'The X Factor' 2011 auditions - First pictures

It's hard to believe that only a year ago the names Cardle, Cher, Wagner and Gamu meant nothing to us. The X Factor - the granddaddy of all reality TV shows - burns so incredibly brightly when it's on the box that it feels like we've known its characters forever.

This Saturday, a whole new rag-tag collective of singers, groups and warbling nightmares will be unleashed for another summer, autumn and Christmas of relentless X Factor joy. It's time to face the music once again.

The show faces its toughest ever challenge this year - how can you have The X Factor without Simon Cowell? Gary 'housewives favourite' Barlow, N-Dubz star and definitely-not-the-new-Cheryl Tulisa Contostavlos, booby US diva Kelly Rowland and everyone's favourite cuddly uncle Louis Walsh will be hoping to quash any fears that the show may have lost its sparkle without Uncle Si at the helm when it returns.

If all this waffle and reality TV hyperbole isn't enough to send you into a dizzying Dermot-esque spin of excitement, have a peruse through the first pictures of this year's X Factor acts below. If you haven't already started working on your Peter Dickson voiceover impression already, get cracking now.

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