CROYDON'S Ben Haenow is through to the second night of the X Factor final.
The 29-year-old from Shirley will go up against Fleur East tomorrow night to win a £1 million record deal. Italian Andrea Faustini was knocked out of the competition tonight.
On making it through Ben said: "Thank you so much everybody I can't believe it." He later Tweeted: #speechless You have made my dreams come true!!" alongside a photo of himself taken at the Wembley Arena, where the finalists performed in front of a packed crowd.
Ben quite literally smashed his rendition of Demons by Imagine Dragons breaking out of a clear perspex box to positive comments from all four judges, with mentor Simon Cowell saying Ben "deserved to be in the final".
Cowell said: "You're a down to earth, normal guy, a family guy and you're not going to forget your roots."
Ben then performed a duet of Thinking Out Loud with Ed Sheeran, with Ed saying: "I came back to say thank you because he made me number one again last week."
Ben is bookies favourite to win the competition at 8/15 with Fleur at 11/8.
He will sing in part two of the X Factor final tomorrow on ITV at 8pm.
TO VOTE FOR BEN TO WIN X FACTOR,CALL 09020 50 51 01 FROM A LANDLINE, OR DIAL 6 50 51 01 FROM A MOBILE.
