Former X Factor winner James Arthur has hit back at fans who branded his performance “awful” and “flat”.
James, who won the show in 2012, returned to Wembley Arena to sing a duet with Anne-Marie, their version of Rewrite The Stars from The Greatest Showman.
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But fans were not at all impressed with the singers insisting their ears were bleeding after listening to the vocals.
“James Arthur and Anne Marie sounded AWFUL on X Factor,” wrote one.
Another added: “James murdering Greatest Showman.”
Omg James Arthur and Anne Marie sounded AWFUL on X factor!! James was okay but Anne Marie ….. Jesus! #xfactor
— Harrison Henderson (@Harrisonn_xo) December 2, 2018
https://twitter.com/martinrogers92/status/1069039762709905411
“My ears have only just stopped bleeding,” said a third, while a fourth added their duet was “painful”.
https://twitter.com/Light_Yagami128/status/1069002120819556352
@TheXFactor James Arthur & Ann-Marie doing their best to murder a great song. My ears are bleeding
— Tim Dixon (@TimD5783) December 1, 2018
https://twitter.com/angiestrongx/status/1068973641755500544
But James was quick to take to Twitter himself to thank the fans who did leave nice comments for him and Anne-Marie as well as pointing out there was a technical issue that made singing very difficult.
“Thanks for the nice comments about mine and @AnneMarie performance! However I don’t know why they had crowd mics blaring throughout and vocal levels all over.. not the mix we would’ve liked you to hear.”
Thanks for the nice comments about mine and @AnneMarie performance! However I don’t know why they had crowd mics blaring throughout and vocal levels all over.. not the mix we would’ve liked you to hear. X
— James Arthur (@JamesArthur23) December 1, 2018
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James’s friend and fellow 2012 contestant Rylan Clark-Neal immediately tweeted back that he knew something wasn’t right when James started singing.
“Knew the second u started you had a problem with ur ears. Still smashed it brother xxx.”
Knew the second u started you had a problem with ur ears. Still smashed it brother xxx
— R Y L A N (@Rylan) December 1, 2018
The show was hit by sound issues earlier in the series which meant the public vote had to be scrapped.
The X Factor Final is on Sunday at 7.30pm on ITV
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