Mommie dearest

It's the ultimate test for any British recording artist - cracking the American market. Many of our biggest stars have crashed and burned trying to appeal to those notoriously fickle US audiences. Even the otherwise unbeatable Robbie Williams couldn't make it happen, eventually returning to the UK with Jonathan Wilkes' tail between his legs.

Leona Lewis, on the other hand, made it look easy. Although it helped that she had a fantastic single and the backing of Oprah Winfrey to kick-start her career in the land of the free. The jury's currently out as to whether or not Alexandra Burke has what it takes to follow in Leona's sandy footprints. But as she puts the finishing touches to the US version of her debut album, she can at least take comfort in the fact that her family will keep her feet on the ground.

Alexandra's mum Melissa Bell knows all about the fickle finger of fame, having spent time as the lead singer in Soul II Soul. And she seems dead set on making sure that her daughter remembers that fact. In an attempt to plug her forthcoming autobiography 'Heart and Soul' (form an orderly queue please), she's been speaking to The Mirror about her relationship with her pop-star progeny.

It's just a shame that she seems to be taking the tough love approach to parenting: "To be honest, I'm a better singer than she is. But she is thinner than me - maybe too thin. I was 18st in my heyday. But it's all about image these days, more than talent."

Perhaps Melissa wouldn't be so critical if Alexandra had been a little more generous with her winnings - "She's rich but we're poor. She hasn't given me a penny and I'm too proud to ask. But considering her win was a team effort, I certainly deserve some." Interestingly, she may be too proud to ask for money, but she has no shame when it comes to slagging off her daughter or trying to take the credit for her accomplishments.

Melissa even has some ironic words of wisdom for her daughter on how to deal with other people, "I've told her always to be nice to people on the way up because you'll see them again on the way down. I still give Alex advice. She's lucky to have a mum like me."

I'm sure Sue Katona tells Kerry the exact same thing.

Showing them how it's done

JLS and Alexandra Burke are here to do a weird mash-up of their big singles. Alex is singing live this time - so it sounds very different to the last time she performed in the guest slot. It's a very strange duet but it sort of works, in a "we figured this out in our bedroom this afternoon" kind of way.

The boys really don't have strong voices at all, but they look so happy to be pop stars with ridiculously large boots that it's hard to begrudge them their success. Alex kept thumping Aston's chest with her fist a little too vigorously, he looked like he was ready to slap her back. They're all being so nice to each other, it's quite sweet. They're hoping for even more success next year, so let's keep our fingers crossed that Pete Waterman's predictions of pan-flashery don't come true.

To remind everyone what can happen when you're genuinely incredible, here's Leona Lewis doing her epic version of Stop Crying Your Heart Out. She's spending a long time in her low register, but she's gonna rip it up in a minute, so hang onto your hat. If you're wearing a hat that is. The background VT of the girls rushing to embrace Dannii has been cropped to remove Rachel's hilarious pratfall. Shame.

Her song's finished but they're leaving her standing on the coffee table - probably just as well. She's fantastic at the singing but I think we've all heard her say "It's been amazing, thank you so much" enough to last a lifetime. Simon gave her the thumbs up, as if to say "That'll shift another 50,000". Which is his way of showing he cares.

Olly's here to sing The Climb and it sounds shaky - it doesn't help that the song is a Miley Cyrus album track, and therefore about as low as music gets. I don't think Leonard Cohen wrote this one. Simon's giving it a bit of face-palm. Is he genuinely worried or faking out the audience? Nice addition of some clanging Christmas bells deep in the mix, to remind people that they're going to be hearing this right through the festive period.