The Fantastic Four?

Seeing as I've already told you all that I like The X Factor, and since it it's Saturday, I thought I'd do a quick summary of the final four contestants.

Alexandra Burke is clearly the most talented of this years contestants, and if there is any justice will be the winner. One of the strongest auditionees, it wasn't until Candy Man that she really hit her stride in the live shows; and she's been pretty untouchable ever since. What I really think sets her apart (and not just in the current series) is her ability to deliver a performance; you could actually imagine her putting on a entertaining concert, which is a rarity. She also has the genetic advantage of looking like a pop star.

JLS are a classic type of X Factor group; they seem really impressive in the auditions and boot camp, and look like they could be genuine contenders. Come the live shows, however, and they seem to fade like a poster in a shop window. I can't help but feel that Louis Walsh's song choices have hindered rather than helped.

I'm pretty ambivalent about Eoghan Quigg, but I'm guessing I'm not really his target demographic. On his stronger weeks he's been pretty good, but has a tendency to get drowned out by his backing singers. I still think he looks like a badger foetus.

Finally there's 'marmite' queen, Diana Vickers. Diana was the red hot favourite until she missed a week with laryngitis, and has since lost all her momentum. I think that the love her or hate her tag is slightly misleading; for me it's more a case of she's brilliant or she's rubbish, depending on the week. When she's good, she makes the song completely her own, and that's a rare talent. When she's not so good, she sounds like Zed from Police Academy. I think if she worked on her own material, which played to her strengths, she could be really good.

Was there anyone else from the final 12 that should have made it this far? Well Daniel, Girl Band and Bad Lashes should never have got past boot camp. Austin and Rachel had two of the strongest voices in the competition, but struggled to connect with the audience, while Scott's lack of confidence got the better of him in the early weeks. Under different circumstances, these three had the potential to do much better. Laura was an early favourite, and while having a strong voice, the pieces of her jigsaw didn't seem to fit together. Which leaves Ruth, who clearly wasn't the weakest contestant last week and should be competing tonight.

I should end by predicting in what order I think the contestants will finish in... but I think it's virtually impossible. You could make a case for any of the acts winning, since it's a popularity as well as a talent contest. I will give you my list for how I think they SHOULD finish:

4) JLS
3) The Quigg
2) Diana
1) Alex

I'll be back after the final to see how accurate I was.