X FACTOR frontrunner Jahmene Douglas overcame a week of self-doubt to deliver a spine-tingling performance as he stormed through to another live round.

And while the singer basked in the glory of another fabulous weekend, more details emerged the cruelty he suffered at the hands of his father when he was a child – with the situation so desperate that Jahmene attempted to take his own life.

On Saturday Jahmene gave a powerful performance of Robbie Williams’ Angels in best of British week.

His rendition, adding a choir and tweaked to allow his soaring vocals to stand out, won lavish praise from the ITV1 show’s judges as girls in the crowd chanted his name.

Jahmene was voted through yesterday as he revealed more details about his suffering at the hands of his cruel father.

The singer told a national newspaper that the daily beatings led him to lock himself in his bathroom and take a handful of pills. His brother Daniel saved him – but would later take his own life, telling his young sibling in a suicide note never to stop singing.

“Daniel was an inspiration to me on so many levels,” Jahmene said. “He was an amazing person, who excelled at everything he did. When things were at their worst with Dad, talking to him helped me escape mentally.”

But Jahmene had revealed before the weekend’s live shows that he has been his own biggest critic – despite being repeatedly told he was destined for stardom. He said: “I found last week quite bad. I hate watching my performance back. One of the hardest lessons is believing in yourself. I still feel about 60 per cent.” His mentor, Nicole Scherzinger, said: “The biggest hurdle with Jahmene is self-belief and self-confidence. The only person who has a hard time believing in Jahmene is Jahmene.”

In an effort to make him believe in himself, Nicole put Jahmene on the phone to former American Idol contestant Jennifer Hudson, who told the singer: “Your voice is unbelievable. Keep singing and when you get nervous remember these people are people just like you. Don’t be afraid.”

Dressed in a shiny brown suit with a black tie and sporting a tram line in his hair, the shy 21-year-old appeared to be glowing with confidence as he delivered the ballad.

The Swindonian was told by Louis Walsh: “You have got this thing called star quality. You definitely have to be in the X Factor. You are a star in the making.”

Tulisa Contostavlos rubbished reports that she had taken a dig at Jahmene’s ability to sell records as “nonsense” as she tipped him to “tear up the music industry”.

She said: “If you take an old school classic and do it in this day and age, that’s how you do it. I love the fact you are a perfectionist. That’s why you got to where you are today and why your performances are so perfect.” Former Take That member Gary Barlow said he had heard Angels sung hundreds of times at talent shows but “never like that before”.

Nicole said: “Once you realise how great you truly are you are going to the top.

“You’ll be unstoppable, baby.”