The X-Factor!!!!!!!

So I went to the recording of the X-Factor show last night, and a lot of fun it was too...here's what I learned.

- The studio isn't half as big as it looks on telly. I realise this is something an old person would probably say, but it's true.

- However, these images of Dannii and Cheryl are online. Apparently Dannii won last night's 'dress war'.



- I would have liked to litter this post with badly taken photos from my phone, but they're quite persistent about you not doing that in the studio.

- The show, which is on TV for an hour, goes by very quickly. This is a relief because for the whole record I was gripped with the fear that I might be caught on camera looking distracted or yawning or something, but I think I managed to keep it together for the duration.

- The judges leave their voting table a lot. I don't know why but with Cheryl's dress, it looked like a bit of a pain. I did get a glimpse of her barbed wire tattoo though, which was most thrilling.

- Lady Gaga's tiny. The bath she used in the performance, is not.

- Janet Jackson did not perform in the studio live. GASP!

- Most people thought that Danyl being voted off was the right choice. I did not. I thought he was the one who seemed to be the most like a pop star.

- However, I met Olly afterwards and he seems like a very nice guy and was clearly over the moon to be in the final.

- All of my female friends were swooning over the X Factor head of security and even went as far as creating a presumed-reality for this man which involved log cabins by lakesides, Tae-Kwon Do in the early morning mist, former Black Ops training, being an orphan, drinking whisky straight etc etc. Disconcertingly, at the forefront of this charge into fantasy was My Wife.

So it's the final next week and I'll be rooting for Olly. The fact I even know the contestant's names is something of a miracle compared with my interest in the show in previous years...