Singer Danny Tetley has been forced to restart his performance following a technical blunder during the first of this year’s X Factor live shows.

Tetley, 37, paused his performance of Mariah Carey’s Hero after another contestant’s name was announced as he appeared on stage.

After Liverpudlian vocalist Anthony Russell’s name was read out, the singer turned to the judges and asked: “Sorry, can I start again?”

X Factor 2018
Danny Tetley was forced to pause his performance of Mariah Carey’s Hero (ITV/PA)

Tetley, who auditioned on Pop Idol 17 years ago, performs to audiences in the Spanish resort town of Benidorm.

He received praise for his second take of the track, with Simon Cowell telling him the distraction had actually improved the quality of his performance.

He said: “Don’t feel bad about what happened because it made you better in my opinion, so who cares?”

Former One Direction star Louis Tomlinson added: “The pressure of what just happened to you and you picked yourself up and delivered that vocal, you should be really proud of yourself.”

Robbie Williams suggested that the singer was like “Mariah Carey with a beard”.

Across the other 16 acts, Robbie proclaimed boy band United Vibe’s performance to be “leaps and bounds beyond One Direction”.

The 15-strong LMA Choir was also celebrated by the judges as they became the first choir to progress to the live stage of the competition.

Teenage hip hop duo Acacia and Aaliyah delivered an energetic performance that split the judges, with Cowell suggesting it was “too American”.

Sixteen artists and groups made it through the testing six chair challenge before travelling to the judge’s houses.

There Robbie Williams, Ayda Williams, Louis Tomlinson and Simon Cowell each selected four artists or groups to make it through to the live performance stage.

Each Sunday for the next seven weeks at least one act will exit the competition.

The X Factor results show will air on ITV at 8pm tommorow.