X-Factor 2012: Glasgow mum-of-two makes it to finals

A GLASGOW woman has made it to the live performance final stages of this year’s X-Factor series after Gary Barlow named her as one of the three over-28 finalists.

Melanie Masson, who gave up her career to focus on bringing up her two children, was visibly stunned when the Take That frontman told her the good news. Close to tears, the 44-year-old asked Barlow: “Can you tell me that again? It’s amazing!”

The Glasgow singer impressed with her rendition of the Hall and Oates clasic ‘Everytime You Go Away’, and is up against former Diagram of the Heart singer Kye Sones and Carolynne Poole, who has previously appeared in earlier series of the X-Factor as well as Fame Academy.

However, Melanie has come in for some criticism after it transpired that she had previously worked with music artists including Fatboy Slim and the Stereophonics, released a single in 2007 and been signed to the music label EMI around 18 years ago.

Melanie defended her inclusion in the final twelve contestants, pointing out that she had abandoned her music career to focus on bringing up her two children, and that EMI had dropped her after a year, adding that this was her final chance at success.

The X-Factor is no stranger to controversy, having faced criticism last year after pre-order details of the winning single were announced prior to the conclusion of the series, leading some to brand the programme as a fix.

The final twelve contestants are as follows:

Boys: James Arthur, Jahmene Douglas, Rylan Clark. The wildcard is Adam Burridge.

Girls: Ella Henderson, Lucy Spraggan, Jade Ellis. The wildcard is Amy Mottram.

Over 28s: Kye Sones, Melanie Masson, Carolynne Poole. The wildcard is Christopher Maloney

Groups: MK1, GMD3, Union J. The wildcard is Times Red.