It’s been a long and trying journey for the judges to get to this stage, where they take their final 12 acts to the Live Finals.
From the audition stages, Louis, Dannii, Cheryl and Simon narrowed down the performers to 200 successful contestants, who made it through to the Boot Camp stage.
Those 200 acts were then cut down once again to just 24 final acts, who had to battle it out last night at the Judges Houses stage.
Now the 24 have halved, leaving just 12 acts. Here are the ones who have made the cut and will be going on to the Live Finals part of the competition, which kicks off next weekend.
A: The Girls, mentored by Dannii Minogue
Dannii was assisted at the Judges Houses stage in Dubai by her sister, the worldwide famous pop star Kylie Minogue. Here are her choices.
1. Lucie Jones
It was clear from day one that 18-year-old Lucie – who hails from a tiny village in Wales – had something special.
Kylie was impressed with her performance of Beyonce’s hit If I Were a Boy, telling Dannii: “She’s got great control and I would like to know more about her.”
On decision day, Dannii told Lucie that she needs someone with the looks, the voice and the X Factor – and she clearly thought that she possess all those qualities. And the singer was so excited by the news that she ran out and jumped up on host Dermot!
Lucie has just finished her A-Levels at college and occasionally performs with a jazz trio.
2. Stacey Solomon
The 19-year-old student and single mum secured her place in Dannii’s final three after performing a moving rendition of Somewhere Over The Rainbow.
Kylie loved Stacey because she is so “kooky” and was impressed with how she handled her vocals. Dannii was also impressed – but hoped that Stacey would be able to keep her nerves under control at the Live Finals.
Giving Stacey the good news, she said: “We love you, you’re in the final three!”
The Essex teen has applied for the show before but has never been able to get past the first audition stage – but she was vowed to win over the judges this time round.
3. Rachel Adediji
Rachel is Dannii’s third choice for The Girls category. The 17-year-old has been attending stage school since the age of just two, and has performed in a number of musical productions including Mamma Mia.
The London-based singer – who is currently studying musical theatre – got to Boot Camp in last year’s show but failed to get any further in the competition.
After impressing Dannii and Kylie, she is now the third and final act in Danni’s category, who will be performing live next week.
The three girls who failed to make it through are Despina Pilavakis, Stacey McClean who used to be in the group S Club Juniors, and Nicole Jackson, who broke down several times during her Judges Houses in Dubai.
B: The Groups, mentored by Louis Walsh
Louis was assisted in his selection by personal friend and Boyzone lead singer, Ronan Keating, at the Judges Houses stage in Lake Como, Italy.
4. Miss Frank (made up of Shaniece Davis, Graziella Affinita and Shar Alexandra)
Shaniece, Graziella and Shar had originally auditioned individually, but the judges decided that the girls would be stronger as a group. They agreed, and Miss Frank was born – and it seems that forming as a threesome was the right thing to do, as together the girls impressed enough to be one of the final three acts in The Groups.
The girls performed the classic hit, Respect, for Louis Walsh and Ronan Keating at last night’s Judges Houses stage. Louis seemed slightly disappointed, telling Ronan – who had come along to help him decide on his final acts - that he thought they would have been better, but added that there is “something there”.
Graziella Affinita’s strong soulful voice was only discovered when aged 15 she was made to sing solo in class by her teacher, as a punishment for talking too much – something which she is probably very grateful for now!
Since then, the 25-year-old student from London has thrown herself into the music industry and has worked with a number of bands, despite never hitting the big time.
Shaniece, a 21-year-old hairdresser from London, has experience of singing, mostly through performances in her local churches and theatre productions.
Shar is the final member of the group. Aged 25, the singer is desperate for success, after a group she used to be a member of broke up in 2005, shattering her confidence in her ability.
5. Kandy Rain (made up of Chemmane Applewhite, CoCo Lloyd, Azi Jegbefume, Khatereh Dovani)
Kandy Rain are the second group to make it through in the category. The band – made up of Chemmane Applewhite, CoCo Lloyd, Azi Jegbefume, Khatereh Dovani - met at a girl group audition 12 months ago when they were chosen to be in a seven-piece band. Nothing ever came of the group, but the girls stayed close and decided to form their own four-piece.
The girls hit the headlines after it was revealed that they used to work as strippers – something which seemed to worry Louis slightly. They defended their previous occupations, stating: Everyone does have a past I mean you can’t say everyone’s perfect.”
The girls, all from London, now work in different careers. Azi, 25, is now a model, CoCo, 22, id studying law, Khatereh, 24, works in a beauty salon and Chemmane, 26, is a dance teacher. But they’ll no doubt be hoping that after the competition they won’t be returning to their day jobs!
Despite Louis and Ronan having reservations about whether girls would like Kandy Rain and vote for them, they impressed enough with their vocals on the Lady GaGa hit Paparazzi.
Louis told them: “From your first audition I loved the look of the group, I though you were sexy, I though you were sassy, I though you had so much energy. I loved that about the group.”
The girls will now be performing at the Live Finals next weekend.
6. John & Edward
The third group to make it through is made up of 17-year-old twins, John and Edward Grimes.
Throughout the competition the teen group has got under Simon Cowell’s skin – with him calling the pair “vile”!
The boys also looked set to get chucked out after singing over fellow contestant Sian Paley’s lines at the Boot Camp stage, and they thought they had messed up their performance of the Backstreet Boys hit I Want It That Way, at the Judges House round.
But Louis saw something in the boys, telling them that they reminded him of Boyzone – and that he wanted to take a chance on them.
The groups that didn’t make it to the final three were Harmony Hood, who Ronan and Louis felt had failed to gel as a group, girl band Project A, and De-Tour – whose harmonies were “terrible” according to Ronan!
C: The Boys, mentored by Cheryl Cole
Cheryl had friend Will Young helping her make the choices for her final three at the Judges Houses stage in Morocco. As a former contestant and winner on Pop Idol, Will has been through the process himself and knew the kind of talent to look out for.
7. Rikki Loney
Rikki is the only Scot to make it to the Live Finals stage of The X Factor. Rikki is no stranger to The X Factor – he has previously auditioned for the show in series one, two and five – so it’s clearly a dream of his to make it on the show.
The 21-year-old from Glasgow has been singing as much as possible in the last few years to build up his experience, and performing everywhere – from clubs to nursing homes.
After auditioning without telling his family, because he didn’t want to raise their hopes for nothing, Rikki is determined to prove he can go all the way – and show the judges they made a mistake by letting him go before.
He made it to the final three based on his performance of the Michael Jackson hit You’ve Got a Friend at the Judges Houses stage last night.
8. Lloyd Daniels
Lloyd, a 16-year-old student from a small Welsh village, makes up one third of Cheryl’s final three.
Lloyd impressed Cheryl from the start, with his charming boy band looks and strong vocals and she was impressed with how far he has come since his first audition.
She told him: “When you came in yesterday and sang I was shocked. I was like ‘wow’. You really delivered. But the thing that concerns me about you is mostly is your age. I was 19 when I was given my opportunity and I struggled to cope with it.”
But despite Will Young and Cheryl’s reservations about his age, Lloyd has made it through to the final three – and Cheryl told him to expect a “lot of hard work and pressure”.
9. Joseph McElderry
Joe really managed to show off the complexity of his singing ability during his rendition of the Elton John song Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word, which her performed for Cheryl and Will.
Cheryl told the 18-year-old that she instantly felt a spark and a connection with Joseph and that she felt he had been one of the most consistent in the competition.
Joe, who hails from South Shields, discovered his voice after singing karaoke a few years ago, and has since entered a number of singing competitions. He also entered The X Factor in 2007, getting to the Boot Camp stage – but decided to leave because he felt he was too young to carry on. Clearly he has come a long way since then, beating off the other competition to make it this far.
The three acts that didn’t get through in The Boys category were American student Ethan Bororian – who Cheryl felt might have been relying on his looks too much, Duane Lamonte, who let his performance down by starting off in the wrong key, and Daniel Fox.
D: The Over 25s, mentored by Simon Cowell
Simon was assisted in his decision at the Judges Houses stage in LA by his long-time friend Sinitta.
10. Danyl Johnson
Danyl, a 27-year-old teacher from Reading, has made it as one of Simon’s final three in The Over 25s category.
The singer – who has been in a number of boy bands over the years – impressed every one of the judges at the auditions stage with a jaw-dropping performance of The Beatles hit With a Little Help from My Friends. It was clear from the start that he had true star quality.
But Simon told him that he had been a little disappointed at the Judges House stage – but that he also knew that when Danyl is good he’s “brilliant” – and he obviously decided to take a chance on him.
11. Olly Murs
The 25-year-old energy advisor from Essex applied for the show last year, but didn’t manage to make it to the next round.
Olly seems to be a bit of a shock finalist, after letting down Simon and Sinitta with a performance wracked by nerves.
However the singer – who currently performs as part of a duo called Small Town Blaggers – clearly showed something special as he is one third of Simon’s Over 25s.
Simon told him: “You’re a risk, it’s as simple as that. Sometimes I have to take risks - you’re through!”
12. Jamie Archer
Jamie Archer – also known as Jamie Afro because of his unforgettable hairdo – is the third and final act in Simon’s Over 25s group.
The 33-year-old Londoner sang a tender version of the Oasis hit Stop Crying your Heart Out at the Judges Houses stage. After knocking the socks off the judges previously with performances including the Kings of Leon song Sex on Fire, Jamie truly proved his voice is diverse and adaptable.
The musician has been gigging for over eight years and will no doubt be hoping that this is his chance to finally break through into the industry.
The acts who didn’t make it through in the Over 25s category were Daniel Pearce, who used to be in the Popstars: The Rivals boy band One True Voice, Nicole Lawrence and Treyc Cohen.
That’s the final 12 and next week the live finals kick off – make sure to tune in to see all the action!
