With a prize package of £1,000 it's hardly surprising that the Queen's Arms had to audition more than 50 hopefuls to pick the final twelve for this year's all-new Q-Factor!

Tammy Twinkle - our very own twinkling Dermot O'Leary (although we've yet to catch Dermot in a dress) - opened the show with a song and introduced the panel of judges/mentors to an expectant pubful of supporters and unsuspecting Wednesday night drinkers ("it's very organised karaoke here, isn't it!"). Kamp Kevin (is that really his first name?), Spice, Betty Swollocks and the sharp-tongued Marc Leighton took their seats at the side of the stage to cheer on their mentees (is that a word?) and obviously to slag off the opposition wherever possible! Game on, boys and girls - this is serious stuff!

So. A very micro round-up of tonight's heat... Michelle Dean, a 30 year old Service Consultant was first up and battled with some technical problems to kick things off nicely... ex porn star Jamie Jones revealed his sizable... vocal talents, JP Christian threw his shirt into the whooping crowd, Gilly B was obviously aiming for a repeat of her Pride's Got Talent win in 2007, Michael Dean thrust himself from the stage at angels that you wouldn't have thought possible, Blossom's toothy smile was as infectious as her bubbly personality, Sarah Collier proved that she has what it takes, James Ravenhill overcame his nerves to belt out a blinder, the audience enjoyed Kirsty Bates both off stage and on (!), Kamna sang us a tuneful tune from her stool and Claire... stepped in at the last minute as another contestant dropped out - to round off heat one nicely! Phew!

But... as everyone was only too keenly aware... someone had to go, and it was the audience who decided. Well... actually in true X-Factor style - the two with the least votes had a sing-off. JP and Kamna sang for their place and the judges decided that it was time for JP to hit the road tonight. And then there were 11... or 12... I haven't quite worked out exactly how many we started with, but whatever... it's a great night's entertainment and will be going on every Wednesday for at least a couple of months as the competition heats up!

The £1,000 prize package is made up of cash, a professional photo session, a paid booking at the Queen's Arms and half a day in a professional recording studio.

For full details on the competition and the contestants visit www.queensarmsbrighton.com/qfactor.php