X Factor 2010: Simon Cowell threatens to sack Louis Walsh... as Cher Lloyd and Rebecca Ferguson impress with their Elton ballads ~ TVSeries+

By EMILY SHERIDAN

Judges at war: Louis Walsh disagreed with all the judges throughout the evening, with Simon Cowell threatening to have him ejected

The ongoing battle between the judges reached a pinnacle tonight when Simon Cowell threatened to sack Louis Walsh.

The two men started clashing from the first act Paije Richardson's performance and Simon warned Louis 'you're going to get removed from the building if you keep talking like that' after he said Katie Waissel for giving a 'throwaway performance'.

It wasn't just Simon and Louis clashing, even Dannii Minogue turned on her usual partner-in-crime by covering his mouth with her hand after he labelled Paije as 'bad karaoke'.

The war of words between the judges distracted viewers from the actual contestants, with Cher Lloyd, Rebecca Ferguson and Matt Cardle giving the strongest performances of the night.

All the judges took exception to Louis's comments on Paije's performance of Crocodile Rock, when he said: 'You know I love you. But tonight Dannii, that was such a wrong song choice. It was like a bad karaoke. you're better than this. You're a soul man and it just didn't work man.'

However, the most cutting comment came from Simon, who warned the 19-year-old he had no chance of winning the competition and accused Dannii of not spending enough time with him.

He said: 'It was fun, I would put your chances at winning after that at zero. You just can't compete with some of the big singers with a song like that.

'I think Dannii has put more work into some of the other acts. You wouldn't see Matt Cardle singing Crocodile Rock.'

Yabba, yabba yabba: Dannii Minogue was unimpressed by Louis's cutting critique of Paije Richardson's performance of Crocodile Rock

Silence: Dannii tried to stop Louis from talking

He also shot across the table towards Louis: 'Louis I don't understand how he can go from a little Lenny Henry to a little Luther Vandross.'

Dannii also moved her hand in a chatterbox movement, suggesting Louis was talking rubbish.

Cheryl stunned many viewers when she admitted she hadn't heard Crocodile Rock before.
She said: 'I wasn't familiar with the song but you made it your own little thing. I thought you had fun.'

Centre of the feud: Paije looked stunned to see the judges fighting over his performance

Feuding: Louis gave Katie cutting comments - despite saving her in the sing-off with Treyc Cohen last week

Dannii's next act Aiden Grimshaw, 18, put his own take on Rocket Man, with Cheryl telling him: 'You're really consistently good. You always deliver a really good performance.'

Simon fired across at Louis again after he pointed out Aiden had changed the original melody: 'Louis, I don't think you can criticise someone for changing the melody... It's Louis's wrong time of the month. I don't think vocally it's the best you've sounded. But you have great presence. You have some swagger. I liked the fact you changed the melody. I think you'll be fine for next week Aiden.'

Meanwhile, it was another tough week for Mary Byrne, 50, who sang Circle Of Life from the Lion King soundtrack. While the performance was better than last week, she still struggled on some of the notes.

Mixed reviews: Louis questioned why Aiden Grimshaw (left) had changed the melody of Rocket Man, while Mary Byrne was dubbed 'a bit pub singer-ish' by Simon

Giving constructive criticism, Dannii said: 'You're definitely getting your mojo back tonight. Parts of that were a little bit shaky on the tuning for me, but the end note was spectacular.'

Simon added: 'It was a little bit pub singer-ish, but because you have a heart, it worked. Particularly the final note, you sang it well.'

Hoping to prove herself after being controversially saved last week, Katie Waissel, 24, sang Saturday Night's Alright (For Fighting) - which proved rather apt given the words being exchanged at the judges' table.

Louis used his comment to criticise her mentor Cheryl for giving the track to Katie: 'Cheryl, Elton has 44 albums and you give her this silly song. It was a throwaway performance. It was awful. It was wrong.'

'Throwaway performance': Katie Waissel's rendition of Saturday Night's Alright (For Fighting) didn't go down well with Louis

Cheryl tried to interject and ask him repeatedly: 'What song would you have given her?'

Dannii said: 'It was alright for fighting tonight. Credit for coming back and giving it you all. You sounded really good on the chorus. On the verses the track ate you up a bit.

Then Simon added: 'In terms of sheer entertainment value, my favourite performance of the night so far.

'Louis, you're gonna get removed from the building if you keep on talking like that. You're talking complete and utter rubbish.

Strong performances: Both Matt Cardle (left) and Cher Lloyd impressed the judges with the renditions of Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word respectively

'I'm 100 per cent happy I kept you in... Shut up Louis... you're (Katie) not boring, you're not predicable and you've got a fighting spirit.'

Fortunately Matt Cradle, 27, smoothed things out between the judges - for a while at least - with another strong performance of Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.

Louis took time to defend himself before offering Matt advice: 'Before I’m removed from the building, I’m glad someone came out that I absolutely love... You never let me down, you’re a real singer it’s a real performance, there’s no tricks, you are the one everybody has to beat.'

Simon admitted he was worried about Matt taking on such a long song cut down to two minutes: 'I could feel your nerves at the beginning and then suddenly you went up a gear and I could have listened to another two or three minutes of that.'

Fan favourite: Wagner Fiuza-Carrilho performed a mash-up of I'm Still Standing and Circle Of Life

Putting in an equally strong performance was Cher Lloyd, with another ballad - Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word, which she put her own take with a few lines of rapper Eminem's Mockingbird.

Although known for her rapping, Dannii admitted she would prefer to see the 17-year-old rap less in her performances: 'Cher I loved that, I think you’ve hit your stride now and you’re more comfortable and relaxed.

'I really liked the singing bit, I wish there had been a little more of that and less rapping tonight, because you’ve really reached your comfort zone.'

Although Louis liked Cher's performance, he took the opportunity to make a dig at her mentor: 'That absolutely worked. It was very, very clever. You're a little diva in the making, like this one here (Cheryl)...'

His comment provoked an angry look from Cheryl who was clearly unimpressed with being called a diva.

What a circus: Simon suggested Wagner didn't 'have a clue what was going on'

Next up was a very tired - and somewhat bewildered - looking Wagner Fiuza-Carrilho, who admitted he was disappointed his mentor Louis had given him another fast song.

The 54-year-old Brazilian, who has previously said he prefers slower songs due to English being his second language, put on a spectacle mash-up of I'm Still Standing and Circle Of Life, surrounded by his usual band of dancers.

Dannii gave the wittiest comment of the night: 'In the words of Louis Walsh, it was very camp. Did I enjoy it? Sort of….it’s just more talking than singing.

'It was the wedding last week, what was this? The reception? The divorce next week, that’s something to look forward to.'

First group to win The X Factor? One Direction (L-R: Liam Payne, Niall Horan, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson and Zayn Malik) impressed with Something About The Way You Look Tonight

Simon used the opportunity to make another pop at Louis: 'I’ve seen some strange things in my life but that tops it. It’s like Louis has turned you into a singing robot. He’s putting you in positions he’d like to be in himself.

'I don’t understand any of it. I kind of feel like you haven’t got a clue what’s going on do you?'

After Wagner's upbeat performance, it was something a bit more gentle for One Direction, who wanted to proved their singing ability after a few busy sets in recent weeks.

The five piece - Simon's only group left in the competition - were praised by Dannii for being 'so consistent, it’s scary'.

Inspiration: Cheryl hailed Rebecca Ferguson for being a role model after a powerful rendition of Candle In The Wind

Standing ovation: All of the judges were unified in their praise for Rebecca, with Cheryl and Dannii showing their appreciation by standing up

Simon proved the supportive mentor by tipping the group to win: 'I want to say something, this is the first time in all the years of X Factor where I genuinely believe a group are going to win this competition.'

The last act of the night was Rebecca Ferguson, 24, with another stunning performance of Candle In The Wind, prompting a standing ovation from her mentor Cheryl and Dannii.

Cheryl told her: 'I think during this show everyone has got to know you. It’s gone beyond your amazing voice. You’re an inspiration to all the single parents, the young mothers and if you’ve got a dream you’ve just got to keep going. It’s a show like this that will give you the chance and Rebecca I’m behind you the whole way!'

Neck and neck: Dannii and Cheryl tied in the fashion wars tonight. The Australian looked stunning in a white Carla Zampatti toga-style gown, while the Girls Aloud singer glittered in a gold strapless column dress

source :dailymail