Although Aaliyah impressed judges Louis Tomlinson, Ayda Field and Robbie Williams with her version of Sail by Awolnation, Cowell thought it was a poor song choice and told Aaliyah to prepare another performance for an audition later on. In her solo audition, Acacia – a singer/rapper who won the nationwide TeenStar singing and dancing competition in July this year – opted for a cover of Bed of Lies by Nicki Minaj ft Skylark Grey.
However, just like Aaliyah, Cowell wasn’t completely convinced by her performance, stopping Acacia mid-song. Fortunately for the pair, instead of booting them both out of the competition, the head judge invited the girls to perform as a duo. And so Acacia and Aaliyah returned to stage once more, managing to blow away the audience and judges with a version of Bang Bang by Jessie J and Ariana Grande.