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Shock for ill Kelly Rowland as Misha B and Sophie end up in X Factor bottom two

A bad week for 'X Factor' judge Kelly Rowland was made a whole lot worse after the Destiny’s Child star found herself with two acts singing for survival.

After a very public spat with Groups mentor Tulisa, Kelly was replaced for this week’s live shows by former 'X Factor' winner Alexandra Burke after catching what was described in the press as a serious throat infection. Gary had described it as a “difficult week for Kelly’s girls” which turned out to be understatement of the night as both Sophie Habibis and to everyone’s shock, Misha B, found themselves singing for ‘X Factor’ survival.

The die had been cast for Kelly’s girls earlier in the evening when the former Take That frontman had told miniscule microphone jockey Dermot O’Leary:  “You know what, I think Kelly’s girls have had a tough week this week and it showed out there on that stage.” He was proved right after the results of the public vote revealed that both Sophie and Misha B had proved the least popular pair on this week’s show.

[See also: Croaky Kelly's tough decision on omg!]


Sophie’s place in the bottom two was perhaps no surprise after her performance of Cher’s 'Bang Bang' had left the judges flat. Louis described her as a “secretary who sometimes sang at weekends” whilst even Alexandra Burke, who was meant to be fighting her corner in place of regular mentor Kelly, said that her performance had “some slight tuning problems.”

The big shock however came when it was revealed that Misha B would be the other contestant singing to stay in the show this week. Misha’s performance of Soft Cell classic 'Tainted Love' complete with unicorn-inspired hair, was one of the more terrifying performances on Saturday’s Halloween-themed spooktacular. But it certainly wasn’t the worst. However the young star, who’d been widely tipped as one of this year’s top contenders, has obviously fallen down the public pecking order in the wake of the Bully-gate scandal that’s engulfed the competition for the past week.

Anyone expecting an upset was ultimately disappointed though, as after a sparkling sing-off the judges voted to call time on former barmaid Sophie’s involvement in this year’s competition.

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


The signs didn’t look good for Sophie from the outset after both Louis and Tulisa, who described the bottom two as “the biggest shock of the competition so far”, had voted to save Misha B. However the deciding vote was cast by a husky-voiced Kelly Rowland who joined the show live on the line from her L.A sickbed to seal Sophie’s fate. She said:

“This is so hard for me as I know how much both of you want this. But I can see how bad one of you wants it more than the other and I have to be completely honest - the act I’m sending home is Sophie.”

And so after Gary had dug the boot in a little bit more by saying he too would have saved Misha, the 19-year-old Londoner became the seventh act to leave this year’s competition.

In the end it wasn’t a huge surprise to say goodbye to the softly spoken singer who Kelly had once said she’d like to have perform at her wedding; and Sophie handled her exit with good grace saying: “Thank you for this amazing experience, I’m never going to forget it and I’m just going to keep working hard and prove I should have stayed in this competition.”

So was she right? Should Sophie have stayed in the competition or should mad-mopped Misha B have gone in her place? Let us know in the comments below - and whilst you’re there feel free to stick the boot into pseudo-rocker Frankie Cocozza, who even whilst auto-tuned in tonight’s group performance proved that he doesn’t have the pipes for a pop career.