Leathered up and robed to raunch, Niki Evans is singing a belter of a Kelly Clarkson rock ballad on tonight's X Factor.

She begins the song slightly off key, and the arrangement of the first half of this number is a wee bit subdued.

Niki comes back with a much stronger second half. Setting her vocal to full throttle she lets out a no holds barred, brilliant barrage of emotion. She's singing with the raw feeling of a woman wronged. Perhaps she's using last week's put down from Simon as motivation? Simon thinks so. He's convinced that Niki is zeroing in on him because he's more important to her than Louis!

Niki brings the tempo down for a soft landing before facing the judges, who give her another mixed bag of comments.

Panel-Bites:

Sharon Osbourne:  A good old British belter, you are! Unbelievable performance. Great song for you. You sang it really well.

Dannii Minogue:  ...I didn't think it was right for you because I didn't believe that you loved the song. A few bits were out of sync, a few bits were sharp and flat. It wasn't your best performance.

Simon Cowell:  ...I liked it. Back to the old Niki we know and what I loved about that is that you zeroed in on me. And that was absolutely, truthfully, the right thing to do. In other words, I am more important to you now than Louis.

Niki: (Shakes her head) No!

Louis Walsh:  Noooo! Noooo!

Simon Cowell:  (Grinning) It looked that way to me!

Louis Walsh:  It was the right song... and she's got the right attitude and this girl can be in the final, I know it.

Dermot O'Leary:  What do you make of the judges comments...?

Niki: I'm just gonna come back next week, hopefully, and prove Dannii right.... Dannii was right. (To Dannii) I understand where you were coming from.

It seems funny for Same Difference to be singing a song called "I Don't Feel Like Dancing" because they look like they always do!

They do dance, but unfortunately Brian Friedman's "creative" choreography and staging has gone kiddie-kitsch crazy. Bikes, soldiers, ballerina, plus a pair of 'S' and 'D' balloons... we just wanted Brian to spring out of a jack-in-the-box and admit "It's all my fault!"

Brian lets Same Difference down by over-egging Sean and Sarah's kiddie appeal when, this week, they could have shown a different, slightly more mature aspect of themselves.

Same Difference sound great and they execute the imperfect choreography perfectly, but if Brian's creativity continues to run amok in Toytown, we fear their days in this contest will be numbered.

Panel-Bites:

Simon Cowell:  (Pre-performance VT) This is interesting. I mean, it will either be absolutely appalling or fantastic.

Louis Walsh:  (Post-performance)...It was fun. The dancing was good, but guys you're never gonna win this show in a million years... You're too happy...

Sharon Osbourne:  Guys you know I love you... This staging was not your decision... It's like something Michael Jackson would've dreamed up... That was like a bad dream.

Dannii Minogue:  You make that look easy, the dancing, the singing... It seems nobody is noticing how great you are. I thought you were fantastic.

Simon Cowell:  ...I thought it was your best performance in the competition so far... It was fun, it was quirky, you got everything right. And people forget, you're actually singing all the songs in tune.

Dermot O'Leary:  (To Sarah) I think Louis would be very disappointed if he didn't get some Same Difference balloons today. Maybe you should go down and just deliver then to him! (Sarah does. Louis seems to like them!)

Andy hopes to rev up on his X Factor journey with Snow Patrol's haunting hit, which was voted No.1 in a Virgin Radio poll of the Top 500 songs of all time! Andy himself topped another poll this week, he was voted Heat magazine's 'Torso Of The Week'. Whoo!... Time for a diet cola break girls!

He only has one more vote to worry about, tonight's viewer vote, but unfortunately this version of 'Chasing Cars' crashes and burns. When he sings "If I lay here" he sounds like that's exactly what he's doing, just laying down in face of the competiton. Andy needed something with more bite and this performance has very little. Like last week, he's much better in the closing moments of the song, but it's too little, too late and not enough to save this performance.

As for Andy's X Factor future... we'll have to wait and see!

Panel-Bites:

Louis Walsh:  Andy... It's one of the best contemporary songs... I think this is the best song choice for you so far... but Andy, there's something missing you're a great singer, but you're not a winner.

Sharon Osbourne:  ...You are a great singer. I keep telling you every week I loved your voice... I don't think you know what you are, and you're not rock. You're too soft to be rock. You couldn't ... There's no cajones there, you know what I mean? ... I'm looking I can't see them, but ... you sang very well, really.

Simon Cowell:  Andy, I am a very, very fair person. Probably the most impartial person on this judging panel. (Laughter) And I seriously mean that. And I like you as a person. However, that was like ... eating caviar with salad cream. Because the song is caviar, but your vocal, it didn't work on the song...

Dannii Minogue:  The other 3 judges are so out of touch they don't know what is happening...

Louis Walsh:  We're having hits in the charts every week!

Dannii Minogue:  ...If anyone's got talent, this guy does. He's getting up there every week.

James Blunt's biggest hit is a deceptively difficult number to sing well. Without passion it can sound like a dolled-up dirge.

Beverley puts it Bluntly on stage tonight, but in a beautiful way. She begins the song seated next to a guy on acoustic guitar. Stepping off her stool she steps up her emotion. It flows very naturally and every line is delivered with a love laid bare. It is beautiful.

Less beautiful is Simon's cunning 'peanut performance' put-down. His ready-roasted comment only tells us that Mr Cowell is a tad worried about the competition. Unfortunately, although this remark is truly nuts, Simon is highly influential with the public. Some of them still believe he always speaks the truth!

Panel-Bites:

Sharon Osbourne:  ...One thing that sets you aside in this contest. You sing from the heart... You always tell the story of the song so beautifully and if you carry on you're gonna be in the final.

Dannii Minogue:  ...Great to see some vulnerability there... I think everybody appreciated that. But bring back the diva next week please.

Simon Cowell:  ...I like you and your VT was very emotional. ...You will hear that in one million hotels all over the world ...What you needed to do was to give that song an edge and you rounded it off, and therefore made it what I call a "peanut performance".

Sharon Osbourne:  She gave it heart. Not edge...

Simon Cowell:  (Boos) In other words, you're eating peanuts when you hear somebody sing like that.

Beverley: ...I can't yodel myself through the whole competition every week... big vocals. So, I really appreciate the opportunity to sing a song that was a little bit quieter and I could tell the story.

Louis Walsh:  Beverley... I absolutely believe in you. You're a beautiful person. You've got a beautiful soul. You're a great singer and I think you could be in the final too.

Dermot O'Leary:  Great stuff! Way to go Bev! Knocked that one out the park!

After ending up in last week's bottom two, Hope's on-stage 'rehab' is Amy Winehouse's 'Back To Black'.

Phoebe opens on vocals and we breathe a sigh of relief that the second line of the lyric has been trimmed for family viewing! Especially, since Simon tells us Phoebe is only 15! (She's actually 16).

What's refreshing about Hope this week is that there's no sexy strutting or bottom spanking, it's all about the vocals.

Phoebe's voice sounds fine, but we've yet to hear a really outstanding vocal from the Hope girls. However, tuning in to the harmonies that predominate this number, Leah's voice sounds quite promising.

Okay, there are just a few discordant wobbles in their harmonies, but overall the girls deliver a very entertaining performance.

Panel-Bites:

Louis Walsh:  I know we made the right decision last week .... you're as good as any other girl group in the charts today, absolutely.

Sharon Osbourne:  It's so nice to see you just standing there singing, looking great, singing great. You are gonna be in this contest to the very end. I love you!

Dannii Minogue:  Guys, it was much, much, much better than last week. Phoebe, you are carrying the whole band. You're doing really, really good with your vocals. The first two notes were so out of tune and I was thinking, "are you gonna be able to bring this back?"

Phoebe: I'm really nervous.

Dannii Minogue:  No, when you're all harmonising together, the first two notes were out. The rest of it was good.

Simon Cowell:  Girls ... Okay, we had a problem last week, but the whole idea about songs from the 21st century is to see whether or not you are relevant. You took on an Amy Winehouse song. Phoebe, 15 years old, singing lead vocals. Unbelievable. I thought it worked tonight. I like the fact you girls, you're fighters... right?

Louis Walsh:  We need the girls at home to get behind these girls. You have to get girls to like them... So girls, give them a chance.

Leon had a throat infection this week, which may have influenced tonight's light and breezy song selection.

The good news is that Leon seems to have pretty much shaken off most of his throatiness, the bad news is that he hasn't shaken off all those nerves. 'Dancing In The Moonlight' could be reworded to 'Dancing With Stage Fright', because Leon's moves are pretty jumpy tonight.

It's a couple of steps back for him this week. The throat problem means he's under-rehearsed, which may explain the nerves. On the plus side, as Simon notes, he's a likeable lad. So hopefully he'll get the chance to come back next week and prove that the throat infection was really just a hiccup.

Panel-Bites:

Louis Walsh:  Leon... I thought you were good last week. And I like your voice. But I mean, we have  Michael Bublé. We don't need a Michael Bublé impersonator... It was like you were singing in a karaoke competition in Scotland. It was the wrong song again, and that's Danni's fault, not yours... (Boos)

Sharon Osbourne:  (To Louis) As usual, I do not agree with you. (To Leon) I can just see you growing and growing each week. Your performance, you're getting more and more confident.

Simon Cowell:  I'm trying to work this out, Leon, why you're doing so well and I think it's... people like you... If it was the first time I heard that performance, I'd say it was terrible. But you have a charm. (Boos) Are you lot deaf?

Dannii Minogue:  Leon, you've done so brilliantly this week. I'm so proud of you and it's between you, me and everyone at home! Don't listen to them!

Leon: (To Dermot) ...I really enjoyed myself. I hope the audience got involved as well (Cheers)... I need a glass of water, 'cause I cannot speak!...

Dermot O'Leary:  ...Let's hear it for a very thirsty, Leon!

After last week's wonderful Winehouse rendition, Alisha stays contemporary this week with 'Put Your Records On' and it turns out to be a Bailey Rae of vocal sunshine. Alisha's sweet but sassy urban delivery is perfect for this number and we're loving the way she moves around the stage with her free arm dancing up around her hair.

As the contest progresses it seems like she's developing her style and becoming more and more distinctive. Louis is so impressed he wants us to pick up our phones and vote for Alisha. Hang on, aren't the judges meant to be in competition?

Panel-Bites:

Louis Walsh:  You absolutely deserve to be in this competition... a natural performer... a bit of a diva in you tonight... I want everybody to lift their phones and vote for Alisha...

Dannii Minogue:  Alisha you look 'fierce' and that song was like it was written for you. I loved it.

Simon Cowell:  ...wasn't as good as last week... you had a better song last week... But you are gaining confidence and beginning to look and sound like a pop star... The song suited you, particularly towards the end, where you put a bit of personality and character into it...

Sharon Osbourne:  I loved you doing that song. I thought you really, really did well. You're gettin' there, missus!

Alisha: (Collects her 2 kises and tells Dermot...) I am over the moon.

Dermot O'Leary:  Can you just tell us what's on your necklace? I have to look this way, it's a bit rudy.

Alisha: (Lifting the pendant from her cleavage) It's a teddy-pear Dermy.

Dermot O'Leary:  Oh? What is it?

Alisha: A teddy bear in a bikini.

Dermot O'Leary:  Okay! Interesting. (Alisha laughs)

Last week Beverley closed the show with the performance of the night. This week it's Rhydian's turn.

It's another power performance from the Powys personal trainer, but happily there's much less over-the-top melodrama about this rendition of You Raise Me Up.

Rhydian's simpler treatment of the song proves his vocal talent beyond dispute. He's not a one-trick pony, he's got emotion as well as commotion.

We love this side of Rhydian, and as far as this X Factor competition goes, it definitely 'raies him up'!

Panel-Bites:

Louis Walsh:  ...I have heard hundreds, maybe thousands of versions of that song. And tonight, yours is one of the best versions I have ever, ever heard... You are a true professional... a really nice guy... You're gonna have a massive career whether you win or lose... You're gonna be a star.

Sharon Osbourne:  Rhydian, it is so nice to see you just stood here, looking like a handsome man that you are, and just delivering a powerful, fantastic performance... I now know that you are capable of making a serious record... Keep doing what you're doing now. Because I think I'm looking at the winner and I want to go home... You're definitely gonna win this you know?

Rhydian: No, no.

Simon Cowell:  I don't think anything's in the bag... If we were judging it based on a vocal performance, absolutely... I thought it was an incredible vocal. I think it was very, very important that we saw the other side of you... One of the best versions I have ever heard.

Dannii Minogue:  Rhydian... Amazing. I got really teary... The most beautiful thing about you, that people don't know, is that you work so hard, and you always say to me "If I'm here next week" and that's what I love about you.