YOU know how a joke is funny once, amusing the second time, and then starts to get old very quickly?

That’s exactly how I’m feeling about the antics of future kids’ TV presenters John and Edward.

I wept tears of mirth when they did Britney, chuckled at last week’s Ricky Martin, and yawned through We Will Rock You, Halloween outfits and all.

Yet still they survive, never having once dropped into the dreaded Bottom Two.

And that’s not something poor old Rachel Adedeji could boast, making her third bid to stay in the game on Sunday night. Not only was her rendition of Oasis’s Crying Your Heart Out better than poor old laryngitic Lloyd’s effort, it was better than a lot of the dross from the Saturday show.

But, despite having a decent voice, she never really seemed to quite be sure who she was, which is inevitably fatal in the X Factor. The jarring switch from sulky New New Romantic to a bouncy, be-bobbed, shiny dress wearer never really paid off.

Besides, it’s rare I feel any sympathy for the contestants, but Lloyd’s brave attempts to stumble through his survival song with his voice cracking was actually quite moving. I just hope it was a throat infection, and not puberty setting in.

A second chance was surely deserved, but will he get a break with next week’s theme? Who knows, as it all depends who has a record out next week and wants to push it on Sunday’s show, it seems.

(I’ve just checked and it’s the Black-Eyed Peas and Leona Lewis, so frankly your guess is as good as mine) This week it was Bon Jovi, so let’s rock.

I’m starting to think a Joe vs Olly final isn’t beyond the realms of possibility. Both are reasonably charismatic and consistent performers, and could go the distance.

However, Olly, who blotted his copybook with a self-inflicted “wardrobe malfunction” even clumsier than Buck Fizz’s, has been labelled “a dark horse” by Louis, which is usually the kiss of death.

For the girls, ever-improving Lucie seemed much better suited to rock chick than diva, and might just outlast early favourite Stacey, who’s suffering a bit of a Rachel-style identity crisis. This week she was back to Guitar-based Pop Queen, which is not at all what I expected but definitely worked. Keep her away from Disney songs and she might still do well.

Lloyd was lacklustre, but had his vocal excuses, while Danyl looked a broken man, or at least looked as if he’d been told to act that way.

Rocker Jamie did okay, but had a dull old song to work with, something that’s becoming a bit of a theme this year.

Maybe, just in case Cowell and co need a bit more cash, we could start voting on what song everyone should sing.

Better yet, they could spice up the results show by having the surviving competitors draw their song for next week randomly from a selection of, say, 100 classics from that theme.

At least it would be more exciting than waiting to see if J&E (I refuse to call them “Jedward”) finally get their come-uppance.

Although, if they sing Let’s Get Ready To Rumble, I might give them another week…