I have to say that from his first audition, that he has been a favorite of mine to win the present competition. Obviously, he's pretty "cute". But, when he chose Luther Van Dross song "Dance With My Father," He really won everyone's heart with that song. He hasn't been singing long, just a few years, but he seems to be learning fast. He seems to come from humble South Shields, England neighborhood in life, and, when he auditioned, his large family came along.

He made it through the the finals and there are only a handful of other contestants left. One of my other favorites is a young 23 year old, Olly Murs, just five years older than Joe. Both of them have a lot of stage courage and vitality.

Obviously, Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" is a great song. As many know, the lead singer, Steve Perry, became disabled a few years ago, and Journey embarked on a search for his replacement. They eventually turned to search on the internet (youtube), where Arnel Pineda had done a "cover" of the song with his band "Zoo" in the Philippines. When the band tried to reach him, he thought it was just a hoax. Arnel has had a difficult life. His mother died when he was 11 and his father had to send to live with relatives. To support himself he had to collect scrap metal from the streets. This big break came fro Pineda when he was in his 40's, though he doesn't really look more than 25.

Maybe it's a common thread for the two; Joe probably watched Arnel's awesome performance in front of thousands in Santiago for his first appearance with Journey, and seems to have given a pretty awesome performance. Thought I would just like to share this with you.

Of course, there are some lovely female contestants too, like Lucie Jones, Rachel Adedeji (just eliminated) and Stacey Solomon. Older male contestants like Danyl Johnson, Jamie Archer with the youngest Lloyd Daniels, 16, are also still in the competition, but, of course, there are always last minute upsets. In any case, even the top 12, without winning, often go on to have great careers like Chris Daughtry.