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I feel like I've said this many times in recent years when discussing the shenanigans of Reality TV but I'll say it again; only in the land of The X Factor. Only on The X Factor can you get a contestant eliminated in week one, confess to being happy at being off the show, sing (sorry shout) to a disinterested audience at my local town's firework display, get matched at 1000.0 in the Winner market, and then from almost nowhere, challenge for favouritism to be crowned this year's X Factor winner. You couldn't make it up, except in X Factor land we could, and probably should have. True, I felt the decision to eliminate Amelia Lily so early was a wrong one, and I said as much here. But I'm not convinced that any act should have been brought back with just four weeks of the competition...

I'm in a state of confusion. Not only am I baffled as to why Frankie Cocozza is still in the competition and bewildered that Sophie Habibis isn't, I'm also extremely undecided as to how to play the two best singers still in with a shout of winning. Last week saw Rhythmix change their name, a member of The Risk quit, and Kelly Rowland temporarily replaced by Alexandra Burke on the judging panel, the only important news is that for the first time since this year's X Factor commenced I find myself admitting that absolutely anyone can win this, except Cocozza of course. Earlier this week the leading three in the Winner market prior to Saturday night's live show - Janet Devlin (3.7), The Risk (5.5), and Misha Bryan (8.4) - all drifted in the betting, whilst the other acts (excluding Cocozza)...

Like school kids who'd just had their skipping rope and marbles taken from them. That's how one newspaper described X Factor judges Gary Barlow, Louis Walsh, Kelly Rowland, and Tulisa Contostavlos, and it's hard to disagree. Saturday night's Rock theme descended into chaos the second girlband Rhythmix performed a medley of pop songs - wearing cut-off jeans and a bit of pink in their hair (to make it look rocky). From that moment on the judges were at each other's throats, accusing each other of ducking the theme. But regular readers of this column, will remember that I told you last week that X Factor themes now mean absolutely nothing. If it's rock week, then all you have to do is don a pair of black fingerless gloves and away you go, you can sing any song you like. And it will be...

Sami Brookes was eliminated from The X Factor after losing out in a sing-off to fellow Over-25s competitor Kitty Brucknell. Brookes performed a decent rendition of the Cher classic If I Could Turn Back Time on Saturday night, but although judges Louis Walsh, Tulisa Contostavlos and Kelly Rowland gave positive feedback, new head judge Gary Barlow was far from impressed, labelling Brookes' performance as boring. But it has to be said that Kitty performed a near faultless performance of the Lady Gaga hit 'Edge Of Glory' during the sing-off and thoroughly deserved to stay, a view shared by judges Barlow, Rowland, and Walsh. Despite being matched at a high of 6.2, Brookes was the favourite all week in the Sixth Elimination market, generally available to back at around the 4.0 mark. ...

You never stop learning. That's what my mother always tells me, but then it's easy for her to say that, she's a teacher. She has a point though, especially when you apply her belief to this year's X Factor. Last weekend we learned that Gary Barlow is a rubbish mentor, and that Frankie Cocozza is just rubbish. We also learned that Kitty Brucknell, despite having the ability to wipe the floor with Jedward and Wagner in the most hated contestant ever stakes, is actually very good. And let us not forget that we learned that X Factor themes literally mean you can sing absolutely any song you choose, or in the Boys' case, any rubbish song that Barlow chooses for you. I remember the days when a theme was a theme, like Elton John week for example where you had to sing one of the great man's...

It was billed as a big twist, but it turned out to be a big disappointment for four acts as each mentor painfully sent home one of their own artists. For Jonjo Kerr, James Michael, and 2 Shoes their exits came as little surprise given their performances on Saturday night and/or their odds in the Winner market beforehand, but for Amelia Lily her exit is a huge loss to this year's competition and I'm not sure the X Factor producers have got this one right. Lily - who was matched at a low of 4.3 in the Winner market - sang brilliantly on Saturday night, but so too did her fellow Girls category members Janet Devlin, Misha Bryan, and Sophie Habibis leaving mentor Kelly Rowland with an almost impossible decision to make. Rowland was understandably upset at having to send a potential winner...