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No Hope for X Factor

03/12/2007

Girl band Hope have missed out on a semi-final spot in this year's series of the X Factor after being voted off on Saturday night.

The five-piece had narrowly scraped through last week after finding themselves in the bottom two with primary school teacher Beverley Trotman, but were unable to hold on for another week.

The band were thrown together during the audition stages of the ITV1 talent show, after all failing to impress the judges as solo entrants.

But despite their ejection from the programme, the Hope girls - Raquelle Gracie, 20, Phoebe Brown, 16, Charlie Mole, 23, Emily Biggs, 17, and Leah Lauder, 20 - are still hopeful of landing a recording contract.

"We are just five normal girls who took a chance to go into this competition and we've come out as a strong-bonded girl group and we are not letting go of that," said Gracie.

Hope had nearly lost their spot in the competition after a disappointing rendition of Christina Aguilera's Hurt in last week's show but mentor Simon Cowell's song choice could not be faulted on Saturday.

With a 'Best of British' theme, the girl band sang Queen's We Will Rock You and 2 Become 1 by the Spice Girls.

But allowing Gracie to take lead vocals - after judge Louis Walsh had suggested Brown was the dominant force in the group - proved to backfire for Cowell, whose brother and sister duo Same Difference are now his only remaining act in the competition.

"They've just been great fun. It's not going to be the same without you girls," he said after Hope's eviction, but criticised tabloid reports that the five-piece had clashed over Brown's role in the group.

"Contrary to what everybody said you've been an absolute pleasure to work with. I don't think this is the end of you," he said.

Welsh tenor Rhydian Roberts remains the firm favourite for this year's series.