...Kate demands 'silence' and after a long wait crooner Steve Brookstein is declared the second finalist. An overjoyed Simon gives Steve a huge hug and a thumper of a slap on the back!

This means that sadly Tabby Callaghan must leave The X Factor tonight...

Tonight is perhaps the most nerve-racking of the series for the X Factor mentors because they all know that one of them will drop out of the contest at the end of the evening.

Amazingly they each have one act left in the contest at the start of the semi-final ('the final 3') show and the acts couldn't be more different...

We are really getting our money's worth from The X Factor contestants! 

On tonight's results show before the voting lines close, each act is asked to choose one song to reprise...

It's 'final 4' night and the stakes are higher than ever.

The remaining acts are all good, but only the winning act will get that all important recording contract! ...

Kate Thornton gives all the X Factor contestants the collywobbles at the start of tonight's results show. She tells them that it's "...too close to call between all 5 of you! As things stand any of you could fall into the bottom two."

The X Factor finals are at their halfway stage and the final nine have already been whittled down to just five. It's all getting comfortably cosy and intimate, unless of course your name is Louis Walsh!

Poor old Louis Walsh! Last week he agonised about which of his acts to send home and tonight he has to do the same again! Cassie, Tabby, Steve and finally Rowetta are declared safe for next week's final five, leaving Louis' two remaining acts to sing it out for the remaining place...

The 3 mentors are neck and neck as we begin the 4th live showdown, with 2 finalists remaining from each group ...

Simon Cowell confidently tells Kate Thornton that he won't be the judge that's left with only one act tonight. It's got to be one of them though... so which one?
Read our reviews of tonight's performances ...

...Both of the acts in the bottom two are mentored by Louis... The order in which Kate Thornton reveals the acts that make it through is G4, Rowetta, Tabby, Steve and...after the agonising ad-break Cassie! So it is 2 To Go and Voices With Soul who must sing again to stay in the competition...

It's that X Factor time again and amazingly we're already down to the final 7! Tonight yet another act will leave and wave goodbye to their mentor and to the competition... Sharon and Simon are determined to hang on to their remaining acts, but there again, so is Louis!

Yet another nerve-jangling night!

Tonight the lucky first five acts to hear they were coming back for next week's X Factor show were Voices With Soul, Cassie, Steve, Tabby and Rowetta...

There’s something of a gladiatorial atmosphere in The X Factor studio tonight. The crowd are really pumped up, and whilst they aren’t quite baying for anyone’s blood (except perhaps that of a judge!) they all seem determined that their heroes will prevail...

Tonight on 'The X Factor' Kate Thornton revealed a new twist in the proceedings.

The 2 acts that receive the lowest number of public votes must perform again in the results show and the judges then decide which of the 2 goes home...

It’s the first live X Factor show and the public is about to get in on the act and decide which acts stay and which acts go.

The contestants have got to be feeling just a little nervous about performing live in front of the judges and the nation for the first time...