X Factor dream over for Teesside's Kerrianne Covell

Teessider Kerrianne Covell’s X Factor dream has ended - but she has vowed to make the most of her big opportunity.

The pint-sized performer travelled to Nice in the south of France for the judge’s house stage of the competition with Cheryl Fernandez Versini and mentor Tinie Tempah.

She performed Hurt by Christina Aguilera for the judges - but out of the six taken to France, Kerrianne was one of the three unlucky singers to be sent home.

Watching the drama unfold from her home in Norton last night, Kerrianne said: “It has been an amazing experience, especially going out to Nice with Cheryl and Tinie Tempah. The support I have had has been overwhelming, from people in Teesside and from people all over the world on Facebook and Twitter.”

After Kerrianne’s performance, Cheryl said “I think she has got a great voice. There are parts that are beautiful.”

But the judge said: “I have heard her do better.”

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Kerrianne, 23, told The Gazette: “I have waited for such a long time for an opportunity to get recognised for my singing.

“Even though I didn’t get through to the live shows, just being on the X Factor is a massive platform. This is the hardest industry to break into, but I have to take confidence from how far I got and carry on.”

Kerrianne, who works at Footlocker in Middlesbrough, said she had also watched Saturday’s judge’s house show - which saw three from the boys category get through to the live show, and three sent home - with “a lump in my throat”.

“I was crying while I was watching it. It takes you back to those moments when you have been auditioning and performing, and all those feelings just flood back.

“The judge’s houses were definitely the most nerve-wracking part of the competition. You don’t get any feedback, so you just go over and over how you think it went.

“I don’t know what they thought until I watched it.”

But the former Riverside College student says that it is difficult to watch herself on TV: “It’s difficult, because I’m critical when it comes to my singing, I’m a bit of a perfectionist. I just pick myself apart.”

Live: Breaking news, traffic and travel across Teesside

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Two Lethal Threats to America — on The Glazov Gang

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This week’s Glazov Gang was joined by Conservative Entrepreneur Monty Morton, who came on the show to warn us about Two Lethal Threats to America:

Don’t miss this week’s second episode with Ako Eyong, a journalist from Cameroon, West Africa, where he became a political dissident and was eventually exiled for critiquing the government. He is the author of the new novel, The Vision of the Blind King.

Ako came on the show to discuss “A Cameroon Dissident’s Love Affair With America,” discussing his appreciation of living in the U.S., his new novel, the vital importance for a nation not to abandon God, the conflict between love and fear, and much, much more:

To watch previous Glazov Gang episodes, Click Here .

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Middlesbrough 18-year-old dies in car crash on North York Moors

An 18-year-old man from Middlesbrough has died following a collision near Farndale on the North York Moors.

The man was a passenger in a blue Peugeot 307 which left the road as it travelled along Blakey Bank – a minor road between Blakey Road and the village of Church Houses.

The collision happened at around 5.20pm on Saturday when the Peugeot hit a dry stone wall and came to rest on its side.

The occupants of the vehicle were all from the Middlesbrough area and include the driver aged 22, a 16-year-old boy and three 18-year-old men.

One of the 18-year-old passengers was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash.

The driver of the car was taken to James Cook University Hospital, in Middlesbrough, although his injuries are not believed to be serious.

The remaining passengers were also taken to James Cook Hospital including the 16-year-old boy who had a suspected broken collar bone and an 18-year-old man with slight injuries.

The third 18-year-old man was discharged after treatment to minor injuries.

North Yorkshire Police are appealing to anyone who was in the area at the time and saw the vehicle prior to the collision or witnessed the actual crash to contact them.

Please call North Yorkshire Police on 101, select option 2 and ask for the Major Collision Investigation Team or email mcit@northyorkshire.pnn.police.uk

Please quote reference 12140171427 when passing on information.

The road was closed while the emergency services treated the casualties and to allow collision investigators to examine the scene. It reopened at around 1.45am on 5 October.

Police are not yet in a position to release the name of the man who died.

Daniel Ayala insists Middlesbrough have to perform well in every game

When it comes to mounting a promotion campaign, a team is only as good as its next game, insists Dani Ayala.

Boro’s odds for promotion fell dramatically as they steadily climbed the table and took Liverpool to penalties in the Capital One Cup.

But Spanish defender Ayala believes promotion talk is cheap and the only thing that matters is how the team performs over the remainder of the season.

Boro certainly didn’t find life easy in the days after losing in dramatic circumstances at Anfield, drawing tight games against Charlton and Blackpool.

But, overall, September was a successful month for the club, who bounced back from a poor opening five league games of the season by taking an impressive 11 points from a possible 15 in the next five.

Going in to the international break, Ayala believes it’s far too early to get carried away.

“I think you have to go game by game because when we lost the two games at home (to Sheffield Wednesday and Reading in August) everyone thought we were not going to get anywhere,” he said.

“And then, when we won some games, everyone thinks we are going to get to the play-offs.

“But it’s not like that, things can change after every single game so we have to perform well in every single game and try to win the next game.

“When we lost against Reading and Sheffield Wednesday we knew that we were a good team and we knew we had to turn our form around and be more solid at the back.

“We have been doing that in the last few games.”

On a personal level, it’s been an interesting season so far for Ayala, who is in a constant four-way fight for a centre-back starting berth against Ben Gibson, Kenneth Omeruo and Jonathan Woodgate.

The 23-year-old is enjoying the selection tussle, saying: “Everyone is playing well and there’s a lot of competition for places so everyone is on their toes and trying to play their best because if you don’t you will be replaced by another player.

“You know if you perform badly you will lose your place. It’s always good to be playing regularly, that’s what everyone wants, but it’s even better when the team is playing well.” he added.

Middlesbrough need to be consistent to keep up the pace with Championship

The New Boro need to stand up and be counted.

Consistency of performance at the Riverside is vital if Aitor Karanka’s team is going to keep up with the Championship pacesetters.

The disappointing midweek failure to beat struggling Blackpool felt like a defeat.

It brought back bad memories from the last two or three seasons where Boro failed to kill off relegation-battlers on Teesside.

I thought they had been turning the corner at home, especially in the manner of the scintillating home wins against Birmingham City and Brentford.

Boro made both of these sides look pretty poor.

In fact, it is a long time since they have displayed this kind of domination in games at the Riverside.

However, Boro plunged back to their bad old ways against Blackpool.

This is an annoying and unwanted trait which they must eliminate from their game.

It appears the worst thing which can happen is for Boro to go into any game as clear favourites to win it.

The result is individuals lose their 100 per cent concentration and commitment and wait for the next man to do the business.

All you get is a stop-start disjointed performance which usually leaves the Teessiders looking decidedly worse than their opponents.

It does suggest a character defect, but all players are human. They are honest players at the Boro and this is something which can be sorted out on the training pitch and in the dressing room.

Until Boro can get over this mental problem they will not achieve the levels of consistency at the Riverside which they need to be a top-six side.

Defensively, they appear to be heading in the right direction.

Blackpool’s goal was the first they had conceded in four Championship games.

Boro have proved they can cope without the presence of former England man Jonathan Woodgate, who continues to fight a frustrating battle against injuries.

Daniel Ayala is doing well in Woodgate’s absence.

The Spaniard is getting stronger and more confident by the game and also scores goals. Karanka was even afforded the luxury in midweek of being able to rest in-form Kenneth Omeruo because Ben Gibson is quickly establishing himself as a top defender.

Yet, the defence apart, Boro must start clicking together as an 11-man unit and maintain it.

Stockton UKIP campaigner hits out at 'scandalous' treatment of returning servicemen

A UKIP campaigner has hit out at the ‘scandalous’ treatment of ex-forces personnel after they come home from warzones.

Ted Strike, chairman of the UKIP branch in Stockton, said it was “unacceptable” that so many former Army, Navy, and Air Force personnel were living on the streets, are unemployed or suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Speaking after UKIP announced more provisions for returning service personnel at their party conference in Doncaster, he added that former servicemen should not have to rely on charities such as Help for Heroes after they return from warzones, despite the organisation’s good work.

Instead he called on the government to step up its support for former soldiers who suffer from conditions like PTSD.

Mr Strike spoke out after seeing changes he’d suggested added to the UKIP manisfesto by UKIP MEP and Defence spokesperson Mike Hookem, who has promised more provisions for ex-servicemen.

Mr Hookem said the party would change the social housing point system to give priority to returning service personnel as well as a ‘one stop shop’ for veterans to access care.

Mr Strike said: “I was delighted to see that my proposals from last year have been taken up by our national leadership. UKIP’s proposals have gone a lot further than my original idea.

“I find it appalling that we have people putting their lives at risk for us, and we repay them this way.”

He said ex forces personnel would be ideal recruits for jobs in the prison service, police and border control.

“We should be getting jobs for them. We spend a lot of money training them and they end up homeless and that’s a waste of resources.

“The UKIP policy is that we should come out of Europe. If they work at Border Force we could reduce the amount of illegal immigrants.”

And when questioned on where the money would come from to care for the soldiers, he said: “We should be treating them. We wouldn’t spend £55 million a day for being part of the EU.

“I quite often speak to service personnel. They are all in tune with what we are doing.

“This is a perfect example of how UKIP is in touch with public opinion about things that really matter.”