Diana Vickers

Diana Vickers was an X Factor finalist. She is an aspiring pro singer. Diana Vickers (born 30 July 1991) is a student from Blackburn, Lancashire and has been singing since the age of 11. She has taken singing lessons and has... [more]

Diana Vickers was an X Factor finalist. She is an aspiring pro singer.

Diana Vickers (born 30 July 1991) is a student from Blackburn, Lancashire and has been singing since the age of 11. She has taken singing lessons and has participated in local competitions, but has never sung professionally.

On her first live show Vickers sang U2's "With or Without You". On the 18 October show she covered Michael Jackson's "Man in the Mirror", for which she received nothing but praise, with Dannii Minogue describing it as "box fresh", and Simon Cowell remarking that she is "the one to beat." The following week, she performed Blondie's "Call Me", which again received much praise.

In week five, Diana was excused from performing due to a severe case of laryngitis. She had wanted to perform the Mariah Carey song "Always Be My Baby" up until a few hours before the show, but her doctor advised her not to, saying she could do permanent damage to her vocal chords. This is the first time the producers have excused any act from performing. She was said to be devastated not to meet Mariah, who guested on that week's show. However, on The Xtra Factor show afterwards, footage was shown of Diana at a bonfire night party screaming and cheering with the other contestants after she was told by her doctor to rest her voice. This created some speculation as to the legitimacy of her illness. However, Diana released a statement to contest the claim: "I felt under the weather all last week but didn’t want to miss out on the fireworks display. On Thursday I saw the doctor and was given antibiotics and the following day was diagnosed with laryngitis by a Harley Street specialist. Up until Saturday afternoon, I was still hoping and praying that I would be well enough to perform but the producers spoke to the doctor who made it clear that I could risk long-term damage to my voice. I was absolutely devastated to be told I couldn’t perform on Saturday night and disappointed not to be able to meet Mariah Carey. I am due to see the doctor again on Friday so fingers crossed I will be able to take part in this Saturday’s show".

Diana returned in week six and performed the Coldplay song "Yellow", prompting Cowell to remark that he believed Diana was still unwell. In week seven she sang Take That's "Patience". During the show, guest Gary Barlow offered to sign her if Simon Cowell didn't, to which Cowell responded "We will not be accepting Gary Barlow's kind offer for a recording contract. Leona has done fine with me, thank you Gary."

Diana's performance, and especially the way she moves her hands, has become a frequent topic of discussion, for example on Facebook groups. Diana is still the favourite to win.

Source: Wikipedia.org