LITTLE Mix are eyeing a mega-deal stairway to superstardom tonight as the girlband Simon Cowell hopes to turn into the next Spice Girls were crowned X Factor winners.
The four-piece went up against Liverpool's Marcus Collins in the final just 24 hours after comeback queen Amelia Lily, 17, was booted off in third place.
They were favourites to win the title tonight after weeks of mentoring from N-Dubz star Tulisa Contostavlos.
Show mogul Cowell had already given them his backing, saying "Little Mix won the night" yesterday.
The girls - Jade Thirlwall, 18, Perrie Edwards, 18, Jesy Nelson, 20, and Leigh-Anne Pinnock, 19, made history by becoming the first girl band to win.
And they were already the first girlband to make it to the final. Tulisa had already told how she thought they "deserve this more than anyone".
They had never met before forming up when thrown together for the competition.
In another first for the ITV1 show, all the finalists had teamed up with their mentors to play to a 10,000 strong audience at London's Wembley Arena last night.
Little Mix's choice of an Alicia Keys medley with N-Dubz star Tulisa went down a storm.
Collins, a 23-year-old hairdresser from Crosby, was dignified in defeat and Amelia promised fans they hadn't seen the last of her.
Clearly delighted with her charges, Tulisa said after their performance last night: "I really have met friends - such true, genuine, talented young ladies who deserve this more than anyone I know."
Former X Factor contestants JLS told Xtra Factor presenter Caroline Flack, who is dating One Direction's Harry Styles, that they had backed the girls since the beginning of the series.
Fans started queuing at 4am this morning in anticipation of tonight's extravaganza.
Devotees Anoushka Marks, 17 and Elivia Trup, 16, waited in the cold to score the best seat possible for tonight's show.
The girls snuggled up under a pink blanket and wore thick coats.
Nicola Carterchurch, 34, from Bournemouth, added: "The night before there were people camped out under the bridge with pillows and dressing gowns."
Perrie (the blond) is the "voice" of the group, but unlike The Saturdays, All Saints or (if I'm being honest) Girls Aloud, they can all carry a credible tune.
This is the only formation on the planet wherein the black one has the weakest voice.
Girls Aloud should be very afraid!! Little Mix are going to be massive!!
Girls Aloud have nothing to fear. They're already established.
But another group, with an album that lasted one week in the Top 40 and STILL no number one single, should be buying their burial plot right about now.
Perrie (the blond) is the "voice" of the group, but unlike The Saturdays, All Saints or (if I'm being honest) Girls Aloud, they can all carry a credible tune.
This is the only formation on the planet wherein the black one has the weakest voice.
Do you think they have what it takes to break into the US market? Their overall vocals are arguably stronger than any of the other girl bands that the UK has produced.
Do you think they have what it takes to break into the US market? Their overall vocals are arguably stronger than any of the other girl bands that the UK has produced.
The US likes things that are slick and precise. A lot of the UK girl groups ... aren't. (have you ever seen a Sugababes performance? There's a reason they only did arenas when they opened up for Take That.) [Girls Aloud is a very ... the first three albums contained videos that could not have cost more than 50-100K each] {The Saturdays make Rihanna look like Katharine Graham and sound like Patti Labelle}
The Spice Girls made it because they were precise, in an off-shoot way? Can Little Mix do the same? They have to break Europe and Japan first.