8 unforgettable Irish X Factor contestants

If you're not a big X Factor fan then you might want to hide the remote because it's time for the smash hit TV series to return to our screens for yet another year.

The X Factor lands on TV3 and UTV this Saturday night, bringing Louis, Nicole, Gary and, of course, the one and only Mrs O back into our living rooms. They'll be hunting for yet another superstar/one hit wonder to serenade us come Christmas time, and we hear Irish gal Melanie McCabe is in the running once again.

That particular piece of news got us thinking about the Irish contestants of yesteryear so, in celebration of that, errr, mixed bag of would-be superstars, here are just 8 unforgettable Irish X Factor contestants who've made things more interesting for us on this side of the sea:

1. Tabby Callaghan (2004)
Sligo man Tabby was the first man up to bat for the Irish back in the day. He auditioned with a band first, before being encouraged by the judges to try and go solo. Sharon loved her Irish fella to bits, and sure didn't he even finish third overall?

2. Niall Horan (2010)
He told us in no uncertain terms that he'd been compared to Justin Bieber a few times before giving a bit of a mediocre audition that almost didn't get him through, but sure didn't this young fella do ok for himself in the end?

3, Mary Byrne (2010)
The singing Tesco checkout lady that could warmed the hearts of millions as she did it for the Dubs back in 2010. Her first audition had the crowd in the capital on their feet, and Louis held on for dear life to his Ballyfermot belle before she finished in 5th place. Robbed, so she was.

4. Jedward (2009)
Well, what can we say? This pair defied the odds by surviving the public vote and that Lucie Jones bottom two face-off. 5 years and two Eurovision Song Contests later, the twins are still going, err, strong. Who'd have thought, eh?

5. The Conway Sisters (2005)
After The Corrs came The Conway Sisters, a bunch of singing siblings from Sligo who made it all the way to the live shows with Simon Cowell, only to have him vote them off the show. It was the first and only time in X Factor history that a mentor voted to boot off their own act. They parted ways professionally less than a year later.

6. Eoghan Quigg (2008)
This young Dungiven lad knew how to work the cameras, tried his Irish charm out on Diana Vickers, tackled High School Musical and even took to the stage with Boyzone. Eoghan made it all the way to the final, but ultimately couldn't topple JLS and Alexandra Burke. Simon still snapped him up anyway, albeit for a short while...

7. Melanie McCabe (Various)
Ah Melanie. As we mentioned above, she's been through the process three times already, but never managed to make it past those judges' houses. That hasn't stopped her coming back for more this year though. Here's a reminder of her previous attempts.

8. Janet Devlin (2011)
When she first landed on the stage she looked meek, mild and shy, but Irish lass Janet Devlin became the bookies' favourite the moment she opened her mouth. They dyed her hair and dressed her up, and sure she even went on to top the vote for weeks, but sadly for Ms Devlin, X Factor glory wasn't in the mix.