Dermot: Danyl's too good

WHHAATT! Can someone please tell me what on earth is going on?

I mean, I know it's a competition; one person gets voted off each week until there are just three left in the final etc etc (I've picked that much up in my time on the show!)

But Danyl in the bottom two?

Fresh from every Tom, Dick and Marjorie in the street telling me he was going to win, I was staggered.

I mean, I know I said in this very column last week that the good ship X Factor was wide open this year, but come on!

(While we're on Danyl though, I've got to say, that spelling still weirds me out. New breed of dog anyone, the Spanyl?)

I really felt for Miss Frank as well. It was a complete shock seeing them in the Final Showdown, especially after their performance and the comments they got from the judges - "absolutely fantastic' from Cheryl, and, "I actually started to believe in you as a group" from Simon, in case you needed reminding.

I get the impression that (stand by, cliché coming up) we really didn't see the best of them. The girls killed it (that's a good thing) at boot camp and judges' houses, and if they'd been up against anyone other than Danyl, who knows, maybe they would have survived.

So now you, the great and totally unpredictable British public, have hit me for six, let's think about how the chosen ones (ie anyone in Simon's category) can recover.

I'm just the host in all of this, but the one thing people always say to me in the street is that they like a journey (I know, I know, I wince as I say it, but hear me out).

Not a "I'm here because my cat died when I was five and I never recovered from it even though I'm now 34, so I deserve to win X Factor" type of journey.

No, the sort of journey people love is one that starts in the audition period, progresses and crystallises in boot camp and the judges' houses, then comes to fruition in the studio. What's more, people just love an underdog, an outsider who starts with very little hope and keeps getting better and better.

Consequently, I reckon poor Danyl's only fault is that . . . he's actually too good, too early.

OK, I know that sounds odd, but remember, this is someone about whom Simon said: "That was the single best first audition I've ever seen."

Loath as I am to admit it, he's always right, though to be fair, he has sat through an awful lot of them.

Also, what with Danyl nailing his songs every week I reckon people think that other people are voting for him. They're watching his performances and thinking, "well he's definitely going through, so I'm going to vote for someone who really needs my support".

It's another facet of him being too good that plays against him, though it does make it all very exciting for me, as I have no idea who'll be on that card on Sunday night.

So what can Danyl do? I'm not going to suggest that he goes on a backwards journey and starts getting worse because that wouldn't do him any favours.

All that he can do is keep on producing great performances and hope that, after his shock finish in the bottom two, people realise that no one is safe and every single act needs those votes to stay in the competition.

In fact, being in the bottom two may even work in his favour in that respect, as people should now realise that if they don't vote for him because they think others are, he'll find himself there again.

Whatever happens though there's no doubt that it's going to be a really tight one this year.

All of the finalists are genuinely nice, good-hearted people, any one of whom would be a worthy winner.

So all I'd say is, vote for your favourite; as last week showed, you'll never know when they might need your support.

• Dermot: I'll stand by Si
• Bullied Danyl is going to blow like Subo
• Dermot: Saint Jedward

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