The X Factor: Stacey Solomon & Lucie Jones

I don't know what I like most about X Factor finalists Stacey Solomon (19 yrs) & Lucie Jones (18 yrs): the fact that they don't feel a need to truss themselves up in high heels and porno outfits, or that when asked asked what they wanted from the competition, they both (separately) replied, "to make everyone proud".

Stacey, in particular, won my vote with: "Wouldn't it be nice to just be good at something and make everyone proud of you and be in a position where you can make everyone happy round you?"

Here's Stacey's make or break song, which put her in the final twelve of the competition:


(Do check out Kylie's face: it's amazing just how much expression you can iron out with Botox.)

X Factor (another talent show from Simon Cowell) is my weekend guilty pleasure: I know that all my friends & family are watching back in England, and I love that I can watch it all on You Tube on the same day. It makes me feel a bit more connected to them all.

Am I allowed to be smug that the four people (Olly Murs, Lucie Jones, Jamie Archer & Stacey) that I liked best at the first round of auditions are part of the twelve contestants through to the live finals? All four of them apparently lack the assured bumptiousness, sense of entitlement & desire to be a celebrity of so many of the contestants so far. Equally none of them seem to know just how good they really are, so watching them develop in the live finals will make great television.

But my money is on Stacey.

Here's Stacey's first audition (Loving her, her outfit, her charm):