STEREO Kicks bounced back from last week’s disappointment on the X Factor to burst into the iTunes downloads chart ahead of last night’s crucial vote.

Accrington singer Reece Bibby’s band won over music mogul Simon Cowell, as well as their harshest critic to date — judge Cheryl Fernandez-Versini — with an impressive mash-up of The Beatles’ Let It Be and Hey Jude, stripped back with some acappella highlights on Saturday night.

MORE TOP STORIES:

Following their performance, which saw three of the four judges give a standing ovation, Simon tweeted: “Congratulations to Stereo Kicks. You’re welcome to join my category anytime.”

A recording of their performance stood at 15th in the iTunes singles chart yesterday, ahead of stars such as Nicki Minaj, Ariana Grande, and Ella Henderson.

Speculation had mounted last week that mentor Louis Walsh was about to axe two members from the eight-piece band and Reece, 16, was said to be on the hitlist.

But the ITV1 show judge apologised to his ‘octo-band’ and said he sometimes said things he shouldn’t.

Ahead of the performance, Reece had said: “One thing we don’t want to do this week is stand in a line.”

Last week, the band finished in the bottom two and only edged through to the next round after a sing-off.

And as the 12 remaining acts took on a Saturday Night at the Movies theme, Stereo Kicks got a rousing reaction from the judges.

Mel B branded it a ‘great performance’ and Cheryl Fernandez-Versini said: “That’s a bit more like it. “You got a reaction from the crowd. You can all sing so well done for doing it tonight.”

The best reaction came from Simon Cowell who goaded Louis by offering to mentor the band, saying it was a ‘disgrace’ that Louis had questioned the size of the band last week.

 

 


 

 

Simon said: “Any time you want to leave Louis and come and join me, I’ll mentor you.” Louis declared the performance ‘the start’ of Stereo Kicks.

At the time of going to print last night, Stereo Kicks faced an anxious wait to see if they had impressed the public enough to carry them through to the next round.

Earlier, Reece tweeted: “Wow, Ed Sheeran performs tonight. The guy is a genius. Plus One Republic. They’ll make tonight much better.”

Last night was indeed better for Stereo Kicks as they made it through to the next round.