The first half of this show was glorious, with more melt-downs than an iron-forging plant.  Hideous, cringingly embarrassing and glorious!  Loved it!  But in all seriousness, there are some very, very good acts this year.  Whilst last year I thought the show had peaked and was now into a major nose-dive, it seems I was wrong and the game has been well and truly raised.  Currently, I'm favouring little Owen as a potential winner but, frankly, I think there's such a pool of talent that it's impossible to really place any bets just now.

I'm also loving watching Lord Cowell salivate over the Spanish beauty who made his engine purr when she opened her final boot camp audition by singing in Spanish - genious!  His eyes positively ravished her as she sasheyed off stage.  No wonder she was put through!

But I do have a serious concern; so many of the people we have seen at Boot Camp have expressed such desperation that I worry how they will cope with failure.  They all seem to believe that X-Factor is the only way they will ever succeed as singers, which is nonsense of course.  The passion borders on desperation and I find myself wondering how long it will be before we hear about the first X-Factor suicide?  Some of these entrants are very young, and are not necessarily emotionally equipped to deal with the rejection and despair.   So many contestants talk as though their lives will be over if they fail.  Their angst is so powerful you can almost reach out and grasp it within your own hands and feel it's intensity.  I wonder whether there are counsellors employed by the programme to give these people support?  If not, there ought to be.  I am a counsellor and I do believe it would be useful.

If you are a contestant reading this:  your life is NOT over because you didn't get further.  You have not failed.  Most important of all, the programme is not your only hope of achieving your dreams.  What do you think singers did before the rise of the T.V. talent show?  Get yourself out there working the clubs, hotels, pubs, cruiseships, private functions, whatever it takes.  Send your CD's off to record companies, busk on street corners in the big cities.  Do what you have to do and keep believing.  Because if it's meant to be, then not winning X-Factor isn't going to change that!