Rachel Adedeji Survives Tense X Factor Sing-Off

Rachel Adedeji has made it through to the next round of the X Factor competition, after a tense sing-off with Kandy Rain. The two acts were required to sing again on Sunday night after achieving the least number of public votes.

Rachel chose to sing Pink's "Nobody Knows". It was a very emotional and heartfelt performance.

By any account, Rachel's performance should have seen her safely through. However, Simon Cowell want to give Kandy Rain another chance as he didn't feel they'd ben given a fair crack of the whip, so it went to deadlock.

As it turned out, the public preferred Rachel to Kandy Rain, so she went through.

Congratulations Rachel, we look forward to seeing you again next week!

Rachel Adedeji - X Factor Live Show 1

Rachel Adedeji was the first of the final twelve contestants to sing live on the X Factor this weekend.

Rachel, who lives with her mum and two sisters in London, has gone through quite a transformation since she first appeared on the X Factor auditions and in last night's live show, the transformation from musical theatre student to full-on pop diva was well on the way to being complete.

The theme for the first X Factor live show last night was “Heroes”, where all twelve contestants had to sing a song by, yes you guessed it, one of their musical heroes. Rachel chose Robbie Williams and "Let Me Entertain You".

Rachel Adedeji had a very difficult job. Opening the X Factor live shows is one heck of a tall order. Having to perform in front of not just a live audience of thousands but also knowing that millions of people at home are watching you is hard enough in itself, but performing a stage routine that involves both singing and dancing makes it even harder.

But Rachel pulled it off and did it with flair. Singing “Let me Entertain You”, she managed to come across as confident and in control.

All four X Factor judges gave very positive feedback on Rachel's performance. Simon Cowell said that his original thoughts when Danii put Rachel through to the finals were “why did you put through Miss Nobody?” But that was because he knew nothing about her, he hadn't seen much of Rachel and didn't really know what she was capable of. But that was a very good performance he said (although he didn't like Rachel's makeup he said, calling it “repulsive”! Ah well, you can't please everyone).

So on the strength of her first live performance, it looks like Rachel Adedeji will sail through to the next round of the X Factor, although we won't know for certain until the results show tonight.

Can Rachel Adedeji Win the X Factor?

Can Rachel Adedeji win the X Factor? Her friend, last year's winner Alexandra Burke will certainly be supporting her all the way.

Rachel Adedeji is a 17 year-old musical theatre student from London. This is not her first outing on the X Factor. She entered the 2008 competition and got as far as boot camp but no further. But this year she has reached the final 12 and now hopes to go all the way.

At her audition, she sang the Alicia Keys hit "If I Ain't Got You" and received unanimous Yes votes from the judges. She chose something a little different at boot camp, singing Paulo Nutini's "Last Request", which was a great choice of song for her emotive, smokey voice.

No stranger to the stage, Rachel has performed at stage school since she was just two years old. She styles her visual appearance on Rihanna and Grace Jones, two artists she admires.

Rachel has admitted to being a fan of fellow finalists John and Edward and thinks Edward is "cute".

So can Rachel Adedeji win the X Factor? She certainly has the vocal talent to do so and could be this year's surprise candidate. I predict that like Alexandra last year, she will get stronger with each passing week.