Your correspondent followed X-Factor as much as the next person, and there's no doubt that contestants in the final stages are wonderfully talented and deserve to be where they are. And as Simon says, "Let the people decide".

Wanna listen to everything that's coming up at The Duchess? Without that clunky MySpace player? It's dead easy. It's free.

Want to know what The Duchess is loving, hating and kind of ambivalent about? From live updates about big shows to what colour the barstaff's too tight jeans are; it's all on Twitter. Just follow us [theduchessyork] to start receiving the the news as it happens. But that's not all! In the coming weeks we'll be starting our very own Twitter treasure hunt. With very special opportunities to grab free tickets, free entry and even the odd cheeky drink hidden around York. The clues will ONLY be on Twitter.