MARY BYRNE was voted through to the next round of ITV's X Factorafter being inspired by an emotional reunion with her daughter.
Byrne’s 23-year-old daughter, Debbie, overcame her fear of flying for the first time in 10 years to attend Saturday’s show in London after Byrne attributed her poor performance last week to missing her.
"For last week's performance, I just couldn't get the nerves out of me," said Byrne. "I was over-emotional, over-tired, lonely for me daughter and it took its toll on me." Saturday's show was "Elton John night", with Byrne singing Can You Feel The Love Tonightfrom the 1994 film The Lion King.
It was an improved performance from the 51-year-old checkout worker from Ballyfermot, though she did not escape criticism.
“Under normal circumstances, I’m going to be honest with you, I wouldn’t like a version of the song like that,” said Simon Cowell. “It was a little bit pub singer-ish. But because you have a heart, it worked.” Fellow judge Dannii Minogue said Byrne’s tuning was “a little bit shaky” at the beginning, though Louis Walsh, Byrne’s mentor on the show, disagreed.
“The only thing that was shaky was your nerves,” he said. “You were bang on tune.” Byrne responded by saying: “It’ll be even more confident next week. I’m here to stay.”
Asked by presenter Dermot O’Leary what prompted her improved form, Byrne pointed to the crowd and said: “My daughter’s in the audience. That’s what it was.”
X Factor's other Irish contestant, 17-year-old Niall Horan from Mullingar, also avoided elimination after his boy band One Direction sang Something About The Way You Look Tonight,earning the group praise for their focus and consistency.
"This is the first time in all the years of X Factorwhere I genuinely believe a group are going to win this competition," said Cowell.
Matt Cardle and Rebecca Ferguson, both favourites to make the final, were voted through to the next round after impressing the judges with assured performances of Goodbye Yellow Brick Roadand Candle In The Windrespectively.
Katie Waissel had to compete in the Sunday night sing-off for the fourth time last night. She was paired against Aidan Grimshaw after her rendition of Saturday Night's Alright For Fightingwas deemed a "forgetful performance" by Walsh.
With the judges deadlocked, presenter O’Leary revealed that Grimshaw had received the least number of viewers’ votes, eliminating him from the competition.