The 19-year-old singing sensation from Clayton, Manchester, wowed the judges on Saturday with his performance of the Michael Jackson hit She's Out of My Life.
It marked a stunning revival in form for the ex-Bluecoat, who was strongly criticised for his performance of Yeh Yeh in week one. Even his mentor, Simon Cowell, admitted he had chosen the wrong song with the Georgie Fame classic.
Louis Walsh told him: "You came back fighting. That was an absolutely brilliant performance. You are in with a good chance because you look like a pop star."
Dannii Minogue went one further, hailing a `winning performance'. She added: "The Bluecoat is out of your life forever."
Meanwhile, local contestants Laura White, 21, from Atherton, near Wigan, and Lancashire student Diana Vickers, both gave impressive performances during Michael Jackson week.
Diana is now the new favourite to be crowned X Factor winner, according to bookmakers. Ladbrokes slashed the 17-year-old's odds of winning from 5/1 to 11/4.
Former favourite Laura drifted to 3/1 from 9/4, with Alexandra Burke now third favourite at 6/1.
Spokesman Robin Hutchison said: "We took a lot of money for Diana on Saturday and she more than justified the faith shown by punters."
The latest odds put Girls Aloud singer Cheryl Cole as favourite to be crowned winning mentor.
Tweet
Showing comments 1 to 3 and replies | View All
Mr Angry, Bury (20/10/2008 at 16:57)
Buzz, Moston (20/10/2008 at 20:47)
Ok, Cowell and Walsh can claim they have had reasonable success, but come on... Danni Minogue. Can anyone actually name a song of hers? Dont think we would even hear of her but for her sister.
Pandora (21/10/2008 at 16:53)