4 September 2006
Nikitta and auntie Katie both through to contest
By Lee-Ann Fullerton
DailyRecord
THE X Factor has been turned into the Generation Game by two Scots hopefuls.
Plucky teenager Nikitta Angus bowled over TV's Mr Nasty Simon Cowell on Saturday night when she sang Dimming Of The Day by Bonnie Raitt -the tune she sang after her mother's death from cancer.
But unknown to the X Factor crew her aunt Katie had also auditioned earlier and won over the feisty critic too.
The 44-year-old factory worker told Simon it was her last chance to make it as a singer and follow her dream.
And Katie became one of the first singers to be put through at the Glasgow auditions after she impressed Simon so much he told her she was "exceptional".
The girls are now keeping it in the family and will both face the judges again at their notorious boot camps.
Nikitta, of Partick, is glad her aunt is sharing her triumph by making it to the final 50 in the over-25s group.
She said: "My auntie Katie has a brilliant voice. I was so pleased for her when she got through.
"She's a fantastic singer and really deserved it. She will obviously be in a different group from me so at least I'm not competing against her.
"Even though she was nervous she sang brilliantly. She's the opposite from me. Her nerves show when she sings the low notes but mine show when I do the high ones.
"We're both really looking forward to the boot camp."
Nikitta watched the show, and her audition, at home after doing a gig with her band, the Fugees United, in Glasgow during the day.
"I was so embarrassed when I heard I my screechy voice," she said.
"It's not good ' seeing yourself j on television. I wanted to die.
Then I went out and I was recognised from being in the paper. It was really weird, very, very strange."
The 17-year-old then celebrated at Glasgow's Ivory Blacks nightclub after friends threw her a party to wish her good luck at boot camp - where judges choose who will make the live finals.
She wi ll be jetting off to Los Angeles this week where she will be put through, her paces with the other 50 I singers in the under- 25 section. They will only find out who their mentor is when they get there, but both Sharon Osbourne and Simon Cowell have homes in the city.
Last year Sharon took her group to the Osbourne mansion.
But, far from wanting to avoid 'Mr Nasty', Nikitta is hoping acid-tongued Cowell will be her mentor.
She said: "I would love Simon to get my group. I love him.
"He is so honest with you and I think that makes you perform better.
"I'll probably cry in front of him if he says bad things but he knows his stuff so you just have to accept it.
"I'm bricking it about going away but it's amazing at the same time.
"I'm just so glad I've got the chance to go, fingers crossed I do well enough to get to the next stage."
