Barlow performance could sway X Factor votes towards Marcus

The mentors have certainly come under their fair share of strain and scrutiny on the current series of the X Factor and the pressure will certainly be turned up a notch for the final.

It has been decided that rather than bringing in the likes of Rihanna, Kylie Minogue and Beyonce to perform duets with the finalists, it will be the judges to perform with their respective acts.

This news could tip the scales in the favour of Marcus Collins over both Little Mix and Amelia Lily given that he will perform with Gary Barlow.

Support for Marcus has been slightly waning in recent weeks, partly because his performances have slightly weakened and that Gary has been judged to have been over-critical of the other acts in order to make them feel inferior.

However, more of the X Factor viewers are likely to be fonder of Gary in comparison to Tulisa and Kelly Rowland and this could be a major influence on the voting.

Little Mix remain the favourites in the X Factor odds at 11/10 and they still seem the act to beat.

But Marcus may prove the value bet as he is currently the outsider of the remaining threesome to win the X Factor at 11/4.

Meanwhile, only two of the three acts will get the chance to perform their rendition of the winners’ single, with one act voted out prior to this point of the show.

Marcus remains favourite at 11/8 to be the first to be eliminated in the final, but his duet with Gary may make Amelia the better option in this market.

Amelia is 6/4 to fail to make the final two and her chances have already diminished in recent days by a mistake by HMV to pre-release her version of the winners’ single.