Spoiler! It's been a tense few weeks, but the tens of thousands of contestants have finally been whittled down to twelve for the live shows... meet them here
The X Factor's final 12 contestants were revealed in a tense double episode this weekend, finally whittling down the hundreds of thousands of hopefuls down to just a handful.
Sharon Osbourne – joined by Robbie Williams at her home in Los Angeles – picked her final three contestants after watching them perform one final time before the big live shows. Mrs O will be competing with Shelley Smith, Sam Bailey and Lorna Simpson.
Saturday night also saw Louis Walsh and his guest judges reduced to tears as they tackled the tough tough task of picking three young male finalists to go forward in the competition. With the help of Nicole Appleton, Shane Filan and Sinitta, the Irish judge sat back in St Tropez and admired the talents of his six, before telling Sam Callahan, Nicholas McDonald and Luke Friend that they'll perform next weekend.
Nicole Scherzinger whisked her contestants away to Antigua, where she surprised them with a guest appearance from none other than Mary J Blige (wow). Nicole then told a very tearful trio of Tamera Foster, Abi Alton and Hannah Barrett they're through, while Gary Barlow and Olly Murs made our Sunday by looking all emotional and, well, hot, upon a rooftop in New York.
Gary took acts Kingland Road (who he said reminded him of Take That), Miss Dynamix, and Rough Copy through to the finals. One member of the band, Kaz, was unable to go to New York because of visa issues, but Gary surprised him in London with the news that he'll be able to join the rest of Rough Copy for the live shows. Hurrah.
The acts have already had their amazing makeovers (which we can unveil for you tomorrow), but for now they're holed up in Lionel Richie's old London home as they prepare for their all-important first live performance on national TV. Don't pretend you won't be watching...
In other news… how delicious do Dermot O'Leary's hugs look?!
