Cyrus Villanueva once again wowed the judges and viewers of The X Factor Australia this week, this time with a performance of Hold Back the River by British singer James Bay. (See video of his performance below)

On Monday night’s show, the remaining 10 acts performed songs that have appeared in the top 10 charts.

“This should be easy for you because you already have a top-10 hit under your belt,” Villanueva was told by American rocker Chris Isaak, who is a judge on the show and his mentor. Last week, Villanueva’s recording of Isaak’s song, Wicked Game, peaked at No 1 on the iTunes charts – quite a feat, as none of the other contestants have made the charts at all so far.

This week the 19-year-old Filipino-­Australian student, from Wollongong, New South Wales, was given the job of ­closing the show. It was another triumph.

Judge Guy Sebastian said: “Cyrus, your voice is incredible. Anything you sing sounds amazing. I love that song – I love your treatment of it. It was amazing.”

“No wonder they kept you until the end because you ruined the stage,” said James Blunt. “Cyrus, you’re the front-runner. You are the man that everyone has to try to beat.” Details