Xfactor Madness:US Edition

The fantastic Chris Rene. I think LA Reid wants to sign him!

The charismatic and cheeky soul man Marcus Canty. Lovely musicality!

Single mother Stacey Francis, incredible voice. She's 42 and looks superb!

The US version of Xfactor kicked off last night and it was definitely an interesting watch. In general, I think American acts tend to be way more talented than UK ones. I mean it's a different league, no doubt. As a London chick I can say that without reservation. However, where I think the UK version is stronger is that you get quirkier, more interesting artists overall and the chemistry between the UK judges is better than the US panel. On yesterday's show single mother Stacey Francis gave a stunning performance, what a voice! Her story really touched me, I'm so glad she had the courage to pursue her dream after years of abuse from a horrible partner. That's what abusive men or women do, they put you down as a form of control so you don't leave them because deep down they feel like shit about their lives and want to use their partners as physical and emotional punching bags. Thank God she left. It takes guts to walk away from someone whose treating you horrifically and tell them to f*** off. It's a great feeling.

The mesmeric Marcus Canty was the dude with the moves and voice singing I wish. It was a brilliant audition and I loved his energy and vibe. LA Reid hit the nail on the head when he compared him to Bobby Brown. Bobby Brown was fantastic in his prime and Marcus has those same qualities. But my favourite audition of the night had to be Chris Renee. Wow wow wow, I love this guy. A reformed drug addict, Chris lit the stage up with his own song which he wrote and composed the music for. Honestly, Simon Cowell can be such a dick, his arrogance and colossal ego is just nauseating at times. His smug face when Chris said he was singing his own song Young Homie, he was positively sneering. You could see he thought, this is going to be excruciating and then Chris blew everybody away with his beautiful voice and talent. I would buy that single, that's a hit. I love Chris's personality, his vulnerability, the relationship with his brother and the way he bared his heart on that stage. You could see LA Reid really connected with him. I actually don't want him to win, or for Simon to get his clutches into him, he'd turn him into something bland and predictable, take the cool out of him. Hopefully the buzz about him will give himthe platform to get a record deal with the right label.