MARY BYRNE survived another week in ITV's X Factorlast night after enduring a sing-off against Brazilian contestant Wagner.
Byrne received unanimous support from all the judges who decided her strong performance of Shirley Bassey's My Lifewas enough to send home Wagner who sang Nat King Cole's 1951 hit, Unforgettable.
Byrne was among the last three contestants and faced a sing-off to determine who would make next week’s semi-final after Kate Waissel lost the public vote.
It was the first time the Dubliner went before the judges who praised the performance. When giving their verdict, Cheryl Cole said Byrne sang “incredible as always”. Dannii Minogue described her as a person with a fantastic voice. Simon Cowell, who did not need to cast his vote, said he was happy with the other judges’ unanimous vote to save Byrne.
Saturday’s show was the first time the remaining seven contestants gave two performances before the numbers were cut to five, with a double elimination before the final contestants were decided for next Saturday’s semi-final.
The Dubliner was the third act up in Saturday’s “Rock night” themed show, with Byrne singing All I Want Is You from U2’s 1988 album, Rattle and Hum. Despite fighting off a throat infection that had left her unable to use her voice she gave another strong performance.
Her first performance was well received by all four judges, making it two consecutive weeks that Byrne has avoided any criticism.
She returned for her next performance and stormed around the stage behind the judges singing Brass in Pocket by The Pretenders.
Boyband One Direction, which features Mullingar's Niall Horan, sang Summer of '69by Bryan Adams for their first performance and returned for round two with a ballad by Joe Cocker, You Are So Beautiful To Me.