‘The X Factor’ UK: Did Christopher Maloney or Rylan Clark go home?

As we’ve said for the past few weeks, we never expected either Rylan Clark or Christopher Maloney to make it all the way to the top five on “The X Factor” UK. As a matter of fact, we’ve never really felt like either act had much of a chance to make the top ten. They’re guilty pleasures to put it best, and neither has the sort of potential to be a worldwide pop star (though Rylan could probably do well as a dance artists).

After seeing Ella Henderson leave last week, we quickly learned that nothing in this competition is a given; and this time around, we had our first “stunner” when Christopher somehow avoided being in the bottom two again. It’s crazy to think at this point that both he and Jahmene Douglas are the only two artists to be safe every week.

At least when it comes to voting history on the show, the bottom two this week was at least a little bit predictable.

Rylan Clark – The funniest part about Rylan’s save-me performance was Nicole Scherzinger more or less admitting defeat as she introduced him as someone who has done an amazing job getting as far as he has. Rylan actually treated this performance like a victory tour as he walked around the stage and hugged Gary Barlow. The funny thing is that four about the first two-thirds of the performance here, this is the best Rylan has sang all season, and we actually connected to him on an emotional level.

Union J – This was a really sweet moment, and it showed just how much of a class act Rylan is. He was genuinely cheering on the boy band from the sidelines, just as Louis Walsh was singing along. It was clear that they were the winners here vocally, and they honestly didn’t even deserve to be in the bottom after their best week on the show all season.

We admit that we have ripped Rylan time and time again here, but there is a part of us that will miss him. Was he a good singer for most of the competition? No, but he was a really nice guy who tried very hard to stay positive and entertain every week.

Are you glad that Rylan’s time on the show is finally done, or are you going to miss his oft-positive spirit on the show?