Thanks to the flipping rugby, the live finals of X Factor won’t start until next Saturday – but that’s no reason to not get so excited about X Factor that we dance and sing and giggle and wee.

That’s because finally we know who the final 12 X Factor contestants are and, crucially, who didn’t make the X Factor cut. So that means little Luke, the sobbing three-year-old who cried so often that even the nation’s broody housewives ended up shouting “Pull yourself together you snivelling tit!” at the TV when he came on, won’t be in the X Factor finals – although we suspect he’ll be given a large part in the X Factor ‘here’s a performance by a bunch of people not even good enough to get to the finals’ routine midway through the last episode of the season. But enough about him, who’s going to win X Factor?

Until the live X Factor finals get going, we’ll be taking a look at each of the categories to see which is strongest. And we’re starting off with the X Factor betting odds for the 25 and over group, with help from Paddy Power…

25s And Over – There’s a reason why the over-25s never do well at X Factor any more, and surprisingly enough it isn’t Steve Brookstein. The X Factor over-25s are usually characterised by a sense of desperation so strong that they all may as well be singing their songs dressed up as Marley’s Ghost from A Christmas Carol. Add to this the fact that their manager for the duration of X Factor is Louis Walsh – a man who gives the impression that he’d rather have his legs sawn off at the knee than look after them – and it looks like the most attention they’ll get all series is when Simon Cowell tells them they’re too ugly to be popstars. But who are the X Factor over-25s this year? Well, there’s:

Beverley Trotman – an adopted primary school teacher with less self-esteem than an entire child-abuse convention determined to win X Factor for her pupils, even though the first thing she’ll do at the slightest sniff of success is jack in her job,

Niki Evans – a woman with the uncanny ability to turn every situation into a depressing anecdote about either her dead father or a hinted-at eating disorder. Calls to the Samaritans are expected to quadruple when she invariably dedicates I Have Nothing to her dead dad in week three, and

Daniel De Bourg – a man forced out of ballet dancing through injury who seems to play the ‘I’m just a single Dad trying to do right by my boy’ card at every single opportunity he gets. Daniel obviously loves his son enough to chase the superficial baubles of fame rather than give him a decent upbringing.

In a word, the over-25s are this year’s X Factor outsiders. Current X Factor betting odds – 4/1

Tomorrow - X Factor betting odds for the Female 14-24s. But if that’s too long to wait – or you feel like making more money than you know what to do with – head right over to the Paddy Power X Factor betting odds page to see the latest, and best, betting odds.