Shirlena: 'I want to win for daughter'

X Factor hopeful Shirlena Johnson has claimed that she is aiming to win the ITV1 show for her daughter.

The singer, who performed an unusual cover of Duffy's 'Mercy' on Saturday's launch show, said that she hoped winning the programme would help her give a "better" life to 3-year-old Mariah.

"If I won the X Factor it would change my life because I'm doing it for Mariah. I want to give her a better life, the life she deserves," she told The Sun.

"I rely on my family and friends try to help me. I'm a single parent, I'm on benefits and life's really hard."

Speaking about her eccentric performance style, she said: "I know that whenever I perform I end up doing something else, it's like something else comes over me and I feel like I'm possessed. I'm definitely possessed with something."

At the Boot Camp stage, Johnson apparently performs a song while "possessed by a cat". Cheryl Cole described Simon Cowell and Louis Walsh as "mad" for putting her through to the second stage of the competition.

The X Factor continues next Saturday at 7.30pm on ITV1.