After last night's intense semi-final performance night, it was left in the hands of the American public to decide which three hopefuls will make it through to The X Factor USA's final next week.

This weekend all the drama, tears and triumphs of the past few months comes to an end - it's the X Factor 2009 final, and this year it's a closer race than ever. Having whittled down the contestants ...

As The X Factor’s longest serving judge, the only one to have graced the panel in every one of its 11 years, Louis Walsh knows the show inside out and has seen a succession of other judges come and go ...