Rikki Loney Through to Next Round of X Factor

Just a quick post to congratulate Rikki Loney on getting through to the next round of the X Factor. In the public vote, he safely made it through.

Congratulations Rikki, see you next week!

Rikky Loney – X Factor Live Show 1

Rikky Loney gave his first live performance on the X Factor last night, singing Amy Winehouse's “Back to Black”.

The fourth contestant to go on stage (and the first of the boys category, who are all mentored by Cheryl Cole), Rikki's performance was a little bit mediocre to be honest. There was nothing that really stood out about the way he sang the song, which is a shame because he could have really stamped his authority on it.

Maybe it's a confidence thing. This is the third time that Rikki Loney has entered the X Factor competition after all, so maybe he doesn't actually believe he can go all the way even though he's never got this far in the competition before.

Well, he now needs to step up a gear if he wants to progress through each week of the live finals. He's got this far, so there's no reason why he can't go further.

The judges' comments about Rikki's performance last night were mixed. Louis Walsh told Rikki that once he gets his confidence he can give an awful lot more to the competition and Danii Minogue told him that she loved the jazziness of his voice but qualified that by saying he is currently at level one but needs to get to level 10. Simon however, told it as he saw it. To a chorus of boos, he said he felt it was a bad song choice, he didn't like Rikki's styling and he felt the performance was wet and lacking in star quality, adding that he could see why Rikki had been singing in pubs. A bit harsh maybe, but probably fair given that Rikki's rendition of the Amy Winehouse song just wasn't that great.

So come on Rikki Loney. If you get through tonight's vote, just believe in yourself a bit more and take command of that stage next week on the X Factor!

Can Rikki Loney win the X Factor?

Can Rikki Loney win the X Factor? After disappointments in the past, might this finally be his year?

Rikki Loney is a 22-year old professional singer from Glasgow who sings in pubs and social clubs, but wants to be performing on a bigger stage.

This is not Rikki's first time around on the X Factor. In last year's series, he made is as far as boot camp but did not get picked to go on to the judge's houses, which he says hit him pretty hard.

Still, he picked himself up and came back for another attempt and it paid off. Singing Otis Redding's "These Arms of Mine" in his audition, he gave the judges and the audience an excellent performance.

All four judges were impressed not just with Rikki's audition but also with his determination to come back fighting. Louis said he had the X Factor, both Danii and Cheryl said he was fantastic, and Simon actually said the judges had made a mistake last year to let him go.

Things didn't go as well for Rikki during boot camp however. A throat infection caused him to almost completely lose his voice, but the judges were able to see through that and put him through to the final twelve.

Can Rikki Loney win the X Factor this year? Well, he's by no means the favourite as the bookies currently have his odds at only 20-1. But I predict he'll continue to improve, those odds will come down and he could well be in with a chance.