After a God awful sing-off that left the public feeling less than ecstatic about the X Factor ‘talent’ pool, Simon Cowell and co needed to pull something special out of the bag for Halloween.

So, they opted to throw in a “shock” Saturday night elimination, paint Andrea Faustini gold, and get The Script on board for a bit of a sing song.

Trick or treat?

Well, it was a bit of a mixed bag (Dermot’s words, and mine) being honest. Someone clearly gave the judges more than their daily dose of sugar before they swanned through the sliding doors because they were doling out praise for performances they’d have slaughtered just seven days earlier.

Speaking of judges, has Louis Tomlinson been promoted without our knowledge? One Direction’s answer to Kian Egan is being rolled out on a regular basis this season.

Anyway, back on the tellybox things were all a bit bland until Simon and Stevi headed out for a spot of lunch. In a rare turn of events, X Factor’s ‘novelty’ numpty pulled off the savviest performance of the series.

You’ve got to love a dark horse who can put the frighteners on the pack with a bit of musical theatre.

And then came the moment they’d all been dreading: A ‘shock’ elimination they knew about days in advance.

Mel B’s Northern Star well and truly fell from the sky again this week. Jack took on Leona Lewis and was bleeding anything but love, so it was no surprise that he got the boot in fairness.

It’s not over until it’s over though. There’s one more for the boot tomorrow night and with and abundance of relatively middle of the road performances being offered up there’s no telling who’ll be feeling anything but sweet this Sunday.

Who nailed it?

He may have been painted a garish shade of gold but Andrea put both Gary Barlow and Lulu firmly in their place when he delivered a superb version of Relight My Fire.

He sang about the Music of The Night and gave the performance of the night. It’s the one and only Stevi Ritchie.

Who sailed it?

Not to be confused with Danny O’Donoghue, former white van man Ban Haenow took on ACDC’s Highway To Hell and got a standing ovation from the judges for his efforts. He definitely has some set of pipes but it was all a bit too clinical.

Fleur East proved she’s got the moves and gave the audience a bit of a Thriller but the fancy feet were compensating for a multitude of vocal sins.

Resident spunky Steve Brookstein in the making Jay James did Mad World and decided to break it down. He broke the audience online in the process (proving he’s no Aiden Grimshaw) but sure look, it could have been worse.

Consistent performer Paul Akister gave Meatloaf a go, albeit begrudgingly. He gave it a fair stab but it was easy enough to zone out, being honest.

Props to the producer who chose Stereo Kicks’ song: Backstreet’s Back gave the octoband a much needed boost.

Who failed it?

Poor old Lola can’t seem to catch a break. The girl with the glorious guth (that’s Irish for voice, in case you’re wondering) couldn’t hit the right notes with Gnarls Barkley’s Crazy at all at all.

Last week she Let It Go and this week she did it all over again: Lauren Platt‘s take on Katy Perry’s Dark Horse was supposed to be magical but fell rather flat.

And finally, sing-off strugglers Only The Young tried to smash the Monster Mash with Crocodile Rock and ended up with a graveyard car crash.