City mother in X Factor challenge

Wolverhampton mother-of-four Joyce Edwards, who has been likened to a young Tina Turner, is among the millions who will definitely be tuning in for tonight's show.

The 55-year-old, of Crawford Avenue, Lanesfield, put her name forward for X Factor three times in the past but in her own words "chickened out" before being encouraged to take part for a fourth time and going through the auditions.

Joyce isn't sure if she'll be appearing in tonight's episode, performing My Boy Lollipop in front of Simon Cowell, Cheryl Cole, Louis Walsh and Danni Minogue, and is keeping tight-lipped about exactly how far she has made it in the competition. For girl group Belle Sorelle, a foursome from Kinver and Stourbridge, the X Factor journey has already been a rollercoaster. More used to playing before crowds at village fairs and department stores, the band performed in front of the judging panel in their bid for X Factor fame.

And, despite ridicule from 'Mr Nasty' Simon – who told them they looked 'ridiculous' in their outfits – the group could be heading for TV stardom after the celebrity judges voted them through to the boot camp stage of the hit show.

The girls, who were voted through after their performance at Birmingham's ICC, have also been invited to perform at the Jam House in Birmingham after music legend Bev Bevan, of ELO, heard them perform live on a radio show and asked them to take part in his Big Bash in October. Band member Patsy Parr, aged 17, said she was delighted to get through to boot camp, but admitted the week in London had been hard work. "We can't say how we got on as we don't want to spoil it for TV viewers, but it's been fantastic," she said.

Tonight marks the start of the sixth series of X Factor, which will see contestants performing in front of a live audience during the initial auditions for the first time.

Auditions were held around the country in front of crowds of around 2,000, and the live audiences gave some of the more dubious acts a surprisingly warm reception.

The new series will be beefed up with a new Sunday results show when it reaches the live stages in mid-autumn, with show bosses hoping to dominate the television audience figures across the whole weekend.

The new series of The X Factor begins at 7pm tonight on ITV1.