‘The X Factor’ UK preview: Will Christopher Maloney survive again?

In just a matter of hours, we are going to be seeing the final three contestants announced on this season on “The X Factor” UK; and while the ratings for this season have not entirely been spectacular, the intrigue going into this results show truly is. You have one man who is virtually a lock in Jahmene Douglas, a group of underdogs (Union J), and a man in Christopher Maloney whose mere name strikes fear into the hearts of fans of everyone else.

So will Christopher somehow find a way to stick around yet again? As unsettling as it may sound, there’s no evidence that suggests he could be in danger. He’s never been in the bottom two, and while his take of Michael Buble’s “I Just Haven’t Met You Yet” was pretty awful, fans may instead just concentrate on his strong cover of “You Raise Me Up.”

So if Christopher doesn’t go home (though he should), who will? At the moment, the consensus pick has to be Union J. They were strong vocally for the whole show, but their cover of Lonestar’s “I’m Already There” was a little vanilla and not even remotely exciting. Plus, they have been in the bottom three a trio of time before.

In closing, we turn to the only other man who has seen the bottom two before on the show: James Arthur, who we imagine will be safe this week thanks to a pair of reasons. First things first, he had the opportunity to close out the show (which is always nice); in addition to that, his performance of “The Power of Love” was, as Gary Barlow said, the performance of the whole series. If he does not make it through, there is something seriously wrong with this show.

Who do you think will be sent home? We want to hear your thoughts below, and you can also read up on some of the other performances from Saturday’s show here.

Photo: ITV