Cher Lloyd live at Manchester Academy

When a seemingly shy sixteen year-old girl took to the stage at 'The X Factor' auditions in 2010, no one could have possibly foreseen how much she would come to polarise public opinion. And after finishing fourth in the competition, there cannot have been many people that would have honestly expected Cher Lloyd to achieve as much as she has over the last 18 months.

A number one debut single, a top five album and now a nationwide tour (the majority of which is sold out) are considerable achievements for an 18-year-old, and Cher Lloyd seems particularly keen to do things her way.

Already performing the first song when she takes to the stage at Manchester Academy, Ms Lloyd chooses to open with 'Dub on the Track', an album track that features three current grime MC's and is a million miles from the bubble-gum pop of second-single 'With Ur Love'.

By the time Cher reaches her third song of the night - the unreleased 'Love Me for Me', the crowd of mostly teenage girls are singing along with her every word.

On her debut album 'Sticks + Stones', the half-way point is stand-out track 'Beautiful People' - a ballad that you would think may risk deflating the hyperactive atmosphere generated by fan favourites 'Swagger Jagger' and 'Superhero'. However, if anything, the exact opposite is true, with almost the entire crowd providing backing vocals.

When she takes a break and invites a member of her crew to take to the stage and relay questions asked by fans through Twitter, it becomes clear that Cher appreciates the role the social networking site has provided in growing and galvanising her band of hard-core fans, affectionately known as 'Brats'.

With only a ten-track album of material to call upon, it should perhaps come as no surprise that Cher has a few cover versions to share with the crowd, and her versio! ns of Ro byn's 'Dancing on my Own' and Avril Lavigne's 'Complicated' are as raucously received as any of her own compositions.

The final song of the night is current single 'Want U Back' - a sentiment echoed by the entire crowd as Cher leaves the stage.