Simon Cowell defended last Sunday's X Factor after claims were made that the result was a fix. Viewers were miffed that the judges picked who would go through to next week's final instead of it going down to the public vote which it has done in previous years. Claims were made that the change was brought in to ensure that headline-grabbing Cher Lloyd, 17, would succeed to the final instead of Irish contestant Mary Byrne.

Simon hit back saying that this was the format set out at the start of the series and that he has no idea of voting statistics until after the series has ended. He added that this year saw another change to the format because he likes to keep the show "fresh".

So we're now left with four acts in the final - One Direction, Cher Lloyd, Matt Cardle and Rebecca Fergusson. The final can be seen this Friday at 7pm on ITV1 with the result being announced on Sunday on the live show.