Genuinely so surprised (in a good way) that she's made the semi finals but I don't quite understand how. Considering how bad of a start she had it's astounding that she's came this far and gone from no support n being in the bottom 2 back to back too surviving on the public vote alone and qualifying for the semis.

She's definitely my favourite left in but I was wondering if anyone had an idea at which point she turned things around cause it really is unpresidented for someone in XF UK to have such a turnaround.

I reckon the producers put her in as some cannon fodder for the live shows, the first few weeks showed that and I think her sing off performances and genuine desire to succeed persuaded them to try and give her a chance. I reckon she might have had a big vote in Week 3 for Its oh so quiet and the producers have latched onto the fact she could add something to the show both vocally and performance wise (Whereas Let it Go and River Deep didn't show that)

So I think it's through basic grit and hard work that she's changed minds. She managed to get through from an opening slot in Week 6 (Disco Week) which suggests she was starting to get a strong vote and they've run with it. Personally, I think she's been rather clever about the whole thing and her previous Talent show appearances have helped her know what to expect and how to play the game.

I would rather they had kept Sada Vidoo, she is fantastic and her version of The Winner Takes It All is top class.

She worked really, really hard on perfecting her English, came over here to audition, got through, consistently showcased her excellent voice, was up for any genre, did not look moody or angry when in the final two, always aced the sing offs, reacted in a really cute, jubilant, ebullient, grateful way when she got through to the next round.

Last week, she grabbed the LGBT vote with both hands, by being interviewed with her girlfriend in OK and by singing Abba and launching into musical theatre.

She would be my favourite to win too, but I can't get past the fact that she's already a professional recording artist who's worked in musical theatre and released several albums.

I think more than anything her positive, upbeat attitude has won the hearts of the UK viewers. She's had so much crap thrown at her but she's always remained cheerful and never looked defeated or resigned to her early fate as fodder.

hard work, and quality, pretty much it,

i Guess you still haven't read/understood that she's NOT a professional recording artist ?
She's done so well in the competition because she's the best singer in this bunch and even when she's been in the bottom 2 she's totally mastered sing-offs, leaving judges virtually no choice but to save her.

She is though, she's released three albums in Europe.

Those albums are all self-released from a label she set up with her (ex)boyfriend.

I think being in the sing off actually helped her because she showed how good her voice is. She just seems to be gaining momentum week on week while the others don't seem to be showing anywhere near as much improvement. I think she's working the hardest and is showing some fight which is endearing her to the voters.

Can't help but get behind her, everyone loves an underdog persevering even when she wasn't one of the chosen ones.

Hope she's in the final.

She has never had a recording deal. She has paid all the albums herself.

Her path to success is running parallel to Samantha Jade in the OZ series a few years back. Sam (also in the overs category) was in the bottom 2 three times but after a standout Kayne West performance she totally turned things around and ended up winning!

I don't really understand the point of not accepting someone with a bit more experience to enter the show. She was not going to ever break through without X Factor, she had no choice.

Is it really right to deny someone access to the show just because they've tried hard before? Doesn't make sense to me to say she shouldn't enter the competition because she's had a few musical roles in tiny Finland and self published a couple of records to mediocre success.

She's tried, and not had that much success before. Now she's trying a different route. I'd rather just congratulate her for the massive effort she's done to reach this point. It's not as if she's just trying to "win more" by entering the X Factor.

I think Saara has been gaining more and more support, which is good, have to say I wasnt a Saara fan at the start, but now I love her and want her to win.

Working hard and keeping a positive attitude.

I also think she probably charmed some of the producers, because they did a complete u-turn on their treatment of her. Plus she spent a lot of time engaging with her supporters on Facebook etc giving her a very loyal and dedicated fanbase.

Its an interesting one because i don't think anyone apart from maybe saara saw it coming

I thought Simon and co would lose her and throw her much further under the bus but i think even he realised all the other GOOD talent was left at judges houses or earlier

She totally shone during her bottom 2 sing offs and gained more fans and each week has risen above the rubbish other performances

Excited to see her each week

She was always the best singer but the least popular contestant. The real question we should ask is, why was she unpopular in the first place?

She has been my favourite from the very beginning. Her performance of Let it Go caught my eye, and I've backed her to win ever since. She would be a much more interesting winner than Matt who is just another pretty boy singer who will fade into obscurity.

Her edit from 6 chair challenge until Week 3 was probably the worst I have ever seen. Booed off stage at 6 chair and heavily criticised by the judges for having the audacity to sing in French. Brought back for judges houses to be criticised by Sharon and Robbie Williams for being "cold" with basically no positive comments about her. Put through to the live shows where she was again called "cold", "arrogant", "Zara from Norway". Even her own mentor made her dislike of her clear.

Might interest you.

https://youtu.be/PVq1sE4Kl2Q

https://youtu.be/6deGbMMA9pw

if the ratings were still good she could have won like Sam Bailey, but now the show is mostly watched only by teen girls so even the final would be great

I saw a lot of comments on here about her behaviour at 6CC, so it probably had something to do with that. The problem is that much of what we see during the auditions is staged. Remember the random girl who 'invaded' the audition room during someone else's audition? I don't think for a moment that she genuinely decided to do that on the spur of the moment, not least because I doubt you could just walk from the 'holding room' to the 'audition room' without a security bod stepping in. Most likely, someone from the production team encouraged her to do it (making sure that both security bods and judges were aware of the plan).

I'd guess that someone had a word with Saara at 6CC in much the same way, and unfortunately, viewers bought it. I tend not to watch most of the auditions, but I did see Saara's first one (Chandelier), which I loved. I didn't watch Bootcamp, 6CC (which I think is appalling - just treat the auditionees like adults and tell them which 6 have made Judges' Houses!), watched two JH sessions (Groups and Girls) and missed the other two. So I didn't have any negative feelings towards Saara at all when it came to the first live show. I found it odd to hear the negative comments.

It wouldn't surprise me if Saara was put through to the lives with the intention of being 'cannon fodder', but the problem with that was that she a) had a personality and b) could really sing, so when she did end up in sing-offs, it wasn't a problem for her - she just got on with it and performed brilliantly. I also think the public have responded to that.

Lucky early on to be saved.
I have naive hope that the longer she stayed the more people started to vote for her singing.
She has benefited from being among a truly rubbish bunch this year.

Yes, those remarks against her were ridiculous and even then didn't go with the edit.

I guess they just wanted the person from a 'cold' country to have a cold personality?! That was what it felt like. A stupid one-note joke, and twisting Saara's natural sweet, bubbly and humble personality to achieve that.