Format A again this week, and first up was serial auditioner (and serial no-hoper) Ceri Rees. This is her third year on the trot and although she’d smartened her image up considerably, and remembered to put her teeth in, the message was the same as the other two years: you can’t sing dear. And if I was one of the tens of thousands of people who’d queued for hours and weren’t even given the chance to stand in front of the judges, I’d be thinking “Cheers. Thanks very much for that.”

Sadly the producers thought the three minutes spent reviewing Ceri’s unprepossessing past would be more entertaining that listening to someone who can sing. Is there anyone left in the X Factor viewing population who doesn’t know there are thousands of deluded wannabes in the queue every year? If it’s a search for talent, why do they let people like Ceri through? It’s not even funny any more. Just sad, tedious and boring.

Anyway, that’s a familiar rant so I’ll move on. This being Format A we had a few more bad singers to get through before we reached the first act that looked like they had a chance of making it to bootcamp. This time round it was Kath and Adele who together make up Adante. Clear from the start they would get through, and as usual they were then joined by a flood of other reasonable performers. Ryan C (who won one of the coveted “You’re Gorgeous” comments from Cheryl), 14-year-old Melanie and Pure Elements were passed in short order, and then it was time to get back to the hopeless: Ashiq, Adebola and the Man With The Incredible Swinging Arm – cleaner Dav John.

Boy group Walderwood proved once again that if you stand around looking gormless and singing under your breath then you’ve no chance, and they were soon joined in oblivion by Andrew Perity. Remember that name, because you’ll never hear it again.

A name you may have THOUGHT you’d never hear again was that of Anthony Little, whose audition in 2005 didn’t go too well. His anger management issues spilled over when he met up with Simon later in the corridor and called his decision into question. Well, this year, he’s back. Four-and-a-half stones lighter, a heck of a lot of vocal coaching and a new image later and what are his chances this time around? Umm… slim. Almost exactly 50% in fact, since Louis and Dannii both decided after all that dedication and effort, he deserved a chance, but Simon refused to go back on his previous decision, saying that his voice was simply not strong enough, or distinctive enough, to deserve a place at boot camp. Cheryl seemed to struggle with her decision, recognising all the work Anthony had put in, but in the end she sided with Simon, saying that she’d already put much stronger contenders through and it would be unfair to give him false hope.

When I was watching the show last night, I thought this was the right decision, but on reflection I think he should have been given the chance. We’ve seen contestants blossom at boot camp many times in the past, and Anthony was understandably nervous in the first audition and wouldn’t have been singing at his best. It’s his decision to apply again, so he’s clearly both up for the challenge and prepared to be disappointed. I don’t think sending him to boot camp would have been cruel. It would have allowed him to see how far he could go. The argument that “better singers have already gone through” doesn’t really wash. If that was a factor, then they could stop the auditions once they’d put through a handful of really good singers.

Talking of good singers, one of the last to audition was 22-year-old office worker Hannah. She hates her job, and dreams of life as a singer. Judging by her performance last night, those dreams just might come true.

So that’s the auditions over for another year and next week we move on to boot camp. See how many of the campers you can remember from the audition rounds and pick your favourites. The fun starts at 7.30pm again next Saturday.