IT seems her shock tactics worked as X Factor’s Cher Lloyd made it through to the next round of the hit show.

The 17-year-old promised her performance on Saturday’s Halloween themed show would “shock” viewers and she kept to her word, as an emotional performance of Shakespears Sister’s Stay stunned the judges and the studio audience.

Last night’s result show saw the first judges’ deadlock of the series. The public vote meant Belle Amie left the show, with Katie Waissel surviving to fight another week.

But Cher, a former Dyson Perrins High School pupil, sailed through to the next round after impressing all four judges, with Simon Cowell hailing it “the performance of the entire season.”

Dressed in a long black gown Cher’s performance was a million miles away from her usual rap medleys.

As she finished singing, the emotional teenager began crying as the power of the song overwhelmed her.

Mr Cowell said: “Genuinely I think you are special. You proved a point this week, you’re not someone who does one thing. That performance was, by any standard, absolutely incredible.”

Louis Walsh said: “Cher, I don’t know why you’re crying, that was an absolutely brilliant performance. Tonight you proved you really can sing, that you’re not just a one-trick-pony rapper.”

Dannii Minogue said the performance was “beautiful”.

“What I loved about it is that you come out with a fighting spirit every week, but from that first audition there was a little bit of vulnerability that we adored and you brought that to the stage tonight,” she said. Cher’s mentor Cheryl Cole said: “The nation got to hear you sing and you can really, really sing. It was epic and beautiful and I’m so proud of you tonight.”

Cher’s dad, Darren, also said he was incredibly proud of her. “It was fantastic. Quite a lot of people got emotional, her mum, her gran, there were tears all round,” he said.

Boyband One Direction also wowed the judges with their rendition of Bonnie Tyler’s Total Eclipse of the Heart.

But bookies favourite, Matt Cardle, divided judges’ opinion with his version of Leona Lewis’s Bleeding Love, with Ms Cole telling him she felt he looked defeated.

• Tracks from this series of X Factor are not eligible for the official UK singles chart, despite being sold via iTunes.

For the first time this year, fans are able to buy tracks from the finalists as digital downloads within hours of the show being broadcast on ITV.

The move avoids exposing which contestants are proving most popular.

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