Fame Academy is now down to the last four contestants

The 27-year-old, from Cardiff, lost to Peter in the student vote, after performing the John Lennon song Woman.

Carolynne, who performed Celine Dion's Think Twice, won the teacher vote, while Alex and Alastair were voted back in by the public.

Only four students now remain in the Academy, with one more eviction before the final on October 4.

Alex sang Here Comes the Rain and Alistair Lately. Alex has emerged as the bookies' favourite to win the competition at 2/5, with Alistair and Peter second-equal with odds of 4-1, according to William Hill.

James had been saved from eviction thanks to a public vote last week.

Pop Idol finalists

The show, one of the BBC's flagship entertainment shows, drew audiences of up to 5.6 million viewers, with an audience share of 28.1%.

Meanwhile, Pop Idol hopefuls Kirsty Crawford and Brian Ormond have become the latest two contestants to reach the show's final.

Kirsty, from Northants, won Saturday night's heat with 19.9% of the vote, while Irish singer Brian picked up 16.6% to take second place.

The pair join last week's winners Michelle McManus and Chris Hyde.

The heat was one of the most closely fought yet, with third placed contestant Susanne Manning missing out on a final place by just 0.7%.

Pop Idol's viewing figures reached a high of 6.7 million, with an audience share of as much as 34.4%.