Ten years on, X Factor fever showed no sign of waning last night as the finalists from last year’s show brought their tour to the Granite City.
The show at the Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre started in a haze of purple light, and as the familiar catchphrase “It’s time to face the music” boomed out, the crowd leapt to their feet and did not sit back down.
First up was Tamera Foster, who was lowered onto the stage to huge cheers and applause, and opened the show with Rihanna’s number one hit We Found Love.
The young singer had been forced to miss the Glasgow show last week after injuring her foot, but looked as delighted as the crowd to be back on stage.
She was followed by Scottish teenager Nicholas McDonald, and even as the footage charting his success on the show was being beamed around the AECC, the audience erupted.
When the 17-year-old actually appeared on stage and began his rendition of Robbie Williams’ Candy, the decibel level may well have hit three figures.
Sam Callahan, Hannah Barratt, Abi Alton – who also missed out on performing last week due to illness – Luke Friend and Rough Copy helped to keep the crowd dancing as they performed.
But it was winner Sam Bailey’s performance that the audience was waiting for, and as soon she appeared on stage there was a deafening cheer.
With her powerhouse vocals proving why she won the X Factor crown, and all the glitz and glamour of a pop queen in the making, the crowd left the AECC buzzing with excitement.