EAST ANGLIA: Rising pop star Matt Cardle, pictured, is today excitedly waking up to another week in the X Factor house.

The 27-year-old from Little Maplestead, near Halstead, survived the public vote last night after impressing with his version of Britney Spears’ Hit Me Baby One More Time.

His no-frills performance – he was just a sat on a stool with his guitar – on Saturday night earned him gushing praise from judges and the studio audience.

Judge Simon Cowell said: “I’m going to keep this short: it was absolutely incredible.”

Praising him for putting his own mark on the song, he added: “I think you’re one of the most important people in the show, well done.”

Cheryl Cole, nodding to the cheering studio audience, said: “The best way to find out how you did is to listen to them.

“It’s such an iconic song, it’s 100 per cent associated with Britney, but somehow I felt like I was in an unplugged session, that I was watching an artist doing an acoustic set. It was really fantastic.”

The former pupil of Stoke College, in Stoke by Clare, is one of the favourites to win the whole contest but he faces tough competition.

In last night’s live results show, John Adeleye was eliminated from the competition. The fourth live show will be shown on ITV1 next Saturday night.