Scouse talent impressed the X Factor judges so much that all three Merseyside boys were sent through to the judges' houses stage of the competition after passing nerve-wracking Bootcamp auditions.

Our lads will make up three of the eight male acts heading to Los Angeles, while Liverpool girl band The Estrelles, who reached Bootcamp last year, went one stage further this time round as they also got the nod to join the remaining groups on a Greek island.

The Estrelles, plus Craig Colton, James Michael and

Marcus Collins all impressed the judges enough

when they performed individually in front on an

audience of 5,000 at Wembley Arena to each win one

of the last 32 places.

Gary Barlow got his wish as it was revealed that he

would be mentoring the boys and now Craig, Michael

and Marcus will be going to LA to perform for the Take

That star.

There was a twist this year as on the contestants'

arrival at Bootcamp it was announced that some of

the people who made it through would be sent home

before they got a chance to perform there.

Sunday night's show saw James Michael from

Widnes perform Rod Stewart’s 'The First Cut is The

Deepest', and hairdresser Marcus Collins sing Seal’s

'Kissed By a Rose' to win their place in the next round.

Craig from Kirkby, who had to wait until the last boy's name was called out to see if he had surivived the cut, sang Damien Rice’s 'Cannonball', and the chuffed Scouser said after his performance: "I just made Wembley Arena stand."

Kelly Rowland will mentor the girls in Miami, Tulisa is taking the groups to Greece, and Louis Walsh is taking the mature contestants to Barcelona to perform for him.

Red-headed Liverpudlian Gemma McDowall made it through to boot camp but that was where her X Factor journey came to an end.

Stay tuned in the coming weeks to find out how all of the Liverpool acts get on in the competition, and to see if the X Factor will find its first ever Scouse winner, after Anfield's Rebecca Ferguson finished as runner-up last year.