X-factor - Shock and Awe as Maria goes ..

As many people know I love TV shows like American Idol, Pop Idol and the X-factor.

This week the X-factor hotted up! Shayne did Justin Timberlake's "Cry Me A River" - a much more appropriate song for him 8/10. Maria did the Stones' "Brown Sugar" - she was out of her comfort zone and I didn't really like it 7/10. The Conway Sisters did Wilson Phillips' "Hold On", one of my favourite songs - and did a reasonable job of it 7/10. Andy then did the Boyz 2 Men "Make Love To You" and did a very credible performance of it - his voice is outstanding in my view 9/10. Journey South stretched themselves again with Bon Jovi's "Living on a Prayer" - I enjoyed it 8/10. Chico then completely murdered Enrique's "Hero" - 2/10 for stupidity! Nicholas then did R Kelly's "I Believe I Can Fly" - yawn - 6/10. Brenda closed the show with an excellent cover of Dionne Warwick's "Heartbreaker" 8/10.

I fully expected Chico and Nicholas to be the bottom 2. Was not entirely surprised to see however that it was the Conway Sisters in there - but very surprised to see Maria in there with them. However, having said that - given that they were there then I was not surprised to see Simon keep the Conways in (his act) and of course Sharon voted to keep Maria and Louis play the Irish card to keep the Conways in.

On the night - I certainly would not have voted for Maria over the Conways either though. But that aside - to lose Maria at this stage was a surprise and I guess is a reflection of the standard of the competition this year. They're all credible - except Chico (as a singer anyhow).

7 acts remain - my favourites are Andy, Brenda and Journey South. However, I reckon that Shayne is most likely to win - and it can't hurt his chances with Simon Cowell making comments like "you have the potential, within 2-3 years, to be the biggest selling male artist in the UK".