X Factor fever hits London!

Thousands of people poured into the capital yesterday, all hoping to be the UK's next singing sensation.



Excited hopefulls queing outside the 02

 It was the open auditions for this year's X Factor and the venue was the impressive 02 Arena. Some contestants qued for up to 12 hours for their chance to shine, most of which was outside in the cold.

This year marked a change to the filming process. In previous years most of the crowd shots were done inside the 02. However contestants along with their friends and family were made to wait outside for film crews to get all they needed.

Not even giant inflatable balls, dance music, chants and making the shape of 'X's made people forget how cold it was. Applicants were told to start queing by 8am and were finally let in at around 1.30pm.

It was a long day for contestants, although the presence of a croaky-voiced Dermot O'Leary seemed to raise everyones spirits. David Cotes, 21 said: "Everyone who watches the show loves Dermot! He's so funny and it was really cool to get to see him in the flesh. He really got the crowd going".

A large number of contestants were left disappointed after the announcement that judges Simon, Louis, Cheryl and Danni wouldn't be there. Through clever editing on the show, it does seem that your first audition will be judged by the famous four.

However there is several rounds of auditioning before reaching this stage. Contestants are instead judged by the show's producers and music industry experts. Several black partitions are erected on the stage of the 02 and behind these is where auditions take place. (See picture left)

Alicia Lewis, 18 said: "I'm a little gutted because I psyched myself up for seeing Cheryl today, but it's ok. It's the audition that matters I guess".

"The way we have to audition really scared me. Everyone was bunched together and you could hear everyone doing their thing around you. It was a bit intimidating".

"You go in and the producer asks you some questions about you and what you're going to sing. Then you sing your song and they say yes or no".

"You're also not allowed to ask why which I was a bit annoyed at. I got rejected and I would of liked some feedback."

If successful you are issued with a golden ticket and that invites you back to a call back date at the end of April. After watching the auditions for several hours, it was really noticeable how so many boys seemed to go through.

Many had the same mentality as Alicia, "Oh well, maybe next year".