[Images: Mr Paparazzi/Big Pictures Words: Samuel Nathan]
Despite the fact that he was kicked off the X Factor last weekend, Jamie “Afro” proved that he was still very popular with the general public when he performed in Rochdale yesterday.
The singer – who was making his first public appearance since leaving the reality show – was cheered on by crowds of adoring fans when he appeared in the city to sing and turn on the The Butt’s Christmas Lights. But after coming head-to-head with Lloyd Daniels in last weeks show, Jamie reckons he would still be in the competition if Simon, and the programme’s producers, had let him sing better songs. During an interview with the News Of The World the afro-headed singer said that he was regularly given the wrong tunes to sing as X Factor bosses always struggled to come to terms with his identity as an act. “You saw how well Sex On Fire by the Kings of Leon went down in my audition” Jamie explained. “A lot of people who watch the show might not have known the song, because it’s quite edgy, and modern – but it went down brilliantly. “But they wouldn’t let me do a similar song again. I wanted to do Mr Brightside by the Killers in the rock week but they vetoed it, saying nobody would have heard it… But that was the point – I wanted to try something that not everyone would have heard of, rather than going for the safe option.” Um, is it just us or is Mr Brightside a pretty famous song which most of us have actually heard of? Anyway, Jamie then went on to conclude that being a “rock singer” was his ultimate downfall: “I just don’t think they knew what to do with me because there had never been a rock singer on the show before…In the end I wasn’t miserable, but I had lost confidence up there.” Don’t blame the songs Jamie, never blame the songs! Anyway enough of that – who would you like to see getting booted off X Factor this weekend?
