[Billy]

X Factor hopeful Nikki Evans was criticised for a "disappointing" performance at the boot camp stage.

The 34-year-old contestant had auditioned for the show after finding an application form in the belongings of her deceased father, who had always wanted her to try out for the competition.

"Getting to this stage would have made my dad proud, and to not be able to tell him really gets to me," Nikki explained before entering the judges' room.

Nikki decided to sing Aretha Franklin's 'Natural Woman' for the judges, but Simon Cowell cut her off in the middle of the performance and claimed that the song was too big for her.

"I'm disappointed," Simon told the other judges. "I thought she was sensational the first time we saw her, absolutely sensational, she was one of the ones I was relying on."

The X Factor airs at 6.05pm and 8.30pm tonight on ITV1.

DS