X Factor 2009

Why yes, yes they have! Rage Against The Machine have beaten Joe McElderry's The Climb to the #1 spot this Christmas. It's just been confirmed via the Radio 1 chart countdown, but we heard on Twitter earlier that Killing In The Name has officially outsold the X Factor winner's single!

In the most tense chart battle in years, Scott Mills played a number of comments from fans of both artists. Lisa's done a good post about X Factor's previously unbroken string of Christmas Number One's.

I'm a tiny bit gutted for Joe, because I genuinely liked him -  a gracious, humble guy with a good voice. Unfortunately, X Factor this year for me was a complete washout. And I think a lot of people are buying Rage Against The Machine as a way of registering their displeasure at the show. And yes, probably at Simon Cowell too.

Comedienne Vikki Stone has released a YouTube video which mercilessly sends up this year's X Factor winner's single. She's completely rewritten the lyrics to suggest Joe McElderry will be having nightmares about somebody called Leon for the foreseeable future...and that his records might soon be found in bargain bins all over the country...

And she does a really good approximation of Joe's singing voice too! The chorus was begging to be rewritten as It's A Crime, wasn't it?

Goddamn. Stacey Solomon did a good solo version of Feeling Good and then introduces Michael Buble. It was actually quite enjoyable, because they looked like they were having tons of fun together and there was a great rapport.

Buble disses Dermot when he says he can’t understand his question. Then he relates a wonderfully dull story about how the Queen has his record. Does that constitute royal approval? Will he get to put a crest on his albums? Boring!

Olly Murs took to the X Factor stage in second place tonight and belted out his audition song, Superstition.

His VT showed him and Simon flying home to Essex in Cowell's helicopter and it was super strange to see Simon sitting eating pudding in Olly's living room.

I'm the first to admit that Olly may not be the best singer on the show, but he sure can move and those trousers are tight!!! You could say that he has the whole package ;) I hope those dancers had a good defuzzing before Olly skidded under them, because he certainly got an eyeful of their lady parts!

Louis: Olly, oh my god! Not many people can sing Stevie Wonder and do the silly dancing. You’ve definitely got the X Factor Olly.

Dannii: What a fantastic performance. Such a great song for you, so good to hear you singing that again.

Stacey Solomon opened the first X Factor final show tonight with her own audition song, Wonderful World.

Her opening VT showed her and mentor Dannii Minogue returning to Dagenham, where Stacey was received by hordes of screaming fans. Dannii looked surprisingly comfortable in Stacey's mum's living room and was more than amused as the cork from the champagne bottle put out a light bulb.

Proving that often contestants choose better songs than their mentors, Stacey was amazing singing this track. Her vocals were so smooth, they reduced Dannii to tears.

It really was like Jeckyll and Hyde how she flipped between classy stage singer and unintelligible interviews. But the voice, after a couple of wobbly moments in the last couple of weeks is on top form. Strong performance from Stacey to start the night off!

Danyl Johnson scooped the coveted final performance tonight, proving that Simon Cowell really wants him in next week's final.

Danyl chose the Whitney Houstin classic 'I Have Nothing' for his second song, a big risk when you consider that he didn't exactly nail his last Whitney rendition.

However, luckily for Danyl he pulled it off and tonight has to have been his best night on the X Factor yet.

The weirdest thing about tonight's show was Louis Walsh's gushing remarks to Dan. He went on about the negative attention that Danyl has had and asked people to judge him on his amazing voice. Hold on....didn't most of that negativity come from Louis? Did he get a personality transplant earlier this week?

Louis: I think Danyl that you have everything. You have the talent, you’ve got the vocal ability and I want people to vote for you.

Joe McElderry chose the little known Journey track 'Open Arms' as his second X Factor song tonight. It was an inspired choice and he belted out the track so convincingly that half of Britain were in tears by the end of his performance.

Once again his vocals were astounding and he even managed to stay focused as they stood him on top of a platform and dropped sparkly things around his head.

Joe has been tipped to win the show by just about every bookie in the country and after his second performance tonight, I think his odds just shot through the roof.

Were you loving Joe tonight? Leave your comments below.

Louis: You were absolutely born to do this, and you’re a natural pop star. I think if you recorded that song, you’d have a hit record tomorrow.

Dannii: Everyone loves you, all around the country. With those two songs, you gotta be in the final.

Danyl Johnson was the last of tonights X factor contestants to sing his Michael Jackson song. Danyl and his mentor Simon Cowell chose the classic track 'Man In The Mirror', which I think was a pretty inspired choice.

Danyl may just make it through to the final on tonight's performance, because that has got to be one of his best in the competition so far. He not only had incredible vocals, but he also had bags full of energy and charisma. Polar bears schmolar bears Louis!

What did you think of Danyl tonight? Leave your comments below.

Louis: [let's talk about the fact that Louis said "this is a singing contest"] Complains that the backdrop was distracting.

Dannii: That was a really good performance. You’re back to what we were when we first saw you. Though I was confused by the Polar Bears as well.

Joe McElderry was second on the X Factor stage tonight and after I got past the distracting bum fluff above his lip, I thoroughly enjoyed the performance.

Joe is by far the strongest vocalist left in the competition and the tone of his voice tonight was uber smooth. Joe brought the emotion to the song as well as the voice and I don't know how he manages to overcome his nerves so well week after week.

What did you think of young Joe tonight? Leave your comments below.

Louis: As Simon said, you’ve an amazing tone to your voice. You have the talent, you obviously need the votes.

Dannii: You have just clocked up another superb performance. I could hear you all over the radio – you have to be in the final.

Olly Murs opened tonight's X Factor show with the Michael Jackson classic 'Can You Feel It.'

Whilst Olly isn't as strong a vocalist as some of the other remaining contestants and was a bit pitchy at the start of the song, luckily he has more than enough charisma and energy to make up for it.

I was a little concerned about this song for Olly tonight as it is soooo fast paced. However Olly managed to integrate all elements of the routine perfectly. The crotch grabbing was a fitting tribute to MJ and he didn't even topple off the tower of steps in the middle of the stage, an achievment I think you'll agree.

I loved it, what about you?

Louis: You’re an all-round entertainer, you deserve to be in the final.

Dannii: Can you feel it? Yes, we can all feel it in the whole room tonight. You have the full package! You have to be in the final next week.