Final a bridge too far for ‘X Factor’ Mary

The finalists of this year’s ‘X Factor’ competition were decided tonight as supermarket worker Mary Byrne bowed out of the contest.

Singers Matt Cardle, Rebecca Ferguson, Cher Lloyd and boy group ‘One Direction’ will battle it out in next week’s final.

Byrne found herself in the bottom two along with early favourite Lloyd after their performances on Saturday night’s show failed to impress the viewers.

The Dubliner gave a powerful performance of ‘It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World’ in a bid to save herself in the sing off, but the judges opted to keep Lloyd in the competition for the final week.

The teen sang an emotional rendition of Britney Spears’ ‘Every Time’.

Simon Cowell, Cheryl Cole and Dannii Minogue all voted to save Lloyd – meaning a trip home to the Emerald Isle for Byrne.

Walsh was the only act who opted to send his act through to next week’s show. The Irish judge now has no acts to take into the final as Byrne was the last contestant in his over 28’s category.

After the sing off, he said: “Mary was incredible, she was emotional.”

Cole added: “This is really difficult because Mary you have always touched me with your vocal and you know that.You are two completely different acts that we would not compare in the real world. But Cher is my girl and I backed her from the start and I will until the end.”

Cowell said that he had supported Byrne from the start of the competition and she was a “great contestant”.

Byrne missed her sound-check for yesterday’s performance due to ill health.

Last night after she sang ‘Never Can Say Goodbye’ by Gloria Gaynor as her first song, part of the ITV1 show’s club classics theme, Cowell said that she should have chosen a more “contemporary” song.

But Walsh hit back by saying: “She’s literally got out of her bed to perform. She’s had no rehearsal.”

She could not finish her second song ‘The Way We Were’ by Barbra Streisand as she broke down in tears, later explaining it was her late mother’s favourite song.

Byrne wowed the judges with her powerful voice from the very start of the competition.

Her employer, Tesco, started a campaign for all staff to support her and have marked the till in the shop in the Irish capital where she worked.

She was in the bottom three last week when Wagner Carrilho and Katie Waissel booted from the show.

Speaking about the highlight of her ‘X Factor’ journey, she told host Dermot O’Leary: “It was meeting the soldiers. Doing that CD for the guys in Afghanistan.”

Byrne, together with all the contestants that made it through to the live shows of the contest, is currently topping the UK singles chart with the charity track ‘Heroes’ – a David Bowie cover – in aid of the Help For Heroes.

It seems as though Byrne’s dreams of pop stardom are not over as Walsh hinted the mother-of-one would record an album.