It was a challenging night for the eight remaining acts in The X Factor 2010, with the show dedicated to the music of the Beatles for the first time ever. However the night was shrouded in controversy after Cheryl Cole hit back at Wagner following reports in the press he had insulted the judge in a drunken rant. According to the Mirror, Wagner had branded her "just a girl from a council estate who got lucky when someone gave her a job in showbusiness". But Cheryl hit back at the singer after he had performed his latest routine on the show, a medley of Beatles classics which included Hey Jude, Hippy Hippy Shake and Get Back. "Normally I don't have anything constructive to say to you, but I've heard this week you have been making some comments about me to the Press about being from a council estate," she said. "Yes, I am very proud of my roots, and yes I am lucky," she told him. Wagner responded by saying "Don't believe everything you read in the press," and attempted to explain himself further. "He asked me what I think of Cheryl and I said Cheryl is a role model for the young people of this nation because I believe she has lived on a council estate," the 54-year-old said, "and so many people who live in a council estate don't believe they can achieve a better standard of living." "You are incredibly talented and beautiful and have the manners of a princess," he added. "You are now the most favoured woman in the whole country." Cheryl appeared emotional as he made his comments - but Simon Cowell quickly brought the show back on an even keel with his comments about the performance, branding it "the worst performance of a Beatles song I have ever seen". It was a better week, however, for Katie Waissel, who was hoping to avoid a fifth brush with the bottom two. Sporting a new short hairdo, the 24-year-old impressed the panel - and won over the audience - with a slowed-down version of the Fab Four's chart-topper Help. "That was the performance of the night," Cheryl told her, while Simon described it as "vocally genius". Meanwhile, it was a week of mixed fortunes for favourite Matt Cardle, who kicked off the show with his rendition of Come Together. The 27-year-old upped the tempo for once, and was joined on stage by a troupe of dancers for the first time. However the performance divided the judges. "There was something missing tonight," Louis Walsh told him, while Simon added, "It kind of looked like you were literally dragged from the loo to do that performance." And Cher Lloyd also had mixed fortunes when she dispensed with her usual rap style and hip hop gear in favour of a white dress and a straightforward rendition of John Lennon's Imagine, which she sang sitting on a spiral staircase. "You have the potential to be a very good pop star but that was a lazy performance," Louis told the teenager. However Dannii Minogue disagreed. "What you have shown us now is that you are versatile," she said. "The two songs which you have just sung have been my favourite ones." Meanwhile One Direction and Rebecca Ferguson fared well, the former delivering a rousing rendition of All You Need Is Love and the latter opting to sing Yesterday. Simon praised his group, saying "It was great to see the Fab Four sung by the Fab Five," while Rebecca also won praise even though the judges sensed her nervousness on stage. "For the first time in weeks I've seen you look nervous," Simon said. "But you look like you feel the words of the song and coming from Liverpool I think that was a perfect song choice for you." The other two performers, Mary Byrne and Paije Richardson, also found themselves back on solid ground after getting mixed reviews from the panel in recent weeks. Mary wowed the judges with her powerful performance of Something, which led Dannii to declare that she "has got her mojo back", while Simon reluctantly added, "Annoying as this is Louis did pick the right song." And Paije also won them over with his rendition of Let It Be. "There was something really beautiful and angelic about that performance," Cheryl said, while Louis made reference to Simon's assumption last weekend that the 19-year-old could not win the competition. However the mogul defended his remarks. "I do stand by what I said, based on that performance last week you can't win," he said. "Saying that, you've come back with a brilliant performance and it was a million times better than last week." The results will be revealed on Sunday evening's show with one more act eliminated from the competition.
