MARY BYRNE has been voted into the final 10 contestants of ITV's X Factorafter bouncing back from criticism that her performances were becoming one-dimensional.
On Saturday's Halloween-themed show, the checkout worker from Ballyfermot received unanimous praise for her rendition of Could It Be Magic,the Barry Manilow song that was also a hit for Take Thatin 1992.
Last week, Byrne’s decision to perform a song she had already sung in her audition was criticised for lacking imagination.
Louis Walsh, Byrne’s mentor on the show, was then urged by the other judges to select a song that would reveal a different side to the 50 year old. Though Byrne said the comments were fair, she later added that they had given her a point to prove.
X Factorjudge Dannii Minogue said Byrne's Saturday's performance was much improved. "Mary, that was incredible," she said. "I really hope you are taking all of this in because it's well deserved. You are a class act; you're turning into the diva we love."
Boyband One Direction, featuring 17-year-old Niall Horan from Mullingar, also went through to the next round.
However, Tallaght’s Rebecca Creighton and her all-girl group Belle Amie had to sing for survival when they were paired against Katie Waissel in last night’s sing-off.
They were later eliminated after the judges reached a deadlock and it was revealed that Belle Amie had received the least number of viewers’ votes.