Dancing toy soldiers, toothless auditionees, bitching bands and even bitchier judges: this year's wacky series of The X Factor surpassed all expectations. We take a look back at the best bits of the biggest talent show on the box.

CHANGING FACES
The fourth series of the X Factor came with many changes. Gone were presenter Kate Thornton and panellist Louis Walsh. Dermot O'Leary took the lead, as Dannii Minogue and Brian Friedman hopped onto the judging team. Within a week it became clear that Louis was sorely missed and it was brilliant to see Simon eat his words and admit that he missed his Irish frenemy. Brian was demoted and Louis returned.

WHAT THE XXXX?
Rachel Lestori proved to be the X Factor's most disgruntled auditionee ever when she was given the boot. Calling the panel a bunch of... well, not very nice people (to paraphrase), she fired off insult after insult before being kicked out of the room by security.

TIME TO LET IT GO
Ageing pop outfit It's About Time hoped to impress Simon and co with their audition at the Glasgow tryouts. However, their rendition of We Built This City went down like a lead balloon. Simon's thumbs down heralded a flood of tears and the outburst "I used to think you were such a wodnerful man Simon..." before they were shown the door. Not anymore.

DOOM AND GLOOM
Michelle and Julie Crogan from Dublin brought a grim air to the Belfast auditions. The graveside singers wailed through Angel, leaving the panel thoroughly downcast. Simon lifted the mood by suggesting that they were wearing wigs. They weren't.

BIG FAT NO
Emma Chawnor ended the auditions with her plus-sized stab at stardom. But it wasn't Emma's average voice that Simon took offence at - it was her interesting choice of dress, as made by her father. Emma was gutted when she was rejected and left the room howling.

BRAND NEW HOPE
Louis Walsh surprised boot camp hopefuls when he suggested that rejected Under 25 boys and girls should form two groups. Hope and Futureproof were born, giving new hope to eleven rejects - and both made the finals.

SHARON'S STROP
The live shows started with a bang. Sharon Osbourne stormed off the set after two of her acts - Kimberley and Alisha - polled the lowest viewer votes. She publicly resigned from the show, but was persuaded to return by the next week.

EMILY'S NOT-SO-HAPPY SLAPPING
Footage of contestant Emily Nakada seemingly happy-slapping another teenager meant that she had to step down from the show. A pre-credits, straight-faced announcement from Dermot explained her disappearance - which left Sharon with just one act.

RHYDIAN REBORN
Once the butt of the nation's jokes, Rhydian Roberts proved to be the dark horse of the competition. His show-stopping rendition of Phantom Of The Opera put him right at the top of the competition.

A DIFFERENT BEAT Same Difference always surprised viewers with their camp antics. The peak of their perky pop quirkness was a performance of I Don't Feel Like Dancing, featuring an all-dancing cast of the Nutcracker. Bonkers but brilliant at the same time!

GIRL FIGHT!
Hope were this year's most talked-about act... for all the wrong reasons. Accusations of bitching and backstabbing marred the girl band, who apparently took offence at member Phoebe always getting the lead vocals on songs such as Christina Aguilera's Hurt.

DANNII VS LOUIS
Dannii Minogue upset little Louis when she suggested that his act, Niki, had sung out of tune. Louis retorted with a rather bitchy joke about Dannii's own talents, which left the popstrel fuming. Dannii got the last laugh when Niki was booted the following week.

THE KYLIE FACTOR
Kylie Minogue came to Dannii's rescue on the last show, dishing out a sparkling performance of Better The Devil You Know with contestant Leon. The jazzed-up version knocked spots off guest appearances from Jason Donovan and Katherine Jenkins.

LEON KING
The shock of the series came when Scottish hopeful Leon was crowned the winner of the record contract - beating firm favourite Rhydian to the title.

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