Cher Lloyd's eyes flash defiance, although a smile plays across her lips. "I didn't listen to Girls Aloud growing up, no way," she says scornfully. "Too cheesy, man! I listened to grime, garage, bashment." Then she bursts out laughing, one of the few times she seems to relax, knowing how ironic her تبصرے sound.

This time last year, Lloyd's name was known only to those residents of her ہوم town who had noticed the teenager with what she describes as the "quirky clothes and ever-changing hairstyle", as well as the producers and judges of The X Factor (including her soon-to-be mentor Cheryl...