Jake Quickenden doesn't want sympathy votes

'X Factor' hopeful Jake Quickenden doesn't want to get any sympathy votes.

The 23-year-old lifeguard wowed the judges with his performance of King's of Leon's hit 'Use Somebody' on Saturday night's (01.09.12) show but says he was too worried about singing an emotional ballad he had written about his late father because he didn't want it to seem as if he was playing on the tragedy.

Jake - whose dad, Paul, died in 2008 aged 52 after losing his battle with cancer - said: ''I've written one song about him. It was one of my choices for the first audition but I went for the other song instead.

''I never wanted to go in with the whole sob story thing because I want to be recognised for my music.''

Following the death of his beloved father, Jake's brother Oliver was diagnosed with a rare type of bone cancer, and the 18 year old has been fighting the disease ever since.

However, Jake doesn't want his family tragedies to overshadow his singing ability.

An 'X Factor' spokesman said: ''Oliver and Jake are best friends and, of course, Jake's family is his first priority. But he wants his voice to do the talking on this show.''