MANCHESTER'S X Factor hopeful Scott Bruton was saved by his fans after breaking down in tears on live TV.

The former Pontin's Bluecoat, who had to be consoled by host Dermot O'Leary, became upset when the judges said the choice of Georgie Fame hit Yeh Yeh was a big no, no for the Clayton-raised teenager.

His mentor Simon Cowell agreed, telling Scott: "I got this wrong, I did. I was trying to do something different. If the north of England, where you're from, give you another chance I give you my word, I will give you a better song choice next week."

Scott, 19, was still in tears when he was interviewed backstage and he broke down again while appearing on live ITV2 show The Xtra Factor.

But he vowed to return stronger next Saturday - with the right song - after viewers heeded Simon's appeal to vote for him.

"Being in the final 12 is a dream come true for me and I really don't want this journey to end. I just feel so lucky to be here," said Scott.

"When I first got the song, I initially wanted to change it. But then after we put some of the twists on it, I thought it would have been alright. I've got to trust Simon as a mentor."

Judge Louis Walsh said the re-arranged version of the song was all wrong for Scott. "It's the most hideous song choice ever on The X Factor," he claimed.

While fellow judge Dannii Minogue told Scott: "Sack your mentor. That was not the song for you."

But it was a different story for Laura White, 21, from Atherton, who overcame nerves and homesickness to gain a standing ovation from three of the four judges.

Louis described her rendition of Falling by Alicia Keys as `one of the best performances of the night'.

Simon told her: "I thought that was outstanding. You have something very special and this is why I still like doing this show in this country, so that you can discover people like you. You have a fantastic future, potentially, ahead of you young lady."

Blackburn student Diana Vickers, 17, also won rave reviews for her performance of U2's With Or Without You - sung barefoot on stage because she was worried about slipping over.

"You are the singing version of Marmite," said Simon. "You will either love it or hate it. And Diana, I loved it." Louis added: "I think you are the one to beat in this competition."

Girl group Bad Lashes were the first act to leave after finding themselves in the sing-off with Girlband. With the judges deadlocked, the decision went back to the original public vote, which had Bad Lashes at the bottom of the poll.

They later claimed their mentor Louis focused more of his attention of boyband JLS but said they would not give up on their bid for a record deal.

A total of 10.4m viewers watched the main ITV1 X Factor show on Saturday, beating Strictly Come Dancing which attracted 8.9m.

Tweet