The nine remaining contestants in X Factor have made their latest bid to stay in the competition, following last weekend's controversial result. This week saw the acts tackling Elton John songs, and once again it was a night of mixed fortunes, while the judges failed to see eye to eye at certain points. Louis angered the others after he criticised Paije, the first performer of for his rendition of Crocodile Rock. "That was such a bad song choice - it was like bad karaoke," Louis Walsh told him. "You're better than this, you're a soul man and it just didn't work." Dannii Minogue responded by moving her hands in a mocking gesture suggesting Louis was talking rubbish - and Simon joined in after Louis was similarly critical of Aiden Grimshaw's performance of Rocket Man. "It's Louis' wrong time of the month," he told the teenager. "I don't think vocally it's the best you've sounded, but you have great presence." Louis also found himself on the wrong side of the judges when he blasted Cheryl Cole for choosing Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting for Katie Waissel to sing. "Elton has had 44 albums and you give her this silly song," he said. "It was a throwaway performance. It was awful, it was wrong." However Simon leapt to the 24-year-old's defence. "Louis, you're gonna get removed from the building if you keep on talking like that," he said. "You're talking complete and utter rubbish. In terms of sheer entertainment value, that was the best performance of the night so far." Katie - who was controversially saved by the panel last week after Cheryl refused to vote - also won praise from Dannii. "Credit for coming back and giving it your all," she said. "You sounded really good on the chorus." Meanwhile it was another good night for the favourites Matt Cardle and Rebecca Ferguson, the former taking on Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and the latter closing the show with Candle In The Wind. "You are the one everyone has to beat in this competition," Louis told Matt, while Cheryl was full of praise for Rebecca. "I think during this show everyone has got to know you," she said. 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." And One Direction earned themselves a standing ovation from Simon following their performance of Something About The Way You Look Tonight. "I want to say this," he told the quintet, "this is the first time in all the years of X Factor where I genuinely believe a group are going to win this competition." There was also praise for Cher, who combined Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word with rap star Eminem's hit Mockingbird. "I think you've hit your stride now," Dannii said, "you're more comfortable and relaxed. However Mary Byrne once again sounded shaky as she delivered her rendition of Can You Feel The Love Tonight, despite improving upon last week's performance. While Dannii told the Irish singer she was "getting her mojo back", Simon accused her of sounding "pub singer-ish". And Wagner once again left the judges baffled, with a medley of I'm Still Standing and the Lion King track Circle Of Life. "I've seen some strange things in my time," Simon said, "but that just about tops it. "It's like Louis has turned you into his version of a singing robot, where he's putting you into these positions he'd like to be in himself. Genuinely, none of this makes sense." The results will be announced on Sunday evening's show, which will also feature the first performance from Take That since Robbie Williams announced he was rejoining the band.
