X FACTOR star Grace Davies closed in on her quest to win the show by qualifying for the semi-finals.

The Ribble Valley singer-songwriter received the most votes of all the acts on Sunday’s show with her own song Hesitate and progressed to the semi-finals next week.

She was praised for her ‘brilliant’ performance by judges who said she was ‘in for an amazing career’.

The 20-year-old said she battled off illness this week to perform.

Grace said: “I definitely feel like I’ve got back to me.

“I had a bit of snot and a bit of a cold but I got through it and I’m happy with that.

“I’ve come on here and been myself and got this far and that means the absolute world to me and I want to carry on.”

She also competed against Saturday night champions Rak-Su in an attempt to be named the week’s ‘prize fighter’ and win a special prize, but came up short in the public vote.

The former warehouse worker from Langho was criticised on social media last week for not singing a George Michael original as part of the tribute show to the late singer.

However judges said she was back to her best after her performance on the show which had a ‘crazy in love’ theme.

Simon Cowell said: “Grace we’ve got you back again after the last two weeks, that was great.

“You’ve got confidence to do your own material and it stood up against other well-known songs.

“Something has changed in a week, it’s like you’ve got your confidence back.”

Louis Walsh echoed the praise and said Grace was in for a bright future after the show.

He said: “It’s like watching a seasoned performer. You’re going to have an amazing career after this.”

Nicole Scherzinger said the performance was ‘relevant’ to current music. She said: “I really like the song, it’s like a song that would be on the radio right now.

Mentor Sharon Osbourne, who gave her a standing ovation, said: “That song Hesitate, it’s a brilliant song, brilliant.

“I think all the judges have said what I want to say.”

Grace remains one of the favourites to win the show ahead of next week’s semi finals.