Following Blonde Electra and Overload Generation's departure last Sunday, the X Factor 2014 contestants stepped out to perform on Saturday's 80s night, to win over the judges and viewers. First up to perform was Jack Walton who was paid a visit by supporter, One Direction's Louis Tomlinson, earlier this week.
The Little Things singer gave Jack some advice about how to perform on the show and ooze confidence.
Born in 1996, Jack didn't know Paula Abdul's Straight Up which was his song for this week but blew the judges away with his modern twist on the 80s classic.
Next to take to the stage was Stephanie Nala who nearly left the show last week after a weak performance. The 20-year-old performed a disco version of Blondie's Call Me and received mixed reviews from the judges. "So much better than last week," said Louis while Mel said that she got "a bit bored" in the middle of the performance.
Mel B then called upon her 'Latin love bear', Andrea Faustini, to the stage who stunned with his performance of Whitney Houston's One Moment In Time. "Is there anything you can't sing? You're amazing," praised Cheryl Fernandez-Versini. However, Simon said his performance wasn't as good as last week. Up next was Lauren Platt, who charted on Itunes earlier this week with last Saturday's performance of Pharrell William's Happy.
The 17-year-old enchanted the audience with Irene Cara's What A Feeling which was deemed "a vocal masterclass" by Louis. "Hands down the best performance so far of the night. It's in a different league," said Simon Cowell. Simon's first act to perform was Ben Haenow, who had been suffering from a throat infection all week.
Pushing through his illness, the singer blew the judges way with Donny Hathoway's Jealous Guy but was told to "man up" by Mel B for complaining about being ill. Next to the stage was Fleur East who impressed with a rap version of Monie Love's It's A Shame.
"You are fast becoming one of my favourites in the competition," said Cheryl following Mel B's criticism of Fleur "cheating" with loud backing vocals.
Stereo Kicks then stepped onto the stage to perform Don Henley's Boys of Summer, after changing songs at the last minute a few days previous to the live shows. The eight-piece boy band were given mixed comments by the judges with Cheryl calling their performance "confusing" and lacking "hysteria" from the audience, while Simon praised their performance.Next hoping to impress the judges was Lola Saunders who bravely took on John Lenon's Imagine.
After receiving negative comments last week, the 20-year-old former fishmonger was given a standing ovation by Cheryl and Mel B. "You could be a dark horse in this competition," said Simon. Jake Quickenden then took to the mic to perform Bonnie Tyler’s Total Eclipse Of The Heart.
Despite wanting to show the judges that he could sing as well as impress with his physique, his song choice failed to impress Cheryl and Simon. "There were parts of the vocal that were terrible," said Simon before Mel praised him for working hard this week. Singing Irene Cara's Fame, Chloe Jasmine performed a sultry vocal but failed to impress the judges.
"Cheryl did you a disservice tonight," said Mel as her and Simon said that they were unimpressed that she didn' t perform a jazzy song this week. Next to the stage was Paul Akister who belted out Simple Red’s If You Don’t Know Me By Now.
"My favourite performance of the series," said Louis Walsh as Cheryl said it reminded her of her childhood. Injecting a bit of dance into the night, Stevi Ritchie was next to impress on 80s night, singing Rick Astley's Never Gonna Give You Up.
"It was a bit like being in a bad dream," said Louis before Mel said that his personality was "adorable", despite failing to impress with his vocals. Only The Young were the penultimate act on the stage, singing Dexy's Midnight Runners' Come On Eileen.
"You got it so right tonight," said Mel before saying her daughter, Phoenix, was their biggest fan. However, it reminded Cheryl of a karaoke performance. The final act of the night was Jay James who sang The Proclaimers' hit single, I'm Gonna Be, which blew the judges away. "It was genius," praised Simon before thanking him for singing with passion.
The X Factor continues on Sunday on ITV where the contestants will face another double elimination.