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Dannii song cheers up homesick Andy
Saturday, October 13 2007, 08:55 BST

By Beth Hilton


Homesick Andy cheered up when X Factor mentor Dannii sang 'Happy Birthday' to him on bended knee.

The Welsh hopeful was missing his family, friends and especially his girlfriend after celebrating his 23rd birthday with the 11 other remaining contestants in the show house.

After receiving a birthday card addressed to "Pooh Bear", the nickname his girlfriend gave him, he began to feel better when Dannii appeared with an X Factor cake.

She crouched on one knee to sing 'Happy Birthday', saying: “I was going to jump out of the cake but didn’t have time.”

When Andy took her on a tour of the house, she described the boys' room as “very, very untidy", adding: "This place is gonna be a wreck in a week’s time!”

The Xtra Factor airs at 7.45pm on Saturday on ITV2. The X Factor returns to ITV1 next Saturday.

Dannii wants boys to impress on her birthday
Saturday, October 13 2007, 09:38 BST

By Beth Hilton


Dannii Minogue has told the boys that next week's live show falls on her 36th birthday - and the best present she could receive is watching them get their songs right.

Dannii is seen giving a pep talk to her 14-24 Boys' category - christened ‘Team Minogue’ - on a visit to the contestants' mansion in tonight's Xtra Factor.

She said: “There was a lot of fighting talk from Mrs O, Louis and Simon saying they’re going to win last week. I wasn’t happy about that.”

Opera singer Rhydian agreed: “They’re just deluded, though, aren’t they? Let's be honest, we’ve got the best group.”

Dannii added that she had received a lot of phone calls saying she is the judge to beat, telling them: “I’ve been screaming at the TV saying bring it on, we’ll fight you!"

Speaking about next week's live show, she added: “I’m so proud of you and happy and excited and I hope you guys are too.”

The Xtra Factor airs tonight at 7.45pm on ITV2. The X Factor returns to ITV1 next Saturday.