PUPILS at the Rudolph Steiner School in Kings Langley got an extra special X Factor sparkle to their annual firework display as the remaining contestants in the compulsive ITV Saturday night talent show came to film in the grounds.

Students had heard rumours but no one was taking it seriously and parents received a poster on the morning of the fair announcing the VIP special guests.

Tipped off, the Watford Observer was given access to take pictures and chat with the stars but on arrival the scrum of bodies made contact nigh on impossible. Rachel Hylton managed a cheery wave and a hello before being whisked off to film a piece to camera before the colourful pyrotechnics.

Up on a grassy knoll and screened by a forest of evergreens, the scene resembled something out of The Wicker Man as bodies surged back and forth silhouetted against the flames of the bonfire.

Senior students had been instructed to form a human cordon around the VIPs but young children pushed forward between legs to catch a glimpse of their X Factor favourites.

“I touched one of them”, “Where’s the X Factor?” and “I hugged all of JLS” came the jubliant cries from the crowd. People fell from the mound and into the pond flanking a private house trying to grab their moment with the finalists.

Persistent to the end, my chance finally came and I tagged along behind the ITV mobile camera unit down a path in the pitch black, stumbling along and thinking it was turning into an outtake from The Blair Witch Project.

Once away from the crowd I had the chance to take a few pics as most of the assembled finalists belted out an impromptu acoustic singalong to Oasis’ Wonderwall.

As a visibly shaken Owen and a weary but bubbly Diana Vickers posed for pictures, I asked the diminutive blonde starlet how the night compared to last week’s Quantum of Solace premiere.

From the looks of last Saturday’s programme, that affair had been a bit more dignified when it came to crowd control.

The quintessential performer, Diana, said: “Quantum of Solace was a big wow but I love firework displays. The spectacle and magic of it all is great.”

So where would Diana be enjoying the display back at home?

“I was just talking about that to the guys on the way up. I’d be in Wittam Park with all my family and friends. They have a fantastic display every year.”

And with that I pick my way back through the garden while the X Factor cast are ferried off and the crew head back to get their footage ready for Saturday night.

No doubt the whole of Kings Langley Steiner School will be avidly watching to catch themselves on screen with their heroes.