Miss Universe Winners: Battle of the X Factor divas: One's a 50-year-old who works at Tesco. Her rival's a size 6 teenager. So who's got that bit extra?

By SIMON CABLE

Something to prove: 50-year-old Mary Byrne overcame self-confidence issues to win the audience over in spectacular style on Saturday's show. Meanwhile, Cher Lloyd managed to find her voice and earned unanimous praise from the judges

Surrounded by younger, more glamorous contestants, 50-year-old Mary Byrne stood out for all the wrong reasons.

But on Saturday, the Tesco worker got the audience’s attention for exactly the right one.

Performing live for the first time on The X Factor, Miss Byrne gave a note-perfect rendition of James Brown hit, It’s A Man’s Man’s Man’s World – and was given a reception that even favourite 17-year-old Cher Lloyd could not match.

Last night, watched by millions, the pair were emerging as the frontrunners to win the competition, which has weeks more left to run.

Meanwhile, boyband FYD and Italian singer Nicolo Festa became the first acts to be eliminated.

Up until now, Miss Lloyd has dominated the headlines. The judges on the ITV talent show appeared to like the petite singer so much, that she was put through to the last 12 even though illness meant she could not sing a note at the final audition – and broke down in tears.

But at the first live performance, Miss Byrne, a single mother, cast aside severe self-doubt over her weight and battled through a debilitating cold to cement her position among X Factor’s forerunners.

Booted out: Nicolo Festa, a 22-year-old Italian student, received the lowest number of public votes and was automatically axed during Sunday's show

Dream is over: The five members of F.Y.D were the other big losers of the night as judge Louis Walsh sealed their fate

Judge Dannii Minogue told her: ‘You have brought the house down here, Mary. I can only say that is one of the best vocal performances on the show. It would be an absolute crime if you went back to your day job.’

It seems her bosses at the supermarket agree. Staff nationwide have been encouraged to vote for the checkout worker, who has been given time off to focus on the ITV talent show.

And the chain is believed to be lining up a £175,000 deal for the single mother to promote the supermarket.

Meanwhile, Miss Lloyd also had something to prove on Saturday. The teenager had been heavily criticised after she was put through to the finals, while Gamu Nhengu was sent home.

But on Saturday, Miss Lloyd gave a performance which helped silence her critics. Afterwards, Simon Cowell told her: ‘Any doubts anyone had about why this one [Miss Cole] picked you a couple of weeks ago have just been blown away.

‘You are exactly what we are looking for, which is a new little star.’
There have been fears that Miss Lloyd is not strong enough to cope with the demands of the contest. Already, she has been assigned a 24-hour counsellor by the show’s producers and she has had to deny claims of an eating disorder.

At the weekend, the teenager, from Malvern, Worcestershire, said: ‘There is a lot going on in my life. I am very young and I can’t believe all the things I have already been through.

Safe for now: Katie Waissel was in the bottom three but her performance of Don't Let Me Down by the Beatles was enough to impress the judges who voted to keep her in the competition for another week...

Phew! Favourite Cher Lloyd looks relieved as she hears that she's made it through to next week's show. The 17-year-old won praise from Simon Cowell on Saturday's show

Standing ovation: The judges get to their feet after pop star Usher performs a medley of tracks on Sunday's results show

‘But now I am so much wiser. I so know what I am doing and I am doing it well. I am not a little girl any more. I am like a 30-year-old up in my brain.’

She appeared on the stage with six backing dancers before launching into her version of Dub Be Good To Me, a hit song for Beats International in 1990.And she told the Sunday Mirror: ‘I am here for one thing only and that is to win.’

It is the kind of determination that Miss Byrne will understand. She has already had a shot at chart fame after winning Irish talent show Nollaig No 1 two years ago. But although she released a single under the name Mary Lee, it sold just 19 copies in the first week.

And she had to go back to working for Tesco in Ballyfermot, a run-down Dublin suburb. ‘I left school at 13 to help bring in money at home,’ she said. ‘I spent years in factory after factory before getting a checkout job at Tesco 11 years ago.

‘When I saw Susan Boyle on Britain’s Got Talent I decided to give it a go.’
But she has so far rejected comparisons with 49-year-old Miss Boyle, who had to check into rehab following an emotional breakdown blamed on her rise to fame last year.

She said: ‘Susan was a shy woman. But I’m embracing the limelight. I want to spend a lot of time in the spotlight.’

Last year's winner: Joe McElderry performed his new single Ambitions sporting a new edgy look

Battle of the frocks: Of course, the X Factor is as much about what Cheryl and Danni wear as it is about the contestants...

At her audition in June, Miss Byrne left Cheryl Cole close to tears after singing a Shirley Bassey hit, I Who Have Nothing. Cowell is said to have offered her a makeover, and Miss Byrne has insisted she wants to shed weight to help her fulfil her dream.

Louis Walsh, her mentor, said on Saturday: ‘The Tesco lady from Dublin has become a diva! You’ve got the X Factor.’

The pair weren’t the only acts to impress the judges. After 18-year-old Aiden
Grimshaw’s performance of the Tears For Fears song Mad World, Walsh said: ‘We have found something special in this guy, one of the best performances of the night.’

And Miss Minogue told the Blackpool teenager: ‘Aiden, that performance had legs and such substance, but there’s also this incredible vulnerability. Blackpool – turn the lights on, Aiden is here!’

Festa, a 22-year-old Italian student, was automatically axed from the competition after receiving the lowest number of public votes for his cover of Lady Gaga’s Just Dance.

FYD, a group of 20-somethings, were forced into a sing-off with Katie Waissel, 24, after receiving the next lowest totals.

In a bid to stay, Miss Waissel sang a version of Beatles song Don’t Let Me Down. FYD sang Rihanna hit Don’t Stop The Music. Only Cowell chose to keep the group.

Miss Minogue and Miss Cole both voted to keep Miss Waissel, leaving Walsh to decide to send the group home or take the decision to a public vote. He chose to keep Miss Waissel.

Gamu: The X Factor has ruined me
Gamu Nhengu has broken her silence over her X Factor ordeal, claiming: ‘The show has ruined my life.’

Firing squad: X Factor reject Gamu has spoken of her fear of returning to her native Zimbabwe. The 18-year-old claims that her new found fame has put her life at risk

The 18-year-old, pictured, who fled Zimbabwe in 2002, failed to make the final 12, despite a flawless performance in front of Cheryl Cole.

Now she and her family are to be sent back to her home country after officials found that her mother had wrongly claimed £16,000 in state benefits.

Lawyers are battling to allow them to stay in Scotland – and Miss Nhengu, pictured, warned of the danger they could face if sent home. She said: ‘People there know I’ve fled Mugabe’s regime. There’s a firing squad waiting for us there and they’re putting me in front of it.’

She told a Sunday newspaper: ‘If I hadn’t been on X Factor everything would have been fine.’

More than 250,000 Facebook users offered their support to a bid to persuade X Factor bosses to bring Miss Nhengu back as a wildcard entry, but show officials rejected the idea.