We sobbed as Jahmene Douglas spoke about his traumatic childhood, laughed when Rylan Clark wowed us with his flamboyant performances and we gasped when Ella Henderson made her shock departure. But for the audience and contestants alike, the turmoil of this year's X Factor will finally draw to a close on Sunday.Battling it out to earn the coveted crown the final three, Christopher Maloney, James Arthur and Jahmene Douglas, will be put through their paces for the last time as they display their performing prowess over a two-part final. That is if they earn the ticket into the second round of the final, of course. Saturday's show will demand that the finalists perform a track with their respective mentees, leaving the audience to decide which two budding superstars will make it through to the second round of the show.
Once they have sung for the last time on Sunday's show, the winner of the X Factor 2012 will finally be revealed.
It seems that judge and former Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger has hit the ground running in her first judging stint for the show. Keeping Jahmene and James in ship-shape, the singer has informed fans that their final week of training has been their most gruelling yet.
The singer quipped: "The boys have worked so hard-- secretly I have a whip, so I hit them." Nicole will perform with both her boys and admitted it is a "real honour".
She said: "Having worked with the boys a little bit this week, it's quite intimidating. I thought they were amazing, I mean I've been doing this for quite some time, but they were just brilliant, they make it look so easy. It's a real honour to be able to sing with them. I would always rather be on stage than behind the desk, so this is going to be fun for me. "For former cruise ship singer Christopher the ride hasn't been so easy. Slammed by the judges for being "too cheesy", the 35-year-old has faced criticism from judges and fans alike. Panel-member and boyband manager Louis Walsh has even said that show creator Simon Cowell would not be interested in the Liverpudlian if he were to win.
Louis said: "Simon is America working on his own show. I know that he loves James and Jahmene but I don't remember him talking about Chris."
Offering his opinion on the budding star, Louis said: "He is a good singer, but I don't think he is a star." Fellow judge Tulisa Contostavlos has been more diplomatic in her opinion. "I'd prefer James to win but whoever wins wins," admitted the N-Dubz singer.
Chris, however, has taken a stand against the backlash saying: "Simon does what he wants to do. It's his show and if he didn't want me in it I probably wouldn't be here."
Chris, who will perform with his mentor Gary Barlow, has also revleaed the nature of the criticism he has received, including some people suggesting he shouldn't have made it to the last stages of the talent show. "There's always got to be a pantomime villain every year and it's just unfortunate this year it's got to be me," he said.
