Who Got Through? Our Tips For X Factor’s Judges Houses Round

Last night, viewers of UK’s talent show X Factor discovered which 25 contestants would make it through to the next round of the show, which takes place at the judges’ houses. Twenty-five hopefuls made it through, but who are the strongest contenders in each category?

Of the girls, who are mentored by Tulisa Contostavlos, Ella Henderson is a clear favourite. The 16 year-old stunned The X Factor judges in last night’s show with a remarkable transformation of Cher’s ‘Believe,’ which had Nicole Scherzinger in tears and the crowd on their feet. The unknown entity of the girls’ group is Leanne Robinson. The producers haven’t shown much of her yet, possibly because she’s a graduate of the Brit School – the very school from which Adele and Jessie J both launched their careers. For that reason, we reckon she’ll be a shoe-in for the live rounds.

Nicole Sherzinger is mentoring the boys’ group and has an experienced recording artist in her midst. Nathan Fagan-Gayle has had chart success in the past, so he has a clear advantage of his fellow competitors. 21 year-old Jahmene Douglas is a bit of a wild card. He suffered greatly with nerves last night, leading the judges to question his suitability for the high-pressure contest. He won them over with his vocal performance, with a slick cover of ‘Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?’ It was easily one of the best performances in his group but he’ll need to keep his nerves in check if he wants to get past the next round.

In the over 28’s category, with Gary Barlow at the helm, Christopher Maloney already seems to have found himself a ticket to the live shows, simply by being thoroughly loveable and reliably emotional (oh and he’s got a decent set of pipes, too). We’ve seen as much crying from Maloney as we have singing, so far; something that the producers will be rubbing their hands at, no doubt. 44 year-old Glaswegian Melanie Masson can seemingly not put a foot wrong; the judges have been unanimous in their praise for her so we reckon she’d have to do something pretty disastrous not to get through to the live show.

Louis Walsh has previous form when it comes to working with boy bands, so he’s been let loose on the groups category. Poisonous Twin have the advantage of being the only female group to get through to the judges’ houses round. For the sake of variety, this is pretty much a green light to get through to the live shows, though they might not last much longer than that. GMD3’s impressive impromptu acapella sing-off against Triple J will still be in the judges’ minds when they face judgement again; their consistent performances will stand them in good stead for a thumbs-up.