JOHN AND Edward Grimes, the brothers from Lucan, Co Dublin, forever to be known as Jedward, were voted off ITV's X Factorshow last night.
Simon Cowell, part of the judging panel, called them an “unstoppable machine” but the twins came up against Olly Murs in the sing-off.
The twins' rendition of Boyzone's No Matter Whatwas subdued, with no dance routine and no tricks. Olly's polished performance of Eric Clapton's Wonderful Tonightwas too good for the brothers. Olly's fans wondered if judge Simon Cowell would abandon the singer, as he did with Welsh teenager Lucie Jones earlier in the series when she came up against the twins in a sing-off. But Cowell stuck with Olly, telling the twins: "I'm actually going to miss you, I am." Cheryl Cole also voted for Olly while Louis Walsh went with his act, John and Edward.
That left Dannii Minogue to ratchet up the tension. She said: “I’m going to have to judge it as I’ve judged it the whole time. On the premise that it’s a singing competition I will have to send home John and Edward.”
The pair remained all smiles as they were voted out, saying Olly deserved to go through and reach the final. One of the twins said: “It’s been the greatest experience of my life. We’re here every single weekend on live television having the greatest time of our life.” The other chipped in with: “It’s, like, deadly. It’s, like, so cool.”
Gary Burton, of bookmakers Coral, said the twins leaving the show had saved them from a £10 million (€11 million) payout.