'X Factor' Live Show Week Three Roundup

Another week has passed with more focus on "X Factor" contestant gossip than music, but what else is new? This week's theme was guilty pleasures and the choices of songs were...interesting to say the least. Some of the songs were plain rubbish, but some were classics and by no means "guilty pleasures"! That aside, the show was crazy as ever, so let's take a peek at what happened on the third "X Factor" live show!

Paije Richardson opened the show this week singing"Ain't Nobody" by Chaka Khan. Once I had taken my eyes off his cute little face (trying to ignore the hideous pink jacket he was dressed in), I focused on his performance. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that he has potentially the best voice in the competition. He sang the song simply, just him and the microphone, and it was pure perfection. Louis Walsh said that it was his best performance in the competition and that it got better and better throughout, and Simon Cowell told him that he needs to work on his performance and confidence, but the vocal was outstanding.

John Adeleye was next singing "Zoom" by Fat Larry's Band. For some reason, John seems to always be early on the bill and the cynical side of me wonders if this is an odd way of trying to get him voted off. Thankfully, he is a great singer, which is just as well because this song is truly rubbish. His hair looked bizarre and it felt like he was being forced to "perform". The odd slightly obscene dancers in the background were distracting and it sort of felt like John was singing while they danced making them the stars instead of him. The only thing that saved it all was his vocal. All of the judges except Louis were down on the dancers but commended his singing.

Next up was Rebecca Ferguson, taking on "Why Don't You Do Right" by Nora Lee King. She looked beautiful, although the red hair may have been a bit much. In the video clip before the performance, Cheryl was giving Rebecca performance advice which she didn't seem to take. It was quite stiff performance-wise but as always, she sang the song with passion. Simon Cowell said that tonight was the night that Rebecca turned into a star.

Rather unusually, two contestants from the same category performed one after the other. Cher Lloyd did a weird thing. A mash up of "No Diggity" by Blackstreet and "Shout" by James Corden. She wore another chavvy outfit and had big hair - really big hair. It sort of looked good with the performance, which was actually better than last week. Her vocals are getting better but the rap thing is continuing to fuel the idea that this is all she can do. Simon Cowell often talks about versatility, but there is no sign that Cher actually has any. Cheryl Cole thanked Cher for allowing her to let loose and said she is everything a popstar should be. There was even a glimmer of emotion in Cher Lloyd as she left the stage. This girl is definitely one to watch, especially if she gets the chance to sing a full song with no rapping at some point.

Matt Cardle sang the Travis version of "Baby One More Time" by Britney Spears. Amused as I would have been to see him dressed in a school uniform, he looked normal. Actually, he looked kinda hot. There is never really much to say about Matt, because he always delivers. All the judges were suitably entertained and impressed.

One of Simon's two remaining groups was next. One Direction sang "Nobody Knows" by Pink. Odd choice of song for a boyband, but they made it their own. All five of them sang their little hearts out and apart from the slightly questionable falsetto at the end, it was surprisingly good! The girls in the audience loved it, judging by the screams. Simon Cowell complimented the improvement in their vocals and Cheryl Cole compared the hysteria they caused to the hysteria that used to be caused by The Beatles!

Treyc Cohen came next singing "Whole Lotta Love" by Led Zeppelin. She was told to put on a performance as it's clear she has the singing talent. Whether hip wiggling and kneeling down on the floor while surrounded by dramatic dancers counts, I'm not sure, but she did it all very well. Dannii Minogue said that she didn't understand why Treyc hadn't made it in the music industry before, and Simon Cowell said that she had turned from a kitten to a tiger in a week!

Mary Byrne was allowed to sing the song she sang at her first audition. "I Who Have Nothing" by Tom Jones. Personally, I felt like I didn't need to pay attention because I had heard her before, but she still captivated me. Cheryl Cole said that Mary Byrne represents real women with real life experience and Simon and Dannii both said that she Mary needs to update her song choices and sing something modern.

Aiden Grimshaw had a point to prove this week, after last week's shaky performance. This week he sang "Diamonds Are Forever" by Shirley Bassey which is a bad choice for a man. On the plus side, he sang much better this week and despite his Jedward hairstyle it was very good, if a little bland for his amazing voice. Cheryl Cole said that his performance is too intense for some people to understand but Simon completely disagreed and said that he is back in the race!

Simon's other group Belle Amie were next singing "I'll Stand By You" by the Pretenders. This comes after a week when they were tipped to sing Footloose by Kenny Loggins. They fought for their choice which may have been a good thing because them singing Footloose might have been their ticket home. Belle Amie looked gorgeous this week and they sang the song superbly. The girl in the purple dress (whose name I don't know!) was particularly brilliant. Louis Walsh accused Simon of putting One Direction ahead of them and leaving them to fend for themselves. Belle Amie said that wasn't true, but they wanted to sing a song that better represented them. Dannii Minogue said their song choice was a bit predictable.

The moment everyone was waiting for was Wagner's performance. He sang a mash up of "Spice Up Your Life" by the Spice Girls and "Livin La Vida Loca" by Ricky Martin. Wagner was always a character, but this song choice made quite a mockery out of him. But the dancers were very sparkly. Cheryl didn't know what to say and turned to Simon who said it was more guilt than pleasure.

Katie Waissel was the final act to perform. While there were many ridiculous song choices - this one absolutely took the prize for insanity. "I Wanna Be Like You" from the Jungle Book is not even pop music, but I suppose it could be considered a guilty pleasure. She looked very Roxie Hart from Chicago - in fact she looked beautiful. But the singing was pretty shoddy even though the performance was fun. The judges were stupidly impressed with her, leading me to again believe that they are attempting to make her sound better than she is to keep her in the contest and milking the publicity from her tabloid drama.

Although things were a little bit odd this week, it was definitely the best live show so far, and can only continue to get better if the weaker performers are slowly filtered out. Tips for people in the bottom two tomorrow are John and Belle Amie - but of course if there were any justice, Wagner would be in there. Sadly, John's unfortunate place in the running order and his bad song may cost him his chance for fame.