IT was an emotional evening for Giles Potter as he made it one step closer to the X Factor's live shows.

Giles, from Norton, near Worcester, won a place at judges' houses in tonight's show and will face five other contestants battling to appear on the live shows.

Judge Gary Barlow called his boot camp audition his "best to date" after he had the audience at Wembley Arena on their feet as he sang Jason Mraz's I Won't Give Up.

His confident performance proved to the judges that he had learned from his arena audition which saw him forget the words to Jackie Wilson's Reet Petite.

Before the audition, Giles said: "I have definitely stepped up my game since the arena audition.

"Now I have had my telling off from the judges I will focus on the competition.

"This means so much to me. Going home today would be devastating."

Take That star Gary gave the 16-year-old words of advice backstage after his disappointing audition but was full of praise after tonight's performance.

He said: "It's been your best audition to date Giles.

"Well done. You should be proud of yourself."

The former Pershore High School pupil needed to impress Louis Walsh though who is the mentor for the boys category.

The music manager kept Kidderminster College student Giles in suspense by telling him: "Giles, that was the perfect song for you.

"It's hard to believe you're just 16 but are you good enough for the live shows?"

During a tense wait while the other judges urged Louis to give Giles the sixth seat, the teenager told Louis the show was the big time for him and added: "I know I can do it."

A visibly shaken Giles broke down in tears after Louis told him he could take the final place in the line up.

His happiness quickly turned to anxiety as he worried that he would lose his seat to final contestant Nicholas McDonald who was singing the same song.

However, Louis decided to swap 17-year-old Alejandro Fernandez for Nicholas.

Giles and Nicholas will be fighting for their place on the live shows against Sam Callahan, Paul Akister, Ryan Mathie and Luke Friend.

The X Factor returns on Saturday at 8pm and Sunday at 7.10pm.