X Factor

We spent the day today tidying the house. I've rarely felt so bored doing housework, if I'm honest. It seemed to take forever. The place was an awful tip and needed cleaning from top to bottom, but I had no idea we'd be at it for so long.

We had Laura, Abbie, Chris and Rosie over tonight to rehearse for tomorrow's MMD cabaret at the Phoenix Artists' Club. We baked two cakes. Nathan made one of his speciality fruit loaves and I made a simple sponge which I coated with marmalade and chocolate to create a sort of Jaffa cake vibe.

The rehearsal went well. Everyone sounded really good singing together and we had a lovely time. I'm excited about tomorrow.

This evening was all about the X Factor. We binged watched this weekend's episodes. I was rooting for Saara Aalto. She makes me feel intensely proud to be European. The clips of her on the streets of Helsinki had a profound effect on me for some reason. She sang beautifully, and then one of the ones from One Direction did some singing and I felt a little embarrassed. I did feel a bit bad for him when I realised he was the one who'd just lost his Mum. I can't quite imagine how difficult it must be to perform under those circumstances. It must take a lot of guts. Mind you, if you want tragedy, take a look at Edith Piaf's life. I believe she had to go on stage to do a gig a few hours after hearing her lover, who was on his way to see her in New York, had died in a plane crash. So sad.

A band called "The Weeknd" [sic] performed. They were announced with all sorts of astonishing statistics about how many million records they'd sold and how many number one albums they'd had, and it turns out that the lead singer has a tremendous voice, but I can safely say I've never heard of them. Literally never! How old does that make me, please? And why doesn't this band know how to spell the word "weekend?"