CHER Lloyd has made it through to the finals of the X Factor after a tense live sing-off.

The 17-year-old is now on the brink of making her dreams come true after the voting public saw her in the bottom two of the final five acts, forcing her to prove herself to the judges who eventually sent supermarket checkout worker Mary Byrne home.

She will now face Matt Cardle, Rebecca Ferguson and boy band One Direction in the live finals next weekend.

Last night Cher sang two songs – Nothing On You by BOB and Bruno Mars followed by Love the Way You Lie by Eminem and Rihanna.

Her trademark rap featured in both performances, which went down a storm with the audience and judges alike.

Judge Simon Cowell told her: “You’ve come back really strong and what I really, really admire about you is that you’re fearless.

“You’ve had a bit of stick this week, people saying this about you, that about you… what I’m hoping is that after everything you’ve gone through –because you represent every teenager who has a dream, who wants to do what you do and I think if you did not make the final after everything you’ve done it would be a complete and utter travesty.”

The ticket to the final comes after Cher was said by choreographer Brian Friedman on the Xtra Factor show to have had “one little tantrum” in rehearsals during the week.

He said: “Cher just had a little bit of a meltdown and I don’t know what happened.

“She had a bit of a moment and had to step away.”

He added: “Age had a lot to do with it. At 17 you have a lot of insecurities and a lot to overcome, and to overcome them in front of so many people is a lot to do.”

Cher will now face Matt Cardle, Rebecca Ferguson and boy band One Direction in the X Factor finals next weekend but will sing live in Malvern on Tuesday.

Her live sing-off performance tonight was Britney Spears’ Everytime.

• See tomorrow’s Worcester News for more.


• Get posters, news and watch last night’s performances again on our vote4cher page here.
• 'Like' our vote4cher Facebook page

here

.
• 'Like' the Worcester News Facebook page here.