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Monday, October 20, 2008, 08:00
Marisa Billitteri, 20, from Kingswood, Tita and Phoebe Lau, 20 and 18, from Whitehall and Layla Manoochehri, 22, from Birmingham, shed tears of disappointment and disbelief when they were left in the bottom two acts for the second week running after the public voted on Saturday night.
Marisa said: "Oh my God. Here we are again."
The show had a Michael Jackson theme and the girls dazzled the audience in ivory dresses and gave a heartfelt rendition of Heal The World.
It wasn't enough to convince viewers to pick up the phone and dial the number to vote Girlband, however.
The girls will now return home to recover from the disappointment of leaving the competition.
But they plan to stick together, at least until The X Factor tour takes place next February, and there have been encouraging signs from their mentor Louis Walsh.
Speaking to the Bristol Evening Post last night, Marisa's father John said he had been told by Walsh that the band should stay together and that they were "still part of his plans".
Mr Billitteri said: "He's definitely still interested in them.
"I spoke to him for quarter of an hour after the show on Saturday night and really said that he wants them to stay together.
"They are still part of his plans, maybe with another member, and he said he could find some work for them."
Mr Billitteri said he expected the girls to spend a couple of weeks relaxing and getting over the experience of performing on one of the nation's biggest entertainment shows.
He said: "Of course it's going to be depressing for them for a bit, but they have done really well to get so far.
"It's just a bit disappointing that they didn't do even better, but I want to thank everyone for their support.
"I haven't seen them properly for three weeks so it will be good to see them again. But the future's bright."
At the Golden Dragon in Downend, owned by Tita and Phoebe's father Chun Lau, staff and customers let out a gasp of shock as they realised the girls were set to sing for survival yet again.
The girls' survival song was Aerosmith's Don't Wanna Miss a Thing because, as Marisa put it on the live show with such conviction: "We don't want to miss a single bit of The X Factor. We want to stay."
They were up against Ruth Lorenzo, a member of Dannii Minogue's over-25s category, singing Prince's Purple Rain.
Both acts sang their hearts out and put their all into their performances.
There were groans of disappointment in the Golden Dragon as judges Simon Cowell and Louis voted off Ruth and Cheryl Cole and Dannii voted off Girlband – creating a deadlock, prolonging the agony and putting the decision down to the earlier public vote.
As presenter Dermot O'Leary read out the result, Girlband realised their dream was over far too soon.
According to a showbiz gossip website, Phoebe said: "It's been the most amazing journey ever – I'm just so happy we even got this far."
Mr Lau, aged 44, said: "I feel for my kids. I really feel gutted for them. They have done very well but have had to go through a lot with all this pressure.
"I am so proud of what they have done. Out of more than 180,000 acts they came down to the final 12. It's amazing.
"I think they will be looking forward to The X Factor tour and I know that even though they have gone out of the competition they will make the most of the opportunity it has given them. It will be great to have them home. It's been far too quiet around the house."
Ling Thomas, Tita and Phoebe's aunt, said: "I'm so, so gutted. They performed the best they have so far and they showed what they can really do. It's just really unfortunate that the public wasn't behind them.
"I think it will make them stronger. I think the experience has been phenomenal for them and they can take that away and build on it.
"They have got so much more to give and they are all still really young.
"They shouldn't have been voted off. They didn't deserve that."
Mr Billitteri said: "I just feel so numb. Marisa is devastated and they all are.
"I want to thank all the Bristol Evening Post readers and the Bristol Evening Post, who really got behind Girlband.
"Marisa said last week that she felt she had let Bristol down when they were left in the bottom two, but I do feel in some ways that people in Bristol let Girlband down by being negative and knocking them and not voting.
"I think they deserve more credit than people gave them and we didn't get the chance to see the best of them.
"They have done me and all their families proud and I hope those who supported them feel the same.
"They auditioned along with 184,000 people, so to get down to the last 11 acts is an incredible achievement.
"Whatever Girlband have planned I know Marisa won't give up. She'll keep going and going because it is her dream."
After the final result, mentor Louis Walsh said: "They sang their hearts out, they did their best – I'm absolutely glad I picked them. If I was doing it all over again I would pick these girls."
The result means that Walsh now has just one act, boyband JLS, left in his group's category after two weeks of live shows.
The Golden Dragon
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