben helps out quite nicely. That really did show the impact of a quality song, though. Simon will be pleased as he'll still get some money from that, even though Leona left SYCO and hasn't been particularly quiet about that either.

That was an introduction to the round in which they each sing with someone a bit special. So who will Ché get to sing with? Nice song The First Cut Is The Deepest. Hmm. Could it be Rod Stewart? Yup, The 70 year-old is still going strong. The problem with someone like Rod is that comparison's can go wrong for you and, whilst Ché has a great tone, Rod really steals the stage from him, even when he is not exactly giving it his all. And there lies quite an important difference - Rod doesn't need to give it his all. He can pick up a decent cheque for just a bit of crooning. Ché needed to do a bit more, I feel. Nice though it was, it may not have made lots of people open up the apps and vote.

Reggie & Bollie still have the middle slot. So who will they get? I thought they had someone called Tina - at least that's what was on the hat - but it's Craig David who eventually appears. the first half was great and had everyone grooving but the Craig David bit sort of put them in the shade and it was also a complete shift of gear and tempo. Ah - the Tina guy was called Fuse and he flew in from Ghana so must be someone they knew as well. All good stuff but I am not so sure that the Craig bit worked as well as the other guy.

Louisa gets the good last slot again. I'm Not Living Without You is a good song. She is singing with her mentor, Rita. Apart from Rita's much flashier dress, there isn't much to choose between them. They clearly get on really well and that comes across well. A bit shouty for my taste but I do like this girl and she really does deserve to get through to the final and get some more of what she enjoys so much. She is a natural on stage and Rita says that there have only ever been two people who have made that impression on stage and that is Leona and Louisa.

She might have included Little Mix and One Direction but maybe she was just thinking of solo acts. In fact, Little Mix are on next with Fleur East, last year's runner up but possibly the more successful from that series. They start with Fleur doing Black Magic then Little Mix do Sax. All good fun and quite a lot of flesh on show. Cool. And hot.

After a bit of a cock-up on the VT front, they eventually get the reprise tapes in order and there's a quick look at the three acts again. My guess is that, based on audience feedback, Ché will get the 3rd place this year.

Rod does his Stay With Me Tonight hit and adds a quick plug for Ché in his chat with Caroline. Luckily there's a break between then and when the results are announced so they can move him off stage just in case it isn't Reggie & Bollie that get sent home.

In the final is Louisa! Now for the other one through. It's Reggie & Bollie. Well done to them. So that's it for Ché. Good result. Should be a fun final.

You have to go back to 2008 for the last girl winner, Alexandria Burke and 2011 for Amelia Lily as the last girl finalist when Little Mix were the last group in a Final. They also won, of course. It could be close tomorrow.

Three boys and one girl in the Final.

Olly will have made Reggie & Bollie worry with his comment that later tonight there will be more judges than comtestants. He may not have intended to refer to the number of people but it could have been an inadvertent comment after seeing the results, or the votes so far.

Louisa must surely be through but which of the others join her I would find difficult to predict.

The sing-a-long had me fooled for a minute. I hadn't been listening to the Olly and Caroline introduction and just remembered that Sia would be performing tonight. Famous for not showing her face in videos I've seen so far, I was wondering whether we would see what she looked like and then I looked up and saw this attractve straight-haired blonde girl singing and looking and sounding very professional. I actually though that must be Sia until it dawned on me that the track was Happy and it was Louisa there, later joined by the others.

Che did a good few lines and got the most in the song. In fact I was thinking he should have done that as one of his Saturday numbers as it suited his voice very well. Lauren made quite a strong impression with by far the strongest voice with an interesting edge to it compared to the less effective Louisa on this occasion. The Reggie & Bollie participation was more or less as you'd expect and the usual fun. So they all are very much in the running still based on that and who knows what the votes will reveal. To date, unlike many other years, there has not been an obvious granny vote, possibly helped by the introduction of free votes via the app which I would expect to favour the younger viewers.

Sia maintained her cover with a strange wig and hairpiece. Quite a stunning set with a digital box beneath her containing a female dancer in flesh coloured body stocking. I think the title will be Alive or something like that. I had expected her to simply head into the background but she stuck around when the stage lights went back on and chatted with Olly, still aloft the high shelf. Very strong production, reminiscent of Lady Gaga.

Before her, Jason Darulo had put on a good show too. The series does attract some good international names and I have no doubt that there will be some impressive acts appearing next week in the Final too.

OK. That's it. One act will fall at this last hurdle. After this it doesn't matter a great deal. Even coming 4th can be good. Reggie & Bollie are through with Louisa. Excellent. So Che sings off against Lauren for the third spot. That'll be Cheryl and Simon effectively deciding. I'd expect Simon to choose Che and Cheryl to do so too but they may leave it to the votes, as has been the case almost throughout the series.

Lauren starts in tears but they soon disappear and she does a great version of the extremely well-chosen Fight Song. Brilliant choice, well-performed and that might even see her through. Very effective indeed. It was as if she had saved that up all this time especially for this important battle.

Che will have to come out with something very special to beat that. With Bridge Over Troubled Water he stands a chance. I didn't feel he did enough with that, though. He certainly didn't seem to fight as hard. He may have won the public vote. Cheryl chooses to save Che. Simon saves Lauren to let the votes decide.

Lauren loses. Che makes it through. You have to wonder how much the newspapers might have influenced that.

The Top 4 Perform

Some papers have been trying to put Lauren down and it seems she had a modest contract some time ago and got a few plays of a single on Radio 1 Xtra. Like we going to be worried about that. Reggie & Bollie have had huge success in Africa and 4th Impact certainly were well-known in the Philipines and probably had some deals going on somewhere.

Tell Me Honestly is the first track from Reggie & Bollie, introduced by a far more attractive Cheryl than she was last week. It reminded me so much of something which will dawn on me sometime this evening. Ah, got it: Only You. Seemed the same song. This was a much gentler groove from the pair, almost quiet in comparison to what they normally do. Everyone says that we should be ready for their second song and I'm sure that Cheryl, who has managed them really well so far, will come up with something excellent to keep them in to the Final.

Lauren switches at the last moment to the Jess Glynne Take me Home number which is in the charts at the moment and so very current but that can also be a risk as Jess is such a good singer and everyone knows her version. Lauren struggles with the lower register stuff like so many singers do but tries to make up for that by putting lots into the rest of the song. She can certainly belt out tracks and gets most of the notes right. So far, though, I have never really rated her as a contender to win. That was probably going to get more votes than Reggie & Bollie. Simon remarks that she was a bit panicky and screechy. Spot on, it was like she was trying a bit too hard.

Neither will have people rushing to YouTube to play them again.

Third on stage is Che Chesterton. 'Certainly nothing wrong with the voice', says Lionel Ritchie who is the mentor for everyone this week. He sort of implied that Che's look and demeanour weren't competition winning. He does Would I Lie To You. It's accurate but they might just as well have played Charles & Eddie's original. Very 1980s, or even 1970s. A decent enough job but really not inspiring. Cruise ship. He gets good reviews, though, with the panel putting him firmly on top so far.

Last semi finalist is the very pretty Louisa. First the competition - the prize being Simon Cowell's F Type Jaguar which I would really like. The £50000 would come in handy too. I seldom enter these competitions but I have to admit to falling for that one. OK, back to the music. She is singing The Power Of Love which has been overdone by an awful lot of people already. Ah, it's the Frankie Goes To Hollywood version! That's good. And it is good. A bit screechy at the end as she tries almost too hard to impress. It worked well and the set was smart too, not taking attention away from her. It was still a bit 'old' and missed a bit of the emotion that the original had. However, I would say she definitely comes first out of those four performances and may have stolen votes from Lauren in the process.

Second round. Che Chesterton does Love Is A Losing Game, the Amy Winehouse song that should be popular, although I would identify it more with Lauren. It is also a bit 'old' again. This guy can be trusted to hit the right notes and to put some sort of emotion into it. he just looks like a contestant to me, not a future star. For example, I can't see him taking the stage in the States and doing much across The Pond. He'll sell a few albums but they may well just be recycled stuff done reasonably well for the grannies. It was good - and nice and simple, to his credit, in an evening of trying too hard generally. Nice. It ought to see him through but Simon saw it as ordinary and a bit karaoke. I don't get all the emotion that Nick and Cheryl seemed to be exhibiting. Maybe they'll be sad to see him go.

Louisa next, with It's A Man's World but which she says she'll be bringing Girl Power to. Not sure that's a good idea but all will be revealed shortly. It's a big song and very appealing. A great set again. Well done Rita and advisors. Now that was a great performance. She really did seem to be thoroughly comfortable up there, totally taking over the stage and produced possibly the best performance of the series this year. All the judges give her great reviews and hope that voters don't forget to vote, thinking that she'll be safe. Sure, she so much should be in the Final.

Whilst Louisa put Che very much in the shade, she now has to let the other two acts interfere with our memories and, possibly, although it would be hard, to steal the limelight and a few wavering votes. I can see Reggie & Bollie doing well. Che's future will, I think, depend almost entirely on how Lauren does.

Lauren gets the first shot. Running is a much more modern song for her - a Beyonce / Naughty Boy number that is well-written and also suits her pretty well. I detected some bum notes, though, and it was so much less, audibly as well as visually than Louisa's that she is clearly struggling now. It is going to be her or Che taking the third spot in the Final next week and I honestly don't know if she'll get it. She ought to, as she is slightly more up-to-date and likely to improve enough to represent us well in the lower regions of the charts, but she is not a winner.

Last, winding up the show in what I hope will be some style is Reggie & Bollie. For all Louisa's expertise and style, I still see these guys with a good chance of winning this year. With a mash-up of The Chiili Peppers' I've Got A Feeling and I Like To Move It the pair put on a good show all right. Not bad at all. Not quite as smart as I had expected. Louisa still walks away with the crown for this week but the crowd love these guys. They did sound a bit like Will.i.am and friends and that's not a bad thing. All the panel say that they need to be in the Final. So I wonder which of the other three acts they would drop?!

I think it will be farewell Che.

The Top 11 Perform

One thing that was clear from last week was that there are no obvious lame acts this year and they're all capable of entertaining us. However, very few have that X factor that is needed to break through and capture respect and, perhaps, hearts and become a leading UK act for more than a Christmas single.

4th Impact

They're doing something with Sound Of The Underground and mashed up with The Clapping Song. A huge amount of work must have gone into that and that is something that you can rely upon these four girls to do. A mad mix of music and the girls having some fun. I could have done without the guys dancing in the background but they were a good way to open the show. Maybe not a track we'll want to play again a great deal but I'd expect to see them in the final three.

Mason Noise

That name is irritating but I'll have to get over that. His track is Footsteps, a great late 80s number that was one of my favourites. He doesn't do a great deal with it, though, and there are long gaps that don't work for me. He's in tune and quite powerful but I don't know how popular that will be. The audience like him and we'll just have to see how good the others are.

Anton Stephans

A very bizarre performance from Anton mixing All About The Bass with Bang Bang. Weird. He didn't seem that comfortable either. So much going on in the background too, with girls wearing speakers. He managed to get through it and that is to his credit as a professional. Simon chose the tracks and wanted to show that Anton could do something different but I didn't see much advantage in doing that. So, at the moment, Anton is at risk with Mason but it is early days.

Kiera Weathers

I do hope she gets a good track. Return Of The Mac she looks like she is happy to do. I don't know what she mixed it with but Rita certainly came up trumps with excellent taste in colours and setting. Great dancing too, this time it all worked well and I would say she moves to the top of the tree this week so far with that. Nice job. Simon didn't seem to like it but Nick was very positive.

Che Chesterton

A really nice, slowed-down version of the Supreme's You Can't Hurry Love and not mashed up with something either. That worked very well. That's what the others should have done. That puts Che at the top this week so far. Very enthusiastic response from the judges too.

Louisa Johnson

This girl is good, looks good and sounds good. She takes on Michael Jackson's Billy Jean. Nice. She didn't need to move a great deal as she just held the song really well. Having said that when she did move she was very cool. It worked well. Very talented indeed. Yet another change at the top as Louisa takes over from Che this week. She just looks the part and I am pretty sure she makes the final three and has to stand a good chance of taking the prize this year.

It's still Anton and Mason at the bottom in my view.

Seann Miley Moore

Another future star in the making. Unless he trips up somewhere along the line, he will be someone we really don't forget and will often say that this is where he found fame. California Dreaming is a great number and perfect for adaptation. he doesn't need to do much and stays fairly straight, as it were, just happens to perform in a Japanese gown for some reason. Nice job. perfect vocally and enchanting as ever visually. Well done Seann. On par with Che, probably more the star, to be honest. Very professional and how the others can compete I don't know. He is very safe.

Monica Michaels

With the classic Beyonce number, Monica slowed that right down and it was quite good but she appears busting out of a nice dress and it was a bit karaoke. She's got a good voice but I don't feel she's someone that will be around long. Maybe she drops below Mason with that, and that puts her in the danger zone with Anton.

Max Stone

This is someone that we don't really know how to take. He has the beautiful Somewhere Over The Rainbow and does that to a sort of reggae ukulele backing. It's quite nice and switches to What A Wonderful World pretty effectively. I've heard something similar somewhere but that doesn't detract from the excellence with which Max put this across. He needed a good performance and that was a good performance. I actually liked that better than Che's, so that put him third or fourth this week and out of the danger zone. It is an odd week, though, and I am not sure how much support he'll get from the voters out there.

Reggie & Bollie

Mixing What Makes You Beautiful with The Cheerleader Song  ought to be good if they get things right on stage live. They sure did! Great reaction from the crowd and the judges. Biggest cheers of the night by a mile. slightly embarrassing to see Nick daddy dancing with Rita and Cheryl. Seems to me that they've stolen the show this week from that reaction. Nice. In the cooler light of later on I am not so sure it was that brilliant but they should be safe enough for another week.

Lauren Murray

Her choice is Hold Back The River and that's not a song you can do a lot with other than play it fairly straight. That's what she does and it is enough of a change to hear a girl sing it. Lauren has a powerful voice too which more than matches the song and she pulls off a decent job with this. Not spectacular but good and it ought to see her through.

So it's Anton, Monica and Mason competing for the sing-off tomorrow. I may, of course, be completely wrong.

Boot Camp Pt 2

Competition from a Rugby match meant the X Factor decided against coming a poor second or third on Saturday evening and just put on a Sunday show.

Olly and Caroline get the Sunday evening show off to a good start by doing the introduction to the contestants getting ready for the Choose a song and sing it section. They are a good pair but woefully under-utilised so far.

Silvertone is the older girl gospel style group. They are all over the place with the harmonies and even timing. I won't say anything about the dancing. No matter how 'disappointed' Simon may say he is, there are plenty more good acts to make the Live Shows.

Lauren seems to have poured herself into her jeans, or eaten a great deal since putting them on. She was a bit average in her solo performance compared to the big impression she'd made before.

Brodie Kelly is the good-looking young chap who also did very well before but this time was very nervous and hardly managed to get through Diamonds, the Rihanna song. A less attractive guy, Simon Lynch, did better but looked like he might join the queue of 'could do betters'. However, he turned The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face into something memorably much better which ought to hep him through.

Josh Daniel was average. He's one of the best in this category says Cheryl. Really? replies Simon.

Seann Miley Moore is a definite star for this year. He is brilliant in many ways with a cool personality and really is trying hard. Simon says Think like a winner. I think many of us see him as a winner already. After a few uncertain acts, the last two set the standard that others in the Boys category will need to match. I am assuming that Seann will be on the Boys category. That is by no means certain.

Anton is the backing singer who is well-used to being on the stage and his first audition was excellent. He should make it through on th basis of his ability and experience and he would be a lovable candidate on the Live Shows. But much depends on his choice of songs and this one was not a good one. If it was in tune ten I can only assume it was in one of several tunes. It lost me, although he was clearly trying terribly hard to get across the message in his song. He might have managed - in a weird way.

Alien get tagged with Groups 17-24 so that must be one category which implies there might be a Group Overs. They're sort of OK and I have a feeling they're the sort of fun group that the panel will want to put through. There may be several others, though, so it's too early to be sure. We know they'll be up against The Four Filipinos anyway.

Tonatha is like a young Sunitta. She ought to get through. Nice lady and a good performer.

Joseph McCaul doesn't strike me as a winner of this competition, despite being a good singer but his stage stance is odd. I don't see anyone joining his fan club.

Monica Michael is back after not making Judges' Houses last year. She sounds strong and can certainly sing but I feel she's a bit old fashioned and 'last year'. She may get through to Judges' Houses this year but I am not sure how much further she'll go. She did do a superb version of Ain't No Sunshine this time. The earrings out me off big time, though.

Crazy times again with Papasidero and his wings. OK but he should forget the fancy performance and the silly high notes.

Gem is soome old bloke who shouldn't have been allowed to get this far. Awful.

Andre Batchelor can dance well but his singing leaves a huge amount to be desired. Just amusing now.

Che Chesterman delays a lot and just goes silent which I think is an attention thing. He sings pretty well but isn't someone I can see a record company wanting to support, however good his voice is. God singer but odd personality.

Havva messes up. Jamie the Olly look-a-like too. Ebru stopped halfway though, or seemed to.

Mason Noise is a bit over-confident and self-aggrandising but is actually very good.

Bupsi is one of the older ones. She put on a mad performance before but this time does Rvery Time You Go Away quite well. She's an average singer but has quite a bit of appeal.

Ben Clark has a good voice, a bit like Che, and neither is what we'd really want to see on an album cover but, of the two, he has more appeal.

4th Power are so professional, delivering a mad version of Titanium with bags of power. Very co-ordinated and they can work together so well. They'll be through and still loo like winners to me.

The First Kings got great crowd support on the first audition. They're tagged Groups 21-28, They do some harmony stuff this time. Not bad. Not something I would rush to hear again but a decent job done. A bit dated, Simon and Chryl say.

Holly Johnson is nice and can sing well.

Ankhush Khanna shoudn't be there. He's OK but that's all and he is a bit painful to listen to.

A big girl with a big voice. I didn't like that. Someone who I did like is Kiera Wethers. A super audition, one of the better ones.

Louisa Johnson is a talent to be reckoned with. She looks good and performs well. I am not a big fan of her voice but she does look good. A definite contender for the Live Shows.

Essex girl Chloe, blonde No. 2, is very similar so there won't be room for both. I feel she may lose out to Louisa.

Gifty is another sort of blonde. No idea how old she is but she is one of the most accurate singers of the whole Boot Camp thing. Very good.

Charli Beard has an excellent voice too. Not as good as Gifty but a nice personality and a sort of happy girl.

Decision time. 24 acts for Judges' Houses. First they cut down to about 60 acts, 15 in each category.

Next week the 6 Chair Challenge will provide plenty of drama as the panel try to choose the six acts they prefer. Now they really should know which they want but it always seems to be a problem making decisions on the night. No doubt that will be the case again.