X-Factor / Mike Norman / 24 September 2008 /

Comparisons to Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye can't conceal the fact that the serious stuff is about to begin, writes Mike Norman.

Will it be David Cameron or Gordon Brown who gets your vote? Will Barack Obama or that guy from the Die Hard movies who wins the US presidential election? A lot of decisions will be made over the next few months that will affect our lives. Cue The X Factor.

Will it be Simon Cowell ([3.35]), Cheryl Cole ([3.25]), Dannii Minogue ([4.3]) or Louis Walsh ([4.9]) who becomes the Winning Manager? Will it be the girls, the boys, the groups or the 25-and-overs that become the Winning Category? And just whose album will Knock-off Nigel be pirating in its thousands to get some extra Christmas drinking money?

I've already highlighted how strong the 'girls' category is looking, and last Saturday's final audition show included another singer from this category who has the potential to go a long way in the show. Amy Connolly is just 18-years-old and had one of those magical X Factor moments - an emotional story, a brilliant performance and a tearful ending.

Amy's mother died when she was just seven and she has since been brought up by her father, who himself loves music and was once in a band. That special bond between father and daughter was there for all to see, while the memory of her mother was expressed so beautifully when Amy sang the Faith Hill song There You'll Be. The result was a tearful Cheryl embracing an emotional Amy as she told her, "I loved it" (referring to the song). The rest of the judges agreed and put the innocent teenager through to the next stage of the competition.

You have to fear for Amy because of her vulnerability. She has obviously gone through a lot in her life and whether she can handle the intensity of the live shows (if she gets there) remains to be seen. I have a feeling that this year's X Factor has come just a few years too soon for Amy.

Fighting back in the 'boys' category last week were solo singers Duane Lamonte, Jay Worley, and to a much lesser extent, 17-year-old Glenn from Newcastle.

Poor Glenn is one of those chaps that you can file under the word 'deluded'. He thinks he sounds like Robbie Williams, can be as big as Elvis, and therefore sacrificed his summer holiday money to pay for the petrol to get to the audition. Considering Newcastle to Birmingham must cost only about £20, I'm guessing that the holiday Glenn sacrificed was a two-hour stay in a South Shields beach hut. He proceeded to mess up his audition completely, first by sounding so mundane and boring that the judges sent him away to pick another song, then by forgetting the words to the second song he had chosen. Oh dear Glenn, you should have just gone on your hols..... for a few hours!

You can see Glenn's hilarious audition here.

Knowing someone in the music industry can be a big help when you're going for your first audition, so there was absolutely no excuse for Duane to mess up considering he and his family were close to Leona Lewis and her family. He didn't mess up, in fact he was likened to Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye by Simon - high praise indeed. He could be a dark horse.

Young Jay had an abundance of confidence for a 15-year-old. He hails from the Welsh town of Pontypridd (that of Tom Jones fame) and sang Valerie - a song by the Zutons and covered by Mark Ronson. Unfortunately for Jay he wasn't the greatest singer in the world and was largely put through because of the cute, adorable and likeable aspect of his performance.

So that's it for the auditions, signalling the end of the fun side of The X Factor and the start of the serious side. Bootcamp is next, followed by the final elimination process at the judges' houses before the live TV shows begin. One thing is for certain, we've seen the winner of this year's show already, and although there is no 'Outright Winner' market yet, I'm keeping these four (one from each category) firmly on my side; JLS (groups), Rachel Hylton (25-and-overs), Alexandra Burke (girls) and Austin Drage (boys).

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