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| Cassie Says Goodbye With A Smile |
| 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." |
| Only one thing is certain about tonight's X Factor result; Louis Walsh won't have to choose between 2 of his acts for the 3rd week in succession. As Simon Cowell so gleefully reminds Louis, he only has one act left in the competition! |
| G4 go a bit ballistic when they are the first to be told they'll be coming back next week. The term 'jumping for joy' doesn't quite describe it! Louis is jumping up there with the boys; all of them high as kites. It's great to see how much it all means to them and their mentor. After languishing in the bottom two last week they must have been fearing the worst tonight. |
| When Rowetta, then Steve are given their good news their expressions are primarily those of relief. They know that at this stage no-one is safe. |
The bottom two acts tonight are therefore Cassie Compton and Tabby Callaghan. Seventeen year old Cassie is possibly the most composed contestant on stage. Kate Thornton asks if it's a big shock for her. "I wouldn't say that" Cassie replies, "everyone was amazing, so it was gonna be somebody." Tabby seems perhaps a little more nervous, but he's also feeling philosophical "It was going to happen sooner or later, might as well get it over with now. Get it done." |
| Sharon looks gutted. Her expressions don't match the positivity of her words. When Kate asks her how she is feeling, Sharon insists that she is "Happy in one way, because my kids get to perform again and I love it. And I know everyone at home loves it. They get a chance to do it all over again!" |
| Her true feelings do surface though, when she refuses to 'do a Louis' and cast a vote against one of her acts. "I'm not going to be in Louis' shoes 'cause I ain't gonna vote. So whatever you wanna do upstairs... I ain't gonna vote against my kids! ..." |
The showdown commences and Sharon's two 'kids' both perform just as well as they did the first time around. The other artists watch on with the usual mixed feelings of relief and sadness. Rowetta is crying, possibly she's thinking that Tabby, her temporary flatmate and her best buddy in the contest, might be walking at the end of the show. We see her mouthing "c'mon Tabby!" as he plays his final guitar solo during his act. Is it his final one tonight, or his final one in the contest? |
| Just before they are placed at the mercy of the panel Cassie touchingly comforts a tense looking Tabby with a peck on the cheek. |
| Kate calls upon Louis to be the first judge to slate his verdict. Louis' eyes are watery again this week, even though his act is safe! He genuinely looks sad to say what he has to say, "unfortunately Kate, the act I've picked to go home tonight is Cassie." The audience lets out a mournful gasp. |
| Louis' reason? ... "Because I think Tabby can win the competiton. I really think he's got something extra going for him". Louis then lays a few more of his cards on the table, adding "...also because I told him about doing the competition, years ago we talked about this. And he's Irish, I'm Irish. I think he's a star." |
| Kate goes through the motions of asking Sharon for her choice. Mrs O stands firm. "Kate, we've discussed this, you know what I'm going to say. I'm a big mouth, I'm over opinionated but my god am I loyal... and you're not gonna get me in that position. I can't go there. I can't." Sharon gets a big cheer for sticking to her stance. |
| Kate tries a second time to get a name out of Sharon, but it's clear she's getting nowhere. Meanwhile Cassie and Tabby wait on a knife's edge. They are in limbo, but it must seem like hell! |
| Before getting Simon's decision Kate announces that in the event of a tie it will be the contestant who polled the lowest quota out of tonight's 2 million public votes who exits the competition. |
| It's over to Simon. He ups the ante by revealing that he is in a bit of a quandry! "This is difficult for me because... I want to win this competition. So do I kick out the person who I think is the best compet... ? (loud boos) ... who is the .. (louder boos)" |
| Kate wants to know who Simon means. |
| He continues, "The person I've always feared in this competition is Tabby, so...it is a competition! (boos) We all knew the rules. Do I kick out the person who I thought was the weaker of the two?" |
| Kate must have his decision. Which way will he go? Eventually he gets there! ... |
| "...the person I will be asking to leave the stage tonight (he pauses) is Cassie." |
| The tension must have been getting too much for Cassie because she looks almost relieved when she hears Simon say her name. She smiles and accepts her fate with a graceful nod. After viewing her 'best bits' she has some words of comfort for her distraught mentor Sharon, "There's only two things I could say. Thank you and I love you." |  |
| Sharon seems moved by these words and tells this lovely young Londoner "I'm so proud of you Cassie. You have a god given gift and I'm going to be at your side no matter what missus! You're not getting rid of me! " |
| Sharon's warm words and the rapturous applause from the studio audience must make the pain of leaving the contest a lot more bearable. |
| She seems to have kept her perspective right to the end, at 17 she's 5th out of a field of 50,000. There's definitely something to celebrate in that, and Cassie looks like she knows it! |
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