Dad defends Kelly's voice

The father of a Black Country X Factor hopeful whose voice was compared to a dog barking by judge Simon Cowell vowed today that his daughter will find fame despite the putdown.

Kelly Northall, of Walsall, felt the sharp end of Mr Nasty's tongue when he criticised her X Factor audition, broadcast on Saturday.

Click here to see Kelly on X Factor.

Today, her father Peter defended his daughter and said that as far as he was concerned: "Kelly has a good voice."

He clashed with Cowell after storming into the audition room and giving him a piece of his mind, although he maintained that he was coerced into the outburst by X Factor production staff.

Cowell told him: "She is absolutely terrible and you are partly to blame for your daughter's disillusionment. You've obviously been encouraging her and that's just crazy."

The father and daughter were eventually escorted from the room by a security guard. As well as singing his daughter's praises, Mr Northall today claimed he had been told by the show's production team to leave the waiting area and go into the audition room to tell the judges to their faces just what he thought of their decision.

He said denying his daughter a chance to shine would not stop Kelly making it.

He said a lot of people thought she had a good voice and he knew she could do "100 times better".

And despite the rejection, Kelly said, during an interview on GMTV, that she would enter X Factor again next year. "It was fun," she smiled and agreed it was a great experience. Presenter Ben Shephard said: "You must be a glutton for punishment." Kelly performed in front of Cowell, Sharon Osbourne, Dannii Minogue and the reinstated Louis Walsh.

She had hoped to follow in the footsteps of the Black Country's Mark Rhodes. Mark, who celebrated his 26th birthday on Tuesday, found fame after finishing runner-up to Glaswegian singer Michelle McManus on the first series of ITV's Pop Idol. X Factor is on ITV1 on Saturday.

lStaff at a lucky West Midlands workplace are set to be serenaded by pop sensation Shayne Ward. On September 28 one local company will play host to the singer for the special intimate gig by the former X-Factor winner. Bosses are asked to e-mail radio station Heart FM explaining why they deserve to have the pop star. Visit the station at www.heartfm.co.uk/shayne to enter.