X-Factor finals countdown Square Eye On the edge: Dami Im, Queensland music teacher. When Jacinta Gulisano entered The X-Factor as a solo artist, she never imagined she would end up among the four acts in the finals. Particularly because she's no longer on her own, but part of a group - Third D3gree - that was put together during the show. We are so excited to be in top four [acts], we still can't believe it. I mean, going from complete strangers to now, we're just so grateful and so happy," Jacinta says, of her newfound success with her bandmates Kelebek (whose real name is Vanessa Skrypczak) and Jordan Rodrigues. The sassy, stylish group has Natalie Bassingthwaighte as their mentor on the show. "We've seen how much potential it has and, yeah, we're just having the best time," Jacinta says. It's now an accepted thing for bands to be created - and celebrated - on the hit talent show, in front of a viewing audience which has swelled this year to impressive numbers - 1.6 million people tuned in last week. Expectations are high for a huge audience in the finals week, leading to the grand final next Monday night. Aside from Third D3gree (the only group remaining) the finalists are Dami Im, who has long been touted as having the potential to win, plus sentimental favourite Jai Waetford from Sydney and Victorian singer Taylor Henderson. Dami, the 24-year-old music teacher who has forged a dramatic performance persona on the show, admits the pressure - and rehearsals schedule - is now intense for the finalists. "Now everybody knows they're so close to possibly winning, so everybody's really feeling the pressure and a bit stressed out," she says. This week is the busiest week we've had. Everybody has triple the amount of work to do, with vocals but also doing more photo shoots, movement and dance workshops. Our schedule's just crazy, we've got no rest. But Dami hasn't lost her sense of wonder at being on the show. "It's still really unbelievable that I've come this far - it's just amazing," she says. Of course, all the finals activity is taking place under the watchful eyes of the judging panel - Dannii Minogue, Ronan Keating, Redfoo and Bassingthwaighte. Redfoo is the only judge without a contestant in the final, but he's already emerged a winner from his role on the show this year - his single Let's Get Ridiculous, which was debuted on The X-Factor, went straight to No 1 on the ARIA charts. The two remaining male contestants on the show - 14-year-old Jai Waetford and 19-year-old Taylor Henderson - would love to emulate that level of success. "I think music is a gift and every time I sing, I treat it like that," Jai says. It makes my life feel better. There's heaps of pressure getting into the top four. They're all amazing people and we're close, so it's going to be hard to fight not to go," he says. For Taylor, it is about doing the best he can, no matter what the result. I'm amazed every day that I'm here. I didn't think I would get this far especially looking at the other talent that's in the competition ... I'm just trying to keep focused. The schedule on this show has been crazy. We've been so busy but I've had a great time and if it ends this week, I'll obviously be upset but just so grateful I've had this opportunity. Amid the finals hype, it won't just be the usual X-Factor artists gaining attention. Seven has lined up a blockbuster grand final show, with scheduled appearances from One Direction, pop star Katy Perry and Fall Out Boy. It is indeed fitting for the program which has been one of the network's biggest successes this year. The X-Factor airs on Sunday nights at 6.30pm and Mondays at 7.30pm on Seven, with the grand final taking place next Monday night. Capon fronts art show He was renowned as the director of the Art Gallery of NSW for three decades but now Edmund Capon has stepped into an entirely different medium: television. "This is a new venture for me," he says, of his role presenting Art of Australia, a three-part series which airs on the ABC from Tuesday night. He says presenting stories about art on television was an entirely different prospect to musing over it with colleagues and friends. Television's a very succinct medium that likes to deal with short, sharp anecdotes and facts. It's not a place for rumination or contemplation and unfolding opinions, which of course really is the story of art," he says. Capon emphasises the show is focused on the history of Australia, as seen through art. In almost three decades I've sort of been trying to get the rest of the world to look at Australian art and I have to say, it has been a job, it's been very difficult. To be honest, we had very limited success - we did a few shows in Europe, a few in Asia, but you know people still don't really know about Australian art ... they barely knew Australia had art," he says. So when this idea was put to me, in about March of last year, I felt this was an opportunity to do something which I think needs to be done. Apart from its airing in Australia on the ABC, Capon says the series was created to tie into a larger BBC series on art from countries across the world. "Really the platform, the narrative is history and how it is revealed through art, so it gives art a real purpose," Capon says. From indigenous art in outback Australia through to the use of iconic structures such as the Sydney Harbour Bridge in paintings, Capon's documentary series explores a number of different periods in the nation's history. Art of Australia airs on ABC1 from 8.30pm on Tuesday night.