Misha B's college friends rally to ensure survival in X Factor's double elimination this weekend

By James Haviland

Longsight local Misha B’s supporters are rallying to ensure she is not in the bottom three for this Sunday’s X Factor double eviction.

Misha (Misha Bryan) survived the bottom two and the sing off, to make it into the final nine of the competition, last week.

Students and staff at Misha’s college, Trafford College Music Base, are organising support through Facebook, Twitter and a poster campaign as well as traveling to the live shows each week.

Misha’s Vocal Tutor Leanne Brown said: “I want Misha to embrace being in the bottom two as a point from which she can only go up. 

“She needs to take on the reasons as to why she may have been in the bottom two and use the softer tones in her voice to prove that she is not a one trick pony.

“She also needs to portray the more friendly and humane side of her personality, for which she is best known for at the Music Base”.

Head of Music for Trafford College, Jacqueline Hewitt, said: “We were all stunned when Misha ended up in the bottom two last week, the worry is that the voting public think she already has a career and so vote for the other contestants who may need them more, but Misha needs the support of everyone to help her progress in the competition.”

Misha had just enrolled in her second year of a vocal artist course when she moved to London to take part in the X Factor.

Friend and fellow student Naomi Read said: “It was clear how emotional Misha was in the sing off, but she did such a brilliant job and I’m so proud of the way she handled herself.

“Misha has worked so hard to get where she is today by performing in Manchester every weekend and building up her fan base.

“She has practiced to become the best she can be, and now she has the opportunity to work with professionals and all her hard work is paying off”.

Misha, who influences include Beyonce, James Brown, Michael Jackson and Aretha Franklin could often be found busking outside Manchester’s Arndale shopping centre, on Market Street.

She has also previously performed in the Arndale with a group from the Zion Arts Centre, which offers workshops in dance, drama, music, radio, visual & digital arts for young people. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbBAj9rzu7o

Daniel Jarvis from the Zion Arts Centre said: “All I can say is that obviously she is really, amazingly, talented. It’s great to see someone from the area making it big.

“She’s obviously also a really good role model, we have a lot of young teenagers who come to our music department who dream of achieving something like Misha so it’s really positive to see that she’s making a star of herself.”

Misha can be seen on Saturday and Sunday on ITV 1 at 8.00pm and for details on how to vote visit http://xfactor.itv.com/2011/vote/