One Direction are the stars of X Factor show

Matt Cardle might have won. Rebecca might have wowed everyone with her stunning voice.

And Wagner might have entertained the masses with his bongos.

But the real celebrities of X Factor have to be, without a doubt, One Direction.

Click on the image on the right to see more pictures.

At least, according to the screaming crowd of thousands who packed into Birmingham's LG Arena over the weekend as the X Factor spectacular kicked off in Britain's second city.

Not only were the Simon Cowell-created fivesome allowed to sing five whole songs during the show — the same number as actual winner Cardle — they were the only act allowed to sing a song that never featured on the show, their would-be winner's single Forever Young.

The group also received the biggest reaction from the crowd as swooning teenagers — and some folk who should be old enough to know better — jumped, screamed and waved banners at the young heartthrobs.

The 38-date live tour spent Saturday and yesterday in Birmingham, showcasing the nine top finalists from last year's series.

The show started with Worcestershire wannabe-rapper Cher Lloyd, sporting a Rihanna-copycat style bright red bob haircut.

If reports are right and she's trying to "polish up" her image ready to break into the US market, it's failing miserably.

You can make your bomber jackets and baggy trousers as shiny as you like, but it doesn't make you 'street'. Sorry.

To make matters worse, she didn't even shine on stage.

As became traditional on the TV series, the backing vocals and music all but overwhelmed her voice as she rattled through songs including Avril Lavigne's Girlfriend and Missy Elliot's Get Your Freak On, in what can only be interpreted as an effort to disguise her weak contribution and cringeworthy 'rapping'.

She even attempted Willow Smith's Whip It, not a particularly good song to start with and which she somehow made worse by barely singing and dancing along to it like a broken ragdoll. Even her warbling performance of Shakespeare's Sister's Stay With Me — the song Cowell labelled the "performance of the entire series" — was off-key.

Thankfully, there were others to rescue the night.

Aiden Grimshaw, the ninth-place finalist, showed he really deserved to finish higher with beautiful versions of Diamonds Are Forever and Mad World.

Jazz man Paije also put in a highly entertaining stint, boogieing around blasting out I'm a Believer, Hey Ya and Killing Me Softly.

Meanwhile, controversial Katie Waissel put in two half-hearted performances of The Beatles' Help! and The Jungle Book's I Wanna Be Like You, earning herself little more than a polite round of applause.

Irish Tesco worker Mary belted out power ballads including This is a Man's World and Unbreak My Heart, shrugging off sound issues, which meant the background music was rather too loud, with ease.

Dudley's very own Wagner Carrilho didn't disappoint the fans either, dancing alongside a dozen pretty dancers to songs including Spice Up Your Life and Livin' La Vida Loca.

He even whipped out the bongos for Love Shack — the song that shot him to cult status early on in the live shows. Having more time to practice has clearly paid off for him as he even managed to remember all his words.

You could have heard a pin drop when Rebecca Ferguson took to the stage. Not only did she look stunning, her powerful voice left everyone in awe as she belted out Sweet Dreams and dance track Show Me Love.

Winner Matt Cardle was equally brilliant, singing his best performances including the spine-tingling Knights in White Satin.

But it was One Direction — including Wolverhampton lad Liam Payne — who really stole the show. It was evident before they even appeared on stage, with the crowd going wild every time a picture of the boys flashed up on the screens.

Their first appearance on-stage was greeted by dozens of girls rushing to the front barrier, only to be sternly redirected to their seat by stewards.

Explosive pyrotechnics, confetti canons and synchronised dancing amplified every lovestruck teen girl's excitement as the perfectly-groomed young stars-in-the-making worked their way through songs including Kids in America and Only Girl in the World.

As they paraded between the main stage and the central platform, hordes of stewards had to hold back the crowd.

The show ended with the one and only group song of the night, Help for Heroes charity single Heroes, sparking rumours that tensions between contestants meant duets were not possible.

It wasn't quite the spectacle of twelve months ago — there were no giant inflatable ghosts to battle — but the X Factor experience is always something special.

But with reports Simon Cowell and Cheryl Cole have quit, who knows what will happen next year?

Review by Charlotte Cross.