Alexandra Burke
music,TV,reality tv,The X Factor
The X Factor 2008 Finalists : Who\'s who? Alexandra Burke
Age: 20
Hometown: London
Occupation: Singer
Mentored by: Cheryl ColeNeed to know: Alexandra\'s mum Melissa used to sing with
Soul II Soul. Alexandra is a good friend of
Joss Stone, having met the singer when they both entered Star For A Night. Alexandra also auditioned for
X Factor in 2005 and got as far as the judge\'s house stage, but
Louis Walsh decided she was too young for X Factor and sent her packing.
Initial impressions: Alexandra is brilliant; she should go far in the competition.
Diana Vickers
music,TV,reality tv,The X Factor
The X Factor 2008 Finalists : Who\'s who? Diana Vickers
Age: 17
Hometown: Blackburn
Occupation: Student
Mentored by: Cheryl ColeNeed to know: Diana is currently studying theatre studies, classics and psychology and hopes to go drama school to study musical theatre after
The X Factor.
Initial impressions: We love Diana\'s whimsical musical style and ethereal look.
Laura White
music,TV,reality tv,The X Factor
The X Factor 2008 Finalists : Who\'s who? Laura White
Age: 21
Hometown: Manchester
Occupation: Student
Mentored by: Cheryl ColeNeed to know: Laura started singing in jazz bars at the age of 15. Her largest gig to date was four years ago when she won a competition to sing in front of 15,000 people at the switch-on ceremony for Bolton Christmas lights. Laura is currently studying creative writing at university.
Initial impressions: Gorgeous voice, gorgeous look - Cheryl definitely has the winner of
The X Factor in her team.
Scott Bruton
music,TV,reality tv,The X Factor
The X Factor 2008 Finalists : Who\'s who? Scott Bruton
Age: 19
Hometown: Manchester
Occupation: Unemployed
Mentored by: Simon CowellNeed to know: Before
The X Factor, Scott worked as a Bluecoat for Pontin\'s but had to quit his job in order to go to boot camp.
Initial impressions: Scott looks 100% better after his make-over, but we\'re still not sure he has The X Factor.
Austin Drage
music,TV,reality tv,The X Factor
The X Factor 2008 Finalists : Who\'s who? Austin Drage
Age: 21
Hometown: Essex
Occupation: Singer
Mentored by: Simon CowellNeed to know: Austin is a budding actor as well as a singer, having appeared as a gypsy alongside
Brad Pitt in
Guy Ritchie\'s Snatch. Previous forays into the music scene include a stint in boy band Five Boys, who supported
Westlife and
Girls Aloud, among others. Austin also appeared on E4\'s
Boys Will Be Girls TV show in which he had to dress up in drag and pretend to be part of a girl band. Austin once auditioned for McFly, but was told he was too ugly.
Initial impressions: Sweet guy, nice voice, cries a lot.
Eoghan Quigg
music,TV,reality tv,The X Factor
The X Factor 2008 Finalists : Who\'s who? Eoghan Quigg
Age: 16
Hometown: Derry
Occupation: Student
Mentored by: Simon CowellNeed to know: Eoghan is currently studying for his GCSEs. His idol is
Justin Timberlake.
Initial impressions: Come back in a few years\' time, Eoghan... Maybe you\'ll have
The X Factor then.
Daniel Evans
music,TV,reality tv,The X Factor
The X Factor 2008 Finalists : Who\'s who? Daniel Evans
Age: 38
Hometown: Walthamstow
Occupation: Pool cleaner (in Spain)
Mentored by: Dannii MinogueNeed to know: Daniel has been applying to appear on
The X Factor ever since it started but has never gone through with it until now (following the untimely death of his wife).
Initial impressions: Nice guy, but he may only have got this far in the show because he played the sympathy card.
Rachel Hylton
music,TV,reality tv,The X Factor
The X Factor 2008 Finalists : Who\'s who? Rachel Hylton
Age: 26
Hometown: London
Occupation: Mother
Mentored by: Dannii MinogueNeed to know: The problem child of this year\'s
X Factor, Rachel has had a stint in prison and three of her five children were taken into care. After deciding to turn her life around, Rachel applied The X Factor in the hope of providing a better life for her family.
Initial impressions: Rachel has an amazing voice, but will her big mouth ruin her chances of fame of fortune?
Ruth Lorenzo
music,TV,reality tv,The X Factor
The X Factor 2008 Finalists : Who\'s who? Ruth Lorenzo
Age: 25
Hometown: Ashstead
Occupation: PR consultant
Mentored by: Dannii MinogueNeed to know: Born in south east Spain, Ruth has a background in classical music and has performed in several musicals. She\'s currently dating guitarist Juanma with whom she landed a contract with Polaris World as both a performer and as a PR consultant.
Initial impressions: Big voice, big hair and has clearly charmed the pants off leery
Simon Cowell.
Girlband
music,TV,reality tv,The X Factor
The X Factor 2008 Finalists : Who\'s who? Girlband
Tita Lau/Phoebe Lau/Marisa Billitteri/Layla Manoochehri
Age: 19/17/19/22
Hometown: Bristol/Birmingham
Occupation: Waitress/student/sales/model
Mentored by: Louis Walsh
Need to know: Tita and Layla met while auditioning for the same gigs so decided form a girl band along with Tita\'s younger sister Phoebe and their friend Marisa. Before Girlband, Tita was in a band called Glitzzi Girlz who once supported Blue. Layla also supported Blue as a solo artist and also writes songs (she once co-wrote a song for Lisa Stansfield). Layla also entered the first series of
Pop Idol and reached the final 50.
Initial impressions: Love their look but not keen on their name and not sure they have what it takes as a band. Do you think Girlband have
The X Factor?
Bad Lashes
music,TV,reality tv,The X Factor
The X Factor 2008 Finalists : Who\'s who? Bad Lashes
Sam Bennett/Stacey Lincoln/Sophie Wilson/Emily McNamee
Age: 21/20/23/19
Hometown: Durham/Hartlepool
Occupation: Customer service/retail assistant/singer/coffee shop owner
Mentored by: Louis Walsh
Need to know: Stacey auditioned as a solo artist for first series of
The X Factor but was told she was too young for the show after nerves got the better of her. Two years ago Emily also auditioned for The X Factor as a solo artist and made the final 30 but didn\'t get any further. It was Emily\'s idea to start the group, enlisting best pals Sam and Stacey as well as her old theatre school friend Sophie.
Initial impressions: Could go far if they can learn to sing in tune.
JLS
music,TV,reality tv,The X Factor
The X Factor 2008 Finalists : Who\'s who? JLS
Marvin Humes/ Jonathan Gill/Oritsé Williams/Aston Merrygold
Age: 23/21/21/20
Hometown: London/Peterborough
Occupation: Property sales/student/works with disabled children/singer
Mentored by: Louis Walsh
Need to know: Marvin was once in a boy band called VS formed by Simon Webbe. VS enjoyed some chart success and went on to support Blue on two national tours. Aston\'s first taste of fame came in 2002 when he appeared on Kids Stars In Their Eyes as Michael Jackson. JLS was formed by Oritsé.
Initial impressions: Love JLS! Very cute, nice voices and pretty good harmonies. Could go far with work.
Find out what happened to your favourite X Factor contestants >>>
More X Factor on handbag.com
