Only The Young were the first act to leave The X Factor this weekend, after receiving the fewest votes of the night. Louis Walsh praised the group's achievements before adding that the next step for them was to "get a record deal and be successful pop stars."
Dermot O'Leary kicked off Saturday night’s Whitney Houston vs Elton John themed evening before welcoming the judges to the stage.
After suffering from a throat infection this week, Cheryl Fernandez-Versini appeared on stage with her fellow judges before Dermot O’Leary revealed the surprise of a double elimination this week. Lauren Platt was the first act to the stage singing Whitney Houston's How Will I Know. The solemn performance soon turned into a dance party with Lauren street dancing with her younger brother on stage.
"You're best performance so far," said Mel B before Simon Cowell praised the 17-year-old saying, "I can see you as a credible recording artist. "Ben Haenow was next to perform an unusual choice of song for the night. Taking on Whitney Houston's most iconic hit, the van driver sang I Will Always Love You, which is usually sang by a female artist.
"You took a risk," said Louis Walsh, praising the singer for his unique take on the song. However, Mel B said that Ben’s rock voice didn’t suit the song. Only The Young then to the mic to perform their a song from their room auditions, Elton John's Something About The Way You Look Tonight.
"This is why we all love you guys. You’re young, you're fun, your vocals are always on point," said Mel B before Simon Cowell said that despite the double elimination, they shouldn't have anything to worry about. Worried about performing such a big song, Andrea Faustini took to the stage to perform an outstanding version of Whitney's I Have Nothing.
“You chose the perfect Whitney song, but it wasn’t perfect,” said Simon, before the crowd booed his criticism. “There's no way you’re leaving after that performance,” he continued.Singing a childhood favourite song of hers, Fleur East sang I'm Every Woman before her mum, sister and cousins came out on stage to dance along with her. "You are so lucky to have her," said Mel B to Simon before Cheryl said that it would be "an absolute disaster to lose her at this point of the competition.
"The night had a slight turn for the worse when Stevie Ritchie came on stage to perform Elton John's I'm Still Standing. Mid performance, a backing dancer poured honey on his stomach before he did a forwards roll along the stage and had a pillow fight. "Right now, there’s problems in the house," worried Mel B before Simon said that the performance was "one of the craziest things" he'd ever seen.
Fighting to stay in the competition, Stereo Kicks sang Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me, and received rave reviews from the judges.“You deserved a standing ovation,” said Mel as Cheryl added that they did a great job. “Whatever it was, you just did it,” congratulated Simon before adding that it was their best performance “by a mile”.
After David Guetta and Emeli Sande performed their new song, Listen, Dermot O'Leary revelead that Only The Young, Fleur East and Stevi Ritchie were in the bottom three.