[Dan_]

TEEN soul sensation Nicholas Dorsett is now the shock favourite to win TV's X Factor.

The Sunday Mirror has obtained the top-secret results of the public votes throughout the hit series...and they reveal that the dreadlocked 18-year-old was the most popular contestant in last week's show.

An insider said last night: "Nicholas has shown himself to be the real dark horse of the competition. At the beginning nobody really gave him a chance - now the public have warmed to him big time."

X Factor bosses only reveal which two acts got the lowest amount of votes - and don't say who topped the poll or which of the two unpopular acts came bottom.

But we have found out that Maria Lawson, controversially axed by the judges last week, polled TWICE as many public votes as the Conway Sisters - who they kept in. The insider said: "The voting details you have obtained are dynamite. This blows the premise of the show wide open. Keeping the Conway Sisters shows just how out of step with public opinion the judges have become. The bookmakers will be reassessing all their odds immediately."

We also discovered that Journey South - brothers Carl and Andy Pemberton - last week came second in the public vote with their version of Bon Jovi's Livin' On A Prayer. In third place was Brenda Edwards with Dionne Warwick's Heartbreaker. Singing dustman Andy Abraham was fourth - with bookmakers favourite Shayne Ward in fifth place ahead of ex-stripper Chico.

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Voting patterns through the series show how quickly acts fall in and out of favour - Nicholas was placed last only the week before.

His performances have led to furious rows between his mentor Louis Walsh and fellow judge Simon Cowell. Record executive Cowell has accused Walsh of picking the wrong tunes, telling the teenager: "Don't let Louis choose your songs. You know more than he does."

But Nicholas has stood by Westlife manager Walsh, insisting: "Louis Walsh has taught me to be myself and show emotion and enthusiasm."

And he was rewarded last week when his rendition of R. Kelly's I Believe I Can Fly made him the most popular act with viewers.

In contrast, Shayne has been favourite with bookmakers over recent weeks - with Ladbrokes yesterday making him 6/4 to win.

His nearest challenger has been Andy at 3/1. Up to now Nicholas has been a 20/1 outsider. The source said: "Up to now, only Andy and Shayne have been really fancied by the bookmakers. But Nicholas and Journey South seem to be the rising stars." The decision over which of the two lowest-supported acts is axed is left each week to judges Cowell, Walsh and Sharon Osbourne.

Last week, that led to Walsh choosing to save the Conway Sisters - who supported his band Westlife on a recent tour and sang at the wedding of Westlife star Shane Filan.

Louis' decision led to boos from the studio audience. Maria's mentor Sharon labelled the decision "a travesty" and Maria said the decision "smelled".

TV executives are now to launch an inquiry over how we got the secret voting information. A source said: "This is a nightmare for The X Factor. They have been desperately fighting a rearguard action over Louis' decision - and this shows how out of tune it was with the public."

http://www.sundaymirror.co.uk/news/t...name_page.html

[CharlotteSometimes]

LOL! There's a classic example of the risks of writing a story before the event has actually happened. The article that appeared in the print edition was quite different, of course.