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Louis and Sharon hit the town ahead of X Factor final...but no sign of Simon or Dannii Mail

Rhydian poised for X Factor victory, but Simon Cowell's the real winner with £7.5m payday Mail

Who'll Win The X Factor? Skyshowbiz

Osbourne faces axe
Exclusive by Mark Jefferies


Furious Simon Cowell may boot judge Sharon Osbourne off the X Factor after tonight's final.

Sharon, 55, made offensive comments about rival judge Dannii Minogue on Graham Norton's BBC2 show on Thursday night.

Cowell was last night said to be "spitting bullets" and Aussie singer Dannii, 36, "upset".

Sharon sniped: "Danni knows she's there because of her looks, not because of her contribution to the music industry."


Yesterday Simon said: "I will sit down with Sharon after the final and discuss things then.

"We have got three acts who have the biggest night of their lives ahead of them, that is all I am worried about right now."

A source close to the TV star said: "Simon thought what Sharon did on the show was disgusting. He only offered her a new contract last week and then she goes and does this."
Mirror

Louis' X-Factor awards


This has been the most turbulent X Factor so far, racked by tears and tantrums, bitching and bust-ups - and that's just the judges.

And tonight, after weeks of auditions and boot camp drama, the hit ITV1 talent show reaches the final.

One act will be deemed to have the X Factor - either weird Welshman Rhydian, smiling siblings Same Difference, or smooth Leon.

So here, to mark the end of another unmissable series, judge Louis Walsh, in his own inimitable style, hands out his end of term awards - The Walshies...

THE JUDGES

Simon Cowell: What's happened to him? He went all politically correct this year and wanted to be Mr Nice Guy. There were fewer put-downs and he was a lot safer.

Everything was safer, especially the hair and those strange, strange clothes. His style hasn't changed for decades now - his clothes are getting very dated.

I think Simon is fed up of being the villain and wants to be loved by everyone. But I was still his fall-guy. He would have a go at me but was too scared to have a go at the girls.

Sharon Osbourne: Sharon was even more fun this year than last. She just gets better and better - and more unpredictable.

She says exactly what she feels, whether you like it or not, and that is the best thing about her.

The show would not be the same without her. She is a one-off.

Sharon always looks incredible and a total pro.

Dannii Minogue: I didn't think it was a great idea to hire her at the start. I thought, "Why her?"

But Dannii has worked really, really hard and given 100 per cent. She worked so hard with her acts and picked three great kids which I don't think any of us would have chosen.

For me she was the surprise of the show.

THE FINALISTS

Same Difference: Why are they in the show? They are nice kids and smile a lot, but I just don't get it.

They are great for Butlins and the end of the pier, but this is the X Factor - this isn't Seaside Special. They are not going to follow Shayne Ward and Leona Lewis and sell millions.

I don't think they should even be in the final. It should have been Niki.

Leon: He has been the most improved act in the contest - no question. He has improved so much and it is amazing given that he hadn't sung in public before. He could be as big as Michael Buble.

Rhydian: He has always been good and really confident. When Rhydian gets up on stage he owns it, he is a natural.

A lot of people didn't like him at the start but he is a very nice guy. He could sell a lot of records in a Michael Ball and Russell Watson sense. He is definitely going to have a career.

FAVOURITE MOMENTS

Best Bitchy Comment: I don't want to blow my own trumpet but it was definitely my line to Dannii.

She was slagging off Niki for singing out of tune, so I turned round and said to her: "How would you know? You have never had a hit."

She was not a happy bunny but she knew I was right.

Biggest Bitch: There was this vile girl called Rachel in Cardiff and she was very strung-out. She had to be dragged out kicking and screaming and her language was so horrible. We were all shocked by her.

The funniest Moment: At one audition this woman came in and said she was a jockey. And I said, "A disc jockey?" And she replied, "No, a jockey."

Well, me and Sharon just burst out laughing and couldn't control ourselves. Cowell sent us out of the room because we were making such a fuss. And as we went out Sharon walked into a door and that made it worse.

We were doubled up and we couldn't stop. It was the funniest, funniest thing of all the series.

Unseen Moment: Some of the best moments have come with the bitching between Simon, me and Sharon.

We're always slagging each other off, but you could never put it out because it is so filthy.

We try and outbitch each other all the time and come up with the best one-liners.

Usually with me and Sharon ganging up on Simon - we annihilate him.

We will use anything against him - his girlfriend, his past life, his career, anything. It was Dannii's first year so we were nice and didn't gang up on her.

Embarrassing Moment: I was very embarrassed when I lost my first act, Daniel de Burgh. He sang Build Me Up Buttercup and Cowell slagged him off.

Even though he did a silly dance I thought he was safe - then he was voted off.

Worst Change: The public has been going for these sob stories and the acts go for the sympathy vote. There were far too many sob stories and far too much crying in this series. This is supposed to be a talent show, not Jeremy Kyle.

With Same Difference it was crying not the singing that has got them in the final. This has to change.

Best Moment: When Rhydian sang The Phantom Of The Opera it was incredible - the hairs on the back of the neck stood up.

Worst Decision: When Sharon voted Beverley out. She thought the public vote would have kept her in and that she would be safe, but Hope were kept instead of Beverley that week.

That was a terrible decision. But Sharon didn't realise that Beverley was bottom in the public vote.

Best Cowellism: I love watching Simon getting ready in his dressing room before a show, doing his hair. It never fails to make me laugh, every single week. It is the funniest thing I have ever seen.

The attention to detail for every hair is incredible. And he loves looking in the mirror. There are mirrors everywhere in his dressing room and he checks every bit of his hair.
Mirror

X Factor: The finalists


Rhydian

He's shrugged off the arrogant villain tag he gained at the beginning of the series and heads in to tonight's final as oddson favourite.

But the 24-year-old from Powys, Wales, is far from relaxed. He says: "In one way it is nice to be the favourite, but on the downside there is added expectation for you to go out and deliver.

"Vocally, I think I am the strongest, but the others have grown in confidence. So it is a level playing field and I just hope I can win it.


"Every primary school in the country will be behind Same Difference - and why shouldn't they? Leon has the teenagers and Sinatra fans."

But with celebrity fans including Little Britain's David Walliams and boxer Joe Calzaghe, Rhydian's certainly some got heavyweight support of his own.

This evening he'll be singing O Holy Night and his favourite song, Somewhere.

Same Difference

They might be cheesy, but Sean and Sarah Smith wouldn't have it any other way.

"We were brought up on cheesy music," says Sarah, 19. "There are videos of me doing the Macarena and Whigfield's Saturday Night when I was younger."

The brother and sister from Portsmouth were favourites to get booted off the show in the first week of the live stages. But they have overcome criticism from Louis Walsh to get to the final, in which they will sing Christmas Song and All I Want For Christmas Is You.

If they do win X Factor, Same Difference intend to be role models. Sean, 21, says: "We want to help kids in a good way. Drugs, drink, it is all seen as cool now and we want to try to show another way."

Smiling as ever, Sarah says: "It's not the end, whatever happens. But I'll be celebrating in A&E if we win because I'll collapse from shock."

Leon

Leon Jackson is hoping to win X Factor on a diet of hard work and packets of 14 pence noodles!

The 18-year-old from Whitburn, West Lothian, had never been on a stage before entering the competition but the young Scot has come a long way with the help of his mum Wendy.

Grinning Leon says: "She sent down a huge box of my favourite 14 pence noodles - I have them every day for my lunch.

"This has been such an amazing experience. All my mates are asking for Dannii's phone number!"

Leon, whose favourite song is Michael Buble's You Don't Know Me, can also count Dannii's sister Kylie and crooner Buble as fans.

A hot contender to win the final with White Christmas, Leon also has a secret weapon - his lucky pants! He said: "My mate and her sisters signed some pink pants - they'll be in my back pocket when I'm performing."
Mirror

The X Factor results are in Sun

ANGRY DANNII AND KYLIE ARE OUT FOR REVENGE


SISTER act Dannii and Kylie Minogue have told X Factor bitch Sharon Osbourne: “We are out to get you.”

The furious Aussie duo plan to confront her at tonight’s big finale. And they aim to get her booted off the show for good.


Dannii, 36, and Kylie, 39, are furious over Sharon’s comments on a chat show this week in which she cruelly compared pretty Dannii’s face to her saggy old BUM.


It was the latest in a string of vicious attacks by bitter Sharon, 55, on her sexier and younger rival judge.


But now Dannii has had enough. And tonight she and her sister Kylie, who is a special guest on tonight’s finale, are planning to take revenge. A source said: “Until now, Dannii has been very gracious. She has taken Sharon’s bitchy comments on the chin and refused to enter into a public slanging match.


“But when Sharon went on TV and basically likened Dannii’s face to her arse, that was the last straw. She was hurt and upset.


“Her sister Kylie also watched the show and thinks Sharon is well out of order.


“They are all due to face one another – backstage and in front of the cameras – tonight for the finale, so expect fireworks. You don’t mess with Team Minogue!”


Sharon sparked outrage with her vicious comments on Thursday’s Graham Norton Show on BBC2.


First, she claimed Dannii had been hired for the ITV talent show “for her looks rather than her contribution to the music industry”.


She then pulled off a cruel stunt when American actor David Boreanaz, 38, a fellow guest, said he did not know who Dannii was and asked Sharon to show him a picture of her.


She bent over and showed him her bum, before collapsing with laughter and screaming: “I am going to get into so much trouble for this. Well... f*** ’em!”


This latest in a string of insults has devastated Dannii, who was brought into the show this year as a new judge and has two acts in the final. She was said to have been left almost in tears.


Her sister Kylie was just as angry.


A pal said: “Sharon used to be Queen Bee, but she’s had a mighty fall from grace and has been acting like a bitter old woman.


“Her career is washed up. Surely her days on the show are numbered.” However, we can reveal that show boss Simon Cowell, 48, has invited Sharon back on the programme next year – but has cut her down to size.


Fed up with her antics, he is planning to slash her fee from £1million to just £250,000, making her the lowest-paid judge.


But Cowell knows gobby Sharon will accept the offer, because she needs X Factor more than it needs her. Without X Factor, she would not be on TV.


Meanwhile, flu-ridden Cowell is facing a race against time to recover in time for tonight’s special.


The music boss was struck down earlier in the week and even had to miss out on a press conference on Wednesday with his act, Same Difference, because he was so ill.


Now he is desperately hoping he will be fit to see Same Difference slug it out with Dannii’s two acts – Rhydian Roberts, 24, and Leon Jackson, 18 – for the prized £1m record deal.


Cowell’s girlfriend Terri Seymour, 33, has been playing nurse to TV’s Mr Nasty by giving him endless mugs of hot lemon and honey.
dailystar

Simon Cowell Exclusive
Bby Nikhita Mahajan

He's short, wears his trousers too high and is almost double my age. And his teeth aren't even his own.

Yet one hour and a signed photo later, I have to admit...I fancy Simon Cowell.

Flirty, confident and very complimentary, the TV boss tells me: "I'd love to make you the next X Factor judge. If anyone leaves the show, you're next."

Only Simon Cowell could get away with a chat-up line like that.

"For me, a woman's legs are the most important part of her body. And YOU have great legs." There he goes again.

I'm here to interview the 47-year-old about the X Factor final, but as soon as I walk into his dressing room, he gives me a kiss ... and leads me to the sofa.

"I can teach you how to sing, if you like," he offers. "I can't do it myself, but I can show you how." I thank him - but tell him I'm tone-deaf.

He's dressed in blue Gucci jeans and trademark black v-neck sweater. "I wear what I feel comfortable in," he says. "I don't have a favourite outfit and I most certainly don't have a pulling outfit."

I compliment him on his new haircut. He's impressed. "You're sharp," he tells me. I don't mention that I'd bumped into his hairdresser or that his new haircut is identical to his old one. I ask him about women.

"Brunettes over blondes any day," he says, looking straight at my dark brown hair. "I don't need to use chat up lines," he adds. "I just look at a girl and smile, and if she responds, that means she's interested." And there's an awful lot of smiling going on.

"I suppose I'm a bit of a flirt. but I just enjoy the company of women," he adds. "I've always been comfortable around them."

His girlfriend is Terri Seymour, a 33-year-old US-based TV presenter who has been dating him for five years.

"I don't do romantic," he says. "I don't do roses. And I cringe at the thought of Valentines Day. Terri understands." She does?

"Yes. We get on well and have a laugh. And that's much more important than fireworks."

How does Terri feels about him working so closely with sexy fellow judge Dannii Minogue.

"Oh they get on great," he claims.

"They've been out and have a real laugh together." Enough of other girls.

I want him to focus on me.

"You have nice teeth," he says. I return the compliment. "They aren't mine," he says referring to the veneers.

I ask if he's been working out.

"I just do a few push ups. But I'm also eating a lot better," he says, peeling a satsuma. "I've cut out junk - the chocolate biscuits and crisps.

I smoke, and that's not good for me. So I try and keep myself healthy."

What about his plans are for Christmas? "I'm going to Barbados for three weeks," he says. "I'm taking my mum. That's what Christmas is all about."

A man who makes time for his family - and has a house in the Caribbean ... Terri is a lucky girl.

What's he buying her for Christmas? "Whatever she asks for."

A very lucky girl...

'The way Sharon blows up is wrong'
It's been one of the most competitive X Factors so far - and that's just the judges.

"I feel like Kofi Annan," Simon says when I mention the bickering. Sharon apparently doesn't like Dannii, Louis doesn't like Dannii because she doesn't like Sharon...

"People bicker," Simon says. "And they argue. We're not the Waltons. And I don't wanna be."
Sharon appeared on Graham Norton's show recently, pointing at her bum when she described Dannii's face, saying, "Dannii is only on the show because of her looks."

Simon looks frustrated. "You see a grown-up Sharon behaving like this in public. I think it's wrong. Certain things should be done behind closed doors - the limelight shouldn't be taken from the contestants. I wish Sharon would ask my advice before she does things instead of trying to deal with it herself." But Sharon's always been her own boss.

"Sharon would be the first to admit that we've had a turbulent relationship over the last three or four years, but I've got to know her a lot better this year." And Dannii?

"We get on great. I feel incredibly comfortable around her. I was intrigued as to whether or not she could do the job. She's done a ton of songs, movies, Grease and Home and Away. That's exactly the sort of experience you need to be a judge.

"And she's worked harder with the artists than anyone else. She did 20-hour days." So what about Louis?

"I like him. He can be annoying in the same way a mosquito in your room is annoying. But at the end of the day, he's very good at what he does."

And will all the judges be coming back next time?

"A hundred per cent ... if they can get on."
Mirror