X Factor 2012: After running away from home and sleeping rough hopeful James Arthur wows the judges... while Sophie Stokle leaves them disappointed
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One of the shining stars in tonight’s X Factor auditions used to sleep rough after running away from home and says music was his coping mechanism.
James Arthur overcame a tough childhood, homelessness and foster care to perform on the stage in front of the judges.
The 24-year-old from Middlesborough impressed all four judges and won Tulisa’s heart singing a mash up of her song Young and his own lyrics, while another wannabe failed miserably.
Rising star: Formerly homeless James Arthur received praise from the judges after his audition in Newcastle
Although his park-bench days are over, James admitted that his bedsit ‘isn’t the Ritz’.
James became homeless as a result of a troubled home life after his parents split when he was young.
Growing up James ‘went off the rails’ at school and after multiple suspensions and being expelled he ‘ended up sleeping rough sometimes’.
As a result he volunteered himself into foster care and used music to cope with his situation.
The 24-year-old from Middlesborough once slept rough and said he used music to pull himself through the hard times before performing a mash up of judge Tulisa Contostavlos's single Young and his own lyrics
‘I hope I can set myself free from any worry and do the best that I can do.’
Tonight’s audition in Newcastle sees his parents Shirley father Neil put their differences aside for their son.
In order to give their full support to James at his audition, the pair had spoken for the first time in 22 years.
Shirley said: ‘There’s times I feel have I don’t enough, did I do enough. He put a lot of his feelings and his emotions and his anxieties into his music.’
The judges praised his performance and Tulisa called it the best audition of the day.
‘When you’re up there I just see you get lost in that world,’ the NDubz singer told the hopeful.
‘It’s just you, the microphone, the guitar - best audition of the day.’
Nice outfit, shame about the voice: Sophie Stokle looked like a pop star but failed to impress with her awful voice
Louis Walsh also shoved praise on the singer. He called James a true original saying ‘I think from today on, your life is totally going to change.’
Former Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger was also very impressed and said acts like him were the reason for her coming on the show and that he was exactly what she was looking for.
‘I see why your mum and your dad put their differences aside. I came on this show because I am looking for an artist who inspires me and that’s exactly what you did today.
‘You inspired me and that’s because you sat on that stage and you bared your soul to us.’
Meanwhile, Sophie Stokle left the judges gobsmacked as her pop star appearance was much better than her actuall singing voice.
The 16-year-old, from Hartlepool, performed Jennifer Hudson's Love You I Do, but was told in unison that she way below par.
Gary said: 'I want to be encouraging but it was vocally really, really bad.'
Shining stars: Kye Sones, 30, was advised to quit chimney sweeping and 20-year-old Lucy's singing also wowed the judges with a song she had written herself
Essex-boy Rylan used to be in Take That and Westlife tribute acts on Ibiza and called himself 'a bit of a Tulisa kid'
Other contestants in tonight's show include 30-year-old chimney sweep Kye Sones from Middlesex.
After taking on judge Rita Ora's R.I.P mashed with Swedish House Mafia's hit Save The World Tonight, the London auditions' guest judge could not stop gushing about Kye.
'You made RIP sound so cool man! Can I tell you something? You’re a superstar! You’re an actual superstar,' the 21-year-old Hot Right Now-singer said.
Louis Walsh added that Kye was born to sing - not to clean chimneys and said he believed that the judges had found the X Factor they were looking for in Kye.
Other hopefuls to receive praise from the judges were 'Ibiza' singer Rylan, 23, from Essex who boasted that Gary Barlow's parents had been to see him perform in a Take That tribute band, and 20-year-old Lucy from Sheffield whose self-penned song Last Night was about waking up with 'Beer Fear' saying 'anyone can relate to that'.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2193366/X-Factor-2012-After-running-away-home-sleeping-rough-hopeful-James-Arthur-takes-revenge-wows-judges.html#ixzz24b2kbyQK