A call centre worker who revealed he had previously been too nervous to apply for The X Factor stole the show on Saturday night as auditions highlights from Manchester and Liverpool continued. Christopher Maloney, a 34-year-old from Liverpool, admitted that it had taken him five years to "pluck up the courage to audition" for the show despite his love of singing. However he left both judges and audience stunned with his emotional rendition of the Bette Midler song The Rose - which he explained had been played at his grandfather's funeral. And Christopher won a standing ovation from the judges as his beloved grandmother, who accompanied him to the audition, also took to the stage to hear the verdict. "How have you kept that voice hidden till now?" Gary Barlow asked him, while Louis Walsh added, "You stole the show today. Nobody else is going to get that reaction." Others making a big impact on Saturday night - which also saw Geri Halliwell's debut as a judge at the Liverpool auditions - included returning hopeful Melanie McCabe, hoping to secure a place in the final after narrowly missing out at the judges' houses last year. The Irish teenager sailed through to boot camp following her rendition of the Simon and Garfunkel classic Bridge Over Troubled Water. "Your voice is even better from what I remembered last year," Tulisa told her. "That performance was outstanding. You deserve to be on that stage and I'm so happy that you are there." Guest judge Mel B was also impressed, saying, "I didn't know what to expect, you're this tiny little petite thing with this huge incredible voice. You're a little star in my eyes." Meanwhile, Vietnamese student Jason made his mark after confessing his love for Tulisa - or 'Tulisha' as he continually referred to her - before winning a place in boot camp with his rendition of Whitney Houston's I Have Nothing. And despite the judges poking fun at him over his pronunciation of Tulisa's name, they were impressed by his singing. "You were better than I thought you were going to be," Geri Halliwell said, while Tulisa added, "I think I've found my new toy boy." Elsewhere, the first decent group of the contest appeared in the shape of boy band Times Red, whose acoustic performance of Amy Winehouse's hit Rehab won over the panel. Gary Barlow described the trio as "special", while Geri called them "fantastic, brilliant, absolutely brilliant." Saturday's show was the first of a double bill of auditions shows this weekend, with the second due to be screened on Sunday. Simon Cowell personally flew in to the UK to reportedly oversee edits of this weekend's double bill amid criticisms that last weekend's programme featured just eight minutes of singing between the contestants' stories and commercial breaks.
