I'd Do Anything: Ashley is out!

Scottish Nancy wannabe Ashley Russell has become the latest casualty of BBC1's I'd Do Anything , after losing out to Niamh in the sing-off.

The 24-year-old drama teacher, who had been the bookies' favourite for the chop, was sent packing after she and Niamh had performed the Andrew Lloyd Webber classic Don't Cry For Me Argentina in an effort to stay in the contest.

Lloyd Webber described this week's sing-off as "weird".

"You've got Niamh, the young girl, and Ashley, singing a song which is a very political song about a woman who is giving a speech, and it's a bit odd," he said.

Ultimately however, after much deliberation, he saved Niamh. "I said she was a little young for this, and I was very hard on you," he told Ashley.

Following the decision, Ashley said she was "proud" of all she had achieved in the competition.

"You have got a fantastic talent," Lloyd Webber said, "it's just that you don't completely communicate that when you're on stage. "But I would really love to work with you one day."

Ashley had come in for some criticism on Saturday evening's show for her rendition of the Aretha Franklin classic Say A Little Prayer.

"You didn't connect with the words remotely tonight," Lloyd Webber told her, while John described her performance as "a little cheesy. Remember, less is more," he said.

Niamh's version of the Cyndi Lauper ballad True Colours also received a mixed reaction from the panel.

"It's hard to imagine you saying you'll put your mark on Bill Sykes," Barry Humphries told her. However Denise Van Outen disagreed. "You are slight but very powerhouse," she said.

Rachel, who was saved from elimination by Lloyd Webber on last week's show, also found herself on rocky ground with the judges - but there was praise for Samantha and Jodie, who both made it through to next week's quarter-final.

The remaining six girls also gave two performances as trios - Jessie, Niamh and Samantha singing Candyman, and Rachel, Ashley and Jodie singing Shania Twain's Man I Feel Like A Woman.

Meanwhile, 11-year-old Laurence became the latest Oliver hopeful to be put through to the semi-final.