Producers 'turn down John & Edward mics'

Producers of The X Factor have been accused of intentionally drowning out John & Edward's vocal performances.

According to The Mirror, sound engineers are said to be "truly sick" at being "part of this manipulation" against viewers.

One source said: "I am disgusted. A colleague was threatened with the sack. The twins have had backing vocals on all their live performances so far.

"The sound crew are told to turn their mics down so their vocals are mostly covered by the backing singers. We are used to tweaking levels, it is part of the job but what we were asked to do on Saturday was beyond a joke."

They added: "During the twins' rehearsal, we were told to lower the levels on the twins' microphones to a ridiculous level.

"We were then told to raise the levels on the backing track so the pre-recorded session singers completely covered the sound of the appalling vocals of the twins."

Regarding John & Edward's performance of 'Under Pressure'/'Ice Ice Baby', they claimed: "The only time we were told we could raise the levels on their microphones was when they were rapping.

"One of the crew refused as he said it was unfair on the other acts and pulling the wool over viewers' eyes. But he was told he would no longer have a job if he didn't follow instructions, so he bit his lip and got on with it."

However, a show spokeswoman said: "All the contestants sing live on Saturday night and are given an equal amount of technical support."