It’s not often a contestant gets a second chance on The X Factor but Alisah Bonaobra got just that after a dramatic on-stage breakdown during the first day of bootcamp.
The singer, who had flown from the Philippines to take part in the singing competition, was performing the Mariah Carey track We Belong Together with a group of other hopefuls when the judges decided she should be sent home.
But Bonaobra wasn’t ready to give up on her dream so soon and began to break down into tears, begging the judges - specifically Simon Cowell - for a second chance, as she sobbed on-stage.
Judge Nicole Scherzinger, who had been moved by the contestant’s performance in the audition stage, followed the 22-year-old backstage to console her.
The former Pussycat Doll then persuaded the other judges to allow Bonaobra to sing the song again.
The panel was sufficiently impressed with her second performance to send her through to the next stage.
“Based on what you’ve just done there from what I can hear, we’re going to give you a pass on this one,” Cowell told her.
She even received a few words of encouragement for bootcamp day two from host Dermot O’Leary.
“You’ve got a good voice. Go out there tomorrow and do your thing. No more tears!” he said.
And the singer certainly took his advice to heart as the next day she gave a powerful performance of defying gravity that blew the judges away and sent her sailing through to the Six Chair Challenge.
“What happened to you in 24 hours? You were literally lying on the floor crying, and now this!” remarked Cowell.
Elsewhere in the show viewers saw the moment mother and daughter group Descendance were separated, and faced a shock as the confident Jodie, was sent home after her performance of Megan Trainer’s Me Too.
The X Factor continues on Sunday, October 1 at 7.30pm on ITV.
