Misha B breaks down on X Factor

It was a real tear-splattered return to the stage for Misha B this week on 'The X Factor', with the Mancunian breaking down after an emotional rendition of Whitney Houston's 'I Have Nothing'. It came after a turbulent week which saw her absent birth mother send an open letter to the press declaring her wish for the pair to be reunited.

Before the performance we saw a real violin-playing moment with a backstage heart-to-heart between Misha and her mentor Kelly Rowland, which saw both ladies revealing their parental heartaches in a cry-filled chat. The former Destiny's Child star opened up about her own pain about her estranged father, saying:

"When it comes to parents, I understand. It is the same situation I'm in. It was definitely hard but it's important we forgive people and move on. When I saw my father for the first time in 22 years, I was very shocked. But it will be fine...”

[See also: Little Mix impress Twilight's Taylor Lautner]

While it was undoubtedly a tender exchange, you couldn't help but get the impression that ITV producers were angling for the ol' sob story public pity vote for the rather unpopular Misha. She's arguably the most commercially viable of the remaining acts, but is yet to strike a real chord with the public (those bullying rumours probably didn't help).

On to the rest of the evening and it was Movie Themes night, though you'd have done well to spot it. Craig belted out 'Licence to Kill' pretty well considering he was tackling what is easily one of the worst Bond theme tunes ever. The non-Barlow judges (correctly) criticised the song choice, but predictably the Barlow judge (that's Gary Barlow) criticised their criticisms of the song choice. And he really should be criticised for that...

Janet Devlin sang Sixpence None The Richer's 'Kiss Me', a song that was apparently used in 'How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days' (yeah, we all remember that classic movie scene, don't we...?!). Anyway, Janet looked much more relaxed this week after a few shaky outings recently and crucially remembered all the words this time!

The newly-returned 'Boro girl Amelia Lily sang 'Think', which was, according to Kelly, in one of the Bridget Jones films. She's good, is Amelia: she's confident, she has stage presence and an impressively strong voice. It's just a bit of pity it's not more distinctive. Still, bookies have her down as the new favourite (she’s also the current favourite for the Christmas number one). Tulisa dissed the song choice because she'd never heard of it. It may not be the most famous song in the world, Tulisa but c'mon – you could do with buffing up on your music knowledge a wee bit!

[More X Factor: Read our verdict on the Movies Themes week performances on omg!]

Misha B's performance earned praise from the judges. N-Dubber Tulisa said:

“You blew me away you really did. That was a beautiful performance, it really was amazing. “

Little Mix 'nailed', to use X Factor speak, En Vogue's 'Don't Let Go', a song from that oh-so famous blockbuster ‘Set It Off’. Head judge Gary said of it:

“That was your best performance to date. Brilliant! But I have one request and next week we will have two songs next week and I want to see something more stripped back.”

'Stripped back'? Dirty boy.

Marcus Collins continued his Little Richard/Bruno Mars style with another old track, this time a cover of Jackie Wilson's 'Higher & Higher' from the Statue of Liberty scene from Ghostbusters 2. He was as good as ever in a bright pink jacket that was so loud, you could barely hear him sing over the top of it. Louis heard him though and loved it, screaming:

“I love your energy! You're the little man from Liverpool with the big soulful voice. I have nothing but good things to say about you.”

[Download: Get this week's performances on iTunes]

A fantastic showcase of some unforgettable cinema there, we think you'll agree...

How'd you rate last night? Do you think we're missing the excitement of the rogue elements of Kitty and Frankie? And what are your thoughts on the Misha and Kelly sob scene? Let us know.

Find out about some hilarious X Factor betting odds in our video: