Sam Callahan has become the sixth act to be eliminated from 'The X Factor'.

The 19-year-old was sent home from the ITV competition following a sing-off with Luke Friend, who is also part of Louis Walsh's Boys category, during tonight's (17.11.13) live results show.

He performed 'Iris' by Goo Goo Dolls, after scoring poorly in the public vote, while messy-haired Luke, 17, performed U2's 'I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For'.

Louis chose not to vote, while Gary Barlow and Nicole Scherzinger decided to keep Luke in the competition.

Sharon subsequently revealed she would have opted to axe Sam from the competition as well, despite it being his ''best performance'' on the show to date.

Nicole told Luke: ''You absolutely sang your heart out up there. Tonight I really connected with you and I connect with you every night on all of your performances.''

She added: ''Sam, I knew you had it in you man, that's what I've been wanting every week, it's so frustrating.

''You finally just bared your heart and soul, but unfortunately at this point in the competition, with the vocal talent we have left, I'm sorry but the act I'm going to send home is Sam.''

Gary, who has criticised Sam for his vocal ability on a number of occasions, told him: ''It's not all bad news for you tonight, that was the best performance I've ever seen you do.

''Throughout this competition I've given you some honest and sometimes some harsh critiques and you've taken it like a man every time and with a work ethic like yours you're going to go extremely far in life.''

Gary also performed his new single 'Let Me Go' on the show, while Miley Cyrus sang her hit 'Wrecking Ball' on a giant sand dune.