Paije Richardson makes 'X Factor' exit

[dutchman]

Paije Richardson has become the ninth act to be voted out of The X Factor.



The former cinema employee pulled out a crowd-pleasing rendition of Sam Brown's 'Stop' after finding himself in the bottom two against Cher Lloyd, who reprised her emotional "performance of the season" from two weeks ago, 'Stay' by Shakespears Sister.

When Dermot O'Leary turned to the judges, all four agreed that neither act deserved to be in the sing-off based on last night's performances.

First Simon Cowell decided that he was "gonna go with the person who I've continually supported" and voted to save Lloyd.

Cheryl Cole quickly echoed Cowell's decision, backing her own act at the expense of Richardson, before Minogue followed suit and voted out Lloyd in order to save her singer, all the while bemoaning the "outrageous" viewer vote.

Once again the deciding vote fell to Walsh, who argued that the decision was "so, so difficult" as he had "always believed in Paije from day one", but felt that Lloyd had given an "incredible" sing-off performance.

Ultimately, Walsh opted to send home Richardson, giving him the majority needed to eliminate him from the competition.

After the result, Richardson stated: "Obviously I didn't have the support of the public and I'm grateful for them keeping me this long. Thank you."

Richardson's elimination makes Dannii Minogue the second judge - after Simon Cowell - to be left with just one act remaining in the show.

The X Factor continues next Saturday at 7.45pm on ITV1.