Yes, itâs all well and good when you get an âX Factorâ hopeful blows the judges away with their rendition of âYou Raise Me Upâ or âSomeone Like Youâ... but sometimes itâs nice to have a bit of a giggle with a contestant too, right?
Fortunately, there was giggling aplenty in Saturdayâs (17 September) show, thanks in no small part to aspiring singer/songwriter, Cori Burns.
Cori made an immediate impression on the judges as she burst into the audition room on her mobilised scooter, playfully nicknamed her cockatooter because - why else? - sheâs âgot cockatoos and parrots at homeâ.
Simon Cowell immediately recognised Cori, who owned up to having dropped off several of her own compositions at his record label, before the music mogul mentions that Louis Walsh shares her love of a cockatoo, much to Sharon Osbourneâs amusement (though, personally, we donât understand the joke).
Itâs not one of her own songs that she performed for the judges, though, instead itâs the Bryan Adams classic âRun To Youâ she puts her own⊠unique spin on.
Sadly, while weâd have loved to see Cori and her cockatooter through to the live shows, it was not to be, with only Nicole Scherzinger giving her a âyesâ, telling her: âI love you. Iâm gonna have a yes for the cockatoos.â
Weâre pleased to note, though, that the rejection didnât affect Cori, who zoomed off insisting that sheâd enjoyed herself regardless.
As hard as it is to believe, Cori and her cockatooter werenât even the most surreal 10 minutes of this yearâs âX Factorâ series so far.
No, that honour goes to Beck Martin, whose performance of âFriday Nightâ brought out a dry ice fail, a filet-o-fish revelation and a whole lot of bopping.
âThe X Factorâ continues on Sunday (18 September) at 8pm on ITV.